During March the Burrow have been focussing on all things Spring, particularly linking in Forest School sessions at the pond, with the book, “The Wide Mouthed Frog” and the song, “Three Little Speckled Frogs.”
This theme has featured in the following ways:
Playdough
Next to the green playdough there has been sticks, wooden mallets, pipe cleaners and googly eyes, and if the children have wanted to they have been making their own versions of frogs. But wherever their interests take them, playdough is great for building the little muscles in their fingers and giving them greater control with gripping and manipulating objects.
Messy Play
Lots of sensory stimulating goodies have been on offer this month. Coloured sand, jelly, stones, slime, soil and water. The children have also been introduced to Jelly Baff. We’re not sure why it’s called that but it’s a little like jelly crystals. The children have really enjoyed playing with this and we’ve decided it’s what frogspawn feels like (not that we promote squidging frogspawn, but a gentle prod is ok!)
Mark Making
The children love the wide expanse of table covered with paper, they love this invitation to doodle and experiment. This month they’ve tried paint, pens, crayons and chalks. It’s such a simple way of learning about their interests and their play. Without interrupting them if they’re in the zone, a well timed, ‘Gosh, I like the patterns you’ve made there and the colours you’ve chosen, can you talk me through your picture?’
Circle Times
Well this has been a busy month with settling in sessions for current Burrowers in the Den and for welcoming Hive children into our room.
So we’ve been talking about our emotions and that we may feel a little unsure to begin with and that that’s a natural feeling. We’ve been singing and signing lots of songs, playing listening games that help develop our attention e.g. the bucket game. This consists of a big purple bucket with exciting things in that the children get to choose.
Role Play
We’ve been talking about offices and places of work during our role play. We have left lots of examples of technology out, such as props like phones and old key pads, alongside pens and notepads and we’ve witnessed the children get busy notetaking, jotting down and generally being very organised through their play!
Story Making
Story Making activities are superb in helping children to understand sequencing of events and learn about tenses.
We’ve turned the tepee into a rocket, all because we’ve also been reading “The Three Slimy Aliens.”