...castles and coronations, laughter, and an awful lot of learning. What a very busy couple of weeks we've had. The children embracing the opportunity to decorate inside and out in celebration of the King's Coronation. It has resulted in a wonderful new wall frieze to share with our community, alongside stained-glass windows, and a garden of flowers. The mobile library arrived too, just in time for the children to check new books out and even get an opportunity to meet the King.
Supported by stories, group times and small world resources, there's been lots of discussion about the celebrations. The children curious about the appearance of bunting round the village; and an opportunity for some of the older children to recall last year's Jubilee festivities. "It's our flag" "It's for the King". Crowns have been made with glee, jewels added and then proudly worn during play. We've been learning about London landmarks too. After fascination for buildings around the world earlier in the year, the unique London Eye, Big Ben, and Tower Bridge have proved to be equally fascinating, with spontaneous drawings and recreations built during play.
Our brand-new sandpit has arrived too, and large enough to enable several children to play within. It has been incredibly popular with everyone. Funded by the dedication and hard work from our committee, it has provided us with a wonderful addition to our outside gardens, replacing an older much smaller one. With its spacious capacity, lining and watertight top, it is sure to provide children with wonderful play opportunities for many years to come. A huge thank you to everyone past and present who has made it possible.
In-between the excitement of the Coronation and new sand pit play, all our usual activities have been carrying on apace. Phonics has been enjoyed through lots of silly soup activities with Steph, yoga has been focusing on creating dinosaur shapes with our bodies, caterpillars and butterflies have been in great discussion in French; and lots of attention and listening practice in Cool Sportz with two-part instructions. Potatoes have been planted in the garden with support from Natalie, our spring blooms dead-headed and new seeds sown.
Lots of focus has been on maths this week too. Hidden within adult led play, the children have been learning about halves and wholes, practicing accurate counting whilst serving picnic food to their friends and a little bit of problem solving too, sharing food equally, offering alternatives and taking turns. Some of the older children have enjoyed adding and taking away passengers from their own buses, enjoying the fun of throwing huge foam dice to determine what's going to happen and how many squares their bus is going to move now, and will it land on a plus or minus? "This one is going on, look it's the same" "I'm taking off" Our buses game has been played and re-played with many of the children, each time showing greater understanding of how to play and inviting their friends to join in too.
