🐠🌊 What a Splash-tastic Week in EYFS! ♻️💙

We've had another fantastic week full of fun, creativity and learning! 😊

We kicked off the week by exploring our Curiosity Cubes, where we discovered a fish made entirely from recycled materials! 🐟♻️ This led to some brilliant discussions as we revisited our learning from last week about how pollution affects our oceans and why it's so important to protect the wonderful sea creatures that live there. 🌊🐠

Our focus story this week was The Odd Fish, which the children absolutely loved! 📚 It inspired lots of thoughtful conversations and some fantastic writing. In our writing area, the children created their own Odd Fish posters and mini books, filling them with amazing facts about the different fish they have been learning about. ✍️🐡

Our odd fish didn't want to be lonely for long, so the children got busy in the creative area making lots of colourful new fish friends! 🎨 Using junk modelling materials, they recycled everyday items to design some truly unique underwater creations. ♻️🐙

In maths, we have been busy revisiting teen numbers, exploring how they are made using one ten and some ones, as well as practising counting confidently beyond 20. 🔢⭐

The sunshine has certainly inspired our outdoor learning too! ☀️ In our texture kitchen, the children mixed petals, mint leaves, fruit slices and other natural treasures to create their very own refreshing summer drinks. 🌸🍋🌿 It was a wonderful sensory experience and perfect for keeping cool in the warm weather!

We have been so proud of the children's curiosity, enthusiasm and growing knowledge this week. They have shown such kindness towards our oceans and have become brilliant little advocates for protecting sea life. 🌍💙 Amazing work as always EYFS!

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What a whale-y wonderful week we've had in EYFS! 🐋🌊

Our underwater adventure continued this week, starting with a very curious surprise in our Curiosity Cube. We found a whale balancing on top of a car with water pouring out of a bucket! The children had lots of brilliant ideas about how it got there, before we discovered the answer in our focus story, Billy's Bucket. Billy's magical birthday bucket was full of an underwater world, but when his parents used it to wash the car... SPLASH... a whale landed on top of it!

The children loved imagining what might be hiding inside Billy's bucket and produced some fantastic writing filled with all the amazing sea creatures they have been learning about.

In our Let's Learn sessions, we travelled deeper and deeper into the ocean, from the bright Sunlight Zone all the way down to the dark Trenches. We met some very strange-looking creatures along the way, including the incredible barrel-eye fish with its see-through glowing head! The children quickly realised we'd never be able to swim that deep, so we became submarine experts instead, learning how submarines can explore the deepest parts of the ocean. We even designed and built our own submarines in the construction area!

Our creative table was bursting with colourful paper plate sea creatures, each one as unique as the children who made them. Outside, the children became authors and created their very own sea creature fact books to share all of their fantastic new knowledge.

The Texture Kitchen was transformed into a very popular Flower Fizz Café, where the children crushed flowers and mixed up their own fizzy flower drinks for everyone to enjoy. To top it all off, we finished the week by diving into our underwater-themed tuff tray for lots of splashing, scooping and imaginative play. Finally, we had an amazing time at forest school this week where we made art using different parts of nature. We created our very own clay faces. They were great!!

Another fin-tastic week full of exploring, creating and plenty of underwater fun! We can't wait to see where our adventures take us next! 🐠🦀🪼

Making Memories

This week in EYFS, we have been very busy little crafters, designing and making our very own photo frames ready to sell at the school fair on Friday!

The children carefully chose either a pond dipping photograph or a beach photograph from our school trip to pop inside their frame. As they created their masterpieces, there were lots of smiles, giggles and happy chatter as we looked back on our wonderful adventures together.

Our beach photographs sparked lots of lovely conversations about our fun-filled day by the sea, with the children excitedly sharing their favourite memories from our trip. The pond dipping photographs also brought back lots of excitement as the children talked about the creatures they discovered and all the treasures hiding beneath the water!

It was so lovely to hear the children reminiscing about these special experiences and sharing their memories with their friends while creating something special to take home.

We think their photo frames are simply fabulous and we can't wait to see them brighten up the school fair on Friday!

