​This week we have been making the final preparations for Easter.  Our Easter tree was covered in lovely decorations made by the children and seasonal pictures have been produced featuring Easter bunnies, eggs and spring flowers.
 
Jolly Jo sessions were very energetic with the children pretending to be jungle animals exploring the main hall in a jungle adventure.   They crept through the undergrowth using binoculars to identify dangers and interesting jungle features. 
 
The children enjoyed a lively game of an egg and spoon race where they had the added challenge of standing and sitting whilst balancing an egg.
 
We made Easter nests with rice krispies, chocolate and small Easter eggs, decorated with small yellow chicks.
 
The corner of the room was turned into a vegetable shop this week and the children enjoyed making lists, counting out money and identifying vegetables to sell.
 
The Squirrels garden is still covered in leaves from the Autumn and  the children decided to clear them up using small wheelbarrows and trolleys.  This activity kept them occupied for much  of the week and they had a lovely time counting them and looking at shapes whilst trying to identify similar shapes and matching patterns.
 
Another very popular activity in the garden this week was when an obstacle course was created, and the children challenged each other to complete it in one direction followed by another.
 
The term ended on Thursday with the Easter Fayre.  We appreciate the efforts of all the people in Joanne's  team who made it such a success and over £240 was raised to buy new equipment for the children (details on this will follow next term).  There were some delightful Easter bonnets and also some lovely colourful entries to the colouring competition. The Fayre ended with a surprise visitor in the garden.  From the window we could see a white Easter bunny hiding things around the garden.  When the children were finally allowed to go outside there ensued a very lively Easter egg hunt where all the children received a chocolate egg.
 
Words we have learned this week:
 
Parade (Easter bonnet)
 
Spring (looking at features in the environment to identify spring)

Ideas to continue this weeks fun at home:

Make your own chocolate Easter nests.  
 
Have an Easter egg hunt using clues to help find them.  Clues can be as simple as warmer, colder etc.  Alternatively draw a map to identify hiding places or use language such as on top, below, underneath, beside etc.
 
Fiona, Anita, Karen, Gill, Julie, Jo, Kelly, Helen and Mel would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter holiday and look forward to seeing you back on Tuesday 12th April

We have had quite an active week as the weather begins to improve and there is more opportunity to spend longer in the garden.  In recognition of Sport relief, we created an obstacle course in the garden, giving the children opportunities to jump, crawl, bend and balance their way around  Other sporting activities have included playing hopscotch, chasing hula hoops, throwing balls under and over arm and balancing bean bags on the head.  Throwing balls into nets created a fun way to support hand eye co-ordination.
 
This week we welcomed Rebecca into the setting for a weeks work experience.  She quickly became very popular with the children and she was very helpful in reading stories and playing games.  In fact more than one child announced that Rebecca was their “best friend”.  Praise indeed!
 
We have been busy making Easter cards and bags which you will be seeing this week as they bring them home.
 
As a science experiment on Wednesday some of the children tried Chromatography.  The children drew a circle of pen on kitchen roll and then used a pipette to add a drop of water.  This created a very impressive effect and these are displayed on the wall next to the craft table if you would like to see them.  We will be carrying on with this during the coming week to give everyone a chance to try it.
 
Positional language can be tricky for children to understand so we have been practising placing objects under, over, beside, on top and underneath chairs to help the children to understand the language of positioning.
 
The marble run continues to be a very popular activity as the children love to create a really long and complicated run for the marbles to travel down.  The results can be quite a feat of engineering as we try to puzzle out different way to extend the structures.
 
Next week is our last week of term and so we will be very busy with Easter and Spring activities which will all come together for the Easter Fayre on Thursday.  We hope to see you all there.
 
Words we have learned this week:
 
·         Chromatography
 
·         Underneath (positional language)
 
Ideas to continue this weeks fun at home:
 
Try chromatography – see above
 
Begin to create your own Easter tree.  Collect a large branch and paint it in spring colours.  Place it in a garden pot and help your child decorate with painted card Easter eggs, chicks, rabbit etc.
 
