People and Communities

November 2014

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.”

― E.E. Cummings

This term we are looking at People and Communities which is one of the key areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). We are very lucky to be situated in a park that has abundance of things to do and we wanted the children to see first hand the many professions that go on within the park. One of our children wanted to know how to get to the top of the giant trees, so we took him to see the Arboriculture team which is ran by Myerscough college. The children watched the climbers put their harnesses on and pull themselves up using ropes and then climb to the top of the tree.

We also took the children to see the new born calf Poppy who was born on the 11/11/14. The children were introduced by Alan who works on the farm and he took the children into the stable to meet her. As well as visiting the Arboriculture team and the farm, the house was also opened up for a private viewing. The children got to explore all the areas of the house and even got to do bum slides down the main stairs with Dave who runs the house.  These are unique opportunities, as the farm and the house are currently closed to the general public. We also had a visit from the community police as we want children to have positive experiences with them so they came in to say hello. We are grateful that we have developed relationships with the people who work within the park as it enriches the children's experiences and broaden's their understanding of the world.

We have also started to see a massive difference in children's confidence and language this month and there seems to have been a shift in the way they play. Children are beginning to break away from the adults and either spend time on their own, or play more imaginatively with their peers, . We don't tend to use too many resources but we have found that simple enhancements like the mud kitchen and the scissors, have enabled the children to play cooperatively and pretend objects are from their experience.  Whilst the children were cutting up leaves, one child said she chopping up chilli and coriander to add to the food she was making, she also said "I have a restaurant and it is on Penny lane, do you want to come in for a coffee".  The children all maintained focus for a long period of time and displayed high levels of energy and fascination.

One of our wow moments this month came from our youngest children, she turned 3 a month ago and is normally quite shy and unable speak in front of her peers during show and tell. This month was the first time she felt confident to stand up and talk to everyone about her reindeer Sven. Not only that, but we had a visit from a nursery teacher who came to observe what we do. The little girl came alive and was able to take the lady round and tell her the risks of the site. She told her to step over a log and bend under a branch and she also wanted to include her in her play. She was definitely more outgoing towards unfamiliar people and was initiating conversations and forming good relationships. This was the first time that we had been able to see the difference that our nursery has had on a child's confidence and language development. Not only that, but everything we have been teaching them about risk, has been embedded and they are able to tell others how to keep themselves safe.  

One of my team is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Early Years and Outdoor Play and one of the things that was discussed was the term 'slowliness'. Here Cheryl has written her own blog and reflected on one of this months sessions. 

                              https://homegrownplay.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/slowliness/

It really feels like things are beginning to fall into place and the children are showing great progress. As the weather is starting to get colder, we have yet to see this have any kind of negative effect on the children. Parents have followed the kit list and this has made all the difference. 

We are due are first Ofsted inspection in December and we feel there are elements of what we do that are outstanding, we sincerely hope they do too. 

What do you do when it rains

October 

Whenever we tell people about the work that we do, the first thing a lot of people say is "what do you do when it rains". October was quite a wet month but that didn't stop us from having fun.

Puddles are great for jumping in or even sitting in as you can see from the picture above. During our exploration through the park the children would run on ahead to find all the muddy puddles they could jump in. We then headed down towards the stream and we were surprised to see how deep it had gone. The week before we had measured the depth of the stream and it was just above our wellies, take a look at the video to see how much it had risen. At the beginning of every session children are asked to risk assess their play space to make sure it is safe, this kind of practice is reinforced with everything we do. We had conversations with children on the bridge about the dangers of water and how to keep themselves safe on the embankment. Things like 'why don't we run, why we don't go near to the edge, how has the rain made the mud more dangerous'. We feel if children can assess the risks for themselves, it will help them to become more aware of certain dangers which will help keep themselves safe. 

