Hot or Not?

For this terms topic, we will be learning about different countries around the world. We started in the polar regions, learning about the different animals that live there and how they have adapted to their environment. We read a story about Antartica and made up our own stories in Drawing Club about penguins hatching chicks. We also did an experiment in Science to see how we could melt an ice cube the quickest. We tested it in salt, sugar, our hands and water. The children made predicitons and then carried out the investigation as a class. 

Subitising, ordering and recognising numbers

In maths, we have been playing track games to see which animal would reach 10 the quickest. The children had to order the numbers, roll the dice and subitise the spots then take it in turns to move the animals along the track. We have also been playing a feed the reindeer subisiting game to practice their skills during continuous provision time. 

In RE we have been learning and acting out the Chinese new year story. In continuous provision, the children used masks to act out the story some more. Some children decorated a Chinese new year greeting and drew a dragon, which is the animal for 2024. Other children ordered the animals from the story.

Making staircase patterns in maths

We have been ordering the Number blocks characters then making our own versions using Number Blocks stamps, Numicon and unifix cubes to make staircase patterns. The children realised that the towers were 1 more each step. We also matched the numeral to each tower. 

How to keep warm experiment

As it was freezing cold this week outside we decided to do an experiment to see how we could keep ourselves warm. The children suggested ways to keep warm then we all worked in groups to take part in each activity. At the end, we did a vote to see which activity kept us nice and toasty!

Next stop....Africa!

After visiting the polar regions we have flown to Africa to discover what it is like compared the UK and the polar regions. We have read the story 'Handas Hen' and learnt which animals are native to Africa and what the weather is like there. The children found Africa on the globe and re-told the story in the small world. 

Edward Tinga tinga art

This half term, the artist we are learning about is Edward Tingatinga from Tanzania, Africa. The children started by using his painting techniques using cotton buds to paint brightly coloured dots. Next, we learnt how to draw some African animals by following step-by-step instructions. The children worked really hard to add in all the details of the different animals and carried it on during their continuous provision time. 

Handas Hen

After reading the story we discovered that the hens chicks had been spotted in our outside classroom! The children were challenged to see whether they could find all the chicks and mark down on their maps where they had seen them. They counted up how many they had spotted and wrote a sentence to descibe where they had found them. To make sure Handas hen doesn't get lost again some of the children decided to make a new chicken coop to keep her safe using the junk modelling. 

Forest School 

The children have loved exploring the forest this winter. They have been busy making magic wands and paint brushes using natural materials. They were very imagitive as they made up storylines to turn each other into magical creatures while building dens for them using the tarpaulins and bamboo canes. They have loved playing parachute games where they had to listen carefully to the instructions and take it in turns to run under the parachute. We have also had lots of fun making mud pies and potions all while plashing in the muddy puddles!

Composing numbers 5, 6 and 7

We started singing the songs, '5 little speckled frogs' and '5 little spacemen' to introduce the children to composing number to 5 in different ways. They then had a go at composing the number 5 using Numicon and cubes. We have extended this to include making numbers 6 and 7.