I hope that you are all still happy and healthy!  I am really missing you all but I am really enjoying seeing all the wonderful photos of you on Tapestry.

This week we are going to finish exploring the question ‘What lives outside our door?’ by thinking about the birds and animals that visit our gardens and that live in our local area.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

I know that some of you have already done some yoga online at home with our yoga teacher, Georgie, and the children who are still attending school have enjoyed trying her videos too. This Happy and Good yoga session follows on from the Desert Adventure video that some of you might have tried last week (and also features our friend Yoga Ted!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np3pDd0Xqnw&t=71s

If you would like to try some more yoga, there is a lovely channel on Youtube called Cosmic Kids Yoga.  Maybe this week you and your child could try some yoga about a bird who you might be lucky enough to hear if you go outside at night, Tallulah the Owlet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aje33UPixE&t=654s

It’s lovely… I hope you enjoy it!

Our practical mindfulness activity this week is to make a Thanksgiving Tree. Find a small branch to place in a vase or draw a tree trunk on a piece of paper.  Your child can help you to cut leaves out of paper.  Talk to your child about all the good things in their life that they would like to say ‘thank you’ for, such as family members, friends, pets and toys.  Write each thing on a separate leaf and stick or hang them on the tree.  Involve the whole family to add everyone’s ideas about things that you are thankful for.

Communication and Language

This week at Nursery we would have been reading the Percy the Park Keeper stories by Nick Butterworth.  They are lovely books and luckily there are online versions read by the author himself:

One Springy Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icw9oEWDm4E

The Rescue Party:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgxFIIWqMKg&t=39s

After the Storm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfPj5_k2kZk

One Snowy Night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-8AAisU1w0

Our new vocabulary for this week would have been the names of the different wild animals and birds found in our area so all these stories will be brilliant for reinforcing or introducing the different creatures that we might find in our garden or in the countryside around Kington.

Physical Development

Fine Motor Skills:

This half term we would be doing lots of work on pencil skills to make sure that all children are holding pens and pencils with correct grip and using them with control.  If you have not already done so, try the upwards loop handwriting pattern sheet with your child.  If they have already completed the pattern sheet, then see if they can draw some upwards loops on a piece of paper with a pen or a pencil – to make smiles, bowls or bridges.  They will need this pattern to write letters such as ‘u’ and ‘y’.

It would also be really great for all children to have a go at cutting this week, using the scissors that you received in your home learning pack.  There are cutting sheets in the pack, or f you have a printer, here are some lovely cutting sheets (I couldn’t find ‘Percy the Park Keeper’ ones but thought the children would like Beatrix Potter just as much):

Literacy

This week for our Letters and Sounds (phonics) activity, we are going to carry on thinking about alliteration.  This is when words all start with the same sound e.g. “Silly, slippery, Susy snake”. Please try another one of the activities from this home learning challenge sheet:

Please continue to work on helping your child to write their name (or even just the first few letters if their name is very long). 

Try to read with your child every day and also to give them the opportunity to look at books independently.  I have loved seeing videos on Tapestry of some of the children ‘reading’ books to themselves at home!

Mathematics

This week at Nursery, we would have been matching numerals and quantities.  If you have a printer, you could print off these cards (just print the pages that your child needs depending on what numbers they are working with) and see if your child can match the numerals to the pictures of objects:

If you do not have a printer, you could look at this interactive powerpoint with your child:

For shape, space and measure we would be continuing to look at simple repeating patterns.  Last week we asked the children to continue a pattern that we started.  This week give your child piles of two or three different objects and see if they can arrange them into a simple repeating pattern.

Understanding the World

This week we would have been learning about the birds and animals that live outside in our local area.  Can you spot any birds through your window? Maybe you could look for birds and animals (or their tracks) on your daily walk?

From time to time at Nursery we watch a programme called ‘Come Outside’.  The children love seeing Aunty Mabel and Pippin find out about different things.  Maybe you could watch one of the episodes with your child and talk about what they discover:

Hedgehogs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_9gFQ8PmzI&t=461s

Rabbits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OACkqISfzao

Expressive Arts and Design

Our rhyme of the week would have been ‘Little Rabbit Foo Foo’:

This week’s dance is ‘Little Bird Dance’.  Can your child do the actions in time with the music?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_leoejtjaY

As a creative activity this week, why not try to create your very own natural collage with things that you find in the garden or on your walk.

Maybe you could use the work of the wonderful artists Raku Inoue and Andy Goldsworthy as inspiration:

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/how-to-turn-garden-clippings-into-insect-illustrations-plants-raku-inoue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUpVf-7i75I&list=PLOfv94hU-5rWfdtwhfz63cZduCBlWaju2

I would love to see photos of your creations!