☀️ Sun, Sea and Seaside Fun in EYFS

Despite the national heatwave, we managed to keep cool in the classroom this week as we immersed ourselves in all things beachy and explored the fascinating world beneath the waves! Our learning began with a surprise discovery in our curiosity cube, where the children found a little hermit crab sitting amongst pieces of rubbish washed up on the beach. The children were shocked and quickly began discussing why litter can be so harmful to sea creatures and their habitats.

This linked perfectly with our book of the week, Tiny Crab is a Tidy Crab, which helped us think carefully about how rubbish can affect animals living in the sea. The children shared thoughtful ideas about how creatures can become tangled in litter or mistake it for food, making them very poorly.

We enjoyed looking back at photographs from our recent beach trip and used these special memories to inspire our writing. The children loved reminiscing about their favourite moments from the day and were excited to share their experiences with their friends.

Our beach theme continued throughout the classroom as the children designed and created their own pairs of flip-flops in the creative area, carefully measuring their feet and thinking about how to make them comfortable and easy to wear. We also began preparing for our Summer Fair by decorating beautiful beach-themed photo frames ready for our stall. Inspired by our ferry journey during the beach trip, the children put their construction skills to the test by designing and building their very own ferries.

In Maths, we developed our understanding of sharing by carefully sharing ice creams equally between our dolls, while outside the seaside fun continued as we created beach maps, whipped up delicious seaside ice creams in the texture kitchen and explored the beach further through our seaside tuff tray.

We have had a wonderful week filled with sunshine, sand and seaside adventures and have loved exploring everything the beach has to offer! 🏖️🐚

What an exciting week we have had in EYFS!

On Monday, we arrived to find some mysterious objects in our Curiosity Cubes – a water lily, a mirror, a bridge and a paint palette. We became detectives and carefully investigated the clues, soon deciding that they must belong to an artist. We were right! This week, we have been learning all about the famous artist Claude Monet.

We enjoyed reading Katie and the Waterlily Pond and exploring Monet’s beautiful paintings. Inspired by his famous water lily pond, we created our own masterpieces in the creative area, using different textures to represent the water and tissue paper to make delicate lilies and lily pads. Our pond theme continued in the writing area, where we made our own pond spotter books following last week’s visit to the pond. We thought about the different animals that live there and learned more about their habitats. In the construction area, we challenged ourselves to build lookout towers to help us spot pond creatures. We were very impressed with the tall, imaginative towers the children created! In maths, we used our shape knowledge to rotate and arrange shapes to make pictures of pond creatures.

Outside, we took inspiration from Monet and became artists ourselves, creating a paint factory where we mixed natural materials to make our own paints. It was lots of messy fun! We also explored a pond habitat, practised our tricky words with a game of Tricky Word Hoop Toss and finished the week with another visit to the pond to see what we could discover. To end the week, we enjoyed watching Rose Class Assembly. It was wonderful to see all of the children involved and sharing their learning so confidently. Well done, Rose Class!

EYFS – First Week Back

What an exciting first week back we have had in EYFS!

This week, the children discovered a mysterious blue creature hiding in our Curiosity Cubes. After reading The Bog Baby by Jeanne Willis, we realised that our special visitor was a Bog Baby who lived in a pond. The children carefully drew pictures of their Bog Babies, including their round blue bodies, wings and tiny ears. They also wrote sentences about their Bog Baby and discussed ways we could keep him safe and happy in his pond home.

In the creative area, the children used playdough, gems and shells to make their own wonderful Bog Babies. In maths, we continued our pond theme by counting frogs and finding out how many there were altogether through addition activities. In the construction area, the children were challenged to build a sturdy lookout tower overlooking the pond so they could spot creatures from up high. For the role play area, we were super excited to turn it into a beach souvenir shop. The children have been serving up some delicious ice creams as well as buying and selling a variety of beachy items. It has defiantly made us forget about the rainy weather recently!!!

Our outdoor learning was full of exciting investigations. The children created Bog Baby books, explored a pond habitat and investigated which objects would sink or float. We were also very lucky to take part in a real-life pond dipping experience during Forest School. The children demonstrated excellent listening and safety skills as they carefully explored the pond and used identification cards to help them identify the creatures they discovered.

