This week we have had some very exciting times.  We have begun to make our Christmas decorations – the glitter is out in full force.  We continue to practice for the Christmas performance, the props are coming along nicely too.

We have made and decorated shortbread biscuits and talked about who we might share these with.  Cooking activities help to develop many skills such as pouring, mixing, using tools, turn taking, as well as many discussions for instance about the ingredients- what do they look like, smell like, feel like, taste like.  Mathematical language such as the numbers on the scales, how many spoonful’s, which is the biggest, what shape and so much more.

We have had morning dance parties, dough disco, animal family pairs, football colouring, animal puzzles, animal listening games and making a home for a pig using shapes. 

As part of our phonics scheme, we have investigated different sounds made by musical instruments and everyday objects.  We continue to practice name recognition by encouraging the children to find their own coat peg and using the white board to practice names. 

In our Tuff Tray, we have had resources to recreate the “Three Little Pigs” story.  This has included Shredded Wheat, straw, dried spaghetti, wooden blocks and lolly sticks alongside the wolf and pigs.  The children have used these resources to build homes for the characters and retell the story.  Of course, junk modelling has also been used and some very impressive houses have gone home.

We were lucky enough to have a story workshop on Wednesday morning, with the theme “The Gingerbread Man” The children were able to act out the story with actions, props, music and dance.  It was wonderful to see some amazing acting.  We have once again visited the school library and enjoys sharing books together. 

As part of the Personal Development Books project, we have read “The Growing Story” in addition to the story of the week.  We used this to talk about ourselves and our size in relation to others in our family.

We have used scissors and glue to cut out pictures from catalogues and talked about who we would give the items to.  Bushes to paint with, peg boards to make patterns with and pink play dough to make our own pigs from.

During PE in the Hall, we moved along the benches in a variety of ways such as sliding, crawling, walking and jumping.

Next week, our story will be “We are Going on a Bear Hunt”