We also looked at how fast the water was flowing. When we played pooh sticks previously; it took about 10 seconds for the stick to pass under the bridge, today it only took 5. So we asked questions like 'what has happened to make it so deep' 'why is the water moving so fast' to which some of the children were able to explain that it was like that because of the rain and the rain had filled it all up and made it move faster. 

           

                                       

                                      

We also explored cause and effect with chalks. As the children were drawing on the stumps, the rain would make the colours mix together to make one colour. They would then rub their hands over the stump and observe the colour and texture on their hands. This was a great sensory activity for the children which gave us lots of opportunities for questioning and extending children's language. 

During another session we took the balance bikes out and the children rolled their bikes through the puddles instead of jumping in them. On our walk one of the children noticed an arrow on the floor, we asked him which way it pointing and to follow the direction. As we carried on along the path he also found another arrow on the tree, this then opened up an opportunity to look for arrows and signs around the park and discuss the meaning of them. As soon as we got back to camp we further extended their next steps by mapping arrows around the site using sticks. We also encouraged the children to pick out the same colour chalk and to see if they could draw their own arrows on the trees around camp. 

                      

One of the trees with the arrows on had been chopped down a very long time ago and branches had begun to grow again. We talked about whether the tree had fell down or if it had been cut down, the children were able to recognise that it was straight so maybe it had been cut. This gave Adam and I the idea of finding the Arboriculturists in the park and letting the children see this. what a stroke of luck when the week after they were cutting down a giant beech tree. 

There have been lots of opportunities to explore mathematical concepts, especially around shape space and measure. We measured the height of the children and then asked them to find sticks that were the same height as themselves. We then looked at the difference in sizes and used a range of language tenses like 'small, smaller, smallest, big, bigger, biggest, large, larger, largest' and asked the children to order the sticks into the different size orders. They then went off to play and the children carried this on by themselves. 

                                                     

         

For Literacy this month we have been reading the Gruffalo and encouraging the children to draw and write using different media. We've had the chalks accessible to write on the trees and we introduced the clip boards, card and pencils for them to be able to have more opportunities to write. 

                        

                                          

             

We continued the gruffalo by adding resources around the woods. One little boy has been searching the woods for the Owl, Fox and Snake for the past week so we arranged them in a tree for the children to find. We used the gruffalo resources to extend imaginative play, this enabled the children to play cooperatively as part of a group and be engaged on the same theme. 

 

For physical development we have been encouraging those who don't normally climb trees to use the stumps to balance and climb across. The children even helped each other to do it.

We also used the thin branches to help children develop core muscles strength by placing them up the tree and letting them slide down it like a fireman's pole. The children had to learn how to grip with their legs and hold on tight whilst gradually sliding the trunk. This has become a favourite activity for those that can do it. 

We've had another exciting month and it's been lovely to watch how the children are progressing in the setting. Parental evaluations have revealed that their children's confidence and language development is something that they have noticed a significant difference in. We have used the rain to our advantage and even Adam and myself have experienced things for the first time and shared this with the children. I know some people have concerns that their child may get colds or become ill from being out in the wet weather, this is not true, colds are passed on from viruses that are spread indoors from person to person. Being outside does in-fact minimise the chances of getting ill. Parents are given a kit list and children come dressed appropriately for the weather. 

"Nature to Nurture nursery is absolutely fantastic! Having had high expectations after attending forest school sessions prior to the nursery opening, the nursery has far exceeded even those expectations. Julie and Adam provide a very creative, educational but most importantly nurturing learning experience. Cannot praise you guys enough, you are amazing". Parent 

September 2014

Our Adventures at Croxteth.

I had an image in my head of what it would be like working in this type of environment and it's turned out exactly how I imagined it. What an incredible month we have had.
Croxteth Country Park is hundred's of years old, it has a 500 year old stately home, a walled garden where organic produce is grown, it has a farm, an equestrian centre and Myerscough college deliver courses around Horticulture, Floral design, Arboriculture, plus many more which are focused on the outdoors.  As part of our educational programmes, we wanted to incorporate as many of these things for the children to experience, as well as woodland play and forest school. The park has extensive grounds, from woodland to meadows, large lawned areas and ponds. It is through exploration of the park that children will become familiar with different habitats. The intention is that the children who come to our setting will gain a deep love for the outdoors from a young age in the hope that they will care and respect it later on.

