It’s been all hands on deck this week in support of Children in Need and even the Chimps lended their culinary talents to make raspberry and plum jam with Caz, which has sold very quickly, yum yum. Old Macdonald had a farm… and the Chimps not only sang about them, they also got to play with a few of his farm animals in their song bag. Washing and keeping things clean is a big part of our day and the Chimps this week have opened up their very own car wash and given their cars a good scrub and a clean. Since the welly boots have been out in full force this week, the Chimps have been doing a bit of mark making with welly boot prints on paper. They have had rather a lot of fun with the shave foam this week as they threw a tea party and stirred (mostly banged) their spoons in their cups and cleaned up their spills. The team put all our empty milk bottles to good use as they cut out parts so the children could pull materials and push blocks through. They put their concentration faces on as they tried to twist and turn the bottle lids off and on. For music and movement, the Chimps got right down into the groove as they danced with pom-poms and ribbons. We can already spot a few head bangers. Stay cool Chimps
The Howlers have also fancied a bit of ribbon dancing this week to the sweet island vibe of reggae. Of course, they have been preparing for this week for months so the Howlers were truly adept at making their tomato chutneys for our Children in Need fundraiser. They also had a go at yummy focaccia, which is a soft Italian bread similar to pizza, for our Children in Need Juicy, Fruity Tea party on Friday and it was as good as it sounds. In the sand tray they have had to dig around to find their magnets and then gave them a nice clean in their water tray. The bouncing water beads were back and the Howlers loved squeezing and bouncing them around in paint. Their small world played host to two very different animal environments: the desert and the farm and they particularly enjoyed walking their desert animals through the sandy terrain. For those that preferred a bit of malleable play, the play dough was out this week in all its glittery, colourful glory and with all this fruit and vegetable on the brain, they couldn’t resist having a go at modelling some fruit and veg of their own.
Can you tell the difference between a sparrow and a hummingbird just by listening? Well the Baboons have turned their listening ears all the way up to listen to the sounds of a rather large variety of animals. Who knew a whale could be mistaken for a cow? In the small world area, there’s been a woody, leafy, dinosaur land and those sneaky dinosaurs managed to make their way into the Baboons’ paint tray and leave their tracks along their papers. Messy dinosaurs. They also used the dinosaur figures to inspire their collage sticking this week and give their creations some form. Their contribution to our Children in Need fundraiser was pumpkin and apple jam and they handled scooping out the pumpkin much better this time round. They also made their own pita bread for our tea party. Their role play was the post office and the Baboons practiced their job skills by delivering shape sorter mail to their friends, who were then tasked with opening the envelopes and finding the corresponding shape on their mail in the room. There are some very keen eyes in the Baboon room as they had no trouble finding their block shapes. In the garden, the children have been working together to complete the obstacle course and even set their own challenge of moving round individual tyres together as a team. At the painting table, the Baboons had a go working with paint palettes and took a great interest in watching the powder turn to paint and mixing the colours together. Hmmmm, little Matisses and Picassos in the making.
No healthy, fruity, chutney sale would be complete without a bit of marmalade and the Gorillas stepped up to the challenge for Children in Need. They used all their culinary skills to create some wonderfully flavoured and vibrantly coloured chutneys. There was also a great deal of talk about equalities and helping others in need, supporting their understanding of what we have been doing all week for the cause. In the writing area they have been connecting the dots to their names and then copying them down freehand. For music and movement, the Gorillas loved the honoured classic, the Macarena (yep, they really did), which is actually a great support for their coordination and gross motor skills. They had the houses and little people out and pretended they were going to school and on holiday etc. and thought about all the things they would need. They created their own teddy bears picnic and dished out plates, cups and food – they even ‘chilled’ with the teddies and pretended to give them a cuddle and watch television. They have used the wonderful classic Billy Goat’s Gruff as a starting point for a ‘walking the line’ game – where they pretended to cross a bridge and, well, balance along curved and straight lines! A few of the boys made houses for their favourite toys out of replica bricks and they mixed sand with paint to create textured paintings. They did lots of dot-to-dot pictures and letters and were very proud of their creations.
We want to thank you all for your support for the Children In Need Week. We raised about £200 (not £100 as it said in the Argus) but we will wait for the last few jars of chutney to go before we send the money in – they are still in the lobby downstairs so please do buy them. Oh and there are pictures on the Argus website of the day, plus a humiliating video of us, the team (well it was in the name of charity at least). There are also masses of photos of your adorable children at our tea party in the gallery section of this site x
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