I hope that you are all still happy and healthy!

Here are some things that you could do with your child at home this week.  There are a lot of ideas but please do not feel that you have to use them all.  It would be lovely if you could have a look at the Story of the Week and the Rhyme of the Week with your child and also do a fine motor skills activity and some maths.  However, at this age the majority of time should be spent playing, exploring, singing, dancing, reading, being creative and having fun!

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

If you would like to try yoga, there is a lovely channel on Youtube called Cosmic Kids Yoga.  Maybe this week you and your child could go on a ‘Space Picnic’:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d85dw-AcAaU

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 our Story of the Week would have been Eat Your Peas by Kes Gray.  An online version can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgSb4zccAI

Our new vocabulary for this week would have been the names of different vegetables.  Have a look at this word mat and see if your child can name these vegetables:

Also, involve your child when you prepare vegetables for lunch or dinner so that you can talk to them about what the vegetables are called, what they look like and what they smell or taste like.

Physical Development

Fine Motor Skills:

This half term we would be doing lots of work on strengthening our finger muscles ready to work on pencil grip in September.  This week why not make some playdough at home, following this simple recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup water

½ cup salt

1 tablespoon oil

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Drops of food colouring

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over a medium heat, stirring continuously.  Eventually the ingredients will come together to form a ball of playdough.  Store in a sealed box or wrapped in clingfilm and it will last for a few weeks.

Your child can use the dough to pat, squeeze, pinch and push which will all strengthen their fingers, hand and wrists.

Self-Care:

If your child is not already potty trained, then this time in lockdown is a perfect time to work on this.  It will really help your child’s independence and self-confidence if they are able to use the toilet before they start in our Morning Nursery Class. Here is one of the potty-training books that we read with the children at Nursery:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoNoB9Lj5UE

Literacy

This week at Nursery we would have continued to work on Phase 1 of our Letters and Sounds phonics scheme.  This week we would have continued to talk about Environmental Sounds. Please have a go at one of the other activities from this challenge sheet:

Here is another online phonics game that your child could try:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgSb4zccAI

Please try to read with your child every day and also to give them the opportunity to look at books independently.  Also, please let your child make marks with pens, paints, chalks or water and paint brushes. 

Mathematics

This week at Nursery, we would have been talking about our special number that shows how old we are.  We would have been looking at the numbers 2 and 3 and talking about our ages.  See if your child knows how old they are? Could you look for their special number around your house or when out on your walk?

During play, we would also have been trying to use language to describe the shapes of the objects that we are playing with e.g. round or tall.  When playing with your child, try to use these sorts of words so that your child can hear them and then hopefully start to use them too.

Understanding the World

This week, we would have been talking about how it is important to eat healthy foods.

Here is a Cbeebies ‘Get Well Soon’ episode about staying healthy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgM9bXNVV5U

Here is a really lovely song to listen to.  See if you and your child can learn the chorus and make up some actions to go with it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JldSBUQB34

Maybe you could try to do some cooking with your child?  Here are lots of easy, healthy recipes from Cbeebies ‘I Can Cook’ that you could try:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/programmes/b00w1ddl/recipes

Expressive Arts and Design

Our rhyme of the week would have been Five Little Peas. Can your child do all the actions and join in with the rhyme?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6J1IJL_GGM

We would also have been continuing to sing lots of nursery rhymes and action songs to make sure that the children know all the common rhymes before they move up to the Morning Class.  This week your child could listen to these versions from Nursery Rhymes TV:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzc_Rd4TuYg

Finally, this week see what wonderful creations your child can make with their home-made playdough.

I would love to see pictures of their models if you would like to put them on Tapestry!