What a lovely, laughter-filled week we have had! Building on our learning from last week, we have continued to explore stories, sounds, numbers and creativity through lots of hands-on play.
This week we focused on some well-known stories and had great fun thinking about the different characters and the voices they might have. The children loved experimenting with their voices — from a big, loud giant’s voice to a rather cross mummy voice!
We also used our small world animals to bring stories to life, making the sounds we thought each animal might make. There were lots of giggles (and plenty of snorts!) as we experimented with the pigs. 🐖
We even had a go at making some of the less obvious animal noises and discovered that we didn’t know what every animal sounded like. This led us to research what a panda sounds like — what a fun way to learn! 🐼
All of this playful sound-making is helping the children to listen carefully, notice different sounds and have fun with the sounds in words. Being able to listen, copy, experiment and talk about sounds is a really important part of getting ready to read and write.
In maths, we have been getting to know number 2. We learned some fun maths songs to help us remember how to form the number and played lots of games to find number 2 hiding around our classroom.
We also practised showing 2 in different ways using our fingers and had fun making the number 2 with play dough.
These simple activities are helping the children to recognise the number, understand that it represents a quantity and begin to feel confident when forming it. Using our fingers and play dough also gives us lots of opportunities to practise those little hand and finger movements that will help with writing later on.
This week, the children created a 3D art piece in the style of Mondrian. They have really enjoyed making their own pictures and talking about the shapes and colours they have chosen.
It has been lovely to see the children becoming more confident when talking about their artwork, explaining what they have made and noticing similarities and differences between their own creations and Mondrian’s work.
We have also been making the most of the wonderful hoard of conkers in our playground!
The conkers have been used for all sorts of imaginative play, from pretend cooking to rolling them down the guttering and investigating which ones roll the easiest.
Although this looks like simple play, there is lots of learning happening along the way. The children are developing their curiosity as they test their ideas, making little predictions and noticing what happens. They are also practising sharing, taking turns, talking to their friends and using their imaginations.
We have loved watching the children turn everyday objects into exciting opportunities for play and discovery.
How you can help at home:
Pick an animal and take turns making its sound. Can you guess the animal? Try some unusual animals and see if you can find out what sounds they make.
Look around your home for the number 2. Can you find it in books, on a clock, on a remote control or on packaging? Then practise making 2 with play dough, drawing it in flour or showing 2 fingers in different ways.
Use paper, boxes, blocks or anything you have at home to make a picture using lines, squares and rectangles. Talk together about the colours and shapes you have used.
Thank you for another wonderful week of learning, exploring and, most importantly, having fun together. We can’t wait to see what next week brings! 🌟