Week ending 24th June 2022

One of our words of the week was 'shape' and so we have had lots of activities involving using shapes, finding shapes and playing with shapes. We played the 'mystery shape bag' game where the children had to try and guess the hidden shape by seeing small clues, like a corner, a side etc. This was also our Numbers and Patterns activity.

Our other word of the week was 'summer' and so we've had lot of discussions about seasons, weather, what we could wear and what happens.

Our Letters and Sounds activity was 'sound story time' where we tried adding voice sounds, such as growling, squeaking and whispering to stories.

In P.E we played the 'bean game' and used the parachute on the playground.

Week ending 10th June 2022

We have been busy talking about and looking for patterns everywhere, bricks on the wall, on drain covers, on our clothes for example. We have also tried to recreate and make our own patterns. We made jubilee banners in red, white and blue.

Preschool also went over to the school to help make two jubilee felt wall art banners. We had to rub the wool and water on the banner to help turn it into felt. It was hard work but we began to see the Queen and her corgi on one of them.

Our words of the weeks were 'day' and 'pattern'

In P.E we did some sports races and played some ring games.

Our numbers and patterns activity was 'what comes next' and we encouraged the children to continue a pattern.

Our letters and sounds activity was 'singing songs'.

Week ending 20th May 2022

We have been looking at print, in books, at our names and at logo's. We used pictures of familiar logo's and wooden or magnetic letters to help with this.

We have also been talking about our feelings and the feelings of others in Preschool and made pictures depicting how we were feeling. 'Feeling' was one of our words of the week.

The children also used lots of different construction materials to build and construct models and used these to practice our words such as 'behind' to place objects. 'Behind' was also one of our words of the week.

We were able to spend some time on the field, looking at growth, the changing trees and to look at our area there.

Our letters and sounds activity was 'mouth movements' and our numbers and patterns activity was 'one or lots'. 

Week ending 6th May 2022

We have been encouraging the children to talk about their feelings, why we might feel sad, angry or happy. We used feelings puppets and flash cards.

Our numbers and patterns activity was 'greedy puppet', the puppet took too many treats, so we asked the children if they could share the 'treats' fairly and equally, independently or with help.

Our letters and sounds activity was matching sounds. We used instruments and body percussion to make a single sound and asked the children to copy it, then we extended it to 2, 3 and 4 sounds.

In P.E we used the parachute, which the children enjoyed making large and small movements with and going under, and we played animal games and moved like different animals.

Our words of the week were, 'rhyme' and 'animal'

Week ending 22nd April 2022

We have been looking for and talking about numbers. We have sung lots of songs that included using our fingers to represent numbers e.g. '5 little ducks', '1-10 little dinosaurs' 

We also  have been discussing the different jobs people do and we asked the children to think about what they might like to do when they are older.

In P.E we played the 'animal game' and the 'hoop game'

Our Letters and Sounds activity was 'Mrs Tuck has a box' and our Numbers and Patterns activity was 'We're going on a number hunt'. 

Week ending 25th March 2022

Our words of the weeks have been 'help' and 'water' and so we have had lots of discussions about who help's us, what can we do to help, where does water come from and what do we use water for. The children and staff also dressed in red or came as superheroes to celebrate 'Comic Relief'.

We have been working on mark making and giving meanings to marks. To do this we have been using chalks and water and brushes on the playground, using our fingers in dry sand, using magnetic drawing boards and using pens and pencils on paper.

In our letters and sounds activity we have been using a sound bag and finding 'initial sounds' and then trying to think of other words with those sounds.

Our numbers and patterns activity 'what's in the box?', we choose a box, shook it and tried to guess how many things were in the box.

We also went to the hall for P.E and played ring games and the 'shark game'.

Week ending 11th March 2022

We have been doing lots of activities involving rhyming, experimenting with using our voices for making sounds and using alternative words in rhymes, e.g. can we choose a different ending word to the rhyme.

We have also been looking at numerals, trying to identify them and choose the correct amount of objects to match the numeral. We used the very hungry caterpillar and fruit to help us do this. We also played skittles to encourage counting and guessing how many they would knock down.

In P.E we moved in different ways, such as, rolling, hopping and jumping, and we also used the parachute, moving under it and trying to move it up and down.

In the garden we have been using planks to build, balance and make pathways.

The children looked wonderful when they came in dressed up for World Book Day.

Our words of the week were 'Read and Spring'.

Week ending 25th February 2022

In Preschool we have been talking about 'love', what we love to do, who we love and where we love to go. The children and staff brought in pictures from home of things that they loved and were able to talk about them to the group. We also listened to stories such as, 'You can never run out of love' and 'Guess how much I love you'.

Love and 'Colour' were our words of the week. The children took part in a colour mixing activity where they chose two colours and rolled a car through them to mix the paint, guessing what colour might be made and talking about the end result.

Our Letters and Sounds activity was 'Finish the rhyme' and we used rhyming books and familiar rhymes and stopped halfway through the sentence and encouraged the children to finish it.

Our Numbers and Patterns activity was 'One or lots' and we used picture cards, asking the children to pick a card and describe if it has one or lots of things on it.

Week ending 4th February 2022

We have been talking about the Chinese New Year, the year of the tiger. The children decorated pictures of tigers and we talked about what they looked like, where they might live and the countries that they might come from. We looked at a globe of the world so that we could see all the different countries and talked about how we would get there. We also looked at books to see what other children's houses might look like in other countries, the food they might eat and the clothes that the children might wear.

We also talked about healthy and unhealthy foods and did some activities to sort foods.

