Week commencing January 20th and January 27th - Westmeston

This week's blog is two for one as we cover the last two weeks at Westmeston.

Last week it was delightful to have some frosty weather which was a pleasant change from all the rain we are used to. Mrs Tubb and Sam made some ice sculptures to hang up in the frost. They looked beautiful and we discussed how they might change during the day.

"They might melt."

"Into water."

We were right. As the day went on, we saw how the ice melted and dripped away to reveal the flowers and leaves inside.

We enjoyed going on a Winter Scavenger Hunt to find things in the frosty garden. We were able to find most things, but no animal prints unfortunately. However we did find some conkers that looked like they had been nibbled on by small animals.

It wasn't long before the frost was gone and the mud returned, but we had fun making muddy marks with our bikes and paint brushes.

It was Chinese New Year last Saturday so we have been busy celebrating in various ways. We read 'The Great Race' which told us the story behind why each year is named after an animal. We played with coloured noodles which were fun to pick up with tongs and spoons. We also made Chinese lanterns and ate with chopsticks which were both good for our fine motor skills.

On Friday, we had fun making animal masks to wear to the woods. We let our imagination run wild as we took on the roles of our animals; cats, foxes, hedgehogs and rats!

Our walk to the woods was full of interesting things to see and do. We noticed a huge hole in the hedgerow which we thought must be home to a fox or badger.

Whilst playing in the woods, we met some very friendly horses and their riders. The horses seemed very large next to some of our smallest children, but they were very gentle and calm.

We were very busy in the woods building our own houses. We collected sticks and pieces of wood to weave in and out of the trees. We worked well in groups to create doors and a cat flap and we even told the teachers that we didn't need their help,

"This building site is for children engineers. No grown ups allowed!"

Of course we enjoyed climbing and exploring in the woods as well, some of us dressed as animals.

It has been a little wetter and windier this past week. Our focus has been on physical development and moving our bodies. We have had fun dancing and moving to lots of action songs which has been good for our listening skills as well. We moved so much that Mrs Tubb's pictures are a bit blurry!

We danced to a fun song called Bean Bag Boogie and used the bean bags to help us balance.

After all that movement, we put our hands on our chests to feel our hearts beating and spoke about how activity keeps our hearts, muscles and bones strong.

We continued our focus on movement using the parachute inside and outside. We had to work as a team to move the parachute up and down and then to keep a ball on top of it. Inside, we were able to make a tent by bringing the parachute over our heads and sitting on it. It was fun to poke our heads through the middle hole!

With the weather being so wet and wild on Thursday, we chose to have a little more indoor time than usual. Building was our favourite activity as we used wooden blocks and linking blocks to create all sorts of structures.

Despite the wind and rain, we had fun outside climbing trees and pretending to be mountain explorers.

On Friday we got creative with some special paint pens and used them to draw pictures on rocks. We painted all types of things, animals, food, people and rainbows - even the teachers had fun painting!

Our walk was very muddy and rainy! We found a big log pile,

" I think a snake lives here, like in the Gruffalo!"

We also found an amazing hole in a large tree and discussed what might shelter in there.

After removing our wet outdoor clothing, we got busy in the warmth of the hall making banana pancakes for our afternoon snack. We had to crack the eggs, mash lots of bananas and mix all the ingredients together. We cooked the pancakes in a frying pan - they were delicious.

We had lots of fun with Duplo bricks as well and made all sorts of structures individually and in a group.

We have been working hard this week to remember The Acorns Rules - remembering to say our pleases and thank yous and to treat Acorns toys and equipment properly so that we can all enjoy them. We also need to remember to use walking feet in the hall; we have so much space and time to run outside at Westmeston, but in the hall it is dangerous to run.

If we remember the rules: kind hands, kind feet, kind words, we can all keep having a wonderful time at Acorns Westmeston.