Westmeston - Destination Kenya

What a wonderful week in Africa, a shame the weather wasn't as warm. The children started the week finding Africa on the map, we talked about Africa being a continent and quickly remembered the Continent song. We looked at the different countries within Africa including Kenya, South Africa and Botswana.

We watched some videos and looked at pictures from Orla’s daddy. The children noticed differences between the African houses and people comparing them to here. They liked watching the people dancing and the Giraffes walking through the African bush.

The children coloured the Kenyan flag.

We played a game in the garden called Pilolo, an African game meaning ‘time to search’. In Africa the children would hunt for sticks or stones but here at Westmeston we decided bean bags may be easier. Its a race to find one bean bag and return it to gain points.

Together we painted the African sunset on large paper in the garden. The children talked about the colours they could see in some sunset pictures and discussed what colours should be mixed to make orange and pink. They had to work together to share the brushes and colours, choosing one colour at a time and painting different sections of the paper. together they covered the whole paper, the older children helped to finish by blending the colours together to make it look just like the African sunset.

We made binoculars and went on a safari hunt in the garden where the children looked for animals from the African plains. Some children even dressed up as through they were going on a real safari. (Thank you to mums and dads for the effort made on the short notice)

We tried some paper weaving which was really tricky, the children that persevered had some great pictures to take home.

We read lots of books but a particular focus was Handa’s Surprise which sparked conversation about healthy fruits and vegetables, as well as likes and dislikes. The children enjoyed remembering all the animals and acting out the story. We then followed the children’s interest and made our own Handa’s Surprise pictures, choosing only 8 fruits, all different, to complete the basket like Handa’s.

The end of the week was freezing and very windy, so the homemade Kenyan Food from Warren’s mummy was very well received. Absolutely delicious and a huge Acorns thank you with double thumbs up from the children. Catherine also brought some coconuts to try, we pierced the top and and used a straw to try the coconut water inside the children took the rest home, did you try the coconut fruit?

Next week is our last week before the Easter break. A little reminder to please pack for all the weathers, who knows what will come our way next week.

Enjoy your weekend.