What a busy final week of term it has been.  On Monday and Tuesday we practised the nativity and our Christmas songs and made some final Christmas cards and crafts.

Wednesday was the day of the Nativity.  The children were brilliant and we were very proud of them.  We were joined at just 24 hours notice by Catherine the pianist who accompanied the children beautifully.

The nativity was followed by the Christmas fayre and we raised nearly £400.  The final total is yet to be announced as bits of money come in from extra sales of photographs and children's place-mats.

On Thursday morning we were joined by Karen and Glenda, from St Luke’s Church, who came in to help us make a Christingle.  A Christingle is a symbolic object used in the advent services of many Christian denominations.  An orange is used to represent the world and it is decorated with sweets and a candle.  The children and many of their parents created some lovely Christingles and enjoyed the story that Karen told us of the meaning of Christmas.

Friday was the last day of term and we enjoyed a lively party which began with an hours entertainment by Magic Iain.  He did a wonderful job in keeping the children entertained and we were all sorry when it came to an end.  The children were all given a balloon hat and then we began the party food which was very kindly donated by parents and carers and prepared by a few mums (Thank you to all those who helped!!).  After the party food there was the sound of a ringing bell and we welcomed in our surprise visitor – Father Christmas.  The children all received a gift and then it was time to go home.

This has brought us to the end of term and we look forward to seeing you all on January 4th 2016

It just leaves us to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and to thank you for all your kind gifts, cards and good wishes.

Love from

Fiona, Anita, Karen, Gill, Julie, Jo, Kelly, Helen and Mel

This week we have been practising our scissor skills by cutting up cards to make pictures and cutting out snowflakes to hang in the windows. 

The Advent calendar has been opened each day and the children have been given a small activity treat.  These have included a large game of snakes and ladders, singing favourite songs and dancing, and chasing bubbles in the garden.

On Thursday Highwoods primary school invited us to the dress rehearsal of their nativity.  The Squirrels children were so well behaved, and were fascinated to see the older children's performance. 

Geo gears has been a very popular activity this week.  This consists of a variety of different  colour cogs and wheels and fittings.  The children are able to build different systems and then by turning a handles each wheel moves in a different direction.

Words we have learned this week:

Cog and Wheels

Gears

​Ideas to continue this weeks’ fun at home:
 
Practising the songs for our Nativity on Wednesday.

This week we have continued to work on our Christmas craft and you will be able to see all of our wonderful efforts at the end of the week when we begin to give out the craft folders in time for Christmas.
 
We produced some wonderful pictures this week by rolling a marble in paint inside a Pringles tube lined with paper.  These will be used as part of our Christmas craft so look out for them in your folders.
 
On Tuesday there was great excitement at Squirrels.  The curtains were closed and yet we could hear all sorts of magical noises in the garden.  Eventually the curtains were opened to reveal the surprise.  The elves had visited us and decorated our Christmas grotto.  (Photographs are on Facebook).  We went outside to investigate and play some Christmas games.  We changed the words to many of our old favourites.  “The farmers in his den” became “Santa's in his grotto”.  “Here we go round the mulberry bush” became “Here we go round the Christmas tree”, and many more.
 
Jolly Jo got the children to chase soft balls around and then to match them with the appropriate colour hoop.  This proved to be a really fun way to identify and match colours.  Chasing a rugby ball proved to be quite a challenge as the ball jumps here and there and you have to try and predict what way it will travel next.
 
Tuesday was the first of December so we began our advent calendar.  The children have been asked over the past few weeks what they would like to do as a special treat each day.  These ideas have been written on card and placed in the advent tree.  Each day one is taken out and we play that game.  They vary from singing favourite songs to dancing or playing with a particular toy.

Words we have learned this week:
 
Advent
​
​​Grotto

Ideas to continue this weeks fun at home
 
Try and change the words to some favourite songs.  It is a fun way to look at language, rhyming and the structure of the written word.

This week we have focussed our activities on National Road Safety Week.  We began with a discussion about what the dangers are on the road and what we could do to make ourselves safe.  We made traffic light pictures by drawing around circle shapes and painting them in traffic light colours.  We talked about what the colours meant and later on we were able to use them in our car game in the garden.  The children are getting very good at stopping when a red shape is held up and moving on when a green shape replaces it.  Small groups of children were taken for a short walk around the Highwoods area to identify where they might find the Zebra crossing and to talk about how to safely cross the road.  We were impressed by how they listened to instructions and were very sensible.

Craft activities were also focussed on traffic.  The children rolled out a large sheet of paper, put small cars in trays of paint and wheeled them along to create a road pattern.  They then made some individual road signs which was a great opportunity to think about some of the signs we see every day.  This is not only helpful for road safety but shows the children how the written word can be recognised and read.  Most of the children will point out familiar signs such as Tescos and they are delighted when we tell them that they are reading.

We created  a large lollipop lady by drawing round one of the children and then painted on her clothes.  We added a large road safety “lollipop” and then displayed her in the squirrels room.  This sparked a lively discussion about crossing the road safely and we suggested that the children could watch out for lollipop men or women when they are out walking or having to stop in the car.

Christmas activities continue as we work on our display for the Squirrels room. 
We welcomed a mum into the setting this week when she came in to help us and to play with the children.  We always welcome visits from parents or grandparents or carers and the children love to have new people in to join with the fun and games.

Words we have learned this week:

Traffic

Stop – Go - Wait

Ideas to continue this weeks fun at home:

Go on a “road safety walk” in your local area.  See how many road signs you can spot and identify  Are the in a triangle or a circle?  Can you find a zebra crossing?  What do you do when you approach one?