What a worm-derful week

 

This week in Foundation, we have been diving into the wonderful world of Superworm by Julia Donaldson. This fantastic story captured the children’s imaginations as we explored all the incredible things Superworm could transform into—a hat, a fairground ride, a lasso, and so much more! The children were brimming with ideas, coming up with their own creative suggestions for what Superworm might become next.

To bring the story to life, we got hands-on with playdough, rolling and stretching it to make our very own super long worms! This led to a great discussion about length—we compared our worms, talked about which were the longest and shortest, and even used words like “longer than” and “shorter than” to describe them. It was a fun and practical way to build early mathematical skills while engaging in sensory play.

The rainy weather this week turned out to be a perfect learning opportunity! As soon as the garden became damp, we went on a worm hunt, carefully searching under leaves and in the soil. The children were fascinated to see real worms wriggling around, and we talked about why worms love the rain and how important they are for our gardens. It was wonderful to see their curiosity sparked by nature.

What a worm-derful week of learning and discovery! 🐛 We can’t wait to see what next week brings.

 Exploring Emotions in Early Years

This week, our focus has been on children’s mental health, creating lots of engaging activities to help the children understand and express their emotions. It’s been wonderful to see how much they already know about feelings and to build on that by exploring different strategies to help them recognise that all emotions are important—they make us who we are!

One of our favourite activities was making crazy hair photos, where the children added words to describe how they feel. It was such an enlightening experience, giving us a real insight into their thoughts and emotions. We also enjoyed storytelling, using both familiar tales and our own creations to demonstrate different ways to manage feelings.

Although this has been a special focus this week, supporting children’s emotional well-being is something we do every day in early years. We encourage them to talk about their feelings and remind them that it’s okay not to be brave all the time. It’s okay to feel sad, frustrated, or even angry—what matters is how we understand and manage these emotions.

By creating a space where children feel safe to express themselves, we’re helping them develop the tools they need for a lifetime of emotional resilience. 😟😠😢😕😏😆😃

I hope you all have a great half term.

                                                                 The power of creativity

                                                                  Here are our thoughts

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 It’s been a wonderfully vibrant and very Chinese week in the unit as we’ve been celebrating the Year of the Snake! The atmosphere has been buzzing with excitement as the children immersed themselves in a variety of hands-on activities, all linked to this fascinating festival.

One of the highlights of the week was creating our very own Chinese dragons. The children loved using  an array of materials to bring their dragons to life. Of course, no Chinese New Year celebration would be complete without a dragon dance! With their handmade dragons in hand, the children paraded around, swaying and stomping in time with traditional Chinese music—it was such a joy to watch.

Food is always a big part of any cultural celebration, and the children had a fantastic time preparing and tasting noodles. They even had a go at using chopsticks, which led to plenty of giggles and determination as they tried to master the tricky technique!

We also took a closer look at China on our map, sparking lots of curiosity about this vast and beautiful country. The children were particularly fascinated by the story of the Chinese Zodiac and enjoyed finding out which animal represented the year they were born in.

Another special moment was attempting some Chinese writing. The children showed incredible focus as they carefully copied Chinese characters, and we were so impressed with their efforts! It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm and pride in trying something new.

This festival is always a favourite, and it’s easy to see why—the combination of dragons, dancing, storytelling, and food makes for an unforgettable experience. We’ve had an incredibly busy week, but most importantly, a week filled with laughter, learning, and lots of festive fun!

Mr Gradwell was feeling poorly so he booked an appointment at our hospital and was given several injections to make him feel better.