Squirrels News - 15th March 2024

Our Topic book this week has been The Whale Who Wanted More by Rachel Bright. In this story the whale collects lots of possessions but always feels like something is missing until he realises what he really needs. To link in with this, we have been discussing the difference between a want and a need. Do we really need a new toy, or do we need access to healthy food? This turned into a wonderful discussion with the children where we thought about what we really need to keep us healthy, safe and feel loved and cared for.

In class we have been on some exciting adventures as we boarded the train in our Role Play Area, heading for the countryside, the beach and various cities. On one train journey we even went to the farm! Elsewhere in the classroom the children practised writing their letters and numbers on the whiteboard. We developed the muscles in our hands using various types of hole punchers as we punched train tickets. We also matched shapes to create pictures and made potions using water and flowers.

Outside the children developed their fine motor skills by peeling and sticking stickers. They also enjoyed playing with the diggers and observing what they could find amongst the soil and developed their writing skills using the whiteboard. Following on from last weeks learning, the children are still very engaged in reading signs around the environment which has been great to see. 

During our Outdoor Learning Day we played various games to develop our listening, resilience, gross motor skills and patience. Musical statues was a particularly big hit. We also played duck duck goose which took a bit of explaining and whilst we are still working on the rules everyone was very keen to get involved! It started raining when we were on the common but luckily we had music with us and everyone was having so much fun that it didn’t matter about the weather, reinforcing to the children that things can be fun no matter the weather.