 

​This week we have been looking at how people help us in our lives by the work that they do, or by simply caring about us.  We began by encouraging the children to draw round each other to use as a human template.  We then decided what kind of people help us and painted the outlines to represent this.  The children came up with crossing patrol workers, firefighters doctors and mummy.  We discussed in what ways these people helped us in our lives and the results have been displayed around the room.
 
In a continuation of this theme we have welcomed visitors into the setting this week to talk about their jobs and what they do.
 
On Wednesday we were visited by a doctor who allowed the children to listen to their heartbeat with her stethoscope.  This theme was continued throughout the week in the role play area which was turned into a hospital and and then a doctors surgery.
 
On Thursday there was great excitement when we were visited by the Blue watch firefighters.  They came into the setting and talked about their clothing and equipment.  The children enjoyed seeing Julie dressed as a firefighter while the fireman explained what each piece was for.  The children were then allowed in small groups to go an sit in the fire engine in the car park and to operate the hose.  Sadly the visit was cut short by a real “shout” when the fire-engine was called to a real emergency.  Sirens blaring the firefighters left Squirrels and we went back indoors to create a thank you card for them.
 
Other activities this week have included, icing biscuits, playing ring games, assault course, maching colours, looking at textures, making playdough, finger painting, gloop and creating patterns with Knex.
 
The children have been enjoying guessing games with “What's in the box?”.  We place small toys or objects such as a pencil in the box and the children have to guess what is inside from a series of clues.  This is a great way to introduce new describing words to develop language as well as developing perception, memory and the thought process.
 
Words we have learned this week:
 
·         Hose
 
·         emergency
 
Ideas to continue this weeks fun at home:
 
Using a large piece of paper or the back of some old wallpaper (often samples in DIY stores), draw round your child and encourage them to draw on details such as facial features and clothes to represent any professions such as policeman, firefighter, doctor etc.
 
Create your own “What's in the Box” game using small objects.  If you can't find a box, drape a tea-towel over a tray with objects underneath and use clues to guess what is hiding there.
 
 
 
 

​This week we have been celebrating world book week by reading stories, making our own books and thinking of new words to describe things. 
 
On Tuesday we were delighted to welcome Joanne from Little Squirrels into the setting to read some of her favourite stores.  The children love to welcome new people in to our sessions and are always excited to listen to stories.  Marvin our persona doll also attended some of the story sessions this week and the children enjoyed sharing their ideas with him.
 
Jolly Jo sessions included playing tag rugby, throwing balls into pots, throwing a ball using under and over actions and chasing hula hoops.
 
We have a variety of matching card games and the children love playing these and trying to outsmart the adults (they usually succeed).
 
We have been cooking on quite a few occasions lately and the children are very good at remembering the ingredients and predicting how the mixtures for cakes or biscuits change in texture dependent on what is added.  We hope to try many different recipes over the coming weeks.
 
On Wednesday the garden was flooded and we were unable to get outside in the afternoon.  We decided to clear the room and get out the climbing frame.  The children were very good at lining up to take turns to negotiate climbing up, stepping across and sliding down the other side.  Later on  we covered the frame to make a cosy den and this remained out for the rest of the week.
 
The children tend to naturally create dens in various areas of the room and are extremely inventive in creating a cosy area.  We often discover two of three children under a table having a tea party or sheltering from a storm.
 
On Friday we made gloop which is a mixture of cornflour and water.  This creates a fascinating texture that is both watery and yet solid at the same time and can be moulded under the water.  Try it!!
 
We had fun this week making our own books with coloured card and paper.  The children were able to create pictures to tell their own stories and share them with their friends.  This is a lovely way to develop imagination and encourage the joy of reading.
 
Words we have learned this week:
·         Gloop
·         Describe
 
Ideas to continue this weeks fun at home:
 
Make your own gloop (recipe on website)
 
Help your child to make their own book with folded card or paper and encourage them to dictate a story for you to write down.  They can then illustrate the story and you can read it back together.