Category: Squirrel News

Hedgehogs April News 2016

We would like to welcome Kiera and Misha who have joined the Hedgehogs this month! We would all like to wish Victor a big Happy 2^nd Birthday!

We have had a fantastic month in the Hedgehogs doing a range of fun activities such as messy play, role play, mark making, cognitive play and outdoor and indoor physical play!

Messy Play

This month in messy play our main focus has been sensory and texture play in our large texture tray. The Hedgehogs have enjoyed a wide range of sensory and texture activities to explore such as coloured and glittery sand, wet and dry sand, shaving foam, dry/cooked coloured rice, dry/cooked coloured pasta and spaghetti and jelly. We found that some children were not so keen at touching some of these textures with their hands.  We then made up some texture gloves filled with sensory materials which the children really enjoyed exploring the sensory through the gloves.

Bird Room

The younger Hedgehogs have enjoyed time in the Bird Room exploring with our sensory and treasure baskets. This month’s favourite has been the sensory shakers making lots of different noises and using the activity board to practise standing and climbing.

Tree Room

We have enjoyed a range of activities in the Tree Room this month. The older Hedgehogs have enjoyed role play in the home corner, exploring with the tea sets and pretend food. We have also enjoyed a range of table top activities such as puzzles, sorting eggs, interlocking stars and the older Hedgehogs have enjoyed some time with the pegs boards, developing their hand-eye coordination.

Outdoor Play

The Hedgehogs have been enjoying getting out in the garden and enjoying the sunshine. We have enjoyed playing lots in the sand, making big sand castles and using the brushes to help sweep up all the sand.  The younger Hedgehogs have enjoyed using the baby walkers in the garden to get around and become more mobile and confident on their feet. We will keep encouraging this indoors and outdoors.

Trips

The Hedgehogs have enjoyed trips out to the Meadows Park and also a nice walk around the Meadows. We also went on a trip with four Hedgehogs to Zoom Club at the Summer Hall where they enjoyed sensory time. We will be taking Hedgehogs to the Zoom club once a month.

 

 

We would like to wish a big Happy Birthday to Matilda who celebrated her 1^st birthday this month and to Remi, Gwion and Alasdair who have celebrated their 2^nd Birthday!

Messy Play

We have had a very fun and messy time in the Animal Room this month. Our main focus has been ‘Five little ducks’ and we have been busy creating duck pictures for our Tree Room display board. We have been using a range of colours, materials, and ducks to make prints using paint and glue to create our own duck art work.  We also enjoyed making our own duck pond by putting blue paint into the water and ducks to swim. The Hedgehogs really enjoyed exploring with the ducks in the pond.

The Hedgehogs have been interested in using objects to make prints with paint and made Easter cards for their parents/carers. We did this by using potato prints using lots of bright colours, mixing them together with the potatoes and making lots of different prints for the Easter cards.

Tree Room

The Hedgehogs have enjoyed a range of activities in the Tree Room this month. The children have had lots of physical play using the ball pool and tunnels and have enjoyed exploring with all the balls in the ball pool and making an obstacle course with the tunnels, crawling in and out of the tunnels.  We also enjoyed making a ‘cosy corner’ with the tents and bean-bags for the children to explore with books and musical instruments.

Outdoor Play

We have been spending lots of time in the garden where our main focus this month was an obstacle course. The Hedgehogs have had lots of fun running around in the garden, using balancing beams to balance on, jumping in and out of tyres and crawling through tunnels. We have also enjoyed getting out and about, with a walk around the Meadows and a trip to the Meadows Park where the children enjoyed running around in a large space playing on the swings and the slide.

 

Hedgehogs News February 2016

We would like to welcome Matilda, Leo, Joachim and Sophie who have started with the Hedgehogs this month.

A big Happy Birthday to Siardus, Fionn and Lara who are all 2 this month.

Role Play

The Hedgehogs have enjoyed a range of role play activities this month. We have rearranged the home corner to a wider and more spacious area for the children to enjoy more role play in a bigger opened space. The Hedgehogs have enjoyed having a ‘picnic’ with their friends around the table in the home corner making cups of tea and having yummy food! We have been showing love and care towards the babies, taking them for walks in buggies, giving cuddles and dressing the babies with clothes & hats all of which is great imaginative role play.

Messy Play

We have enjoyed a range of fun and exciting messy play activities and getting our hands very messy! The Hedgehogs have been exploring paint using objects to make different shapes and prints. We have balls and cars in the paint to roll around the paper making lots of different prints. Some of the children enjoyed just using their hands to make prints, exploring the different textures on their hands.

We also had role play in the messy area with babies in the big texture tubs. The children used soapy water with sponges and cloths to wash the babies and splash in the water.

The children have been getting involved in making play-dough every day, helping to pour and mix all the ingredients together and choosing colours and scents to make scented play-dough. We have been using natural objects in the playdough such as sticks, pinecones, stones and shells to explore with the play-dough.

Outdoor Play

We have been making the most of dry days and having lots of outdoor play. The Hedgehogs have loved playing on our new small ride-on bikes around the garden. We have also been getting out on trips including a walk around the Meadows or a trip to the park to enjoy the space to run around and explore.

 

Hedgehogs News January 2016

We would like to welcome back all of the Hedgehogs who have settled back in very well after the Christmas break.

A big Happy Birthday to Hector who turned 1 and Dasha who turned 2 this month!

The Hedgehogs have enjoyed a range of messy activities this month focusing on pouring and mixing textures together such as shaving foam, sand, oats, shredded paper and water using a range of utensils to pour and mix. The children have also been making lots of coloured and scented playdough, pouring the ingredients into bowls and mixing it together.

