Squirrels News - 23rd February 2024
It has been lovely to welcome the children back after the February half term. Our topic book this week was What Do You See When You Look At A Tree by Emma Carlisle and it explores the many ways trees benefit and support the environment, from nesting and burrowing animals, to providing shade, being used for furniture and being used for paper.
We continued our learning by watching a video about how paper is made and had a go at making some ourselves! We developed the muscles in our hands and arms by ripping newspaper into small pieces which we then put in a blender, added water and whizzed it up. It was then time to push the water out through a sieve before rolling it out and placing it on a tray with absorbable paper to dry out. The children loved seeing the mixture all whizzed up as it looked like the pieces of wood we had seen earlier in the video.
This week the children were extremely excited to be going to the Polka Theatre. Their first adventure was getting on the coach which had blue trim LED lights! This was very exciting as you can imagine and meant that the coach was obviously magic!
On our way to pick up our friends at 345 Wandsworth we spotted various homes, modes of transport as well as people and animals. Once we picked up the children at 345 Wandsworth it was time to head to Wimbledon and get ready to see our show 'Tidy' at the newly refurbished Polka Theatre. Everyone was extremely well behaved, especially with our show being in the main theatre. It was delightful to observe the children’s faces as they watched in awe and joy at the three actors on stage playing badger, fox and rabbit. This story was all about a badger who likes to keep things clean but when Autumn came, he took things a bit too far. He didn't like the bare trees or the leaves on the ground, so he cut the trees down and put concrete over the grass. Badger soon learnt however that the animals needed the trees, grass, mud and flowers for food, warmth, and shelter. So, he restored the forest just in time for spring to bloom. After the show we had a snack and a brief play in the theatre’s lovely inside play area before getting back on the coach to return to nursery.
On our Outdoor Learning Day this week we spent the morning reflecting on our book of the week and the show ‘Tidy.’ We stopped along the way to the common various times to spot wooden gates, benches, bird feeders, tables, posts, and bin storage etc. We also noticed the concrete beneath our feet and wondered what was under there and what came before.
When we got to the common, we had a snack before looking around and deciding if the space seemed tidy. Some of the children didn’t think the area was tidy but on reflection from the play yesterday we realised that everything has its place and in this case it was best left to grow and be. We discovered a new shoot growing which the children have decided is going to grow into a tall tree. Some people watered it and we put cones around the shoot to stop people stepping on it. We also noticed the blending of the seasons as we spotted crisp brown leaves on some trees and the ground for Autumn, berries from Winter and flowers for Spring.
What an amazing week we have had in Squirrel class.