What a lovely, busy week we have had in Nursery! Our learning this week has been inspired by the story “The Leaf Thief”, which quickly became a favourite with the children.
We started the week by heading out to our forest area to explore the changes we could see all around us. The children loved collecting leaves of all different colours, shapes and sizes and they were fascinated watching the wind “stealing” the leaves from the trees, just like in our story!
Back in Nursery, we used our leaves in lots of creative ways. The children had fun with a nature colour matching game, looking carefully to find leaves that matched different shades. We also used paint to make beautiful leaf prints, and some children even created their own imaginative leaf creatures!
As we talked more about where leaves go and who might use them, the children began to wonder about animals that make their homes in piles of leaves. This led us to learn all about hedgehogs and we found out some interesting facts, looked at pictures, and then made our very own playdough hoglets! The children were fascinated to learn that hedgehogs, along with other animals, hibernate during the winter. This sparked lots of great conversations about which animals sleep all winter long and how they keep warm.
In maths, we have been practising counting objects carefully, matching groups of items to the correct numerals, and working on our number formation. The children are really developing their confidence and accuracy and it is wonderful to see their progress!
We’ve also had a big focus on fine motor skills this week. Through lots of fun, hands-on activities, the children have been strengthening their finger muscles, all great practice for zipping up coats, doing buttons, using cutlery, and becoming more confident mark-makers.
How you can help at home:
Go on your own leaf hunt! Collect a few different leaves and talk about their colours, textures, and shapes. You could even make up your own “Leaf Thief” story together!
Use leaves, conkers, or acorns to practise counting. Line them up and count carefully, then try matching the groups to written numbers on bits of paper. You could even sort them by size or colour for an extra challenge!
You can use tweezers or tongs to pick up small autumn treasures like conkers or pebbles and pop them into pots.
It’s been a fantastic week full of curiosity, creativity and learning. We’re so proud of how engaged and enthusiastic the children have been, they have really embraced the autumn theme! 🍁
We hope you have a lovely, cosy weekend!
The Nursery team xx