Story Time
It’s Friday again! Well done for making it through another week of being in lockdown. We know that many of you are enjoying our Friday Story Time so we hope that you enjoy this one. Today’s story is read by Mrs Beesley and it was a book that was popular when we came back to Nursery after Christmas. It’s about a very hungry creature, but it’s not a caterpillar! This animal has stripes and he arrives at a little girl’s house just in time for tea…
‘The Tiger Who Came To Tea’ is written by Judith Kerr and published by HarperCollins. Here are some things to talk about when you’ve listened to the story.
- How do you think Sophie felt when she opened the door?
- Can you remember some of the things that the tiger ate?
- What did the tiger drink?
- What happened at the end of the story?
- Did you like the story? What was your favourite part?
- If you could have an animal to tea at your house, which animal would you choose? Why?
If you enjoyed the story and would like some activities to do at home, here are a few ideas.
- Invite one of your soft toy animals to tea. Can you make an invitation? Write a list of the food that you’d like and set the table for a tea party. We hope that your animal isn’t as hungry as the tiger!
- Can you paint a tiger? Ask your grown up to draw an outline and then have a go at painting the stripes on it. Orange, black, orange, black…
- Andy’s Wild Adventures has an episode all about tigers. Watch it here.
- If you have a printer, there are some printable activities and colouring sheets that you can download on this website.
- Sadly, the Channel 4 film adaptation of the story isn’t available to view at the moment but perhaps you recorded it or have access to it on Amazon.
If you haven’t been in touch with us for a while, please send us a quick email to let us know how you are. We hope that you have a lovely weekend and find somewhere new to explore now that we have a little more freedom to visit parks.
Can you spot the animals?
Did you have a go at counting all of the animals from Monday’s ‘I spy zoo animals’ activity? Today, we thought that you might like to play another game of I-spy, but this time, your Nursery teachers need your help! Can you help them to find all of the different creatures that are hiding? Look carefully!
Can you remember which animals you saw?
- Did you spot the wrinkly elephant that was perched on top of Mrs Beesley’s fence?
- A bouncing bunny rabbit had managed to jump all the way up into the tree at Miss Morris’ house.
- Miss Pennock’s shimmering seahorse wasn’t swimming in the sea, it was driving a little car!
- We’re sure you found the cheeky monkey playing peek-a-boo in Miss Logan’s playhouse.
- Did you see what gave Mrs Long a fright? That’s right, it was sneaky shark hiding behind the shower.
If you enjoyed this, maybe you could have a game of ‘I spy’ at home. You could hide animals or toys, just like we did, or you could play a game of colour I spy. I spy something that is … red/blue etc..
You could also practise your memory skills and concentration by playing a game of ‘Kim’s game’. Collect 5-6 items from around your house and put them together on the floor or on a tray. Ask your child to look at them for a short time and then cover them up with a cloth (e.g. tea towel). Remove an item without your child seeing and then uncover the objects. Can they spot which object is missing? This is great fun and children love to play it at Nursery. You can make it harder by adding more objects or reducing the amount of time that they can look for.
Don’t forget to visit our Class Page again on Friday for this week’s Story Time.
Keith the Cat with the Magic Hat
We hope that you all enjoyed the long weekend and had some fun for the VE Day celebrations. This week, we are sharing a story that some of you may know – ‘Keith the Cat with the Magic Hat’ by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet.
Watch it on the link or if you have it at home, read it together. This is a story that has lots of rhyming words in it. Can you hear some of them?
Here are some activities that you can try that are linked to the story.
Creative – Can you make a magic hat or a wand?
- You could use a hat that you already have and add bits and pieces or you could make a paper hat and decorate it.
- Make a wand from a stick in the garden or roll up some paper to make a wand. What spell would you use to make magic? We like “Abracadabra” or “Hocus Pokus” in Nursery but you might know a different one. Let us know how you get on, what would your magic spell be?
