This week brought sunny skies and warm temperatures, so we took things slow with plenty of water, rest, and relaxed activities. The children enjoyed messy play, calming music, and creative moments like mark-making to the sounds of whale songs.

In maths, we’ve been busy exploring numbers 1 to 5. The children have been practising saying one number for each object as they count, helping them build confidence in their early number skills. They really enjoyed feeding pom poms to a hungry monster, hanging numbered fish on a washing line, and matching Numicon shapes to the correct numbers.

In phonics, we introduced the sounds g, o, c, and k. The children joined in with lots of listening and speaking games to help them become more confident with hearing and saying these new sounds.

Our home corner turned into a hospital this week, which sparked some brilliant role play. The children looked after baby dolls, wrapped bandages, and used plasters, chatting about all the important jobs people do in hospitals. It was lovely to see them working together and using their imaginations to build on each other’s ideas.

At the playdough table, we created our own under-the-sea worlds using blue playdough, shells, sea creatures and seaweed. The children made thoughtful choices about what to include in their ocean scenes and how to bring their ideas to life.

In the tuff tray, we worked on our fine motor skills using tweezers to pick up pom poms, transfer them to bowls and move them over masking tape paths. This helped strengthen little hands and encouraged good tool control.

Over at the creative table, we had a new sea-themed activity each day. The children started the week with observational drawings of sea creatures, then explored line drawing, paper plate turtles, bubble painting and sea creature colouring. They experimented with different textures and materials while developing their pencil control and creative thinking. We also listened to calming whale music and explored mark-making by freely scribbling along to the sounds.

In the water tray, we’ve been fishing with nets! The children practised catching fish, seaweed and letters while using their hand-eye coordination and choosing which hand they prefer to use.

Stay and Play Picnic – Next Friday!
Time: 11:00am – 12:15pm
Where: Garden (please come to the Coral Reef gate)

We’d love for you to join us for our Stay and Play Picnic next Friday. The children will start by singing some of the songs they’ve been practising, then we’ll have a picnic together in the garden. After that, there’ll be time to explore outside and let the children show you where they love to play.

If your child doesn’t usually attend on Fridays, you’re still very welcome to come along. Just a reminder that if it’s not your child’s normal session, you’ll need to stay and be responsible for them during the visit.

Please arrive by 11:00am so we can start on time—we won’t be able to let anyone in after that due to staffing. Fingers crossed for sunny weather, so do dress for being outside.

We’re really looking forward to seeing you there!

We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Anemones team.