We are so proud of how enthusiastically the children have returned to school and cannot wait for more adventures next week! 🐸💙🌿

What a fantastic half term it has been for our EYFS cohort! The children have shown such enthusiasm, confidence, and curiosity in every aspect of their learning, making each day full of excitement and discovery.

This half term, our wonderful dinosaur topic truly captured the children’s imaginations. From exploring the names and features of different dinosaurs to creating fossils, role playing as palaeontologists, and sharing dinosaur stories, the children embraced every opportunity to learn through play and creativity. It has been a joy to see their confidence grow as they asked thoughtful questions, worked together, and proudly shared their knowledge.

Alongside our topic work, the children have continued to make fantastic progress socially, emotionally, and academically. We are so proud of the friendships they have built, the independence they are developing, and the resilience they show when trying new things.

As we head into the half term break, we want to thank all of our families for their continued support. We hope everyone enjoys a restful and happy break.

We are already looking ahead to next term with great excitement… a brand-new topic is waiting to be discovered, and we cannot wait to begin another adventure with our amazing EYFS cohort!

 

A Roarsome Week in EYFS! 🦖🪣

This week in EYFS, we have been enjoying the story Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs! The children have loved exploring dinosaurs through lots of fun activities across our provision.

In the writing area, Harry and his dinosaurs had gone missing! The children used their imaginations to draw pictures and write about where they thought Harry and his dinosaurs might have gone. We had some very exciting ideas! In the creative area, Harry needed help making new buckets for his dinosaurs. The children used junk modelling and a variety of materials to create buckets of all shapes and sizes. Their creativity was amazing! In maths, we focused on adding and taking away using Harry’s buckets and dinosaurs to help us count and solve number problems.

Outside, the dinosaur fun continued! The children created their own dinosaur stories and explored the texture kitchen, pretending to be dinosaurs by mashing, grinding and crushing plants just like different dinosaur teeth might have done. They also enjoyed making their very own fossils by pressing objects into playdough. At Forest School, we became builders and adventurers! The children worked together to build dens and shelters using natural materials. They had so much fun experimenting with different ways to make strong and cosy dens. We ended the week by watching Poppy classes assembly which was amazing!!!

What a dino-tastic week we have had! 🦕✨

 

Roars, Rocks & Refreshing Drinks! 🦖🪨🍋

What a dino-mite two weeks we have had in EYFS! The children have continued their exciting dinosaur adventure and become real fossil explorers along the way.

We discovered all about palaeontologists and learned about the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. The children explored different types of fossils and found out how fossils are carefully excavated by scientists.

Our biggest surprise came when each class received a very special package from the Natural History Museum! Inside was a mysterious fossil that had lost its label. The children became mini investigators, using their fantastic ideas and enthusiasm to work out what the fossil could be. There were lots of thoughtful discussions and imaginative guesses!

In the classroom, the children have been incredibly busy:

• Creating shiny fossil prints using tin foil

• Building dinosaur worlds in the construction area
• Working together to make a book full of dinosaur facts

Outdoors, the fun continued as we:

• Made refreshing herbal and citrus drinks 🍊🌿
• Dug for fossils in our outdoor area
• Created fossil shapes using pasta

It has been wonderful to see the children so curious, creative, and excited about learning. Our classroom has certainly been full of roaring dinosaurs, busy explorers, and budding palaeontologists! 🦕✨

This week, our EYFS children returned from half term to an exciting mystery… a strange green egg had appeared in the classroom! The children were immediately curious and began discussing what could possibly be inside. Using their growing knowledge, they explored different types of animals, including mammals, reptiles, and oviparous animals, to help them solve the mystery.

The children worked together to think about how to keep the egg safe. They created thoughtful posters and “do not drop” signs to make sure everyone handled it carefully. In the creative area, they enjoyed making split pin eggs and drawing their own ideas of what might be inside. Some children imagined reptiles, while others thought it could be a completely new creature!