Reading – Being able to listen carefully is an important skill when learning to read. The game below will help you to listen really carefully. It’s available on www.phonicsplay.co.uk. This website is free to access at the moment using the username: March20 and Password: home.
Once you have accessed the website, the game we would like you to play is called ‘Welcome to the zoo‘. Can you guess which animal is in the crate? Listen carefully to the sounds that you hear. Maybe you could practice making animal sounds yourself.
Mathematics- I spy zoo animals – How many of each animal can you see? Help your child to count carefully. It will be tricky to remember which one you have already counted, so draw a line through them as you go.
Please note- When you open this Twinkl PDF, there is a page to write down how many animals you counted. Don’t worry about completing this part; we don’t expect Nursery children to be able to write digits. Just focus on the ‘I spy’ page and careful counting.
You could maybe count your own toy animals at home if you have any, or the animals in a book. Count carefully pointing and saying the number name as you go.
Creative – Can you draw a cat? Use two circles, then add the features. If this is tricky, why not draw the circles for your child to add the legs, ears, eyes and whiskers. Remember to talk about how many you will need to draw.
How many legs has a cat got? Count with your child as they draw on the legs.
Role play – Could you create your own ice cream shop? Paper cones and old yogurt pots could be used for the cones or pots. You could use cotton wool balls, pom poms or play dough for the ice cream. The children could practise their mark making by taking orders and making menus. See how creative you can be; your child will love to help to set this up.
We did a quick search on Google images/Pinterest and there are lots of pictures if you need a bit more inspiration.
Watch – Have you ever wondered how ice cream cones are made? What do you think the ingredients are? Maddie finds out here.
Health and self- care –Encourage your child to put on their own coat and shoes before you go for your daily walk. These self-help skills will really help your child to become more independent. Use the extra time that you have in order to develop this important skill. When we get back to Nursery, we will be amazed at how independent the children have become!
There will be another activity added on Wednesday, so keep a look out for that. We are enjoying seeing your photos, but just an email would be great. Let us know if your child is enjoying the activities or if there is something that they are missing and we will do our best to recreate these on line. Any favourite books for story time on Fridays?
Our email address is scholesf1@spherefederation.org. We would love to hear about what you have been doing. Also we are happy to answer any of your questions too.
Have fun!
Story Time, Home Learning and a Trick Shot!
It may be a special VE Day Bank Holiday, but we still thought you’d enjoy a story time with one of our Nursery team. Today’s story is read by Miss Pennock and we think it’s a story that many parents/carers will relate to right now. It’s called ‘Five Minutes’ Peace’ by Jill Murphy (published by Walker Books) and is all about the Large Family.
Here are a few questions you could talk about after you’ve listened to the story.
- Who are the characters? Can you remember any of their names?
- What did Mrs Large want to do? What did she put on her tray?
- Can you remember what tune Lester played on his recorder?
- Which story did Laura read to Mrs Large?
- How do you think Mrs Large felt when all of her children went into the bathroom?
- What was your favourite part of the story?
If you enjoyed the story and would like some activities to do at home, here are a few ideas.
- Sing along to ‘Elephants have wrinkles‘ at home. This is one of the songs we sometimes listen to before lunch at Nursery.
- Laura read Little Red Riding Hood to Mrs Large. Have you read this story? You might enjoy watching the CBeebies ballet which tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood through ballet dancing.
- Do you have any instruments at home? Try playing a tune or shaking along to ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little star’ like Lester. If you don’t have any instruments, have a go at making some. There are some suggestions to get you started here, but we’re sure you’ll have lots of your own ideas.
- If you have some little toy elephants (or other animals), you could put some bubbly water in a bowl and let them have a bath like Mrs Large.
- Why not help an adult at home to make a tray like Mrs Large did. You could could add a snack, a drink and find a book or magazine too. Then, sit down somewhere quiet and enjoy five minutes’ peace! (That’s Mrs Long’s plan later…)
Remember Nursery, try to give your grown-ups five minutes’ peace this weekend! Try to play somewhere by yourself for a little while or sit and look at a book quietly. Think about poor Mrs Large!
