Investigation Hub and Discovery Hub at Deckham
This week we have been delighted to welcome some new children and families to nursery for the start of the new term. The children are beginning to explore the nursery environment and to get to know staff and their peers. We look forward to spending more time with them as they settle into nursery. Well done to them all on their super progress this week.
We have had a very chilly and frosty start to the spring term. Some of our learning this week has been inspired by the winter weather.
The children explored ice and snow. They gained first hand experience as they touched, observed, collected and transferred the snow outdoors. They added watercolour paints to ice and observed the effect of their actions. They noticed that the ice and snow were turning into water as they handled them and we discussed that they were melting. They were also intrigued as to how they could break the ice.
Characteristics of effective learning – Thinking creatively and critically
Within nursery, we created some snow dough together. The children helped to prepare this following the recipe of cornflour and oil, which they then mixed.
They enjoyed the different texture of the material and explored it using a range of tools and objects. Some of the children discovered that when they pressed it down into a cake case and tipped it over, it retained its shape.
“It’s like a sand castle. It’s a snow castle!”
”It’s like sugar.”
”It’s sticking to the spoon.”
Other children scattered it from their hands:
“I’m sprinkling it.”
“Snowing!”
At planning time, one of the Investigation Hub children recalled that cornflour is also used to make gloop, and requested that we add some water to the snow dough to see if it would make gloop. We tested out her theory! We discovered that it made a material similar to gloop. The children used some wonderful vocabulary to describe what was happening as they explored the material, such as ”dripping”, “slimy” and “pouring”. One child excitedly noted “We’re doing an investigation!”
The children in orange group also made gloop as one of their group time activities this week. They showed interest in exploring this material with their hands and observed the effects of their movements on the gloop.
Parents as partners
The standard recipe for gloop is cornflour and water, if you would like to make some at home. Children benefit from the opportunity to follow verbal cues to follow a simple recipe, and develop their motor skills and coordination through pouring small amounts of water and through scooping and transferring spoonfuls of cornflour. It is an interesting material for children to explore the texture of and to create marks in.
Children who stay for lunch at nursery should have received a letter this week informing you of our updated lunch guidance. If you have any questions around this please feel free to speak to a member of staff.
Story of the week: The Three Little Pigs
Song of the week: The frost is in the air
Sign of the week: Winter
We have had a lovely first week of term and we are looking forward to seeing everyone next week. Enjoy your weekend.