Wellies, banana bread, and lampshades. Week beginning 20th June 2016

With all this English summer rain, perhaps the Gibbons had that Incey Wincey Spider on their brains because this week, they made like arachnids and crept their little fingers along and through their spider web tub (staff tied string to a small container creating a web effect). The children had to inch their little pincers through to reach all manner of objects. Part spider, part Mission Impossible, it was quite the fine motor workout. In the Green room, the little ones gave their olfactory senses a little jog around their scent full creative activity. Using coffee and tea bags, the little ones explored the effects as they ripped, dragged, and dabbed onto paper. Quite a few of the younger Gibbons are full swing into the babbling phase so it was quite a chirpy activity as they engaged with the materials. In the role play clothes shop, the Gibbons have been loving putting on and removing wellies. We’d like to say that they only had to practice this in the role play area, but alas, the sand pit has been more or less of a bog this week and wellies were very necessary. Of course, the children absolutely loved the rivers running through their sand and that wet sloshing sound. I was less enthused, but what do grown ups know…

The Baboons have been making a foaming mess this week as they explored, well, foam, adding various materials such as pasta and straws. In the conservatory, the Baboons have thrown it back to the 80s and 90s with their rousing parachute dancing. For their cooking activity, the Baboons made banana bread which was a little on the dry side as we cut out sugar, but the children enjoyed the process as they measured out the ingredients and chopped the banana. A variation of quicksand, the Baboons explored kinetic sand with cornflour, soap and sand. The texture holds slightly longer than regular sand and the children enjoyed exploring and comparing the differences. Banana bread wasn’t the only thing they made this week as they also made flapjacks. During this activity, their attention turned to the foods they cook and eat with their families. Flapjacks must’ve made them think of home.

The Gorilla week started rather wet and abysmal, but no worries, they had sunnier climes on the horizon in their role play travel agents. They’ve been booking flights on their laptops and sharing their traveling experiences with each other. However, towards the latter end of the week their travel agency was transformed into a home corner complete with the soft glow of a lounge lamp, a plush carpet beneath their feet, vase, clock, coffee table and real kitchen tools and crockery. Elated doesn’t begin to describe how the Gorillas took to the change and we can barely pry them out of the area now (please make sure you read the weekly update as Louise has described the reasoning behind this change and other developments first in the preschool and soon to filter throughout the nursery). When we did manage to divert their attention, an extended activity from last week’s Reggio Emilia table had the Gorillas colour mixing water using pipettes and investigating volume and density as they transferred the water to various sized jars and added droplets of oil to their mixtures. This week our Tatty Bumpkin pros did not one, but four poses! On their latest trip to Wobble Farm, the Gorillas remembered their four key poses, tree, dog, bee, and worm (snake), to work on their back muscles, balancing skills, and relaxation. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

We are in the middle of making some big changes to our nursery provision to reflect the success of our Reggio Emilia areas and to further our passion for outdoor learning. Please read the weekly update to make sure you are in the know. And have a great weekend!