Investigation Hub and Discovery Hub at Deckham

We have had a lovely week in nursery, talking about Bonfire Night and fireworks. 

The children were keen to tell us about their own experiences, describing the colours and sounds that the fireworks made, “bang, bang”, “pop, pop”, “whoosh”! 

The children explored creating representations of fireworks at the paint area, using stampers and brushes to add paint to their paper and then choosing other materials such as glitter or coloured sand to add to their art work. 

At the playdough table the children looked at firework pictures and used a range of materials and objects that they combined with the playdough such as lollipop sticks, matchsticks, ribbons and feathers. Many children explored creating fireworks, and some made representations of other objects such as cakes. The children used fine motor skills to handle and press the small objects into the dough. 

We have explored mark making in different media, including coloured sand and glitter, in which the children tried to create patterns with paintbrushes or their fingers. Outdoors, the children used chalks in the large tuff tray to create patterns and make other marks. They also used a new type of mark-making tool, paint sticks, to create firework pictures.

During group time, the Investigation Hub children have been learning to create repeating patterns using natural materials, for example, leaf, pinecone, leaf, pinecone etc. 

The Discovery Hub children enjoyed making mini fireworks using milk and food colouring, which then dispersed into patterns when they added a drop of soap! 

Characteristics of effective learning – Thinking Creatively and Critically

We have had a range of large loose parts available to the children this week and they have begun to use them in imaginative ways to explore their own ideas and interests, for example, creating a car out of boxes, making a house, rolling items through the tubes, using the tubes as telescopes and being a ghost with the fabric. Great ideas everyone! The children have also demonstrated collaborative skills while using the materials by working together to achieve a task and through sharing the resources. 

Story of the week: Whatever Next! 

Song of the week: 5 Little Fireworks 

Sign of the week: Coat 

Parents as partners:

Next week is World Nursery Rhyme Week and we will be singing lots of our favourite songs at nursery. Singing nursery rhymes with young children can help develop their language and communication skills. They often feature rhythmic patterns and simple repetitive phrases that young children find enjoyable and easy to remember and repeat. Many also include opportunities for counting, and most rhymes have some actions for children to engage with physically.

There are some lovely nursery rhyme videos on the CBeebies website if you are looking for ideas of rhymes to sing with your child. Here is a link to the website:

The children are enjoying playing outdoors in all weather. We are encouraging them to be independent in hanging their coat up on their own peg, but we would be very grateful if you could write your child’s name inside their coat to assist us with this. 

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We will be holding a ‘Stay and Play’ session that you can attend with your child on Thursday 27th November.

There will be a sign up sheet on our parent information board soon.

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We hope you have a lovely weekend.