Home Learning
Thank you to everyone who has been able to email us with an update on how you all are. Lots of people seem to have found the previous week trickier than others. Perhaps the change in weather, or simply just that we’ve been at home for 7 weeks now – that’s tough! It’s longer than the summer holidays when we all have lots of plans, outings and gatherings with friends and family. Keep going! You’re all doing a great job. Please remember that our ideas are just suggestions and there are no expectations to complete them. From our own experiences of family life in lockdown, sometimes it’s good to take a step back and have a break too. Perhaps a movie, a cuddle on the sofa with a book or a walk in the sun.
Whatever you choose to do each day, we really do enjoy seeing your photos and reading about the things you have been getting up to. This week you have been really busy again.
- There were some brilliant tinfoil boats. We think the highest number of pennies in a boat was 67. However, we know that some of you ran out of 1p coins and had to use other, heavier coins as well. Well done, everyone!
- You created some fantastic fish to swim in the sea with Barry; we loved all of the different colours that you used.
- And a few more activities including glow-stick dancing in the dark, counting paper fingers, painting VE Day bunting and playing in the great outdoors.
- Finally, before we say goodbye for the long weekend, here is another entry into the Trick Shot Challenge. What a great shot!
Can you make a boat?
Did you enjoy reading about Barry the Fish with Fingers? We love that story. Today, we thought we’d challenge you to make a boat using tinfoil.
- How much foil do you need to use?
- Does it float or sink?
- How many coins (or similar items) can it hold before capsizing?
- Which boat held the fewest coins? Most coins?
If you enjoy this, you could have a go at making a different type of boat using junk modelling things. Think about which material would be best to use and why. What happens to cardboard when it gets wet? Does this boat hold more coins than the tinfoil boat?
Have fun, and remember to let us know how you get on. Send us an email to tell us how many pennies your boat held and we’ll see which boat held the most at the end of the week!
Trick Shot Challenge!
Did you see the Trick Shot Challenge video that we all made? Watch it here if you haven’t seen it yet. We were really pleased to see that we had inspired some of you to have a go at your own challenge. We loved watching this one when it arrived in our inbox yesterday. Well done!
Barry the Fish with Fingers
Good morning, Nursery! We hope that you all had a good weekend and found something fun to do. Mrs Beesley enjoyed reading a bit more of her favourite book and Mrs Long helped to bake a rainbow cake. What was your favourite part of the weekend? Did you have video call to say hello to any of your family and friends? It’s great to keep in touch with each other.
This week’s story will be another one of our favourites (we have so many!). It’s called ‘Barry the Fish with Fingers‘ by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet.
Watch it using the link, or if you have it at home, read it together. Ferdie and Fern enjoyed sharing the story earlier.
Here are some activities that you can try that are linked to the story.
Health and self-care – Can you practice putting on your gloves? We do this in nursery when we are going outside. Remember to wiggle your fingers into each finger space. There are 5 on each hand. Can you count them?
Creative – Finger painting – If you have paint at home you can practice some finger painting. Cut out the shape of a fish and fill it with a colourful finger paint patterns. How many colours will you use?
Sing together – The fish in the ocean. We enjoy singing this at nursery, try it at home.
Mathematics – Draw around your own hand or your child’s and cut it out. How many fingers can you see ? Fold down the fingers one at a time and ask your child to count how many now. Use more than one hand to extend to 10.
‘Under the sea’ counting game – Visit Topmarks and you will get onto the website home page. Select ‘Early Years’ and there are lots of interactive counting activities to play, including this underwater counting game.
Get active – Join in with the finger song and get active.
Watch – Do you like fishcakes ? Have you ever wondered how fish cakes are made. What do you think the ingredients are ? Maddie finds out here.
We are enjoying seeing your photos, but just an email would be great. Our email address is scholesf1@spherefederation.org. We would love to hear about what you have been doing. Also, we are happy to answer any of your questions too. Remember to visit our Class News Page again on Wednesday and Friday for more updates and activities. (Posts are also now available to view the night before from 7 o’clock.)
