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InstagramIt has been wonderful to see the cooperation and collaboration happening with our sewing frames and watching the anticipation on the children’s faces as they pass the needle through to each other, waiting to see where it’ll poke through next. The children have shown such focus and concentration whilst developing their fine motor skills, hand to eye coordination and dexterity. #eyfs #nursery #earlyyears #barnetearlyyearsalliance #eytagteam @eytagteam #finemotorskills #finemotor #sewingwithkids #handeyecoordination #maintainednurseryschools #finemotorideas #preschoolideas #earlyvearsideas
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InstagramLots of bubble fun in the garden in the rain today! Lots of team work needed to stomp, stamp and jump on the giant sponges to create a sea of foam across the floor. Lots of mess, excitement and connections were made as well as getting our bodies moving on wet Wednesday. “Squelch….squelch …squelch” “It’s like a volcano ! “ “We’re making rainbow bubbles” “Let’s go and wash our boots in the puddles!” Lots of lovely large scale mark making too. #earlyyearsoutdoors #barnetearlyyearsalliance #maintainednurseryschools #eyfsoutdoors #forestschool #rainydayplay #keepingitreal #themagicofchildhood #bubbles #eyfs
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InstagramThis week we’ve had lots of fun looking for eggs, counting eggs, filling eggs and creating our own eggs. Developing awareness of pattern and number recognition along the way . We’ve seen some wonderful recreations of independent pattern design through mark making and with the gems in the playdough . Lots of fun was had in the lead up to easter. We’ve read some favourite stories like The odd egg and The best nest . Finishing off with making chocolate nests to eat. We wish all our families a Happy Easter and a well earned long weekend. We will be open to welcome the children back on Tuesday the 16th April. #barnetearlyyearsalliance #maintainednurseryschools #eyfs #eyfseasterideas #finemotorskills #eyfsmathsideas
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InstagramThe pipes and guttering are by far, the most popular and widely used of the ‘loose parts’ resources we have on offer in the garden at the moment . ‘Loose parts’ is a term used to describe open ended resources that can be used, transported, manipulated and designed to become anything the imagination lends them to. The infinite possibilities of these open ended resources, promotes imaginative play, creativity , critical thinking skills , and deeper levels of engagement and intrinsic motivation. Children have been using the guttering and pipes to create ramps, race tracks and ball runs all around the garden. We’ve see real interest in this develop over the last half term , initially inspired by children love of hot wheels cars. Through this passion for racing them , we have seen some rich learning opportunities naturally take place. Friendships have been made, cooperative skills developed and some great team work has been seen as children collaborate their ideas to come up with new ones together. The mathematical concepts and problem solving skills developed has been incredible to watch. If anyone has any old pipes or guttering at home or interesting things we could add to our loose parts resources , we would greatly welcome them. As the saying goes …One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure. #eyfs #nursery #earlyyearsoutdoors #keepingitreal #earlylearning #barnetearlyyearsalliance #outdoorplay #earlyyearsoutdoors #maintainednurseryschools #eyfsoutdoors #forestschoolideas #loosepartsplay #eyfsmaths #mathsoutdoors #psed
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InstagramHere’s a small snapshot of some of the incredible mark making and explorations with colour , observed today. So many lovely examples of children using pens and mixed media to explore with blocks of colour , continuous lines and just experimenting with different ,marks they could make. One of my favourites is the continuous blue line . This was a boy I’d never seen mark make before and he was totally immersed in the process of what he was creating. Another is the amazing jungle picture from a child who we often hear say “I can’t do it “ or “I don’t know” when asked if she’d like to tell us something about what she’s made. Today she spent almost an hour creating her jungle. Starting with a crocodile before painting it green with a toothbrush. She continued to add animals and independently came to show me and tell me with pride about each one, which I scribed as she described their detail. It was wonderful to see her beaming with pride and her new found confidence in her own wonderful drawings. #barnetearlyyearsalliance #keepingitreal #community #maintainednurseryschools #psed #personalsocialemotionaldevelopment #finemotor #eyfsmarkmaking #eyfsdrawing
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InstagramWe’ve seen of excitement and high levels of interest generated by tadpoles we’ve brought inside to sapphire room this week. Lots of talk about “the fish” has initiated discussions about how the tadpoles will change as they grow in to frogs. Learning about life cycles and the transformational process of metamorphosis . Magnifying glasses were used to try and see which ones might have small back legs already . Sharpening our observational skills. Some amazing observational drawings were produced as children sat and watched them in the tank. We’ve also begun planting seeds to grow vegetables. So we can continue observing the changes as they begin to sprout shoots and grow leaves. Developing our understanding of the life cycle from seed to fruit/vegetable and what plants need to grow and how to look after them . So far we have planted sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes ,lettuce, salad leaves, mustard and cress. Developing our indoor growing area on the windowsill , until they are ready to be planted outside. #eyfs #nursery #earlyyearsoutdoors #keepingitreal #earlylearning #barnetearlyyearsalliance #earlyyearsoutdoors #theirplaytheirway #maintainednurseryschools #eyfsoutdoors #forestschoolideas #knowledgeandunderstandingoftheworld #eyfsgrowing #frogs
