As last week was lovely and sunny weather we decided explore the water play within the Warren this week. We filled a small paddling pool with bubbly water and then added resources such as cups, jugs, funnels.
Read moreA quick and easy recipe…made by accident!
Whilst I was busy with the burrowers playing in our sand tray, I wondered how I could change the original, grainy wet sand into something more exciting. In the past in a previous setting; washing up liquid was accidently added to the sand and water, which produced an unusual feel and texture.
Read moreHow does your garden grow?
A few weeks ago, in the Den, we began planting some seeds in an attempt to grow our own veg. Unfortunately, our French beans have been attacked by an army of slugs, snails and other insects – the one time that we don’t want to be experiencing bugs outdoors!
Read moreWhatever the Weather!
Hello! Firstly I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself, my name is Chynna and I have recently joined Lauren and Nic in the Burrow and have been getting to know the children over the past few weeks. I am just finishing my Early Years Teacher Status and have the perfect setting to put all of my studies into practice.
Read moreSunflowers
For Mother’s day this year all the children planted some sunflower seeds for their mummies. They placed all their soil into the little plant pot, carefully planted the seed in the middle and put some soil on top of it.
Read moreOrion and the Dark - Imagination Adventures
We were very excited this week in the Den as our first book from Imagination Adventures arrived! Wrapped beautifully in yellow paper and with the IA sticker proclaiming its intent to provide fascination, exploration and enraptur...ation(?) we started it straight away as a whole group and all of the children focussed in straight away on the story.
Read moreImagination adventures
It's no secret that in the Den we love books. We want all of our children to experience some of the top children's books out there whether they are fact or fiction, poignant or silly, serious or off the wall, worded or wordless they should all provoke a reaction in the mind and encourage every single reader young or old to find meaning and joy from their contents.
Read moreA breath of fresh air
Last week, every day, we took the babies for a walk along the greenway. The babies freely explored and walked around this outdoor environment consisting of hedgerows, green fields and an resurfaced railway track joining Radstock to Welton.
Read moreWelcome back from the Nest - we're here to help
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our new nest families and I hope everyone had a lovely Easter break. At the end of last term we said goodbye to our older children as they graduated on to the Warren. Although sad for myself and Cat it is wonderful to see how well they are getting on, sneaking cheeky cuddles when we get a chance.
Read moreIf you're happy and you know it.....show us a smile!
I sat down on the carpet with a group of children, along with a whiteboard and a pen! Firstly I started off by drawing some shapes that I saw on the puzzle nearby. I brought the puzzle into the middle of the circle.
Read moreForest School in The Warren
Forest school for the babies is sensory based and this may take the form of activities such as exploring different natural materials like clay, leaves, bark, sand, water and tea leafs, to name a few. We like to provide the babies with new and exciting experiences like visiting the pond and talking about the habitat, splashing in the puddles and exploring the farmyard.
Read moreMoving on & growing up...fast!
As we are nearing the start of a new term, many children will be making the move to the next room within Free Rangers and Pre-school staff will begin preparing our older rangers for the move to school, I felt it appropriate to post a blog about transitions.
Read moreMusic to my ears
For the past five weeks, every Wednesday afternoon I have been travelling to Bristol to attend a music session in St Werburgh’s community centre near St Paul’s. The five sessions have consisted of;
- Singing
- Musical Instruments
- Structured and free flow sessions
- Music and the curriculum
- Music and emotion
Peek-a-BOO
To further our professional development within the Nest I have attended an ‘Early Language Development Programme’ which aims to further educate participants on speech, language and communication with babies and toddlers. Babies are born with a distinct impulse to be social, paying close attention to adults’ faces and the sounds they make.
Read moreTwo steps forward, one step back
This week in the Nest we are having lots of fun looking at many books. We have taken interest in books with various animals in, and also the different noises they make.
Read moreA fond farewell!
As many parents will already know, I will be leaving FreeRangers on Monday 31st March. So I’m using this as an opportunity to say Goodbye (So long, Farewell, Auf Wierdeshen!)
Read moreBook of the week - Michael Rosen's Sad Book
Here at FRHQ we love a good book and we loving finding new books that will interest and inspire our children. A good children's book can be hard to find, I generally find that the best kind are ones that a.)
Read moreCircle song time
Circle song time is an activity that The Warren enjoy and look forward to, this is a big part of our routine we do it twice a day. Why do we do it twice a day?
Read moreAn update from the Burrow
In the Burrow we have been splashing at the beach, making a muddy mess and having snow fights! SOIL Last week I filled the sensory/messy tray up with soil then added several pairs of wellies. C, A and M enjoyed filling the wellies up with the soil, putting their feet in them and trying to walk along!
Read moreFood Glorious Food!
Last week I asked a little boy where butter came from, “I don’t know” he responded. I told him that it came from a cow in which he responded “No, silly”. The idea then came to me that maybe we should do an activity on learning where our food comes from and how it doesn’t magically appear on a plate in the kitchen.
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