We are nearly all back in the Nursery now. It has been lovely to welcome back more children this week. For those of you at home, we will continue to share some of the learning that we are doing in the Nursery. It would be great if you can do some of these activities, or similar, with your child. Please let us know how you get on by emailing nursery@chalgrove.oxon.sch.uk 

We are missing you and hope to see you back soon. 

To help us act out the story of the Three Little Pigs, we made masks and head bands of the characters from the story. The children enjoyed mixing red with white paint to make pink for the pigs. Some mixed black with white to get grey for the big bad wolf. 

As the weather has been so cold this week, we made some ice cakes and left them to freeze overnight. We collected some  leaves and even the odd Daisy to decorate the cakes. You could use whatever you find in your garden. 

We played with ribbons to see which way the wind was blowing. If it is a windy day you could use scarves or flags to see which way the wind blows. You could also cut up strips of newspaper or wrapping paper and glue them to a stick.

This week we have been learning the letter sound 'o'. It seems an easy letter formation to do, as it is a circle, but we have been encouraging the children to draw the letter in an anticlockwise direction. This has been a bit tricky! 

A bit of Fun!

 

The children have really enjoyed sharing this book and singing the song that goes with it.

 

Pete the Cat - I love my White Shoes

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj_z6zGQVyM

 

We made some binoculars by sticking/stapling two toilet roll inner tubes together. Then with some help, the children made a hole on each side and tied string through to make a strap. We have had a great time watching the birds and put some raisins outside for the birds to eat.

Last weekend was the RSPB bird watch but we have until February the 19th to submit our results. If you would like to take part at home, visit the RSPB website and download an information pack. Alternatively you could count the birds that visit your garden and record the number with your child. They may want to make their own binoculars too!

 

 

The children have been retelling the story of the Three Little Pigs with the help of a story map. You may like to draw one with your child to help them sequence and tell the story. It does not have to look like mine. 

Phonics

 

This week we are learning the letter sound 'r'. To help us make the correct letter formation, we are using a picture of a robot and asking the children to draw from the top of the robot's head to his feet and back up to the end of his arm. We are also playing some phonics games where the children have to decide if a toy has the initial sound 'r' or 'c'. 

Maths

 

We have been learning the names for different shapes such as circle, square and triangle. In the Nursery we like to play a game called Crossing the River where you can cross the river only if you step on the circles for example. We usually play this outside with chalk drawn shapes. You could do this at home with paper and counters to cross the river of shapes if you do not have a suitable outside area. 

This week we have started one of our Talk for Writing stories. It is a favourite one in the Nursery and involves three little pigs! For the text of the story please refer to the Talk for Writing section of our class page. Please don't worry about telling the story word for word, as I have written it. Use your own words and elaborate where you wish to make it more fun. I have told the children the story three times this week and they are just starting to join in with the wolf's lines.

We learnt how to draw a pig's face using circles and triangles. We also made some pig faces using the play dough and round cookie cutters.

We are learning the letter sound for 'h' this week with songs and initial sound games. To help the children with their letter formation, we have drawn a horse and encouraged the children to draw a line from the horse's head down to the hooves and then up and over its back.

We shared this book in the Nursery this week. The story led to lots of discussion about friendships and how you play with a friend. If you do not have the book, you can follow the link below and watch it being read online. You may want to mute the sound so that you can read it. In that way you can stop and talk about the story. I asked the children what animal they thought the snow cloud would make next. We hope you enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dJHSEGRBJY

 

 

This week we made some penguins and icebergs using egg cartoons. We cut the shapes as the cardboard is quite thick. The children then painted them using black and white paint. We thought you might like to make some at home as we have enjoyed playing with them all week.

This week we are learning the letter sound 'e'. We are learning the correct letter formation for 'e' by drawing an egg shape. Then we pretend to cut off the top and scoop out the inside. It is a tricky one to write!

If your child is not ready for this yet, you could get them to draw lots of circle shapes and then you demonstrate how to draw the 'e' while making the sound for this letter.

 

It would be great if your child could have a go at cracking a real egg at home! We didn't do this in the Nursery but we played with plastic eggs. 

We also had a go at drawing a simple penguin. The children really enjoyed this activity and some even added the sea and fish!

Some of us had a go at singing this song. Mrs Peel kept getting it wrong!

This week we are sharing the story of Stick Man by Julia Donaldson. If you do not have the book at home, you can listen to it being read online by following the link 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUdtUIr5jrkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUdtUIr5jrk

It is quite a long story so you may want to do it in sections. We have been teaching the children at school to retell the beginning of the story using actions to help them. 

 

Stick Man lives in the family tree (stand up and pretend to be a tree) with his Stick Lady Love (cross arms over chest as in a hug) and his stick children three (pretend to pat three children on their heads).

 

One day he wakes early to go for a jog (pretend to jog). Stick Man, oh Stick Man beware of the dog (hold hands like paws).

 

We also made some stick men using toilet rolls. The children cut the paper hair of their Stick Men to help develop their cutting skills. If you do not have pipe cleaners at home, you could use small sticks.

We ordered the stick men from the largest to the smallest. You could order some sticks from a walk or your garden.

 

To develop our counting skills, we have been playing hide and seek. The children have been reciting numbers to 10, then 15 and then 20.

In our phonics sessions this week we are learning the letter sound 'c'. To develop the correct letter formation, the children have been drawing stripes onto caterpillars which I have drawn in the shape of a 'c' while saying the 'c' sound.