Over spring term, the toddlers have loved learning all about ‘Amazing Animals’.

This term we look into arctic animals, under the sea creatures, jungle animals and farm animals.

To kick start the topic, the children learnt about the different animals that live in icy weather, they too explored ice and snow. Next the toddlers explored under the sea with a range of activities that helped them to gain knowledge of the different creatures that live under the sea and on the beach. Next the children learnt about jungle animals, we loved looking at books such as ‘giraffes can’t dance’ where we were able to explore movement and dance. Elmer was a huge hit as it taught the children all about colours and patterns. The final area that the toddlers learn about is at the farm, during this time we cover easter where we make easter crafts and take part in an easter egg hunt around school. We also look into the names of the different animals and their babies. We are lucky enough to have a farmer friend that brings his tractor onto our playground to show the children just how big they are.

In April we carried on looking at the farm, we looked at the different farm vehicles that are used and Mr Houghton even brought his tractor to school to show us. The children had the chance to climb up on the tractor and have a little pretend drive, they couldn’t believe how big the wheels were and the children really enjoyed watching it ride around the playground. We also celebrated Easter with our story ‘The Great Easter Hunt’ we enjoyed lots of activities such as filling and emptying egg containers with different materials using tweezers and our fine motor skills. We also enjoyed a eater tuff tray that was filled with easter treasures, we challenged the children to find the hidden eggs and then to count them out. Alongside this we enjoyed crafts such as decorating eggs and making Easter cards for our families and an Easter egg hunt with the Easter bunny.

In February, we have been very busy as we explored all the different creatures that live under the sea.

We looked at the story Commotion in the Ocean, the children enjoyed sensory painting on cling film, using neon paints and photographs of sea creatures pegged onto the inside, to create a colourful masterpiece, we also chose a different sea creature to craft each day and had lots of fun getting creative. Our next book was Hooray for Fish, the children were amazed with all the bright colours in the story and were able to spot the differences between all the fish. We also used our math and physical skills as we went fishing in the water tray, using the big nets, the children were asked to fish out as many sea creatures as they could and then we counted them out together afterwards. Another activity that we enjoyed was baking biscuits, we had to measure out the ingredients to create so delicious fish shaped biscuits, we added all the ingredients into a bowl, rolled out the dough and then decorated afterwards, the children were encourage to use mathematical language throughout.

The following week, we looked at the stories Mister Seahorse, we decorated our own seahorses with bubble painting, the children needed to follow our instructions carefully to be able to master the bubbles and they did a really good job. Another activity we enjoyed was digging for shells in the sand pit, we explained how it was the same texture as the ocean floor and the children observed the change from dry to wet sand. They described how it felt as well as using different tools to find the seashells that were hiding in the sand.

The final story we looked at was Sharing a Shell, we spoke about friendship and being kind. The children agreed that sharing toys and using kind hands was a good way to be kind. We enjoyed a sand and sea, edible, sensory tray. We used crushed biscuits, gloop and whipped cream to create a beach scene with different creatures added in, the children used their senses to explore the different textures.

This month in the toddler room, we focused on everything Christmas, we loved getting stuck into lots of different Christmas crafts such as puffy paint snowmen and collaging sparkly Christmas trees. We created lots of lovely decorations to display around our room, as well as adding baubles to our Christmas tree. This month we looked at some brilliant story books such as ‘There’s an elf in my book’ and ‘The Christmas bear’ we did lots of work around these books that prompted intrigue and lots of questions. The children really enjoyed the build up to Christmas, with Christmas jumper days and  all sitting together to enjoy a delicious roast dinner with music and crackers. We also had so much fun at our class Christmas party, where we joined up with the rising three’s celebrate with party games, dancing and a very special visitor, Santa!

This month, our theme has been ‘Into the Woods’ and we have been looking at a new book each week.

Our first book was ‘We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt’. We went on our very own leaf hunt around school, we looked at the different shapes and sizes of the trees as well as the different coloured leaves they produce depending on the season.  We also had fun exploring different activities such as leaf printing and sensory trays. Another book we looked at was ‘Owl Babies’. We discussed the different sizes of the owls and created a dark den that provided the children with opportunities to talk about night and day. We have also been observing the changes in the weather and watching Autumn come in. Alongside this, we have been very crafty making different types of Autumn animals such as hedgehogs, squirrels and bears.