Week beginning 12th January 2026

The Investigation Hub at Sidney Grove

Characteristics of Effective Learning- Creating and Thinking Critically (making links)

The children were fascinated to discover that they could make tracks in the snow using our small-world animals. This led to lots of excited talk as they compared the prints and imagined where the animals might be going.

Before long, some children became more interested in covering the animals in playdough. “The wild dog is stuck in the snow!” one child explained. Another added, “He’s just keeping warm in the den!” This opened up rich conversations about how snow feels and how it can be used to protect against the cold.

Together we looked at pictures of igloos and wondered what it might feel like inside. The children offered a range of ideas: “I think it’s freezing in there!” “I don’t want to go inside!” “Is it for people?” We also talked about animals that hibernate beneath the snow, which linked back to our learning about melting last week. One child made the connection that “They will bury nuts! Then in summer they wake up when it melts!” and another added, “The water can melt it!”

Parents as Partners

This week we shared the story “Tracks in the Snow” and developed our small group activities based on the book. The children used small world resources to make prints in playdough looking closely at the shapes and patterns they could create. This caused lots of excitement: “it’s long!” “I made scales of fishes!” “Dinosaur prints!” The children then realised they could make prints with other parts of the animals and used the bodies and tails to make marks: “I made the polar bear body!”

In our maths small group we practised recognising 2D shapes and talking about their properties through simple games. At home you could ask your child which shapes they recognise in the house or while you are out and about!

Outdoors Learning

This week during Plan, Do, Review, the children have loved exploring the outdoor space using our wheelbarrows. They practised negotiating space and navigating around obstacles, with some children choosing to follow the chalked pathways created earlier in the session. This required lots of concentration and coordination and offered brilliant opportunities to develop gross motor control.

Running and chasing games have also been a big favourite this week! These types of games help the children learn about keeping themselves and others safe. Before we head outside, we often encourage the children to check the weather conditions and consider any safety concerns, such as slippery surfaces.

To add an extra challenge and spark more excitement, we introduced colourful fabric “dragon tails” for the children to catch during their chasing games. This simple addition encouraged teamwork, speed, problem-solving and lots of joyful movement.

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This year our children who will be leaving us to move on to Reception will be taking part in a new Early Years PSED programme. The programme uses stories that explore emotions to help children express and understand their own feelings and those of others. Susan is leading the programme and will share the chosen story each Wednesday and offer smaller groups of children the opportunity to join in with smaller group activities linked to the theme of the week. This week the story shared was ‘In My Heart:A Book of Feelings.

Here is the link if you would like to share the story together at home.

We hope you have a lovely weekend and look forward to seeing you next week! We’ll be exploring one of our favourite fairytales with you… with three little characters who are in search of a safe home to survive very windy conditions… can you guess the story?