Week Beginning March 15th - Westmeston

This week our focus was on health and self-care.

On Tuesday, after reading the book Oliver's Vegetables, we tasted different vegetables and fruit - some that were quite unusual and some that the children had tried before. The sweet potato wedges, corn on the cob and sugar snap peas were very popular, but nobody like the celery! All the children were amazed to see the jewel-like seeds inside the pomegranate, but they tasted a bit too sharp for some.

We found that the left over vegetables were good for painting with as well. The cut stalks of the celery made a lovely print on the paper that looked a bit like a rose.

As part of our health and self-care focus, the children played a lot with the dolls, dressing and feeding them and tucking them up for a nap.

It’s definitely starting to feel a little more like spring and on Thursday we set up outside, like we do in the summer. The children enjoyed painting pictures of the daffodils which are growing all around the Westmeston garden. They were very proud of their efforts.

During the week, we found a bright green caterpillar that fascinated the children. The teachers showed the children how to look at it carefully with a magnifying glass and we all wondered if it might turn into a butterfly or moth. After a while, the children decided that it would be happier in the leaves, so they found a comfortable home for the caterpillar amongst the daffodils.

We had lots of outdoor fun this week with music, diggers, tree climbing and number hopping.

Friday was Red Nose Day and we helped the children to understand what Comic Relief do by reading a story about Elida, a little girl from Malawi with cerebral palsy who is helped by the charity. We got into the spirit of the day by making red pom poms. They were quite tricky for little fingers to make, but the children persevered well and wore them as necklaces and even hair accessories.

We also had a scavenger hunt in which the children had to find a red nose with their name on hidden around the garden. This was a great activity for name recognition, which is an important skill for those children going to school in September.

The children thoroughly enjoyed playing in a tent that we put up in the garden They helped to secure the tarpaulin by hammering the tent pegs into the ground and were very excited when they all sat in the tent together.

We walked to the woods in the sunshine and had fun climbing on trees and logs. We played a game of 'This Is Not A Stick' whilst sitting around the log circle. For the game, children had to use their imagination to think of what else the stick could be...

It's a magic wand,

It's a sword,

It's a magic gate,

It's a tree.