As we had no yoga this week, we gave the children an obstacle course to do.  They had to go over, under and through various items.  They also had to do star jumps and lots of balancing.  This was great and it was lovely to see them all encouraging each other.

Outside the children had lots of fun in the snow with snowball finds and the children made a lovely snowman.  They enjoyed exploring and investigating the ice and the snow and even tasting it!

We have been listening to the story Handas Surprise and this week we started learning our Story Making version.

Our Beauty Salon extended after great interest.  We now have a barber shop.  The children enjoyed using shaving foam and a sponge - they used lolly sticks for razors!  This encouraged children to recognise how people look after themselves.  We also discussed safety of never touching real razors and always telling an adult if any are found.

We found a giant footprint in the snow but could not find the monster.  We drew pictures to show what we thought it looked like.  The pictures are on display on the curtain in our welcome area.

On Thursday afternoon we went on an animal track hunt using our tracking sheet as a guide.  We found 2 dog prints, bird prints and car tracks.  We compared the different sizes of our own footprints.

We also discussed the snow melting and making the water run down the road. 

Our Preschool spa was opened and was a roaring success.  Lots of children were interested in having their nails, hair and makeup done whilst others enjoyed being the stylists.  The children asked each other lots of questions to make a conversation.  For example, "Are you OK?" and "Do you like this?".  This was really good for their personal, social and emotional skills.

We've been busy making beds for the pets to keep them warm during the cold weather.  We talked about putting some food (and the types of food) out for the birds/animals.  making sure they knew that the ground was hard and that the animals could not dig for food.

The children have been busy using the scissors a lot and have been cutting out pictures in magazines.  This is good for their fine motor skills as well as strengthening the muscles in their hands.

The story of the week is "Handas Surprise".  The children have enjoyed recalling the fruit and animals in the story and what happened next.

In the creative corner children have been making self portraits, looking at themselves in the mirror and describing what they see and then putting this onto paper plates - watch out for a display soon.

Outside the children had fun breaking the ice on the pond and looking at frosty coloured patterns.  The children also enjoyed mark making on the frosty glass of the sheds.

There was an obstacle course outside, a couple of children who braved the cold and came out to play had huge enjoyment climbing through the tunnel, over the plank, under the table and hopping through the tyres.  They also had to follow the directional arrows around the course.

On Thursday afternoon, we went on a bug hunt to the allotments.  We found woodlice, worms a centipede!  We even brought back an "Ice Vase" after smashing the ice.

Welcome back everyone.  We have been settling the children back into preshool with some familiar toys out.  The children decided to turn the climbing frame into a space ship.  This was great fun and encouraged the children to work well together and they showed great team building spirit with excellent imagination.  The children plan to visit a different planet every day.

Outside the children made a Sensory Viewer to hang on the barriers.  It has different colours to look through.  The children were hugely creative and enjoyed measuring and estimating the shapes and the sizes they needed to fit.

In our Ypga session, the children enjoyed the story of the new hungry caterpillar.  They took it in turns to show their moves, (ask them to show you the tree, the dog or even the horse pose as they are feeling very proud of themselves).

Outside we played exploring the wet and dry sand and what happens when we mix in water.

The children have enjoyed making some stainglass windows (made from sweetie wrappers) to decorate the hall windows.  Have a look at them and see how pretty they are.

The natural resources have been used a lot.  The children wanted to make a tree for the wild animals, great team work again and discussions were made and excellent problem solving solutions were made too.

For our Thursday afternoon session, the children enjoyed playing Crocodile Crossing.  They had to:

- Try crossing the river to dodge the crocodile
- Rolling themselves down the hill
- 1, 2, 3 Where are you?  Hide and Seek.  The children used great listening skills to find their friends.