We have been continuing our theme of Chinese New Year and talking about family celebrations.  Children have made more hats, lanterns and red lucky bags.  Some have made money trees using their handprints and coin rubbings.  Others have helped to make a giant dragon picture using paints, tissue paper and ribbons.  On Tuesday Joline’s mummy came to Squirrels and made us some lovely Chinese dumplings for us all to share.  She also brought in some beautiful red and gold decorations which Joline’s family use to decorate their house during Chinese New Year.  We  made a Chinese celebration cake and ate some at snack time. We have been reading the story of The 3 little Pigs each day this week.  We have looked at the different materials the pigs used to build their houses, straw, sticks and bricks and the children have helped to tell the story and act it out.  We have talked about how strong the bricks were and how they would have been stuck together using cement to make the house nice and safe. Leo continues his sports on Monday afternoons; the children very much look forward to him coming.  We have also tried some sports games in Squirrels room where the children divide into small groups and compete against each other.  They have been practising naming and matching colours and throwing and catching a ball.  It has also been good for them to practise joining the back of the line rather than pushing in. ‘What’s in the box’ is always very popular with small groups of children and is something you may like to try at home.  All you need is a box with a lid and some small toys or objects to place inside.  You can make it as easy or difficult as you like, giving them clues for the object/toy chosen.  When they guess the object/toy you can spend some time talking about it.  The children can then take a turn at hiding their own choice of toy/object in the box and asking you to guess it.  Have fun!   

This week we have begun talking about Chinese New Year (year of the
horse).  The children have made all sorts of things such as Chinese hats,
lanterns, fans and horses.  They have looked at willow pattern
plates which tell a story and have made up their own stories on their paper
plates.  We made a dragons head and the children stood in a line to form
the dragon’s body.  A red cover was draped over them and they moved round
the room to the dragon dance music.  We had rice and noodles at snack time
and tried using chopsticks.  We will continue with more Chinese
themes next week.
 
On Monday afternoon the children split into 2 groups and had great fun
participating in sports in the big hall with Leo.
 
We have been reading the story of Little Red Riding Hood each day and the
children have taken turns to act as the characters in the story.  We also
had a visit from Mrs Mitchell, one of the teachers at Highwoods school who
read one of her Charlie Bear stories to us. 
 
We have made play dough and baked cakes together. On Thursday we made
an obstacle course indoors as it was raining heavily.  We used the
climbing frame, the balancing beams and some hoops.  Some of us have had
turns using the programmable Beebot, making it travel forwards and
backwards.
 
Thank you to everyone who has returned their questionnaire.  It
would be wonderful if everyone could return theirs by the end of next
week 
 
Thank you 

This week at Squirrels was ‘bring a box’ week and we are pleased to
say that many children did just that!  Thank you for talking to your
children and discussing what they would like to make with their boxes. 
They have come up with some brilliant ideas including lots of different animals,
beds, houses robots, fairies, bags, vehicles and even London bridge! 
Hopefully you will be able to continue this even further at home with your child
- maybe take some photos and bring them in to show us.
If anyone has access to a supply of large boxes big enough for children to
sit in we would love to hear from you.  Also shoebox size boxes or bigger
would be great for the children to build with so please ask your friends and
family and see what you can come up with. 
 
We have been continuing with the Gruffalo story again and learning some of
the rhyming words.  We went on a Gruffalo hunt in the garden looking all
around for signs he may have been out there.  We made some masks so that we
could pretend we were the animals in the story. 
 
We used the large lego blocks and waffle bricks to make bridges, trains,
tunnels, chairs and cages for the animals.  The children are getting very
good at making balancing areas in the garden using planks and blocks, logs and
tyres.  We made a bowling alley using the fences, skittles and
balls. 
 
On Friday we made biscuits and ate them together at snack time. 
We ended the week by getting out the climbing frame where we were able to
practise our climbing skills.
 
Questionnaires have gone out to parents this week.  If you haven’t
received one (it should be in your child’s drawer) please let a member of staff
know.  Please fill it in as soon as possible and return to Squirrels.
 
Many thanks and have a lovely weekend

Welcome back to a new term at Squirrels.  This week we have been
reading the Gruffalo book and looking at the animals who appear in the
story.  Some of the children have painted and drawn pictures of the
animals, some have tried to describe an animal and others have guessed
what the animal could be from the clues given.  By the end of the week some
of the children were organising their friends, collecting the animals and
telling the story themselves.  We will be continuing this story next week
and looking with interest to see how it develops.
 
We have been exploring how sounds can be changed by playing our musical
instruments fast, slow, louder, softer. We used hand bells, chime bars,
rainmakers, shakers and tambourines. 
 
We have mixed ingredients together to make playdough and when it was cooked
we made lots of cakes, biscuits and different shapes with it.  Lots of
children liked the pirate ships and people as well as the dolls house.  On
Wednesday many children dressed up to go to the ‘ball’.  They acted
out going to the hairdressers then they were ready to dance.  They chose to
dance to some One Direction music and this was followed by some light
refreshments as they were hungry and thirsty after using up so much
energy. 
 
On Thursday a group of children looked at the big book about zoo animals as
one of them had been to the zoo the previous day.  This may
well be continued next week when we have our ‘bring a box’ week. 
Boxes could be used to make houses, beds, cages, vehicles etc for the
animals.  The good thing about a box is you can make it in to so many
different things!  Please don’t forget to bring your box (any size) and
remind your friends to bring theirs too. 
 
On Friday the weather was drier and brighter and the children played
outside, making a balancing area.  They played games with the skittles and
balls and practised some jumping.
 
Have a great weekend and please make sure you tell us all about it by using
the home/pre-school diary.