Week Commencing 12th October 2026

The Nest

As we delve deeper into the season of Autumn, this week in the Nest we have engaged in a range of activities that extend the children’s exploration of leaves, pinecones and all things autumnal while continuing to provide a range of edible experiences which are always appreciated and enjoyed by the children.

Physical Development:

The children have explored some autumn scented themed ice with pinecones, leaves and glitter. The children were all so fascinated with this, by using their hands to explore the texture. We then added some turnip and butternut squash to further the autumnal experience. Metal spoons were provided to help break the ice apart to find the objects that were hiding within the ice. There was lots of curiosity about the ice melting and leaving puddles of water. The children used their hands to create large splashing motions. The children demonstrated good hand control by using the spoons to break the ice apart, further developing their hand eye coordination. The children showed a good sense of will and determination in knowing what they can do. The children displayed immense enjoyment, fully engaged and focused on their activities. Lovely interactions were observed, characterised by excited babbling and the sharing of resources.

This week we have also been partaking in activities that incorporate World Food Day on the 16th of October, so we introduced a tray containing autumnal fruit and vegetables such as parsnips, oranges, figs, plums, corn on the cob & mini pumpkins for the children to explore. The children were all keen to begin exploring and showed curiosity as they touched and felt the different fruit. They were particularly keen to explore the oranges and experimented with patting them, observing the juice squirting from them and then tasting them! The children also experimented with squeezing the oranges and watching the juice drip from the orange onto their fingers, they were also curious to taste the different fruits and vegetables that were on offer but definitely showed preference for the taste of the oranges.

Communication and Language:

The children have had a lovely time in engaging in some jelly play with metal spoons and autumnal objects like leaves and pumpkins. They experimented in different ways of feeling the texture by squeezing, moving and rubbing the jelly between their hands and fingers. The children found great joy of putting the jelly in their mouth as this showed the enjoyment on their faces. There was some lovely vocalisations created.

Following our exploration of Autumn this week, after gathering some leaves and sticks from the garden this morning, we added them to our light panel for the children children to investigate further, alongside some pinecones, artificial leaves and sensory leaves (filled with rice and artificial leaves. V

Parent Partnerships

We will break up for half term on Friday the 23rd October and term time children will return to nursery on Monday 2nd November.

Children who attend nursery all year round, their sessions will remain the same, please check with a member of staff if you need any clarification on this.

Staffing Update

Emily is on annual leave next week.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!