PLAYSCHOOL OPEN TODAY WEDS 23RD JAN

Hi all - we are open as normal
- snow quite deep in places in Broadway this morning but the roads are clear. 
We won't be doing Forest school - but may tog up and explore snow for short time and then come back inside for hot chocolate! 
Take care getting in and ensure your child has warm clothes & warm waterproof coat. Thankyou.

Starting our 'Around the world ' theme - the children came up with what they knew about travel and countries. They have looked at a globe and world map and discussed where they go on holiday. They then packed for' Marcus' the puppet -including sun cream, binoculars, camera and toys: and after making an aeroplane out of chairs and planks of wood they took him off to the 'apartment'- complete with cooker and play food!

 

We've had a look inside the forest school rucksack and what we pack inside to go to forest school. There were lots of contributions from the children who identifying the different items from the bag, why and what we use them for i.e. first aid kit, clip boards, picture charts, Mr Nuts, potato peelers for whittling etc.  One child even said "Tracy you do have allot of things from Boots"- he recognised the logo!

The children have been involved in making some great Forest school maps using collage and had a go at making binoculars! 

Staff are updating paediatric first aid for the next 4 Thursday evenings 7 until 10pm - making sure we can all keep the children safe and well. We have to do this every 3 years.

Parents working with the Apple Vale Children Centre staff at a story sacks workshop have been into Playschool to watch how staff perform the stories using the props and will be trialling their own creations on our children.  
 It will be cool to hear the children's response!

PLAYSCHOOL SNOW CLOSURES WILL BE POSTED ON THIS BLOG BEFORE 8am
on the  morning of the closure

PLAYSCHOOL CLOSURE - Friday 18th Jan 2013 -  due to severe weather warning

A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS & A PEACEFUL NEW YEAR !

We had a lovely last few days at playschool.
The children sang their hearts out at our sing song & our parents enjoyed the slide show of the last term.
The Christmas party was fun - we played pass the parcel/ duck duck goose/ musical statues and lycra games!
See you all in 2013 - we start back week starting MONDAY 7th Jan.

Christmas preparations continue.........

This week has been busy making Christmas decorations for the tree in the Children centre hallway and a dressing the beautiful angel for the top. The messy 'snow' play has been exciting and the twinkling snow dough.

'Pirate Pete' ( the puppet)  continues to figure in the children's play with map making and 'x' marks the spot being a big part of the story.

At forest school we have been making 3D reindeer sculptures out of branches pushed into the ground - we also made a giant star shape on the floor from carefully placed logs.

The children walked to the post office to buy stamps for Christmas and been putting the finishing touches to their Xmas twigs! One child said " i love painting sticks Tracey , its all gloopy on my hands !" .......and as well as practising our Christmas songs......... its all very exciting!

Christmas preparations !

This week the children have been exploring the dark den and looking at shadows in the shadow theatre they made.  There is much superhero role-play going on which involves princesses and baddies !

Despite the water issue - the staff team have been magnificent in ensuring the children only come into contact with bottled water until the problem is solved.

We have been rehearsing the Xmas songs and rhymes and the kids are getting really good - singing and acting their hearts out!

Towerview Playschool children enjoyed a walk down to Broadway Playschool today so the children could decorate our Christmas tree in the United Reformed Church. The tree looks fab - check it out at the late night shopping events in Broadway this Friday an  next. We all has snack together and the 'little ones' coped very well with the invasion !  It was a beautiful crisp winter's day and they also explored a big sheet of ice found in a tuff tray outside.

 

LIGHT & DARK THEME

As we head in to the murky winter months and looking at the children's recent interest in shadows, light, and the moon - has led to the development of this theme of light & dark to plan activities to.

The children enjoyed making T-light holders out of clay this week for the Hindu festival of Diwali on Thursday.  They were made indoors, and outside at forest school and  decorated with autumn leaves, twigs and the children explored making patterns in the clay using the same items. They look really lovely (and will make their way home as soon as they are dry!).

The children have also been doing self portraits, looking in the mirror and observing their faces, colour of eyes, shapes of facial features and how many they have of each feature.  They drew some fantastic faces, a selection of which can be seen with photos on the display at Playschool.  Do have a look.

We enjoyed an afternoon walk down the village to look at the decorated Christmas windows, we visited the Christmas shop, said 'hello' to the postman who was collecting the letters form the post office and one child saw his house in the shop window!

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