The Den:

We have had a busy week in The Den, with a focus on exploring natural materials from the garden. The children have explored ‘Autumn soup’ and a tray filled with lentils/ sticks to explore! We were also joined on Thursday by lots of parents for our stay and play session which the children loved! 

Playing and exploring: 

The children loved playing with the water last week so we continued this through this week, creating ‘Autumn soup’ with natural materials and metal scoops. The children loved this and were keen to explore! They used metal scoops to fill with water and experimented pouring it from a height, watching as it splashed back into the tray. We heard some lovely language as the children played like “scoop, pour” and “splash”. The children also used the sticks provided to mix the water and leaves, speaking “mix mix”. 

Physical development:

We changed our areas this week and the children had so much fun with the large cardboard boxes. They enjoyed stacking them on top of each it her, creating large towers. They spoke “uh-oh” when the towers fell and had fun pushing the towers over! We were really pleased to see the children so focused during this, spending lots of time very focused in building their towers! Great hand-eye coordination was used to pick up the boxes and carefully place them on top of each other. 

Stay and play:

It was so lovely to welcome our parents in for our stay and play session on Thursday, we set up a range of activities to explore and the children thoroughly enjoyed spending time with loved ones in nursery. 

Why natural resources? 

We use lots of natural materials in our setting where we can. There are so many benefits to holistic development, some of these are: 

Enhanced Creativity: Natural resources allow children to explore and manipulate items in various ways. This freedom fosters creativity and imaginative play, helping children develop problem-solving skills as they figure out new uses for everyday objects.

Improved Fine Motor Skills: As children handle and interact with different textures and materials, they refine their fine motor skills. Items like tree trunks and wooden planks are excellent for building structures, which promotes physical development through activities like climbing and balancing.

Sensory Exploration: Natural materials offer a diverse range of textures, smells, and tactile experiences that plastic toys often lack. A box of plastic rattles may all look different, but they feel, smell, and taste the same to a young child. In contrast, natural resources provide a variety of sensory inputs that enrich a child’s learning experience.

Imaginative Play: Incorporating real-world objects into playtime encourages children to think creatively and use their imagination. A simple cardboard box or a wooden plank can become anything they dream of, supporting their cognitive and imaginative development.

Staffing updates:

Hillary is on first aid training Tuesday and Wednesday next week.