Nursery Learning 1.6.26

This week we have been learning a lovely poem, all about Mud! We have been really impressed with how the children have learnt the words and remembered the actions. 

Here are the words, it would be great if parent's could listen to the children performing the poem. You could see if they can fill in the last word of the line and show you their actions.  

Scoop up some mud,
Stir it with a stick.
Splat it in a bowl,
give it all a mix.
Stick it in the oven,
put it on to bake.
Soon it will be ready - 
a lovely muddy cake. 

To support our learning of the Mud poem, the children got stuck into a wonderful sensory mud tray experience! There was lots of excitement as they squished, scooped, stirred, and explored the mud using a variety of tools. The children loved getting hands-on and discovering how the mud felt, moved, and changed as they played.

Armed with magnifying glasses, the children became little investigators, taking a closer look at the mud and spotting all the interesting details hidden within it. They enjoyed sharing their observations, describing what they could see and feel, and comparing their discoveries with their friends.

This messy, sensory-rich activity helped bring the poem to life, allowing the children to experience mud in a meaningful and memorable way. As they explored, they developed their curiosity, language skills, fine motor control, and confidence in investigating the world around them. Most importantly, they had lots of fun learning through play!The children enjoyed role-playing as chefs in the playdough area, creating a variety of imaginative meals. They used herbs from our garden, which they had helped to grow, carefully cutting them with scissors and adding them to their creations. This supported the development of their fine motor skills and hand strength while helping them make connections between gardening and cooking.

Using frying pans and a range of playdough tools, the children rolled, shaped, and moulded the dough while engaging in imaginative play and sharing ideas with their friends. The activity encouraged creativity, communication, and sensory exploration through the use of the fresh herbs they had nurtured themselves.

The children have been enjoying lots of mark-making opportunities using paints, chalks, and pencils. They explored making different lines, shapes, and patterns, expressing their ideas and creativity through a variety of media.

These activities help to develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and pencil control, providing important foundations for early writing. The children were proud to share their creations and enjoyed experimenting with different tools and techniques.

To continue our mud exploration theme, we transformed our water tray by colouring the water to resemble muddy puddles. The children were excited to investigate how the "muddy" water moved as they poured, scooped, and transferred it between containers.

Using lengths of guttering, the children explored how water travels, watching it flow down different pathways and experimenting with ways to change its direction. This hands-on activity encouraged curiosity, problem-solving, and early scientific thinking, while also supporting fine motor development through the pouring and scooping actions.

On Thursday, our nursery was transformed into a land of pure imagination when we welcomed the brilliant Freshwater Theatre Company for a morning of interactive storytelling. The children became official Story Hunters, embarking on a grand quest through the nursery to track down missing characters from their absolute favorite nursery rhymes. With imaginary magnifying glasses at the ready, our brave little explorers searched high and low for clues, and every single time a character was discovered, the room erupted into song as we all sang our hearts out to help our new friends.

To finish off the magical session, our wonderful storyteller wove all the characters the children had found into one giant, brand-new, spectacular story. The children’s faces were a picture of pure joy throughout, filled with giggling, dancing, gasping, and enthusiastic shouting. The Freshwater Theatre Company cast a wonderful spell over us all, and the children haven’t stopped talking about it since, so be sure to ask your little one tonight which character they helped find and if they can show you their best Story Hunter dance!