The Den: 

Another busy week in The Den with a focus on fine motor movements using rice and wooden scoops. We have also been exploring musical instruments and sounds this week with maracas, shakers and drums. 

Characteristics of effective learning: 

The children enjoyed the rice activity this week. We added some wooden spoons and bowls so the children could focus their fine motor skills on gripping the materials to scoop the rice. The children really enjoyed this and sat for extended periods of time, really engaged. We heard some lovely language like “scoop, pour” and “sprinkle”. 

The children particularly enjoyed when we filled the bowls with rice and poured it from a height. They requested “more” as we did this. 

We have been experimenting with sound this week as the children explore a range of musical instruments. We used instruments like maracas, shakers and drums to create sounds. I spoke to the children and asked, “can we bang the drum quietly?” and demonstrated this. The children copied and made quiet sounds. I then asked “can we bang loudly” and modelled this, the children banged the drum loudly and laughed as they did this. 

Parents as partners: 

Below is a link to our nursery menu.

https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/article/34806/Bensham-Nursery week 2