Monday
We had a big fall of snow overnight, much to the delight of the children. Making sure everyone was wrapped up warm, we ventured outside to explore all that inviting whiteness. As well as being LOTS of fun, the snow gave the children many opportunities to develop their vocabulary as we talked about the properties of snow and how it changes (freezing, melting, liquid, solid). We brought snow inside as well so the children could investigate it further (without freezing their socks off!). Everyone was very sad when the snow melted in the afternoon. Hopefully we'll get another day of snow before Spring comes!
Tuesday
There was magic in the air today at nursery, with the children having lots of fun making potions. Everybody got into the spirit of it, and it led to a fun role play where Sophie was turned into a frog, Katie was turned into a spider and Wendy was turned into a bunny rabbit! Fortunately, the effects of the potions didn't last long and the staff were back to their normal selves by hometime. Elsewhere, the children enjoyed a squishy and slimy sensory tray full of shaving foam and cornflour. Lots of messy fun!
Wednesday
Our practitioners had cunningly kept some of Monday's snow in the freezer, so the children were able to enjoy some more snow play today. They also had fun with the magnetic shapes, making a wide variety of different things - a house, a snake, a snail, a flower, a stage - and demonstrating great creativity. We worked with the children on their phonic sounds today, helping them to remember by linking the sounds to an action.
Thursday
Today, the children helped to decorate the papier-mâché love heart we made last week. It's looking very colourful! Outside, we'd created an "Ice Age" drop box with dinosaurs trapped in ice, which led to more discussions about the properties of ice and how it melts. Of course, ice can also be dangerous, and we spoke about the importance of staying safe around frozen water.
Friday
A "train" was set up in nursery this morning, made from chairs and a wooden steering wheel. A large number of the children gravitated towards his activity, so to enrich the play we added a video on the interactive whiteboard of scenery passing by a train window (and the children counted the tunnels we went through!). Other children developed the play further, with some laying out the Brio train track next to our "train", others making train tickets or announcing the train stops. And they all took it in turns to be the train driver, showing great sharing skills.
