2-3: The Discovery Hub

Playing and Exploring/Active Learning

This week the children have continued to explore a range of activities that help to promote learning and development across the Early Years Foundation Stage. In addition children have also been exploring seasonal changes both within the outdoor environment and through a range of activities such as planting sunflowers and cress.

We had a fabulous start to the week participating in yoga with Fay from Kalma Life on Monday. The children took deep breaths in and then blew scarves from their heads. They practised different yoga moves to music, and we ended the session with some calming bubble time. It was lovely to join in with this collective activity, enjoying moments of excitement and of calm together. We developed our flexibility, strength and coordination in large scale movements. We can’t wait to enjoy some more yoga next week!

We recently observed some of the children demonstrating a curiosity in the plants growing in our outdoor area. Following this interest, we have been focussing upon exploring plants and flowers more this week and starting to develop our understanding of growing. 

We sparked curiosity at the beginning of the week, through using our senses to explore a strawberry plant, with some children choosing to observe, touch and smell the plant.

Outdoor Learning – 

The children gained first hand, sensory experience of some of the components and tools needed for planting through their play experience with soil, seeds, branches and leaves in our outdoor tray. They used trowels and scoops to fill and empty plant pots of various sizes, thereby developing awareness of capacity. 

We used vocabulary to discuss when containers were full or empty.

Some of the children worked collaboratively to do this, demonstrating a fantastic ability to work together to achieve a task.

Outdoors this week we have also continued our large scale mark making, using a vertical plastic surface to experiment with making marks using coloured water. The children enjoyed the process of using large movements, and noticing the marks they made. They showed particular delight in mark making opposite each other and discovering they could cover the surface with colour to ‘hide’ from each other! 

We planted cress seeds and sunflower seeds. We observed the seeds closely – they looked quite different to each other! We used a pincer grip to sprinkle our cress seeds onto cotton wool, and to carefully place the sunflower seeds into pots. We scooped soil into the sunflower seed pots and used a watering can to water our seeds. We look forward to seeing them grow and change with time. 

Characteristics of effective learning – finding out and exploring 

We provided a range of flowers at our play dough table. As the children observed and handled the flowers, the children described them in different ways including “big”, “wet”, “dry” and “soft”. Some of the children helped to cut flowers from their stems, carefully handling scissors to do this. The children used the flowers and petals in lots of different ways. Some children enveloped the stems in play dough, others rolled their play dough flat and then experimented with pressing flowers into it, and some chose specific flowers by colour or size for their creations. 

Lots of experimental play occurred in our outdoor set up of flowers, play foam and coloured water this week. The children scooped, poured, whisked and transported the materials. Imaginative play and language was developed as some children pretended to make delicious flower cakes! 

Stories of the week: Jasper’s Beanstalk and Lulu loves Flowers.

Action rhymes of the week: Ring-a-Roses and I’m a Little Seed. 

We have also been learning and using the makaton sign for ‘grow’. 

Parents as partners 

Taking a walk with your child in nature and noticing the different plants and flowers that are now beginning to grow and bloom as we move into summer, provides lots of opportunity for language development.

Collections of Natural Materials

Do you have any of the following please to enhance our ‘loose parts’ nursery collections and curiosity in learning – conkers, pine cones, shells, pebbles, sticks & twigs, log slices, interesting textured stones, wooden curtain rings, wooden pegs, petals or flowers real or artificial.

Staffing

Lauren will be on annual leave next week.

Thank you everyone, have a lovely weekend.

From Hannah and all the other nursery team.