Activities
The Early Days team in Squirrels and Owls plan specific focused activities for the two and four years olds providing them with a range of additional experiences. These activities support the children’s learning and are led by our experienced and skilled staff team or by professional specialist and give the children an opportunity to explore through active, hands-on sessions
Animals
Children have the opportunity to see a range of animals out on walks or during visits to our setting.
Cooking
Our staff talk about where our food comes from (linking to gardening) and assist the children with cooking healthy food to take home or try at nursery.
Letters and Sounds
Children develop listening skills and early phonics awareness through fun games and activities.
Gardening
Funky Fingers
Musical Instruments
The children learn about what plants need. They love to get hands-on: sowing seeds, caring for the plants and harvesting their produce. They are excited to use what they have grown in their cooking.
Children participate in fun activities that develop their fine motor skills which in future supports their pencil control and hand writing skills.
The children hear and play a variety of instruments. They make music and create their own orchestra as well as listening and responding to a range of music.
Music & Movement
Fun and interactive sessions support listening and physical skills as well as confidence.
Nature Detectives
Being in the countryside we love a bug hunt! It could be butterfly spotting, red kites flying or learning how important worms are to our soil.
PE/Parachute Games
Children have fun testing their physical skills, developing self-help skills, taking turns and working as part of a team.
While our three and four year olds are experiencing these activities our two year olds have a programme of activities specifically designed for their interests. These are based around repeated patterns of play (schema) for example, rotation, transportation and trajectory.
PLUS…
Woodland School
In addition to the above, the children in Owls are taken to a local Forest School site to experience Woodland School, one morning every week throughout the year.
There has been considerable research into the benefits of outdoor learning showing that children and young people are stimulated by the outdoors. Children are able to take appropriate risks, whilst the leader has carried out risk assessments, which are constantly being reviewed and updated to ensure that all activities are safe, balanced and will add to the children’s learning, development, self-confidence and self-esteem.
There’s no need for transport, it’s a walk across a field and we’re there. Woodland School provides the children freedom to explore, discover and learn in a different environment to the nursery.
Whilst at Woodland School, the children may try out shelter building, hide and seek, clay modelling, tool skills or create eco-art to take home. Each activity develops teamwork skills, individual skills and confidence as well as practical and intellectual skills. The children develop a love of woodlands, the great outdoors, weather and seasons.
