Spring

Springing into March with Oak Valley

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As the the days are getting longer, and the weather is getting (a little bit) warmer, Oak Valley welcomes Spring and all it has to offer!

 

Seeding Change for a Greener Future!

Pre-School welcomed March, and the slightly warmer weather, by spending some time in our new vegetable garden. The children loved talking about the seeds they were sowing, and watering them. They drew pictures of the vegetables, and loved reading stories in the garden. The Pre-School council also cast a vote to call it ‘The Secret Garden’.

 

 

 

 

 

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Celebrating Mother’s Day

Here at Oak Valley, the children enjoyed making their mums feel extra special on Mother’s Day. The children sent home a special keepsake and there was even a little gift for them too.

The science of today, is the technology of tomorrow

For British Science Week (8th-17th March) the children loved experimenting and exploring different science experiments. Toddler Room created their own potions, mixing lots of things together to see what they could create. Rising 3’s made a Skittles rainbow, using coloured sweets and water. While Pre-School created their very own lava lamps, using oil and coloured water.

Recycle Today, Save Tomorrow!

For Global Recycling Day, the children in Pre-School talked about the importance of recycling and reusing materials. They reused some cardboard, and their imaginations, to create some wonderful creations.

Celebrating Easter

Toddlers welcomed their parents in to celebrate Easter and to encourage them to ‘Ditch the Dummy’. There was lots of fun had by all and the staff talked about the importance of ‘ditching the dummy’ for promoting speech, as well as lots of Easter activities.

Springing into Spring 

With Spring finally here, the children in Rising 3’s have been creating daffodil paintings. They have enjoyed exploring the colours and smells, and using their fine motor skills to create their very own masterpiece!

Babies are on the hunt

The babies have loved having their very own Easter egg hunt. This activity encouraged the babies to explore their surroundings, develop their motor skills and be engaged.

You

You make a difference everyday

Last but not least, we want to congratulate Caitlin on winning ‘Employee of the Month’ for March. Caitlin has great creative ideas, is always happy to help and has built some great bonds with the babies in Baby Room. Keep up the hard work and well done!

 

 

March at Riverview

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World Book Day

On Thursday 2nd March the children enjoyed coming to nursery dressed as their favourite character. The Pre-School particularly celebrated Julia Donaldson classics, including ‘Room on a Broom’, with all the staff dressing as a different character. Toddlers took the opportunity to share their favourite book ‘Dear Zoo’, whilst Baby Room had a ‘Wizard of Oz’ theme.

Snow day

There was a little bit of disruption to our usual schedule in March, caused by the weather!  Snow is a wonderful experience for the children and we hope that all of our families that didn’t make it to nursery had a good time exploring at home. For the few children that made it to nursery during the snow days we had a very fun time. We built a snowman outside and then came inside to warm up with some hot chocolate. We took the opportunity to say hello to our guinea pig friends Neddy and Noddy; we got them out of the cage to have a closer look and a cuddle.

Science Week

Pre-School have been exploring non-fiction books, finding out different facts about the world we live in.  Did you know that most of the Earth’s surface is covered in water? Around 71% of it! And the biggest ocean on Earth is called the Pacific Ocean! Or did you know that the Milky Way is the name of the galaxy we live in?

We have also started planting this month and, with this, we have a little ongoing experiment on how seeds grow. The children have placed two bags on the window, each of which contains a bean seed. One is in the bag alone, whereas the children think some soil and water in the other bag will help the seed to grow! The children are excited to see if their hypothesis is correct.

Red Nose Day

On Friday 17th March we celebrated Comic Relief. This year there was a ‘Mr Men and Little Miss’ theme which we made the most of by dressing up as the characters, and setting up messy play opportunities in the tuff trays.

St. Patricks Day

Toddlers hunted for the gold at the end of the rainbow in the sensory tray. Babies experimented making playdough with different lucky charms to hide and seek.

Spring walk to the park

Pre-School had a walk up to the local park. On the way there they looked for signs of Spring around them. The children noticed new plants growing such as daffodils and tulips. We also talked about the sun up in the sky. On the way back we did a listening walk to see what sounds we could hear; we heard birds tweeting and lots of different vehicles on the road. We took this opportunity to talk about safe ways to cross the road.

Ramadan – Free Fruit Friday and wish tree

Ramadan is a time that we reflect on our self, to be thankful and to help others.  We know lots of our families are fasting at the moment so, for Free Fruit Friday, we provided different traditional fruits to break fast with in the evening. We also created a wish tree outside the nursery for our children to reflect on things they are grateful for.

April at The Little School House

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During April, we learnt about the life cycles of plants. The Toddlers had lots of fun planting runner beans & flowers for our growing garden. They enjoyed using the spade to fill up the little plant pots with soil, adding some seeds & then watering our flowers and runner beans to help them grow. Our Baby Room planted sunflowers & gave them to their families to enjoy at home.

We had more fun visits from Superstar Sports & Rhythm Time.

Simon from Superstar Sports came to help us participate in physical sport activities. We ran to different colour cones, practiced our kicking skills & he encouraged us to run while avoiding obstacles.

Rhythm Time came to deliver us a music & singing session, we learnt how to play instruments at different speeds & volume levels. We also learnt our different emotions through songs.

Now the weather is getting warmer, all the rooms have been spending a lot of time in Graves Park, we are very lucky to have it on our doorstep. Here are some pictures of the Toddler Room. They really enjoyed throwing pebbles & splashing their feet in the stream. They then had fun on the roundabout & the slide.

Another of the loose themes that ran throughout April was ‘Minibeasts’. The children spent lots of time in the garden searching for insects; we used the magnifying glasses to search high & low. We talked about what we found & created our own pictures of it. We spent time talking about how the weather can effect when we see different insects too.

Last, but by no means least, we gave congratulations to PAIGE CAUDWELL & GRACE SOUTHGATE (Toddler Room) for being picked out for their efforts during the Spring Term by our Quality Practice Manager. WELL DONE, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!