Our pre-school has what is known as a ‘child-led’ ethos. This means that we are led by the children’s interests; we observe children and then plan activities or provide resources that link in with this. Observing the children this week, many have favoured our outside space. The large vehicles have been popular, especially the diggers in the mud. The farm has been well played with, with many of the animals stomping, stamping, flying and swooping to the sand pit! The balance beams and crates have created some challenge, with children learning to take turns and wait for others in order to get across. And the trains have been popular, with many children choosing to use the water wall as a make-shift ramp for their trains.
Indoors, the craft table has been busy. Many children have enjoyed exploring the paint with paintbrushes, rollers, stampers and fingers! We encourage children to be independent; so our craft materials, such as glue, paint, paper etc. are all freely accessible. Sometimes this may be a little messy, but it’s all about learning! Children our learning to select what they need for their masterpieces and to create what inspires them most! We hope to get some of these marvellous masterpieces up on the wall next week!
The playdough has been popular all week – we have found a number of nature inspired finds to add to the dough, such as acorns and leaves. The children have found the garden awash with acorns – so we’ve been busy sweeping them up, collecting them in pots, and having fun counting them.
Our story focus has been a book entitled, ‘Owl Babies’. This story describes 3 baby owls that awaken to find that their Mummy has gone! Sarah is happy to assume Mummy has gone hunting and will be back soon. Percy is less sure, and Bill is upset and simply wants Mummy home! Eventually Mummy returns and asks what all the fuss is about – they knew she’d come back! This is a key message for many of our new children – understanding the routine of coming to pre-school and that their Mummy, Daddy, Nanny or Grandad will return to collect them at the end of the day!
Ideas to continue this week’s fun at home: We’ve found lots of acorns in the garden as autumn begins – so why not enjoy your own autumnal walk and see what signs of autumn you can find? What’s happening to the leaves? Are they changing colour yet? Can you find acorns or conkers? You could bring in your finds to show and tell at carpet-time.