Category: News

Following an interest in observing snail shells at Forest Fun, we decided to make a temporary snail home at Pre-school. The home was kitted out with turf, leaves, rocks and plant pots, then watered liberally to create a damp, cool, snaily experience. Judith collected some snails on a wet Monday morning and the children helped them to move in. The children were keen to get acquainted with our snail friends, some were particularly excited by them! Nearly all the girls and boys learned how to pick one up carefully and to put it on their hand.     On the second day we found that the snails were eating the dandelion leaves so we were able to prolong their stay. We collected leaves for them and watered the turf. The…

Here's another song which the children have enjoyed this week. Have fun brushing your teeth together! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eqbUgsI3RQ

The children have really enjoyed watching this and joining in with the actions. Click and enjoy!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1HT7CWG7F8

Recently, we have been celebrating spring time with the children. On a beautiful sunny Monday before the holiday, we took them for a walk around Hope village to see what we could find! After crossing the road we walked through the churchyard to experience the beautiful daffodils, then crossed two more roads and headed to the stream near the Evelyn Medical Centre. We found humongous clumps of frog spawn! Then we went down the narrow path towards the playing fields where we found an excellent view of new baby lambs and their mothers. We spotted numbers on the sheep and lambs which the farmer had put to solve any lost babies. We then headed back to Pre-school for a well-earned rest! Spring/Easter activities continued during the week with craft -…

To celebrate the annual RSPB Bird Watch and also because some of the children have shown an interest, we have been learning about birds this week. Bird Watch will take place over the final weekend in January. You can take part by watching the birds outside your home if you wish. Just register online and fill in your results! At Pre-school this week we have bird books, pictures, figures and activities available for the children to explore. At Forest Fun on Friday we listened out for bird song, described bird characteristics and built a giant birds' nest with sticks and branches. The children balanced on a tree trunk, just like the birds balancing on twigs in the trees! One of our most worthwhile activities has been making bird feeders to…

All  being well, Hope Pre-school will welcome children back after the Christmas holiday from Wednesday 6th January. We hope you've all had a restful Christmas break and that you are all well.    

The Pre-school children have really enjoyed the traditional Christmas activities in the last week of term, before breaking up for a well-earned Christmas holiday break. Christmas crafts such as making Christmas cards, decorations and pictures and singing carols and Christmas action songs had everyone involved in the festivities. At the beginning of the week we all sat down for Christmas dinner, freshly prepared that morning while the children were playing. Crackers were pulled, hats put on and gravy poured. All the children tried the hot festive fayre and there were quite a few clean plates. One even asked for more! On Thursday it was the Christmas party which all the children attended. The bouncy castle was great and had some of us entertained all day! We had disco lights, music…

The children have been enjoying some autumnal activities in Pre-school over the week. We made bread (under strict covid safe measures!) to eat with our pumpkin soup. Pumpkins are not just for decoration! Spooky activities for Halloween included watching a pumpkin being carved and helping to clear out the seeds! We had story time with Room on the Broom and Funny Bones. We danced the Skeleton Dance along to Dem Bones and we made ghost puppets on a stick! The children excitedly told us about dressing up for Halloween. We enjoyed eating jacket potatoes at snack time last week and we have watched firework displays on the laptop. Some of the children have made chalk and pastel pictures of the fireworks. The weather has been mild and last Forest Fun…

  Over the last few weeks we have given the children lots of opportunities [caption id="attachment_935" align="alignright" width="300"] Making peg patterns.[/caption] to practise both large and small physical skills. There have been mark making opportunities to create pictures, paintings, models and a variety of crafts. Some children have made super hero capes and story masks for The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and on STEM Tuesdays they have created books about themselves and pom pom [caption id="attachment_933" align="alignleft" width="300"] Making a super hero cape.[/caption] drop models. We have built apple boats and bridges out of junk materials. We are getting the children to think, explore, create and make links between their experiences. On a Thursday afternoon we have learned printing skills; printing with [caption id="attachment_936" align="alignright" width="300"] Hand printing a tree![/caption] vegetables,…

Over the last two weeks we have taken advantage of the lovely sunshine to enjoy lots of outdoor play activities in the fresh air. Please may this kind weather continue! We have introduced some new resources in the yard to create more variety in our outdoor play. These include a "water wall" which combines funnels, pipes, water wheel and channels on which the children can explore how water behaves when it is manipulated. As you can imagine, this has been a huge hit with it's combination of messy and investigative elements! The children have experimented with transporting the water, pouring it, watching it's journey, catching the water and re-channeling the flow. This has promoted discussion and co-operation during their play.   We also have a new small world area in…