Blog

Dear All,

The past two months have been filled with a variety of indoor and outdoor activities for the Toddler Room and the Baby Room as the weather starts to get sunny and the flowers and animals start to appear more often. The children started going on more walks to the playground and the ‘big red bus’s park a little further away.

Both Rooms explored World Book Day as the children were invited to dress up as their favourite characters and bring in their favourite books. The day was spent looking at the books the children brought in and allowing them the chance to talk about why it’s their favourite.

The baby room had lots of little stories to read and the children became interested in looking at all the new pictures as they hear new stories.

They even went on a quick trip to the library and had the chance to explore the books there.

Thank you to the parents for taking the time to help your little ones participate in the day’s activities.

Toddler Room

March had us looking at the start of Spring and Mother’s Day.

The children were given lots of opportunities to talk (lots and lots!!!) about their families, especially their mummies. You can see

some of the thoughts the children shared about their mummies on our beautiful Mother’s Day display, which is currently up in the Toddler Room along with the colourful flowers they made using lots of tissue paper.

The children also made some presents and cards which they took home for their mummies. We hope you enjoyed the unique gifts your little ones made!

The Toddlers also had a look at friendship. They talked about who they love and the reasons why. Some wonderful pictures of the children with their friends were taken and I’m sure you will soon see them pop up in your children’s learning journals.

For spring the children did lots of planting activities, our small garden is now host to a variety of plants which the children continue to help look after by watering them. The children planted flowers, beans and potatoes. They also observed the signs of spring by noticing the blossom growing on the trees, flowers growing and the mini beast awakening from their winter sleep.

In April, the Toddlers’ topics turned to space and Easter. The children talked about what Easter is and what we do at home to celebrate it. This discussion involved talking about lots of rabbits and chocolate!

The children then got very creative making Easter baskets and Easter cards using variety of messy materials such as paint, glue and feathers. Our Storytime also consisted of the Toddlers reading about Easter egg hunts! After Easter, the children were excited to tell their friends all about the eggs they found.

For space, we had a look at our solar system, naming the planets and looking at the moon and sun. During messy play activities, the Toddlers created pictures of aliens and counted their eyes. The children also had a look at astronauts and rockets, singing lots of songs about space such as our old favourite the ‘zoom zoom zoom’ song.

Over the course of the two months the Toddlers got involved in lots of messy play activities. Some of which were old favourites such as painting, stamping, shaving foam, pasta and rice, water and bubbles play. They even had a chance to play ‘on the moon’ as the children played with tin-foil and some soil and rocks.

Spending so much time in the garden saw the children get creative with their mark making skills as they did some drawing and writing using chalk, water, paintbrushes and sticks.

Next Month

Next month will see the Toddlers taking a closer look at books and print. Some old favourites and new ones.

The Toddlers will also look and learn a little about ‘theatre’ as we prepare for our upcoming trip to the Polka Theatre in June.

Baby Room

The past two months have also seen the Baby room getting more active in the great outdoors. The babies had the opportunity to go on lots of walks and adventures as they took a closer look at their topics, spring, Easter and baby animals.

The Babies went on a trip to the pet shop. They had the chance to look at the signs of spring on the trees along the way before getting to see the animals in the pet shop. The babies got a close look at the birds, fish and fluffy rabbits. Looking at both the big ones but more importantly pointing out those little babies. The children really enjoyed watching the animals as they moved around. They were enjoying it so much that some of them didn’t want to leave!

When the weather was particularly nice the babies went on an adventure to the ‘big bus playground’ where the children spent some time being more physically active as they had a turn on the slides and swings and not to mention the chance to explore the ‘red bus’. The babies then sat down on a blanket together as they enjoyed a small picnic at the park in the nice weather.

The Nursery garden is also being used more often now that the weather allows for it, giving the Babies more chances to enjoy the sunny days in the outdoors as they play in the sand and have some fun with bubbles and water. They also took part in planting some seeds.

The babies also got very creative these past two months as they celebrated Mother’s Day creating some fridge cards using their own little hands. We hope all the mummies liked them and made them a new addition to their fridges. The Baby Room also did some art activities regarding St Patrick’s Day as they got messy decorating shamrocks.

For Easter, the Babies continued to get messy as they painted some Easter eggs and participated in the Easter display which you can see in the Baby Room.

Other activities also included flower stamping as they all participated in the creation of a flower display. The babies also had the chance to play with small worlds as they investigated hay and the small farm animals they found in there.

Next Month

Next month will see the Baby Room getting creative as they learn more about colours and simple shapes.

Red Nose Day

In March, we had a special family event where all families were invited to help us raise some money for Red Nose Day. Both the Baby and Toddler Room took part in baking some cakes for the cake sale and creating some beautiful work such as the photo frames and imaginative book which were then sold on the day. Activities on the day also included: red nose stamping, red nose colouring and painting, face painting and we even had a special red nose day/chicken lickin story.

We hope you enjoyed the afternoon as much as we did and want to say a huge THANK YOU! to all the parents and children who contributed to the wonderful cause. The afternoon saw us all together raise £276.00 which then was doubled by our owners to make our final amount raised be £552.00!!

The Baby room would like to say Welcome! to Orson, Florence, Phoenix, Freddy and Sophie who joined them.

And the Toddler Room would like to say Welcome! to Benjamin and Zeynep who moved down from the Baby Room.

We would like to say a big Happy Birthday! to Theo and Florence who turned 1.

And a Happy Birthday! to Felix.B, Elodie, Katia, Finlay on turning 2 and Imogen. S and Alicia who turned 3!

We would also just like to inform all parents of some changes in routine at the nursery these past few months. The toddler room has added a ‘quiet time’ for the older Toddlers who no longer sleep. This 15 minutes will give the children a chance to sit alone with a book and have some individual time for themselves within their own space. It gives them more opportunity to develop their individual skills.

The Toddler Room is also introducing an additional ‘Wow’ time which will be about remarking on the children’s positive achievements throughout the day no matter how big or small. This will offer more opportunities to help with increased confidence and acknowledgement of what other children are good at and learning from each other.

We would also like to mention that recently Maggie and Basia started a Forest School course which will be ongoing through the rest of the year into next year. Activities for Forest school will soon start to be implemented at the nursery and we are planning to send two more staff members onto this course in late May.

Some final notes:

Ø  The parent’s forum will take place on Thursday, May 25^th.

Ø  A reminder that the nursery opens at 8am and closes at 6pm. Early drop off/ late pick up fees apply.

Ø  Can parents/carers please ensure that they close the gate securely behind them when entering and exiting the nursery.

Ø  Also, Toddler Room parents- please close the entry door when entering/exiting the Toddler room.

Ø  When your child is being picked up by someone other than a parent/guardian can you please inform the nursery and ensure the designated person knows your child’s ‘password’. We will be confirming the identity of the person who comes to collect your child via ID also. So please ask them to bring it along.

Ø  Please label your child’s clothing and belongings. Please feel free to check the lost property box for any items that may have been misplaced.