Have fun!
Story Time
Can you believe it’s Friday again? We know from your emails that many of you are still finding lots of fun activities to keep you busy at home. If you haven’t been in touch with us recently, please send us a quick e-mail to say hello. As usual, we’ve added some of your friend’s photographs at the end of this post so that you can see some familiar faces and find out what everyone else has enjoyed doing.
First of all, here is today’s story for you to enjoy. This week’s story is read by Miss Morris and it’s another favourite of ours. It’s about someone who has terrible teeth, orange eyes, knobbly knees and purple prickles all over his back. Can you guess which story it is? We thought so!
There are two parts to this story, so don’t forget to click on both videos.
We know that this is a favourite story for many children; we love to use the creatures and our Gruffalo toy to retell the story at Nursery. Here are a few things to talk about after you’ve listened to the story.
- What’s your favourite part of the story? Why?
- Who is your favourite character?
- Describe the Gruffalo. What special features does he have?
- Can you remember what the mouse said his favourite food was? How did the Gruffalo feel? How do you know – what did he do at the end?
If you search online, there are lots of Gruffalo themed activities to enjoy. Here are a few that you might like to have a go at.
- We love listening to this Gruffalo song at Nursery. Sing a long at home. Be warned, you might be singing it all day!
- Have a go at moving like the different creatures. Slither like a snake, flap your wings like owl or stomp like the Gruffalo.
- Can you draw the Gruffalo? You could ask an adult to help you with the outline and then draw on his orange eyes, poisonous wart, purple prickles and terrible tusks etc..
- Go for a walk and collect some twigs, leaves, stones etc… When you get home, gather some old pots/pans/bowls that you don’t mind getting dirty. In your garden, using your collected items and a bit of soil or sand and some water, mix them all together to make some ‘Gruffalo crumble’ . We love to play in the mud kitchen at Nursery; it’s great, albeit messy, fun.
- If you have a printer at home, here’s a pairs game to play and a mask that you could print out and make.
- There’s also a Gruffalo games app (free) with some fun memory games to play.
Home Learning
Here’s a selection of your photographs from this week. Lots of you continue to enjoy being outside, learning to ride your bikes and playing football. We’re pleased that a few of you managed to spot some bluebells growing and that you also enjoyed the scavenger hunt. ‘Zog’ was very popular this week; we’ve had photos of castles and some super pictures of Zog breathing fire. It’s also been great to hear that you are helping out with jobs at home, including pegging out the washing and helping to vacuum. Keep it up, Nursery!
5 Cheeky Monkeys
Today, we thought that you might like to join in with one of the songs that we enjoy singing in Nursery. It’s about five cheeky little monkeys… Can you guess which song it is? Click on the photo to download our video and sing along with all of us at home. Let us know if there are any problems viewing it.
We hope you enjoyed seeing everybody again; we always love to see your photographs and videos so keep sending them in. As we mentioned in a previous post, Miss Backhouse is safe and well; she just isn’t able to take part in recording videos.
If you enjoyed the rhyme, there’s another version with the lyrics on this website. You might enjoy making some stick puppets and acting out the rhyme too. Remember to send us a photo or video to our email – scholesf1@spherefederation.org.
Zog
We hope that you enjoyed the sunshine on Saturday and managed to get out for some exercise and fresh air. Mrs Long is lucky enough to live within walking distance to Temple Newsam. The bluebells in the woods there are beautiful at the moment and have a lovely fragrance. Have you seen any growing anywhere near your house?
This week, we will be thinking about the story ‘Zog’ by Julia Donaldson. You might have this story at home, but if not we have posted a link to it above. Julia Donaldson is one of our favourite authors and we really enjoy looking for the rhyme in her stories.
Read or listen to the story with your child – before you start the book ask your child a few questions. What do you think dragons look like? What do you think they sound like? The teacher in the story teaches the dragons “……all they needed to know”, what do you think dragons need to know? Read the story to your child and talk about the pictures.
