Digging for worms and minibeasts 

Across the term our 2 and 3 year olds have had lots of fun exploring the garden, getting really muddy and seeing which minibeasts were hiding under the logs and stones. They spent lots of time looking carefully at the worms and bugs they found using a range of tools, such as magnifying glasses, binoculars and tools for digging such as spades, forks, trowels.

They showed lots of interest in the bugs they found and it was a great opportunity to introduce lots of lovely language, such as ‘creepy’ ‘crawly’ ‘wriggly’ ‘slimy.’

 

Birds and Birdwatching

To get ready for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, the children worked in the garden to create bird feeders to encourage birds into our nursery garden. They threaded apple, bread and cheese onto the wire and then hung them onto the trees for the hungry birds.

In both of the nursery gardens, the children enjoyed creating bird hides and spending time inside them, watching the birds using their binoculars. It was lovely to hear them comment on the noises they could hear the birds making and listen to them begin to use lots of lovely mathematical vocabulary around ‘how many’ birds they could see.

Following the Birdwatch, some of the older children wanted to find out more about how birds make their nests after noticing some in the trees in the garden. After some investigations into the questions they had, they collected sticks, leaves and other materials from the garden and had a go at creating their own nests for the birds to live in.

 

 

Volcanoes

Across the Spring term some of our older boys have shown lots of knowledge and interest in volcanoes. We often found them working together in the sand, creating imaginary play around the volcanoes they had created and sharing the interesting facts they knew about them. To further the interest we decided to introduce them to some volcano science experiments. The children investigated and explored with various ingredients to see which combination made the best lava for their volcano.

 

 

Block play

We have noticed lots of interest in block play and building happening across the nursery, both indoors and out. It has been lovely to watch this play develop to incorporate building on different scales and at different levels and in particular using stools and ladders to help the children to build ‘high.’

Throughout their building they have overcome challenges, demonstrated problem solving and elements of schematic play. It has been lovely to see friendships develop through this shared interest and lots of collaboration among the children, as they share their thoughts and ideas with each other.