Week commencing 10th June 2019:

• Read stories about animals: Noah’s Ark, Owl Babies, Mrs Wishy Washy’s Farm (L)
• Listen to animal sound Lotto (CL)
• Farm themed role play (EAD)
• Make homes for animals using mixed media (EAD, PD)
• Use drawing program on the computer to make animals (UTW)
• Look at videos of eggs hatching. What comes from an egg? (UTW)
• Make animal masks (EAD, PD)
• Make hoof prints using mud and potato print (EAD)
• Sing animal songs (EAD, CL)
• What do animals give us? (UTW)
• Write using feathers (L, CL)

Week commencing 3rd June 2019

• Make farm pictures using tap-a-shape (PD)
• Read ‘Rosies Walk’, ‘Owl Babies’, ‘Little Red Hen’, Noah’s Ark’, ‘Where oh where is Rosies’s chick?’ (L)
• Farm role play area (EAD)
• Link adults with baby animals (UTW)
• What comes out of eggs (UTW)
• Animal games (M)
• How many animals can float on the boat? (UTW)
• Paint rainbow pictures outside (EAD)
• Songs in the water (EAD)

Water play

Revamped digging area

Shape Picture

In our farm role playing area, the animals have got in a bit of a muddle, some of our zoo animals have been mixed up with our farm animals, the adult asks the children if they can help the farmer sort the animals into the correct groups.

Week commencing 20th May 2019:

• Make Fingerprint bugs (EAD, M)
• Read ‘The very lazy ladybird’ and ‘The very greedy Bee” (L)
• Sort bugs into categories, legs/no legs (M)
• Print honeycomb and make a bee (EAD)
• Take photos of mini beasts that we find (UTW)
• Explore the code-a-pillar (UTW)
• Plant some nectar rich plants (UTW)
• Silly soup with rhyming spiders (L)
• Play stuck in the mud (P)
• Move like different bugs (P)

Moving like a bug

Threading to make a caterpillar

Chalking insects

Week commencing 13th May 2019:

• Stories this week: ‘The bad tempered ladybird’, ‘Superworm’, ‘The Snail and the Whale’, ‘The lazy ladybird’, ‘Twist and hop’ (L)
• Look at non fiction books and information on the internet about mini beasts (UTW, L)
• Clap out syllables for insect names (L)
• Make a garden tuff spot (UTW)
• Make trails of bugs in the sand (L)
• Match the initial sounds in words (L)
• Fill the pollen tray with nectar using pipettes (PD)
• Explore our bug hotel (UTW)
• Collect bugs using tweezers (PD)
• Build a water wall using drain pipes (PD)

Bug Hotel

Our beans are growing

Look how our Caterpillars have grown

Our new Bug Hotel

Creating leaves for next weeks bug den

The children had to count how many mini beasts were in each section, and then write the number in the box.

We’re going on a bug hunt

This week the children have be learning about mini beasts and noticing the different features, how many legs they have, do they have wing, what colours are etc. The children then used this knowledge to recreate bugs in using different media and materials. The had bowls or egg boxes to start their bugs but were able to choose how and what they would like for their creation.

Week commencing 7th May 2019:

• Read the Teeny Weeny Tadpole (L)
• Jump on the lily pads and blend the sounds to make words (L)
• Talk more about the life of the frog (UTW)
• Match the rhyming frog words (L)
• Look at seeds through magnifying glasses (UTW)
• Use scarves to move like butterflies, flowers and trees (PD)
• Make frogs with play dough (PD, EAD)
• Collect frogs using tweezers (PD)
• Celery experiment – absorption (UTW)

Smelt it and felt the celery. Chopped top and tail carefully. Colour mix Predicted length of time to change. Chose best colours.

Week commencing 29th April 2019:

• The Hungry Caterpillar and The Crunching Munching Caterpillar stories (L)
• Order the story in sequence (L)
• Add to the garden centre role play using children’s experiences (EAD)
• Learn new songs about growing  (EAD, CL)
• Introduce our new caterpillars and stick insect! (UTW)
• Talk about the life cycle of a butterfly (UTW)
• Check on the growth of our beans (UTW)
• Make butterfly handprint pictures (EAD)
• Use shapes to make caterpillars (M)
• Record the fruits we like (M)
• Go on a bug hunt in the sand (M)

Our new friends the stick insects

Our new friends the caterpillars

This week we have been thinking about the lifecycle of a caterpillar. We have been reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar and discussing the journey that he went on and how our new  caterpillars may develop over time.
We have used various shapes of pasta to recreate the caterpillar lifecycle, beginning with an egg, followed by a caterpillar, a cocoon and finally a butterfly.The children used pens to colour the pasta shapes before sticking them into paper in a circular sequence to show how the lifecycle continues after the butterfly hatches.

Buckles and Bows Ice Cream Parlour. All Ice Creams and Ice lollies made by the children.

We hope you have had a lovely Easter break and we look forward to welcoming the children back. A big warm welcome to the 5 new children and families starting with us this term, we hope you all enjoy your time with us.

When we return, our topic will be the story of ‘Jack and the beanstalk’. We will look at growing beans and start to plant seeds for the outside. We also have some live caterpillar’s arriving in the week along with stick insect eggs which we will keep as pets when they hatch.

Week Commencing 23rd April 2019:

• Share out stories over Easter break. (CL, PSED)
• Read Jack and the beanstalk and introduce themed stories. (L)
• Order the story in sequence. (L)
• Find the bean using tweezers (PD,M)
•  Grow beans in bags. (UTW)
• Mark make in crayons and paint over them. (L, EAD)
• Build castles using bricks. (PD, EAD)
• Garden centre role play area. (EAD)
• Who’s the tallest? (M)
• Make shakers using different beans (EAD)

The children sat listening to Jack and The Beanstalk during group time. We then showed and explained to the children how to ‘grow a bean in a bag’. The children sat and listened well and we discussed what seeds needed to grow eg. Sunlight and water.