This week in nursery, the children have been engaged in a range of exciting and hands-on learning experiences across all areas of development:

This week, we introduced the children to the beautiful Christmas story, starting at the very beginning with The Annunciation (when the Angel Gabriel visits Mary).

• Drama: The children used their bodies and expressions to act out the story. We practiced showing surprise and joy, pretending to fly like angels and listen carefully like Mary.
• We talked about 'Good News'. We wrote the news the angel brought to Mary. 

• Craft: To bring the story to life, we made beautiful angel crafts using paper plates and lots of shiny glitter.

Our number rhyme this week was "One Finger, One Thumb", 

We have officially started our journey into numbers by focusing entirely on the Number '1'. Rather than just counting, we are looking at "one-ness"—understanding what one object actually looks like.

• We hunted around the classroom for single items: one teddy, one block, and one pencil.

• We practiced tracing the number in the air and in sand trays.

The children loved celebrating Bonfire Night through creative play, building projects, and scientific investigations.

• Making a Rocket: In our creative area, the children designed and built their own rockets using  colourful tissue paper streaming from the bottom, and metallic stars.

• Talking About Safety: We had very important group discussions about staying safe around real bonfires and fireworks. We learnt that fireworks are for adults to touch, and that we must always wear gloves when holding a sparkler!

• Exploring Sounds (Fizz, Bang!): We used our voices and musical instruments to explore the explosive sounds of Bonfire Night. We banged drums for the "BANGS", shook maracas for the "FIZZZZZ", and clapped loudly for the "POP!"

In our phonics sessions, we are developing our speaking, listening, and mouth-muscle skills by exploring different voice sounds.  We practiced making our voices go high like a squeaky mouse, low like a growling bear, making a continuous "shshsh" sound like the wind, or a rolling "brrrr" like a toy car. This lays the crucial groundwork for recognising letter sounds later on.