Monday
What a lot of rain there was today! Even the most gung-ho of our children didn't fancy going outside, so much of today was spent doing indoor activities. The children enjoyed building with Duplo and playing with the Hexi-snaps, trying to recreate patterns; they also had fun with the animal magnets, matching the animal to the correct habitat. Some of our children also decided to create their own story book, using their imaginations to make up a story and drawing pictures to illustrate it.
Tuesday
There was some seriously messy play in the garden today, with the children making "chocolate potions" by mixing paint, sand and water in a bucket. It was a very popular activity, but oh heavens it was messy! Fortunately, our practitioners set up a bubbles in water activity which was equally popular and which had the happy side-effect of washing away most of the mess... Inside, there was some super junk modelling going on, as well as a spirited game of musical bumps.
Wednesday
It actually felt like Spring had finally arrived today, so the children were able to enjoy lots of fun outdoors. We made sandcastles to celebrate the fact that the sun was finally shining, and some of our children decided to wash our playhouse - how helpful! Some of the children were interested in the teabags that they'd put in their Mother's Day cards, so they took some outside and explored the smell and texture of the tea leaves and had a go brewing their own tea (using cold water, of course). Inside, we were making play dough with the children, using resources kindly donated by some of our parents. We also made a start on our new door display, with the children making hand prints and writing their names. We hope you like it!
Thursday
One of our children brought in a treasure chest that he had made at home with his sister for a school project. This really sparked the children's imaginations, and lead to some great treasure hunt games and to more "treasure" being added to the box. Elsewhere in the nursery, there was a game of giant snakes and ladders (great for practising turn-taking) while other children were getting creative with forks, using them to make paintings of spring flowers. They were very proud of their efforts. One of our children decided he wanted to be a police officer today, then arrested Sophie and put her in jail! This resulted in an interesting discussion about the role of the police, and how they are here to help everyone (not just to put baddies in prison).
Friday
The children had fun with ice today, excavating numbers using spoons, knives and warm water. Given the icy weather that was on the way, it seemed appropriate! Other children played a swimming game, where they pretended to have a swimming lesson. Some great attempts at breast stroke and front crawl from them all! Today we also started doing self-portraits with the children - we intend to get all children to do one, and these will be printed on a canvas tote bag for you to purchase as a lovely memento. The aim is to have these on sale at the Summer Fete, so do keep an eye out for them and treat yourself to a St Mary's Nursery Bag for Life!