We start the day walking into camp, we hang our backpacks on the hanging tree, they then select their names and peg it on the name tree and we then start registration. This is an opportunity for us to ask how the children are feeling and see from their reaction whether they may need a little more support settling into the session. We also encourage the children to observe how others are feeling so that they can look after each other. 

We then tell the children that we need to make sure our play space is safe and that they need to risk assess the site for themselves, this is so they know how to keep safe in the woods. We ask them to look out for dog poo, litter, broken glass and also that the red and white tape which surrounds the site, is still up. Every session we reinforce the importance of not going past the red and white tape and what dangers may be on the other side. 

For the first few weeks we wanted to show the children exactly what was in the park so that they could become familiar with it, but also choose where they may like to go. They have done so well, as some sessions we have been walking between 1 and 2 miles and they still run around site when we get back. We also do things like, playing football, sliding down the ice house, rolling down hills, climbing trees and riding balance bikes.

We have mainly focused on the three prime areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) this month, Physical development, Personal, Social and Emotional development and Communication and Language. We have done a lot of things to support children's physical development this month as we recognise that developing a solid core and upper arm strength, will ultimately help children develop their fine manipulation skills, which then lead to good handwriting skills. We have broadened their vocabulary by drawing their attention to the world around them and repeating it as we explore the park. One parent had commented:

“My little girl over the weekend has made me beech nut coffee, spotted loads of leaves and conkers, and has been really adventurous on the climbing frame in the park, I'm so pleased that this nursery has brought out something so positive long may it continue”! 

We have also made sure that children feel emotionally safe and have developed good positive relationships with the children we have then watched how they have done this with each other. One example was of a child giving another child a worry pebble when they were sad. I'd used the idea to help settle a child who needed adult support, but also wanted to play with her friends. I found a smooth black pebble and gave it magical powers and said that it will take your worries away if you rubbed it. She was then able to keep hold of the pebble and then play with the other children. 

Our key children have been chosen from where the children have naturally gravitated, but because there is just myself and Adam at the moment we both have equally good relationships with the children.

We have also been to the farm and we were lucky enough to be taken into the pen with the piglets. The children really enjoyed letting the piglets sniff and chew their wellies and they were delighted that they could pet them. 

As well as the farm we visited the walled garden and the lovely gardener said we could help ourselves to the produce. We dug up potatoes and carrots from the ground, each child pulled up their own carrot and searched for their potato. We picked kale and onions and garlic, we saw giant pumpkins, cabbages and green beans and children really got a sense of where food comes from.

The children gave the produce to their parents when we returned to site and I was amazed to see all the photos posted in our secret facebook group of the meals that had been created from what the children picked. Here's a few examples. 

As well as exploring this beautiful park we have of course allowed the children the freedom to play in the woods with their peers. It took about 3 weeks for the children to settle into this, all they wanted to do initially was run round and play games like hide and seek and monsters. The running around however is good for them as it helps to develop their vestibular development and supports balance and co-ordination. As we moved into week 4 the children began to play more imaginatively with each other and find little spaces away from adults to play. 

An interesting observation  was made during one session, one of the children found two dinosaurs that had been left over from one of my parent and toddler sessions and it was the only time that children were arguing over who had the dinosaurs. We have very limited resources and we've found that the children are having to be more creative and imaginative because of the lack of resources. Children are not as possessive about things as there is an abundance of natural things for them to play with.  

The children have got to experience many things this month, there are lots of things that I have not been able to share as there is just too many. But we look forward to sharing our many adventures with you each month. 

Julie