We also played a fun flashlight game, where the children held a light next to eggs to try and reveal what animal was hidden inside. This sparked lots of excitement and great discussions.

Alongside our mystery, we opened a brand new pizza restaurant in the classroom! The children took on different roles, taking customer orders and making their own pizzas. They had to be very responsible, especially when the “health inspector” visited, making sure the kitchen stayed clean and tidy. We also learnt about 2D and 3D shapes. We made different pictures out of shapes and had lots of fun.

Outdoors, the adventure continued. The children designed and built vehicles to go on a rescue mission to find the egg’s owner. They also created maps to guide their journey and used playdough to model the creatures they believed were inside the egg.

It has been a week full of imagination, teamwork, and problem-solving as the children worked together to uncover the mystery of the green egg!

🌸 EYFS Weekly Blog – A Blossom-Filled Week! 🌸

This week in EYFS, we had a wonderful time learning about Hanami, the Japanese celebration of cherry blossoms. We explored how people visit parks to enjoy the beautiful blossom trees and brought this tradition to life in our classroom. We created our own blossom tree artwork using Lego printing, cotton buds, and delicate tissue paper, and in the construction area we built our very own parks using paper and building materials.

Our learning continued through storytelling as we became authors and made our own books. Inspired by “Stuck” by Oliver Jeffers, we discovered a mysterious tree in our classroom filled with all sorts of unusual objects, from octopuses to lightbulbs, which sparked lots of imaginative ideas and creativity.

We also enjoyed exploring the outdoors this week. At Forest School, we went on a spring hunt to look for signs of the changing season and even discovered some tiny critters along the way. Outside, our spring kitchen came to life as we made petal soup and created our own spring recipes, using natural materials in our play. We also practised our weaving skills by threading colourful fabrics through the fences, creating a range of patterns and textures.

In maths, we had great fun learning our number bonds to 10 by playing bowling. We knocked down the skittles, counted how many were left, and celebrated some fantastic strikes along the way!

It has been a joyful week full of creativity, exploration, and springtime fun. 🌼

A Colourful EYFS Holi Celebration!

Our EYFS children enjoyed celebrating Holi today! Our celebrations took place a week later than planned due to World Book Day – after all, there can only be so much excitement in one week!

Over the past few weeks, the children have been learning about different celebrations around the world and discovering how Holi is celebrated in India. Today they tried some delicious Indian snacks, enjoyed some Bollywood-style dancing, and finished with a colourful paint-throwing finale.

The children had so much fun and we created lots of wonderful memories together. It’s not every day you get to throw paint at your teachers at school!

Happy Holi everyone!

 

🌸 A Wonderful Week in EYFS! 🌸

We started our week by learning about the festival of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The children explored different ways people celebrate and learned about the special Haft-Seen table, which includes seven symbolic items that begin with the letter “S”. The children were very curious about what each item represents and how families celebrate the start of spring.

This week in EYFS we have also been very busy learning, creating and exploring!

We made our very own colourful Spring books, filled with all the wonderful signs of Spring we can see around us. The children loved spotting flowers, sunshine and new life!

In construction, the children worked together to build bridges to help a duck get safely across. There were some fantastic ideas and great teamwork.

We also learned about the artist Georgia O’Keeffe and looked closely at beautiful flowers. The children then created their own observational drawings of daffodils, noticing the shapes and details carefully.

In maths, we practised our doubles to 10 by helping ladybirds! The children had to put the correct number of spots on the ladybirds to make a double.

Outside, as part of Science Week, we had lots of bubbly fun! The children designed their own bubble wands and tested them to see who could make the biggest bubble. There were some amazing giant bubbles floating across the playground!

We also learned about what plants need to grow and had a go at planting seeds ourselves. We can’t wait to watch them grow!

It has been a week full of curiosity, creativity and fun. Well done EYFS! 🌱🐞🫧

 

A Very Colourful Week in Early Years! 🌈

This week EYFS has been bursting with colour as we learned all about the festival of Holi! We discovered how people celebrate with bright colours, dancing, bonfires and tasty food, and we loved exploring such a joyful festival.