Here are some activities that you can try that are linked to the story.
Can you draw a dragon? Perhaps draw the basic outline of a dragon. Can your child add the spikes to its back and the fire from its mouth? What colours would you use for the fire?
Small world play – Build a castle with any bricks or children’s building materials that you have at home. If you don’t have bricks use food boxes to make a castle. You can decorate this and add any toy figures that you may have.
Get creative– Make a crown or a wand, using bits and pieces from around your home. Send us a photo into the email address.
Watch – Here is an action video to watch and join in with your child. Let’s get active, even if we are inside! Fly like a dragon!
Get active – Take part in a scavenger Hunt outside or around your home. See image below or if you have a free Twinkl subscription, you can download it. This is linked to our senses. Talk to your child about their senses.
There are also few Zog themed activities and games on the Forestry England site. Most of the crafts and games are suitable for younger children with just a few activity sheets aimed at older children.
Let us know how you get on by replying to the email address scholesf1@spherefederation.org. We would love to hear about what you have been doing. Also, we are happy to answer any of your questions too.
Have fun!
Story Time
It’s Friday again and another week of being in ‘lockdown’ completed. Well done! We hope that you’re all remaining happy and healthy at home. Keep sending us your e-mails; we really do love to see your photos and read about all of the activities that you’ve been doing at home. We’ll share some of your photos at the end of this post so that you can see what your friends have been doing too.
As it’s the end of the week, we thought we’d continue with our popular Friday Story Time posts; we’ve had a lot of positive feedback to say how much children have enjoyed hearing some familiar voices . Today’s story, is another Nursery favourite. It’s called ‘ The Paper Dolls’ and is written by Julia Donaldson (published by Pan Macmillan).
Miss Logan is reading the story, and in case you’re wondering, she’s sitting in Nursery’s book corner because she has been working in ‘Big School’ this week. She’s been helping to look after Key Worker children that still attend school at some points during the week. As you can see, Nursery is exactly the same; we really hope to be all sat together, listening to stories again soon.
Here are a few questions and things to talk about after you’ve listened to the story.
- What were the girl’s slippers like?
- Can you remember what was on the girl’s ceiling?
- Who do the Paper Dolls meet along the way? (Dinosaur, pigs, tiger, crocodile, a boy)
- What do the Paper Dolls say to all of the animals/people they meet?
- Can you think of another story where the character says “You can’t catch me…”?
- What did the boy do to the Paper Dolls? How do you think the little girl felt?
- Can you pick out any of the rhyming words in the story?
If you enjoyed the story and would like to do a few activities, here are a couple of ideas to get you started.
- You could try to make your own paper dolls at home. Here is a link to a template or you could experiment with the traditional way of folding paper like Julia Donaldson talks about here. Send us a picture of all of your attempts!
- When you’ve cut out your dolls, draw faces on them and colour in their clothes. What would you name them?
- Can you make up a story together about an adventure for your dolls? Where would they go? Who would they meet? What might happen?
- Talk about memories. Parents/carers – What happy memories do you have from your childhood? Did you have a favourite toy? You could call a relative and ask them what they liked to play with as a child.
Home Learning
We hope that you enjoyed reading ‘Simon Sock’ this week. Did you help to sort the socks into pairs at home? We hope so!
Please remember, our ideas are just suggestions and there are many different ways to learn at home together. Children in Nursery learn through play. Baking, painting, jig-saws, role play, physical games outside, playdough, building Lego models, singing songs and reading stories are all activities that involve lots of opportunities for children to learn and develop skills included in the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. ‘Learning’ for Nursery children does not have to include children being sat at a table practising letters and counting, although your child may also enjoy this. We know that it can be very hard juggling work commitments and learning from home with other children in the house as well. Mrs Long, as well as others, has two young children at home. It can be hard! Keep talking to each other, read, have fun and play together as much as you can.
Here are some of the photos that you have emailed of your learning. Some are ‘Simon Sock’ activities and others are things that children have been interested in at home.
