21st to 25th March

This week we have set up the role play area as a shop.  This is great for encouraging the children to practise their counting skills, and to use numbers in 'real life' situations, for instance buying items in a shop or giving change.  We are also going to link this role play into talking about healthy eating.  Which foods are healthy for the children to buy in the shop; which are unhealthy?  Running the shop and acting as customers will also help the children become more confident and learn about taking turns.  They will take part in matching and sorting activities in their shop: again, by doing this they can develop their maths and counting skills.

We've had the trampoline inside, again this is great for maths related activities - how many times can you jump, how high can you jump, and so on?  The trampoline is also great for building motor skills, such as balance, strength and agility.

Outside, we have been finishing off our 'Holi' pictures.  You can see some pegged up on the curtains in the area with the children's trays.  Holi is a Hindu festival, which celebrates the arrival of Spring.  In India, during this festival, the people cover themselves with colour!  Looking at other cultures is a part of the early years' curriculum, and it's especially important for us to explore festivals from other cultures, because we live in a rural area where the children don't experience much diversity.

Rather than getting the children to paint themselves, we got them to make life size body shapes by drawing round each other.  They have then splashed these with colour using powder paint diluted with a small amount of water.  You can find out more about the festival of Holi here:

www.holifestival.org/holi-festival.html

Last week the children were very interested in hiding things in boxes, so we have been following this interest by offering them some toy animals to hide away in boxes.  The idea of something or someone being 'hidden' - that even though you can't see it, it still exists - is an important stage in the conceptual development of young children.  You might have noticed that babies sometimes cry when mum or dad leaves the room - this is because they have not yet grasped this concept.

This Wednesday our cooking lady, Louise, is joining us to do some cooking with the children.  She will be making mini pizzas, with the children adding toppings to freshly made dough.  You can find out more about Louise at her website, www.youwant2cook.com.  On Thursday our Yoga lady will also be joining us, so all in all a busy week!

At the moment we are also be doing lots of art and craft in our newly laid out 'Art Zone'.  There are plenty of free choice activities, with resources such as pom poms, glitter, cotton wool, buttons, cut out shapes, etc. on offer.  The children will also be starting work on a special mother's day surprise for you!