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InstagramReposting yesterdays post because a glitch omitted half of the pictures . We’ve seen of excitement and high levels of interest generated by tadpoles we’ve brought inside to sapphire room this week. Lots of talk about “the fish” has initiated discussions about how the tadpoles will change as they grow in to frogs. Learning about life cycles and the transformational process of metamorphosis . Magnifying glasses were used to try and see which ones might have small back legs already . Sharpening our observational skills. Some amazing observational drawings were produced as children sat and watched them in the tank. We’ve also begun planting seeds to grow vegetables. So we can continue observing the changes as they begin to sprout shoots and grow leaves. Developing our understanding of the life cycle from seed to fruit/vegetable and what plants need to grow and how to look after them . So far we have planted sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes ,lettuce, salad leaves, mustard and cress. Developing our indoor growing area on the windowsill , until they are ready to be planted outside. #eyfs #nursery #earlyyearsoutdoors #keepingitreal #earlylearning #barnetearlyyearsalliance #earlyyearsoutdoors #theirplaytheirway #maintainednurseryschools #eyfsoutdoors #forestschoolideas #knowledgeandunderstandingoftheworld #eyfsgrowing #frogs
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InstagramAnother wonderful wild day was had today at nursery . This is when we open up the gate connecting the front and back gardens and all children are given the freedom and opportunity to explore both independently. Last nights rain left muddy puddles to be enjoyed and splashed in. Children hunted the garden for bugs and “wiggly worms”, built dens and used natural resources to create patterns in the sandy playdough . We saw some great team work unfold as a group of boys worked really well together and did a fabulous job of cleaning the windows. Working on both fine and gross motor skills in the process. #eyfs #nursery #earlyyearsoutdoors #keepingitreal #earlylearning #barnetearlyyearsalliance #outdoorplay #earlyyearsoutdoors #maintainednurseryschools #eyfsoutdoors #forestschoolideas #eyfsfinemotor #physicaldevelopment #mudkitchen
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InstagramOur children created a wonderful piece of transient art today! Given the freedom to select loose parts and other resources, they all worked harmoniously together to fill the whole carpet space. Lots of children dipped in and out adding items. And at the end of the day we worked together to find where everything belongs! #transientart #loosepartsplay #hampdenwaynursery #barnetearlyyearsalliance
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InstagramThis week we have begun the process of developing a new role play area outside. ‘The garden cafe’ . It’s away from the mud kitchen/ exploration station , which invites lots of mixing and concocting and can frequently become very messy and wet. This often means this area can become dominated by children who love this type of messy, exploratory play, using natural resources. Leaving children who are not so comfortable getting their hands messy or wet ,avoidant of exploring the natural resources on offer there. Today the garden cafe was set up as a ‘woodland cafe’ . Offering a variety of dry textures and natural resources to experiment with . It was lovely to see different groups of children playing here throughout the day. Children who may not often be seen engaging in role play/ imaginative play outside using natural resources were making hot chocolate , selling ice creams and coking dinner for each other. Herbs from the garden were picked , cut and used as money in the till,to make soup and added to cups of tea. And at the end of the day all resources were stored ready for another day. #eyfs #nursery #earlyyearsoutdoors #keepingitreal #earlylearning #barnetearlyyearsalliance #outdoorplay #earlyyearsoutdoors #maintainednurseryschools #eyfsoutdoors #forestschoolideas #loosepartsplay #finemotor #outsideroleplay #eyfsmaths #mathsoutdoors #psed
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InstagramThank you for supporting our ‘Huff & Puff! This is our main fundraiser of the year and is a great opportunity not only to raise some funds for the nursery but also to promote getting active and having a healthy lifestyle. It was wonderful to see so many smiley faces and rosy cheeks as staff and children ran, stepped, jumped and danced, finishing off with the parachute and a Hokey Cokey. Well done everyone! . #nurseryschool #maintainednurseryschools #physicaldeveloment #activelifestyle #nurserycommunity #nurseryfundraiser #barnetearlyyearsalliance #eyfs #eyfsfundraiser
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InstagramToday it felt like summer may be finally on its way. We enjoyed anther wild day in the sunshine with everyone playing outside together for the whole day . The front garden is a much greener space than the back and offers so many more possibilities than the back garden brings . The energy is always quite high when children first come outside but then it settles and it always feels like a much calmer space. This enables children to connect in different ways , to each other and their environment and to take things a little slower. Children nestled in the long grass , to sit and observe their friends. They enjoyed looking for insects and slugs amongst the grass.New friendships were formed and it was lovely to see children helping each other and sharing their discoveries and achievement’s with each other. And celebrating what they could do, both with and without help. Despite the glorious sunshine , a muddy puddle is always enjoyed . Children worked together to transport water to a place where one child had discovered it was settling . This built much excitement as the puddle got bigger as well as the splashes. Giant bubbles were created as children mastered the art of using old baking tins to create bubbles in the sunshine. So much learning to be seen and much to be had . #eyfs #nursery #earlyyearsoutdoors #keepingitreal #earlylearning #barnetearlyyearsalliance #outdoorplay #earlyyearsoutdoors #maintainednurseryschools #eyfsoutdoors #forestschoolideas