The children got busy building colourful mandirs in the construction area and creating beautiful rangoli patterns inspired by the bright designs seen during Holi.

In the texture kitchen, our noses were hard at work as we ground different spices to discover lots of exciting smells – some delicious, some a little surprising! 👃✨

We also became colour scientists, using pipettes to mix primary colours and we saw what new colours we could create. There were lots of “ooohs” and “wow!” moments. 🎨

To top it all off, we celebrated World Book Day with some fantastic costumes, and at Forest School we went bird watching and made Cheerio bird feeders to help our feathered friends.

What a bright, busy and brilliant week in Early Years! 🌟

 

Spring has sprung in Early Years! 🌸

This week in EYFS we have been celebrating the new season with lots of creative activities. The children made beautiful seasonal cards, using pompoms and forks to print colourful flowers, creating some lovely spring masterpieces.

We also learnt about plants, drawing pictures and labelling the different parts while talking about what plants need to grow – sunshine, water, soil and care. 🌱

In the texture kitchen, the children used real petals to mix magical spring potions, and with the sunshine finally appearing, we spent lots of time enjoying the outdoors.

Outside, the children explored capacity, investigating how much water could fit into different containers. In the construction area, they also built shelters to protect plants from wind, rain and storms.

It has been a fun and busy week welcoming spring in EYFS! 🌼

This Week in EYFS: Desert Adventure!

 

EYFS has been hot, hot, hot this week as we zoomed off to the desert! We learned about desert animals, the dry climate, and what makes a habitat special, with lots of great chat about camels, lizards, and more.

The children wrote simple sentences linked to our topic and explored bold colour and contrast inspired by Franz Marc. In construction, we built clever desert homes, and in maths we matched dominoes to make doubles — plenty of proud “I found one!” moments.

Outdoor learning was just as fun, with children making food for desert animals and creating natural desert collages. Another brilliant week full of creativity and curiosity — well done, EYFS explorers! 🌵✨

This Week in EYFS: Jungle Mania! 🌴🦁

This week, our classroom turned into a jungle! We had lots of fun learning about jungle animals, creating bright and beautiful collage jungle habitats, and writing simple sentences about our favourite creatures.

We discovered that jungles are hot, wet and very green, and learned all about camouflage — some animals are so good at hiding they almost disappeared! 👀🌿

We also became animal experts by sorting animals into herbivores, carnivores and omnivores (and deciding which animals would definitely eat our lunch!).

In the Outside Classroom, we created our own brews for the tiger that came to tea, exploring role play, language, and creativity.

In maths we explored doubles and had so much fun with the Double Shuffle song! 🎶
Try it at home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaqLjzMyyHI

To finish the week, we explored Forest School, looking carefully for animals and signs of wildlife. We even picked up litter to help keep animals safe and take care of our environment 🌍💚

What a roar-some week full of creativity, learning and jungle fun! 🐒✨

🌿 A Wild and Wonderful Week in Early Years! 🦁🦓

This week, Early Years turned into a busy grassland safari! The children loved learning about savannah animals, exploring who is a predator and who is prey, and finding out what makes a mammal a mammal.

In the writing area, our young authors wrote super sentences describing animals’ amazing features – from speedy legs to fluffy fur. Outside, the fun continued as the children cooked up delicious dishes in the Grassland Café and created their own dot-art style animal pictures by dipping, dabbing, and pressing with cotton buds.

A roaring week packed with learning, teamwork, and imagination – what an adventure! I wonder where in the world we will find out about the animals next week?🌍✨

 

Creature Teachers!

What a truly unforgettable experience for our EYFS children! We were delighted to welcome The Creature Teacher for a very special visit that brought learning to life in the most exciting way. The children loved discovering fascinating facts about a range of animals and showed incredible bravery and curiosity as they gently stroked and held a hissing cockroach, playful ferrets, a bearded dragon and even a snake! The highlight of the day was meeting a magnificent barn owl and watching it fly gracefully across the room, leaving the children in awe. This hands-on experience sparked lots of questions, wonder and excitement, supporting the children’s understanding of the natural world and creating memories they will be talking about for a long time to come!