This week we have continued to build on becoming familiar with our learning environment, working beautifully with other members of our crew, and treating our resources with respect. It has been lovely to see our crew being kind during choosing time.
Crew Godley have been exploring the important topic of water safety, learning how to stay safe in and around different water environments such as pools, rivers, and the sea. Through discussion and research, we developed an understanding of potential hazards, the importance of supervision, and how to respond in an emergency. To apply their learning, crew worked collaboratively to design informative posters aimed at younger year groups, focusing on clear messages, simple language, and eye-catching visuals to communicate key safety advice effectively. This project not only raised awareness of water safety but also helped us develop creativity and communication skills, while taking responsibility for promoting the wellbeing of others.
This week, Crew Frost were given another exciting opportunity to take part in a PE session with Legacy. The children showed fantastic enthusiasm and engagement throughout the session as they developed a range of important physical and social skills through team games and ball activities.
The stages of learning were carefully scaffolded to support the children’s understanding and confidence. We first began by practising simple rolling skills, working in teams to roll the ball back and forth to one another. Once the children became more confident, we moved on to practising aiming and throwing the balls at pins to score points for their teams, helping to develop hand-eye coordination, control, and turn-taking skills.
Finally, the children were introduced to bats and learned about the role of a bowler, including fetching the ball after it had been hit. The children absolutely loved this part of the activity and showed great excitement as they explored the different roles within the game. It was wonderful to see many of the children making links to their own past experiences and confidently talking about games and sports they have played before.
Activities like these help to build important skills for Reception, including listening and attention, following instructions, teamwork, coordination, and resilience. We were incredibly proud of the children’s amazing listening skills, positive attitudes, and encouragement towards one another throughout the session. Well done, Crew Frost!
Last week, the children were busy developing and strengthening their balancing skills through a fun and exciting physical development activity. Together, we created our very own “bridges” to carefully walk across whilst making sure to stay away from the sharks underneath!
The children absolutely loved this activity and showed fantastic levels of concentration and determination as they carefully balanced their way across. It was wonderful to see the children naturally using their arms to support their balance and thinking carefully about how to move their bodies safely and with control. Activities like this are so important for developing core strength, coordination, spatial awareness, and overall gross motor skills, which all support children’s physical development and readiness for writing.
What made the activity even more special was watching the children encourage, motivate, and help one another as they took turns crossing the bridges. Crew Frost showed fantastic resilience when things felt tricky and demonstrated such kindness and teamwork throughout the activity. We are so proud of the way the children supported each other whilst building their confidence and physical skills. Well done, Crew Frost!
This week, Crew McGlone have been focusing on the story of ‘Storm Dragon’ by Dianne Hofmeyr. We have really enjoyed taking part in a sensory story to help support us with the structure and sequencing of events in the story.
Our writing this week saw us create ‘I can see’ sentences using a stimulus of a depiction of the storm dragon. We talked about the different parts of the storm dragon we could see, some of us even challenged ourselves by adding in some detail to our sentences to give a clearer description. We even used our sentence building knowledge in provision when drawing our own pictures.
We have also absolutely LOVED using our imagination and leading our own learning when accessing provision – we have created shelters to protect us from the storm, large scale models of the storm dragon, small world scenes of the story, created our own role play sensory story, made a collaborative collage dragon, made models out of playdough, made our own spyglasses to search for storm dragons, and lots of things in between!
Last week, our nursery children took part in their very first PE session, marking an exciting step in their learning journey as they begin to prepare for transition into Reception. This experience supported key areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage, particularly Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
The children showed fantastic listening skills as they followed instructions from Mr S, demonstrating growing confidence in responding to adult guidance. They were also increasingly aware of boundaries and space while using the field, which is an important aspect of developing both safety awareness and self-regulation.
It was wonderful to see the children engaging so enthusiastically in a range of activities, including dancing and group games. These experiences not only helped to develop their coordination and movement skills, but also encouraged teamwork, turn-taking and building positive relationships with their peers.
The session was thoroughly enjoyed by all, and we are very much looking forward to watching the children continue to grow in confidence and skill during future PE sessions.
Today, Crew Frost continued their Easter-themed learning—with a mathematical twist! This week, we have been focusing on number recognition and touch counting as part of our early maths development.
The children were encouraged to count out the correct number of rabbits for each hutch. This supported their understanding of matching quantity to number, which is a key aspect of the EYFS Maths area of learning.
During the activity, the children worked both collaboratively and independently, developing their confidence as well as their communication and language skills. We also saw lots of perseverance and problem-solving as they checked and corrected their counting.
Using their “pinchy fingers” to pick up the rabbits helped to strengthen their fine motor skills, supporting Physical Development—an important foundation for later writing.
Furthermore, as the children develop positive attitudes towards maths through play this makes us so proud as a Crew. Well done, Crew Frost—we are so proud of the fantastic learning we are seeing and can’t wait to watch your confidence in maths continue to grow!
This week the children have loved using the mud kitchen to build on their imaginative skills while making magic potions. It was such a lovely activity where the children enjoyed making up their own potion songs while they played. They used various plants and flowers to make their potions smell nice and explored the different changes in texture and colours as they mixed everything together.
All the actions involved, such as stirring, pouring and splatting, were fantastic for developing their fine motor skills. Larger movements, such as lifting, mixing and reaching, also help to support their gross motor development and build their core muscle strength.
The role play that took place during this activity was wonderful to see, as the children worked together, shared ideas and built on their friendships. It was also a great opportunity to encourage positive behaviours and teamwork while they created their magical mixtures.
Well done, Crew Frost! I wonder wha we will create next.
Crew Frost have had a wonderful week exploring all areas of our provision! It has been lovely to see the children so engaged and independent in their play.
This week, many of the children have been particularly interested in developing their small world play, creating different homes and habitats for our animals. Through this, they have been using their imaginations brilliantly and building detailed role-play stories together. This strongly supports their Communication and Language development, as they listened to one another’s ideas, shared their own thoughts, and worked collaboratively to extend their play.
We have also seen fantastic examples of Personal, Social and Emotional Development, with children taking turns, negotiating roles, and working as a team to achieve a shared goal. It has been wonderful to watch their confidence grow as they solved problems together.
In addition, the children really impressed us with their critical thinking and perseverance while experimenting with balancing and manipulating different materials. This hands-on exploration links to both Physical Development(developing control and coordination) and Mathematics, as they explored concepts such as balance, size, and stability through trial and error.
These experiences reflect the EYFS Development Matters guidance by providing meaningful, play-based opportunities for children to think creatively, communicate effectively, and develop resilience.
We value outdoor play in all weathers; however, when the weather requires us to adapt, we enjoy providing creative and engaging alternatives. Today, Crew Frost particularly enjoyed exploring large cardboard boxes arranged throughout the room, using them as a stimulus for imaginative and creative expression.
The children applied their developing fine motor skills with confidence, creating a range of thoughtful and detailed artwork. Some children transferred their final product knowledge into the provision by designing and constructing a hot air balloon, while others drew on their Understanding of the World and awareness of People and Communities to create birthday cakes for their peers.
The children explored a variety of mark-making resources, including felt tips, pencils and chalk. This provided a valuable opportunity to observe and assess their pencil grip development and current stages of fine motor control. The activity was highly engaging and offered a fun and meaningful alternative learning experience.
Beautiful work, Crew Frost.