In a tray we grew some cress. We sowed the seeds on to cotton wool, watered it and watched it day by day for changes to the seeds.

Clothes and Tiger were our words of the week.

Our letters and sounds activity was 'describe and find it' and our numbers and patterns activity was 'one bear alone'.

Week ending 21st January 2022

We would like to wish you all a very happy New Year and a big welcome to all our starting children and their families.

Before we broke up for the Christmas Holidays the children made Christmas cards which we then took on a walk to the post box so that the children could post them home. We had a lovely walk around the village and looked at the local environment. Thank you to all the parents who joined us.

The children enjoyed activities such as playdough, which had a minty smell to it, making models with wooden bricks and using puppets, which we used to describe feelings.

Our words of the weeks were 'Christmas' and 'Winter'.

Week ending 10th December 2021

One of Santa's Elves has come for a visit to Preschool. The elf has been named 'Jingle Bells' by the children and has been getting up to mischief around preschool including sticking stickers all over some of our action figures and wrapping up the adult chair. Jingle Bells did a really kind thing and bought us the ingredients so that we could make some playdough. (Jingle Bells did make a snow/flour angel with them first).

The children then helped to make the playdough and added a mint smell to it. The children were able to use lots of different tools to make marks and change the shape of the dough.

In P.E we moved in different ways, like animals and vehicles and we also used balls, for rolling passing and kicking.

Our words of the weeks were 'friends' and 'family'.

Our Letters and Sounds activity was 'Follow the Sound' and the children had to follow a body percussion sound.

Our Numbers and Patterns activity was 'Matching Numerals' and the children did this by parking a numbered car into the matching numbered space.

Week ending 22nd November 2021

We have been talking about size in Preschool and we used animals, sticks and all sorts of building materials to talk about this. The children enjoyed finding big and little, small and enormous animals when discussing size.

We have also been talking about the word 'safe' and what it means to us. We discussed road safety and keeping safe when out and about.

In P.E we went to the hall to use the parachute and play hoop games.

Our Letters and Sounds activity was to sing action songs and adding body percussion sounds to them, such as knee pats, foot stamps.

In our Maths, numbers and patterns, activity was to find '1 bear alone'. (shaking a cup to determine if the sound was made by 1 bear or lots of bears).

Week ending 12th November 2021

We have some new equipment in the garden, an activity climbing frame with swing, slide and rope ladder. The children have thoroughly enjoyed exploring it and have been especially good at taking turns and waiting to have a go.

We have been talking about firework safety, Diwali and Remembrance Day, our words of the weeks were Diwali/Fireworks and Flowers/Poppy.

It has also been Science week and so we investigated floating and sinking and were surprised by some of the results.

We also used smooth and bumpy tracks for our cars to see if either one made the cars travel quicker and we also explored magnets and tried to find metal things to stick them on.

In Letters and Sounds we played a match the sound game using musical instruments and our Numbers and Patterns activity was Pass the Pattern, choosing the correct item to continue a pattern.

In P.E we played the 'Here today' game, ball games and did a Tumble Tot session.

Week ending 21st October 2021

Our words of the weeks have been 'challenge' and 'weather'.

We have been introducing the word 'challenge' to the children and they have been enjoying completing small challenges such as 'can you draw a picture with chalk?', ' can you find something blue?'. 

At Good Mornings we have been talking about the weather that was happening that day, using words such as 'drizzle', 'chilly' and 'cloudy'

It also began to get a little spooky in Preschool as the children made spiders, investigated ice hands and green jelly that had insects in it (not real insects!). We also discovered what was inside a pumpkin, looking at and touching the seeds.

Our Letters and Sounds activity was 'describe and find it' - can they guess a farm animal with clues and our Numbers and Patterns activity was 'Threading beads' - estimating how many beads will fill their pipe cleaner.

In P.E we played the hoop game, 'who is here today' game and the bean game.

Week ending 8th October 2021

Thank you to everyone who sent a picture of the children brushing their teeth. It has made a wonderful talking point display and the children have loved spotting their friends and the staff.

Our words of the week have been 'smile' and 'different and same'. They have been looking into mirrors for similarities and differences and the children who will be going to school are making a paper plate face of themselves.

Our letters and sounds activity has been 'Mrs Browning has a box', where the children have to guess what hidden item is making a noise.

Our numbers and patterns activity has been 'feely socks', where the children had to guess whats inside the sock by feeling and shaking. Using language such as 'I can feel lots/one'.

In our P.E session we moved in different ways, such as, flying, wobbling and sliding.

Week ending 24th September 2021

We have been busy creating models, exploring musicals instruments and investigating natural materials.

In our P.E sessions we used the parachute, moving it up and down, going under it, and also we did our keep fit 'Superhero training'.

While using the large playground we have used balls for kicking and throwing, hoops for rolling and bikes and scooters for balance and confidence.

During our letters and sounds activity we have been having listening moments inside and out. We used a timer and then talked about what we heard.

Our numbers and patterns activity was 'one or lots'. We looked at cards and talked about if the picture had one object on it or lots of objects on the card.

Our words of the weeks have been 'rules' and 'Autumn'.

Week ending 10th September 2021

Welcome to you all and to a new term at Manea Preschool.

We have all been getting to know each other, learning names and the routines of Preschool.

The children have been busy exploring the room and outdoor areas and finding and trying out new activities and equipment. 

We have made models with construction materials, threaded with cotton reels, created pictures with paint, chalk, pens and on whiteboards.

We have used skittles, balls and hoops outside. We also worked together to go on 'a bus to the beach' and shared lots of stories together such as, 'Handa's Surprise' and 'The tiger who came to tea'.