After a child made a play dough volcano, lots of children were interested in learning about volcanoes. We watched a video of an erupting volcano, made volcano art work and acted out an eruption with dance scarves. At the end of the week we used modelling clay to create volcanoes which we filled with bicarbinate of soda, washing up liquid and red food colouring. When we added vinegar, the liquid bubbled up and over the sides of our volcanoes like real lava.
After the children had pretended to make pancakes from playdough, we decided to make real pancakes. We discussed which toppings we would like and wrote lists of ingredients. With all the ingredients purchased, we set to work cooking and worked our muscles whisking the lumps out of the batter. The children chose to top their pancakes with chocolate and strawberries and thought they were delicious!
We had enjoyed playing horses together outside. The teachers showed us how to build showjumping courses, make rosettes and we shared a story about a horse and a unicorn. Later we visited Redwings Horse Sanctuary and got to meet some real horses, ponies and donkeys.
Nursery were interested in hammering and building so we learnt all about constructing. We read the ‘Three Little Pigs’, made our own buildings inside and outside, visited a real building site and made a gingerbread house. When we came back to nursery to find the cheeky wolf had blown our gingerbread house down, we made the most of the situation and enjoyed our gingerbread for snack. Yum!
After one of the children found some flowers for a bouquet and pretended to get married, Nursery began to learn about weddings. Our families brought in some fantastic wedding photos and we talked about what happens when people get married. We used blocks to make religious buildings and peg dolls for brides and grooms. We read the story of Cinderella which ended with her wedding to Prince Charming and we acted this out in our play. We made our own wedding cake, wedding rings and confetti and at the end of the week we dressed up and held a pretend wedding ceremony.
Last week, Nursery became interested in all things magical. We read the story ‘Room on the Broom’ and found and decorated our own wands. We loved pretending to be witches and cast spells on each other and turned our friends into snails and snakes! After we had made our own potions in the garden, the witch delivered us a potion recipe which created an amazing fizzing and bubbling (and smelly!) potion.
After we found a snail in the garden, the nursery children were very interested in learning about these slow, slimy creatures. We enjoyed visiting the library to find out more about them, creating snail inspired art work and making edible snails using tortilla wraps. We learnt how to look after and feed the snail we had found and at the end of the week we released it back into the garden.
Our September sunshine has disappeared but we have been making the most of the wet weather with some puddle painting. We used powder paint in different colours and explored how the colours mixed together on the wet playground.