So what sort of things do we do in an average week?

Week beginning: Monday 6th December 2021



Another pearly-grey week

We spent some lovely mornings with other childminders. A great opportunity for the children to have a good quality group experience, offering the opportunity to experience a variety of physical, creative and social opportunities (PSED). The children enjoyed making paper plate Christmas trees by cutting the plates into thirds (M) and then painting them with natural paint and decorating them with an assortment of Christmas themed natural craft materials (EA&D).

A trip to Saltram House enabled the children to see Hoffmann's Christmas story The Nutcracker brought to life within the house. We shared the Nutcracker book several times during the run up to our visit and the children were able to link their prior learning to the Nutcracker decorations found throughout Saltram House (Lit). As well as lots of Nutcrackers, mice and fairies to find, the Saloon, was transformed into a magical fairy-tale forest with decadently decorated trees and magical interventions to make the house feel alive. The children enjoyed participating in a winter trail where they discovered nature's real nutcrackers (UtW).

At home the children have enjoyed feeding the waterfowl on a local pond (UtW). We talked about how the ducks don’t mind the rain, and are quite happy to stay out in it, and watched them preening their feathers and dabbling around in the pond (C&L). We shared a story about ducks (L) and listened to the sounds around us: water sounds, ducks quacking, birds singing and the sound of gentle rain as it began to fall (L).

Homemade playdough is always a popular choice of sensory play providing relaxation through repeated movements and the feel of the dough (PD). Whilst lots of imaginative play takes place in the home corner where the children were able to play out their experiences and so express their feelings (PSED / EA&D). The role play area also naturally lends itself to so many mathematical opportunities as the children sort the resources in different ways and make one-to-one correspondences during their play, e.g. ensuring that each cup has a saucer and each dolly has a cup (M).

We rounded our week off with our Friday baking session. Cooking is a fantastic activity to do with young children: they can learn and practise a wide range of skills, and it gives them an understanding of food and where it all comes from. But even more important than that, it’s one of the most enjoyable, therapeutic and interactive activities we can do.

Key to abbreviations:
C&L Communication & language; PD Physical development; PSED Personal, social & emotional development; L Literacy; M Mathematics; 
                      UtW Understanding the world; and EA&D Expresive arts and design.     Please see A Parent's Guide to the EYFS for further details.
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