Weeks ending 27th March 2024

Our words of the week have been Help and Spring. The children have helped each other to use the parachute in PE and helped to find shapes in our group shape hunts. We also talked about who can help us when we're in trouble, and how we help each other keep our environments clean and fun.

For the word Spring we planted flowers down at Acorn Patch, played easter number games, spoke about the changing season and had our Easter craft morning! A huge thankyou to all who came, the room was absolutely filled with the children's wonderful creations! We hope you all have a very happy holiday :)

Weeks ending 8th March 2024

Our words of the week have been Sharing and Books. The children have been fantastic at remembering to ask and use timers to share toys and activities- with and without adult help!

We made pictures with paint pens, and special cards for people we love using our handprints. On World Book Day, everyone loved dressing up as their favourite book characters. 

In P.E. we did a giant obstacle course, with some new obstacles to test the children's balancing skills. The week after, it was movement tickets where the children pick a ticket and we move as it says (e.g. like a dragon/cat/fish).

For Acorn Patch we decorated our very own binoculars and went hunting for bugs under logs and in trees. We found slugs, snails, spiders, beetles and more!

Weeks ending 16th February 2024

The words of the week were Animals/Dragons and Love. We spent time celebrating Chinese new year, and finding out which animal represented our birth year. We also talked lots about love- who we love and why, and what we do with them. We made cards to take home, and the children helped us to make a big display to go on the wall!

Group games were a hit these last two weeks, as we went on number hunts together, and played lots of circle games like 'silly soup' with rhyming words.

Down at Acorn Patch, we searched for grass, leaves and flowers to take back to preschool so that we could make nature paintbrushes. Lots of us loved making giant paintings, mixing colours and getting messy!

Weeks ending 29th January 2024

The last two weeks have had a lot to do with the weather, and food! We've talked lots about healthy food and how important it is, and the children have played our 'Mr Chef' game to match healthy and unhealthy foods. Each day we have discussed the weather, if it's cold, what we have to wear and more. We had dolls with different clothes on to play with.

The children have also been busy making listening ears that we have taken on a 'listening walk' and the children heard a talking lorry (It said "turning left!")! We also took turns to play the hungry caterpillar game, finding him the right amount of fruits that he wanted.

In P.E. we did the parachute and the bean game. We also got lucky as some of our new P.E. equipment came so lots of us tried rolling and climbing on the new soft toys. In Acorn Patch we explored and climbed- and found lots of worms in the wet soil.

Weeks ending 15th January 2024

The children have been so excited to tell us about what they have been up to over the Christmas holidays! We've talked about what games we played, what presents we got, and if we were excited/nervous/happy. 

The words of the week have been Day and Winter, so we've discussed what we do differently on certain days (go to preschool, a doctors appointment or visit Grandma for example). We also talked lots about what happens in Winter now it's getting really chilly-lots of the children loved seeing it snow outside! 

Down in Acorn Patch we explored and investigated the frost, and had a go at digging in the ground to make mud pies/cakes. In P.E. we did circle games as a group with some songs at the end, and took superhero training outside, going across stepping stones and around cones.

Weeks ending 16th December 2023

The words of the week have been Colours and Family. We've had out lots of games and activities for sorting colours into groups or patterns. We also used our Manea Map again, to talk about our houses and who lives in them! 

As we have been getting closer to Christmas, we've been getting into the festive spirit with Christmas Crafts, shaving foam snow, ice, and playdough for the snow-person factory. The children have enjoyed searching for our cheeky elves each morning, who have been getting up to some (often messy) fun with our other toys.

Down in Acorn Patch the children did some building with wooden planks and boxes, to create mini obstacle courses with ramps and bridges. Everyone who came was very brave and had a go at everything! In P.E. we did the parachute and tried out races where the children had to go through hoops, balance bean bags on their heads, and jump over obstacles.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone again after the holidays! :)

Weeks ending 1st December 2023

The past two weeks have been all about the words 'Safe' and 'Manea'. We've discussed why we follow certain rules and how they help us stay safe, both inside preschool with things like using walking feet inside or taking turns, and outside of preschool (e.g. crossing the road safely, chewing our food properly). We also used pictures of our houses to create a map of Manea to talk about how to safely get from our houses to preschool, or to the shop/park! 

In P.E. we did the bean game, and a hoop cars activity, where the children listened for instructions like "bumpy road" (jump up and down), "red light/green light", (stop/go) and "road works" (move between cones). Down at Acorn Patch the children collected leaves that we decorated back at preschool, to make Christmas decorations with. The children used red and green glitter paints to make them sparkle!

We also met two cheeky Christmas elves called 'Star' and 'Jingle' who might be getting up to mischief when we aren't watching!

Weeks ending 17th November 2023

Our words of the week this time have been Flowers/Poppy and Size. Together we have created a flower display board using the children's own drawings, and they have had fun helping the adults by pressing the photocopier button to make copies to go in their learning journeys. We also talked lots about size, and measured each other to see who is the tallest in pre-school! Meter sticks and rulers came in handy to measure other items too, or towers that we built.

We took turns to make bird food to take down to Acorn Patch, using our hands to mash seeds and raisins into lard. Back in pre-school, we did a listening circle game, matching the sounds that our instruments make. The children were amazing at telling when it was their turn to play their instrument, and we practised again in P.E. We also took turns to pass hoops and balls around (over/under us, or slowly/fast) and did an obstacle course to train our superhero strength. 

Weeks ending 3rd November 2023

The children have been enjoying our messy play activities these last few weeks. As it was Halloween, we have had pumpkins and spooky jelly out for the children to investigate. We took turns to scoop seeds out of the pumpkins and made pictures with them. We also found toy spiders and ghosts that were hidden in the jelly. We talked about our emotions (Is Halloween scary or not? Is it real or not real?) and the children were excited to tell us about their adventures trick or treating.

Our words of the week were Water and Fireworks, and we talked a lot about how important it is for us to drink water. We also learnt about what else needs water, such as the flowers that the children helped us to plant down in Acorn Patch. 
In P.E. we have played with the parachute and with some picture dice. The children worked together to lift and wiggle the parachute, and they took turns to roll the dice so we could move in different ways (like a zombie/bat/unicorn etc..).