The Hedgehogs have enjoyed a range of role play in the home corner exploring with the new kitchen and food. They have also enjoyed dressing up using bags and hats and looking at their own reflection in the mirror. We have also enjoyed role play with the babies and buggies.

The older Hedgehogs have taken an interest in construction play, building towers with blocks, using objects to stack on top of each other and developing their fine motor skills.

As the weather has not been so good this month, on the days we can’t get outside, the Hedgehogs have been doing a range of physical activities indoors such as dancing and group games. The favourite this month is Ring a Ring o’ roses.

As the preschool children go to the Care Home to visit on a Tuesday afternoon, we have started taking two Hedgehogs for a six week block.

Hedgehogs New December 2015

This month the Hedgehogs have enjoyed lots of fun Christmas activities. The children have enjoyed exploring with tinsel and Christmas baubles in our large texture trays.

The Hedgehogs have been very busy and creative this month making lots of cards and gifts for Christmas. They have used lots of arts and crafts materials to decorate with a range of gluing materials and textures, paints, chalk, pens and crayons.

The Hedgehogs had lots of fun at our Christmas party on. The children enjoyed lots of dancing along to Christmas music and fun games. We also had a surprise visit from SANTA! The children loved seeing Santa, we all sang some songs to Santa and got a lovely present.

From all at Meadows Nursery, We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New-year and look forward to welcoming you all back in 2016!

Hedgehogs – November 2015

Welcome to Reuben & Pearl who joined the Hedgehogs in November! Happy Birthday to Dylan who turned one this month and Edith who turned two!

The Hedgehogs have enjoyed lots of messy play activities this month. Due to our new routine, the children are able to explore messy play all throughout the day. We have enjoyed making textured playdough and developing skills by pouring and mixing ingredients. We have also had lots of fun exploring different texture in the messy trays for example:- shaving foam, paint, coloured sand and water, flour, oats, rice and shredded paper. The children loved to explore these with their hands and feet.

The Hedgehogs have really taken an interest in books this month and have really enjoyed listening to stories and looking through the pictures in the books. The children brought in their favourite book from home which they were able to share with friends and listen to the stories at group times. The Hedgehogs have also enjoyed lots of action songs at group time – our favourite this month is ‘Sleeping Bunnies’!

The Younger Hedgehogs are becoming more mobile and starting to pull themselves up on furniture, taking steps and becoming stronger on their feet. They have enjoyed using baby walkers and chairs to be independent and move around inside and outside.

The Hedgehogs have enjoyed making the most of the dry days being outdoors in the garden. We have also enjoyed getting out in the buggies to the library and also going to the park.

Hedgehogs News October 2015

Messy play

This month the Hedgehogs have all had a great time exploring messy play using our senses. We used our hands to explore the sand, gluck, water, oats and more and then used our feet! Lots of us thought this was very funny because the spaghetti and other things tickled our little feet!

We have been doing lots of artwork using Autumn colours this month! When we’re out in the garden we enjoy looking up at the leaves and exploring the texture of the leaves.

Outdoor/Physical Play

We have had lots of fun in the garden exploring with the leaves/collecting leaves to explore with messy play. We have enjoyed throwing and rolling the balls and transferring the balls by rolling them down pipes. The children had lots of fun doing this and taking turns.

We have also enjoyed doing lots of dancing and action activities indoors.

Role play

Some of the children have been very interested in playing in the house corner. They have enjoyed a range of different experiences, including exploring with toy food, playing with the babies and dressing up.

Other play

We have also enjoyed doing puzzles and sorting games with the children. This helps us to develop the children cognitively, improves their fine and gross motor skills and also supports their social development as we play these games as table top activities together.

Hedgehogs & Squirrels – May 2015

Welcome to Will who has started with the Hedgehogs this month! We are all looking forward to getting to know you!

Happy 1st Birthday to Owain and Happy Birthday to Frieda and Sam who turned 2 this month!

We would like to say a big thank you to all the parents who came in to read us stories in their home language. The children sat really well and seemed to enjoy hearing all the different languages!

This month we have been doing lots of mark-making, we especially liked using paint brushes an water to make marks on the chalk board and outside in the garden! We will continue to provide lots of mark-making opportunities both indoors and out!

 

We have also spent lots of time exploring noises this month; we have had lots of fun using the utensils to bang the metal pots and bowls as well as exploring the shakers and musical instruments! We plan to make up a noise treasure basket with lots of exciting noisy objects for the children to explore!

 

We have been becoming more independent this month! Some of our Hedgehogs are now up on their feet and doing really well with their walking while the older Hedgehogs and Squirrels have been doing great at choosing what they would like for snack and helping themselves as well as helping to tidy!

Hedgehogs & Squirrels – April 2015

Welcome to Gwion, Victor, Elsa, Holly and Lucas who all started this month in the Hedgehogs group! We also said a big Happy Birthday to Josh and Victor who both turned 1 this month.

We have enjoyed lots of car play this month! We were rolling them down the ramps in the garden which was very exciting as they went super fast! We were also driving them in the sand pit! We will try some car painting next month to further develop this interest! We will also build up car tracks and draw our own roads using chalk in the garden!

 

 

We also had some water play in the garden on a sunny Friday! We were using the jugs, cups and bowls to pour all the water out! We were also doing lots of splashing in the bubbly water! We will carry this out more now the nicer Summer weather is coming in by providing more messy play in the garden.

Some of us have been promoting our fine motor skills in the playdough by using the pegs, pipe cleaners and spaghetti. We have also liked using the different sized metal bowls in the play dough! We will further promote this by using pasta, buttons and beads.

The Squirrels were working on their problem solving skills with the Gruffalo jigsaws. We all took turns trying to complete the 2, 3, 4 and 5 piece puzzles. We were all very confident at completing the 3 piece one!