From Odd Socks to Poppies

This week, the children in Early Years have been very busy! We started off the week with Odd Sock Day, where we spoke about difference and how being kind was a superpower. We thought about how we could use our power, like our voices, for good. The children came up with some really thoughtful responses, including the use of polite words with our friends and grown ups, and also using the phrase ‘Stop, I don’t like it’ to encourage their peers to make the right choices.

The beautiful autumn leaves have been the source of such creative play this week. The children have been using their gross motor skills, sweeping the track clear outside, and have also enjoyed making with them. A particular favourite technique was using shaped hole punches to create pictures and collages, and also creating rather fetching jewellery and watches!

Remembrance day was marked in Early Years with a two minute quiet time, as we watched a thought provoking video, showing how poppies were a symbol of hope and peace. We then got creative, making poppies of our own from paper using our cutting skills, and also enjoyed creating large-scale poppies with paintbrushes and powder paint outside.

During one of our people and communities sessions, we continued to think about different gifts we could give others and how important it is to think about what the person receiving the gift would like. We decided to give Mrs Lammin a gift as we are always so grateful for everything she does in class. There were a few interesting ideas, such as a spiderman outfit and a dinosaur toy but when we really thought about what she would like, we agreed on a book as we know she loves reading. We wrapped the book and wrote a card for her. She was very grateful for the gift. During the choosing time that followed, the children enjoyed wrapping ‘gifts’ and writing cards to their friends.

During our very soggy forest school session, Ash and Saplings were busy finding and collecting objects during a treasure hunt. They had to find different objects, such as brown objects, feathers and pebbles. The children worked well as teams and it was a great opportunity for them to develop their fine motor skills, through a fun game.

A new area in our classroom has arrived this week too! The children have been very excited to be introduced to their new Calm Corner. A place to practice mindfulness techniques and help us to feel a little less ‘mixed up’ in our emotions, the Calm Corner is available to all children should they want some time for themselves. They were particularly excited about the cosy den, the windmills to practice deep breaths and the emotion cards to help them identify how they are feeling. Self-regulation is such an important and tricky skill to master for children, so it has been wonderful to see such enthusiasm and self-reflection arising as a result of this new area.