On Monday we created artwork inspired by the story The Leaf Man written by Lois Ehlert. The children used natural resources found in our outdoor area to create the own leaf men, creatures or animals. Look at their beautiful work!
This week the children in Class 2 have been learning all about Diwali. We read stories and information books about the Hindu festival, moulded clay to create divas, dressed up in traditional clothing and took part in a rangoli pattern competition. We also tasted some festival foods such as naan bread, poppadoms and mango chutney. We had great fun and learned so many interesting facts about Diwali.
When we are looking at books our story dogs Max, Sam and Bob like to join us because they love information books and stories too!
Every weekend three lucky children get to take a story dog home with them. The story dogs like to join in with fun activities at home but best of all they enjoy listening to stories and sharing information books. The children can then share their photos with their friends in class when they get back to school.
Today is World Mental Health Day, so in our crew sessions we discussed why it is important to talk about how we are feeling and what we can do to help ourselves feel good.
We decided to take our crew session outside as the sunshine and fresh air can help to us to feel happy. We listened to one another share how we were feeling this morning and then took part in some fun activities together. The children enjoyed collecting leaves and creating their own leaf rubbings using paper and wax crayons or using hole punches to cut out different shapes. What a lovely start to the day!
This week as part of our expeditionary learning we have been using our fine motor skills to make bird feeders. The children loved carefully threading the cereals onto pipe cleaners, bending them into a shape and hanging them in our outdoor areas. It’s been great fun checking each day to see how much the birds have eaten. Well done Class 2!
Today Class Two completed their field work at Squirrel Wood. The theme of the visit was one of our favourite stories, The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. This is a key text in our current expedition case study titled ‘What do you see if you take a stroll through the deep dark wood?’
Here’s what we got up to…
We started the day with a short bus ride to Squirrel Woods. It was very exciting sitting with our friends. Once we had arrived we walked to a clearing in the woods where we would complete our activities.
Our first activity was a scavenger hunt. Our task was to search for things that could be the body parts of the Gruffalo such as his ‘terrible tusks, terrible claws or terrible teeth in his terrible jaws!’
Next, we discussed the different habitats of the animals in the story. Our challenge was then to recreate them in the woods. Look at our fantastic Gruffalo dens, treetop and log pile houses.
After that it was time for a snack break with warm popcorn and apple juice. We circled up around the fire pit and watched as the flint and steel created a spark to light the fire. It was very exciting watching, listening and waiting for the corn kernels pop.
While we were eating our snack some children volunteered to have a go at using the flint and steel to make a spark.
After this it was time for our final activity which was the one the children loved the most… using clay to make our own woodland creatures! Some children decided to press their clay against a tree to create a face which they then added features too. Look at our amazing work!
Before we knew it, it was lunch time. So we finished off our fieldwork with a picnic in the sunshine.
What a lovely day full of great memories, happy children and fun in the woods.
We have been really lucky to have an owl expert visit our school. The children were able to find out lots of information about owls and other animals. They were really excited to get to see the creatures close up! What a wonderful experience for our Foundation Stage children!
Our Class 2 Reception children had a wonderful time watching and taking part in activities with the amazing Mr Dan! What a lovely way to round up all the great Crew activities that our children have been taking part in.
Today in Class 2 we enjoyed sharing lots of stories together to take part in National Read a Book Day. I chose Pass the Jam Jim by Kay Umansky and Mrs Lowe read Sometimes I Feel Sunny by Gillian Sheilds. We share stories, rhymes and non fiction books in our classroom every day, but today it felt extra fun knowing there were lots of people all over the country making an extra effort to enjoy reading today. I wonder what books you enjoy reading? 📔🙂
The children in Reception had great fun taking part in our sports day this morning. We would like to say a huge well done to all of them. They showed amazing support for one another and behaved impeccably. We are very proud of them all!
