It’s the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeear….

Gibbons – …there’ll be parties all week, full of toddlers and treats, and lots of good cheeeer! Except, perhaps, for those Gibbons who weren’t too keen on braving that journey to Santa Claus as he (well, he was a she who did a wonderful job) handed out presents during the Gibbon Christmas party, but they enjoyed their gifts nonetheless. All our parties featured festive snacks, a visit and a story from Santa (played by three of our wonderful parents), and game time. The Gibbons played Bauble bowling, knocking down ice cubes (foam blocks) with tree baubles. Then they had a peek in the Gibbons’ Christmas stocking and to find an assortment of items like necklaces and bracelets. Their Christmas decoration for the week was salt dough ornaments and they’ve been practicing “Christmas Pudding” for next week’s mulled wine evening. Speaking of singing, Paula has been teaching them German songs, Fuchs du hast die Ganz gestohlen (something about a fox), Pipi Langstrumpf (Pippi Longstocking) to which they were all utterly enamoured. The small world area has had a bit of a chill this week as it became an icy pond with tin foil, cotton wool, flour, foam ice cubes and baubles. There’s nothing like warm oats on a frosty morning to get you going, but this week, the Gibbons just enjoyed filling containers with dry oats. Occasionally doing more scattering than filling, but it’s all a part of the experience.

Baboons – If you’re ever wondering what exciting game/resources to have at your child’s party, give toilet roll a try. The Baboons’ Christmas party looked like an Andrex commercial gone off the rails, but as you’ll see from the photos, the kids had an absolute blast. For the snowman game, the Baboons wrapped Alex and Sinead up in toilet roll, added a few decorations and voila! Snowladies. This, of course, meant that when they broke free there was plenty of “snowball” fighting to be had and snow angels to be made. Our beautiful lemon conservatory floor was nowhere to be seen. Their second game was Pin the Nose on Rudolph. The children were blindfolded and guided to Rudolph to see if they put his nose where it was supposed to be. No easy feat. The Baboons have continued with their colour sorting skills this week in the dance room. They threw coloured bean bags from a distance, trying to get as close to their target as possible. They also matched coloured balls to their cones and played musical cones. When they music stopped, they quickly had to find the cone and wait till the music started up again. There are certain smells that really go with this time of year so it was only right that the Baboons enjoyed some cinnamon scented playdough. Using cutlery, they sliced pieces from their piles, added objects to create pizzas, and some just liked putting their nose to the dough and having a good sniff.

It’s the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeear….

Gibbons – …there’ll be parties all week, full of toddlers and treats, and lots of good cheeeer! Except, perhaps, for those Gibbons who weren’t too keen on braving that journey to Santa Claus as he (well, he was a she who did a wonderful job) handed out presents during the Gibbon Christmas party, but they enjoyed their gifts nonetheless. All our parties featured festive snacks, a visit and a story from Santa (played by three of our wonderful parents), and game time. The Gibbons played Bauble bowling, knocking down ice cubes (foam blocks) with tree baubles. Then they had a peek in the Gibbons’ Christmas stocking and to find an assortment of items like necklaces and bracelets. Their Christmas decoration for the week was salt dough ornaments and they’ve been practicing “Christmas Pudding” for next week’s mulled wine evening. Speaking of singing, Paula has been teaching them German songs, Fuchs du hast die Ganz gestohlen (something about a fox), Pipi Langstrumpf (Pippi Longstocking) to which they were all utterly enamoured. The small world area has had a bit of a chill this week as it became an icy pond with tin foil, cotton wool, flour, foam ice cubes and baubles. There’s nothing like warm oats on a frosty morning to get you going, but this week, the Gibbons just enjoyed filling containers with dry oats. Occasionally doing more scattering than filling, but it’s all a part of the experience.

Baboons – If you’re ever wondering what exciting game/resources to have at your child’s party, give toilet roll a try. The Baboons’ Christmas party looked like an Andrex commercial gone off the rails, but as you’ll see from the photos, the kids had an absolute blast. For the snowman game, the Baboons wrapped Alex and Sinead up in toilet roll, added a few decorations and voila! Snowladies. This, of course, meant that when they broke free there was plenty of “snowball” fighting to be had and snow angels to be made. Our beautiful lemon conservatory floor was nowhere to be seen. Their second game was Pin the Nose on Rudolph. The children were blindfolded and guided to Rudolph to see if they put his nose where it was supposed to be. No easy feat. The Baboons have continued with their colour sorting skills this week in the dance room. They threw coloured bean bags from a distance, trying to get as close to their target as possible. They also matched coloured balls to their cones and played musical cones. When they music stopped, they quickly had to find the cone and wait till the music started up again. There are certain smells that really go with this time of year so it was only right that the Baboons enjoyed some cinnamon scented playdough. Using cutlery, they sliced pieces from their piles, added objects to create pizzas, and some just liked putting their nose to the dough and having a good sniff.

Friday saw a lovely visit to Nature Kids with Sinead and Alex with Louise digging away in the background! They smelt essential oils, studied minibeasts, did a bit of bug hotel filling (an ongoing project) and drew some pine cones and conkers – whilst getting lots of fresh air. Fab.

Gorillas – Taking a page out of the Baboon book (and some of that leftover toilet roll), the Gorillas also enjoyed a “snowy” Christmas party. Not only did they wrap Nishat and Sarah in snow blankets, but they also had a snowball and spoon race (like egg and spoon but with snowballs). The winner was the team to fill their cup with snowballs first. But don’t slip on the ice. The Gorillas have really been paying attention to their environment and using various items as measurement tools i.e. stacking blocks to reach their heights, using rulers, marking length on bits of paper, etc. Some of the Gorillas this week have learned the finer points of the game Jenga, not least of all managing frustration and disappointment as we all know Jenga is a nail biter of a game. They made great efforts in not knocking over that tower. The Gorillas have also been playing phonics games, looking for items that matched the sound while the phonics songs played. The Gorillas have been very interested in investigating what objects in the room are or aren’t magnetic. They discovered the radiators, chair legs, real coins, metal jugs, cutlery, and the art rack all give their magnets that satisfying pull and click. Aaaaah.

– Taking a page out of the Baboon book (and some of that leftover toilet roll), the Gorillas also enjoyed a “snowy” Christmas party. Not only did they wrap Nishat and Sarah in snow blankets, but they also had a snowball and spoon race (like egg and spoon but with snowballs). The winner was the team to fill their cup with snowballs first. But don’t slip on the ice. The Gorillas have really been paying attention to their environment and using various items as measurement tools i.e. stacking blocks to reach their heights, using rulers, marking length on bits of paper, etc. Some of the Gorillas this week have learned the finer points of the game Jenga, not least of all managing frustration and disappointment as we all know Jenga is a nail biter of a game. They made great efforts in not knocking over that tower. The Gorillas have also been playing phonics games, looking for items that matched the sound while the phonics songs played. The Gorillas have been very interested in investigating what objects in the room are or aren’t magnetic. They discovered the radiators, chair legs, real coins, metal jugs, cutlery, and the art rack all give their magnets that satisfying pull and click. Aaaaah.