Week beginning 23rd June

Again we have spent much of our time outside making the most of our very versatile outdoor area.  We asked the children to help us build a road layout and they used the tyres, crates and planks to do this.  When this was complete the children were each asked to make their own driving licence at the mark making table.  They drew pictures of themselves and wrote their names and then they were able to select a vehicle to use on our new road layout.  When the whistle blew they had to return their vehicles to the holding area where they could swap them with someone else.  They had to show their driving licence each time they chose a new vehicle.  Some of the boys made a garage workshop where they repaired the cars and another group made a car cleaning area.

We had singing in our log circle where we used hazel sticks to make music.  We made lots of flowers and signs for our flower shop and then puppets for a puppet show.  The puppet show had numbered seats so the children had to match their ticket numbers to the correct seat.  Lots of 'food' was mixed and 'cooked' in the mud kitchen and some girls made a 'rock' shop.  Some children made their own picture postcards and grass seed heads and we visited many places on our magic carpet.

Our first butterfly hatched this week!  We are looking forward to the next ones and will then observe them for a few days before we release them in the garden.  We will feed them on fruit and sugar syrup.    

The week ended with our annual trip to Highwoods Country Park where children and adults took part in pond dipping, a minibeast hunt and some sensory activities.  The children all did very well walking to and from the Visitors Centre.