June 07th, 2019

This week in Mucky Pups we have been amazingly busy!
There have been so many little activities going on and just general fun that I’m bound to miss something.  Here we go!
Circle times – We have been looking at grouping in the younger children’s group, using different objects such as coloured counters, animals and dinosaurs and even the children themselves!  This is something that some children do without even thinking about, usually something like putting the same colour pieces together. We have been looking at something more difficult, such as farm and zoo animals, or items of clothing that the children are wearing.
The preschool children have been looking at Kindness and what it means to be kind.  We have been reading a story about being kind, which is the one we linked in the newsletter. If you want your own copy, follow the link here!
This story has led to many different discussions about how to be kind to each other and has given us the idea of a kindness jar. 
We are looking out for special acts of kindness and making a big deal about how good this is.  That child then gets to add a pebble into the Kindness Jar.  Once full, we will give the children a special surprise. 
Why not reward your children with your own kindness jar at home, or, tell a member of staff about what they have done and we’ll add it to ours!
We started this week with talking about our holidays and if we had done anything, and also have been discussing things that they like to do at home.  This helps us plan activities around your children’s interests which then boosts their learning when they are super interested.  Please use the Capture Online system to share things with us, especially photos; children love to look at photos of themselves and it helps open up a conversation. We have been doing this a lot over lunch times, really discussing home life around the lunch table and talking about the type of things they have in their lunch box.  This type of conversation is really important in helping them develop more words in their vocabulary and better social skills.
This week we have been trialling having cereal for snack.  We give the children a choice of three cereals and a bowl of fruit.  So far, this is a big hit!
As you will see from the photos, the children have been really interested in shapes this week, using them to make pictures and patterns. This has also been outside as well, with children looking for chalk marks to wash off with a wet paintbrush.  Joe and Jean added ‘X’ in many different places for the children to find.
Outside, the children have enjoyed some great role play with Steph playing Three Little Pigs, and we have also had small world set up on a new platform at the bottom of the garden. 
We also made some bird feeders using cheerios on string.  Until a Duck came in through the gate and started eating everything!
The mud kitchen has had lots of use as usual, with the children using grass and some daisy heads to make flower soup.
Inside, some of the children have been making wands by decorating star shapes with lots of colourful bits and pieces then putting them on a stick. We have also done some baking, and sprinkled some edible glitter on the top to make them really special!
And, lastly, we finished the week by all wearing our Pajamas, and reading lots of stories in our giant bed full of duvets.
Have a lovely weekend everyone! Please comment!