Another busy month at Preschool! The children enjoyed making their own pizzas—a fun and delicious activity that also provided an opportunity for learning in several different areas: fine motor skills, turn-taking, listening to instructions, mathematical language around size and shape, understanding of the world by talking about past experiences of making and eating pizza, and developing vocabulary around senses, preferences and actions.
They’ve also enjoyed bead threading, collaging to recreate their favourite pizzas or storybook covers, and finding letters from their name on computer keyboards. The small world area has featured pirate ships and a castle, while part of our outside area has become a construction site, complete with hard hats, hi-vis jackets and traffic cones. We’ve loved listening to the stories these toys and props have inspired.
During National Storytelling Week, the children voted for a story every day. This encouraged them to participate and have a voice in their learning, and this early experience of democracy ties in with the curriculum’s British Values component. We used not just books but videos and props to tell the chosen stories.
The children loved marking Chinese New Year with themed activities and Chinese foods, developing their fine motor skills using chopsticks! A big thank you to the librarian, Sally, who provided a great selection of books about Chinese New Year, and about emotions for Children’s Mental Health Week. These books helped us to get the children chatting about feelings and healthy ways to express them. As Valentine’s Day approaches, the children have also been talking about people who are important to them and using mixed media to create hearts.
Looking ahead, some of the children will be visiting the church in March to mark Easter. We’re looking forward to our rescheduled visit from the oral health educator, and more fun activities after half-term.