There is a superhero in your book

Week 2

During our second week of learning from this book, we made our own superhero shields. The children used cardboard, pencils and crayons to create them. We went on a scribbler hunt around Plum Tree classroom. The children were very thorough in the areas they looked in. We brought superhero's into P.E this week, by using the parachute to explore our imaginations. In PSHE, children practised identifying and naming different fruits through an interactive listening game. When a specific fruit was called, children held up the matching item. When 'Fruit Salad' was called, everyone held up all of their pieces at once.

During child-initiated learning this week, the children explored running a café, they used the phone to take orders and then make the order. The children have investigated the scissors this week with making snips together with the large roll of paper and then with magazines which they then stuck on to make a collage. The children used flowers with the playdough to make a variety of different things such as pie, flower displays, biscuits and fairies! During outside areas, the children investigated cornflour, scooping and making marks in the tray. We had items from the p.e trolley which the children used their gross motor skills to explore. 

There is a superhero in your book!

Over the next two weeks, this book invites young readers to use their imagination to help a tiny hero stop a mischievous villain! During our adult-directed activities, we have read the story and made our own superheroes out of different craft materials. We also worked as a team to make our own scribbler who is the 'villain' of the book. Then we put on our imagination caps and used different materials to make our own superhero capes.

During our White Rose Maths lesson this week, we looked at I say, you say number names. We sang an interactive version of 'Five Currant Buns,' where the children took turns paying for a bun. This activity created excellent subitizing skills and mathematical language as they recognised the remaining amounts.

In PHSE we discussed 'gentle hands' and how we show kindness to others, which also links well to our book of the week. We also took part in another session of calm me time. This week Genie the puzzle piece and Jerrie the cat got involved. During calm me time, we use a chime, close our eyes and concentrate on our breathing. The children have been doing very well with this. We finished the session with our song, 'Together'.

In our child initiated learning in Plum Trees and our outdoor areas, we used our gross motor skills to explore climbing and balancing on the obstacle course, used a variety of tipping and pouring tools in the water areas. The children used their imaginative skills by having conversations on the telephones and writing messages! In the shared garden, the children used a variety of natural resources and made oobleck out of cornflour, food colouring and water. The children enjoyed the new hay bales we have in Plum Trees outside area!

Super Duper You!

For the next two weeks, we will be reading and learning from the book, 'Super Duper You' by Sophy Henn. This story celebrates the extraordinary, diverse, and sometimes contradictory feelings and traits we experience.

During our adult-directed activities, we went to the early years library to read the book and discuss the different emotions in the book. We also went on a hunt to find our own pictures around the classroom. The children used their fine motor skills to cut out pictures they liked in the magazines and worked as a team to stick them on a roll of paper to make a collage of our likes. The children looked at different pictures of emergency professionals and matched them to the correct emergency vehicle. We used the Charanga programme to use the Glockenspiels. The children were very good at being able to stop when asked and follow the rhythm. Finally, we used our fine motor skills to make our own rainbow sticks. We went on a stick hunt, then began to wrap the stick in our chosen colour wool.

Our White Rose Maths activities were based around exploring and build with shapes and objects, then looking at pattern we make. We started by listening to 'build it up' on YouTube. This song introduces building and counting together. The children then chose blocks to make their own tower. We would then sing a song which counts to 10 and then we would knock it down! We also read, 'Whatever next' by Jill Murphy, which looks at a bear who builds a rocket to go to space. To explore patterns, we cut vegetables in half, investigated the difference between the insides and used paint to print our own patterns.

Our PHSE lesson linked well to the book, as we looked at how am i feeling today? The children were given a picture, and we had to divide them into happy and sad pictures. We then discussed what makes us happy. We had lots of lovely answers including; 'Mummy, Daddy, and nanny Lou Lou'.

In P.e, we investigated moving around like mythical creatures, we used a bean bag and pretended it was a fairy. We took care of the fairy and explored a range of ways to transport it around. We also changed our movements to gallop tall like a unicorn and fly breathing fire like a dragon.

Our child initiated learning inside plums and outside during the past two weeks. We have seen the children exploring different professions during imaginative play. Tipping and pouring water with a potion bottle, measuring jugs and ladles. We went on a hunt for pictures of emergency vehicles, and we went on a hunt for leafs to add to painting. The children also worked on their fine motor skills, chopping a variety of fruit and vegetables. In our shared provision, we had a range of musical instruments to explore, we painted egg cartons for our flowers, used our imagination being shopkeepers and used our physical skills around the obstacle course.

On Friday, we had our Colour run. A huge thank you to all the children's sponsors! 

All about me!

This week, we have been looking at All about me! We have had lots of new faces join Plum Trees, so myself (Mrs Akam), Miss Mortimer and Miss Tilly have taken the week to get to know all the children and find out about their likes, dislikes, hobbies and family life. 

We explored our own reflections by creating our own self-portraits. We also looked at pictures from home to enrich our conversations about our home lives. To enhance our learning for PHSE, we looked at 'Who Me' which tied in beautifully to our theme of ourselves. We then explored what is in the box? The children waited beautifully for their turn. We discussed what the objects in the box felt like or if they were big or small. 

In P.E, we showed the children how we could go up to the hall, we then explored moving safely in our own space and learning to listen to stop and start. 

Plum Trees have grown familiar with their new surroundings and have explored a range of learning opportunities. We also open our shared learning time in both the morning and afternoon. This allows all children in our nursery rooms to explore all aspects of learning in each nursery room and outside areas,.