Author: Abbie Snowdon

Transitions and Changes

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TRANSITIONS and CHANGES
This time of year is a time full of changes and a time to reflect on the fun we have had with our Little Owls during their time with us. It is also a very important time of year as some of them are getting ready to spread their wings and take flight onto the next leg of their journey. Big School.
Preparation for this starts on their very first day with us, by helping them separate from their loving families and spend time in an environment meant for learning and fun. We build up relationships with them in order for them to feel secure and safe enough to explore, learn and develop. Transition time preparation really kicks in during the summer term, where we begin giving them the skills they’ll be needing when they leave us for primary school. This includes independence in many tasks including toileting, hand washing, dressing themselves and eating. By allowing the children the chance to have a go and practice skills such as spreading butter on bread and pouring milk into a cup allows them to feel a sense of pride and independence.
We talk to them about changes and how a set of ingredients when given time, care and the right circumstances can become a cake. The children are able to watch and be involved in the whole process from measuring to mixing and then dividing and cooking. And of course eating them too!
We talk about how things grow from tiny little seeds and plants into big plants and how some of them give us fruit to eat and enjoy within the nursery, such as our beautiful strawberries which we have enjoyed sharing as a group on a few occasions this term.
We look at jigsaw puzzles and talk about how the pieces when apart don’t look like much but with some hard work and a little help from our friends they can create a masterpiece.
That is exactly what parents and carers do for their children and we are delighted that we get to share that journey with you all. We are the support network that provides the children with the time, the care, the right circumstances to grow, to learn, to develop and finally to become their own masterpiece.
We wish every single one of Little Owls the very best of luck when their adventures continue in big school and for those returning to us or starting with us in September we are ready to help you find your wings during your pre-school year with us.

30 Days Wil Challenge

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30 Days Wild Challenge
At our woodland nursery we have loved completing the 30 days wild challenge throughout June! This hasn’t been too challenging for us as we are all about embracing the outdoors and the wonder of nature at our woodland nursery.
Some of the activities that we have taken part in throughout June include:
– leaf and flower printing.
– going on a wildflower hunt and identifying the names of the flowers that we found.
– sweep netting to find minibeasts in the long grass!
– minibeast hunts in our woodland.
– observing our woodland caterpillars grow from tiny caterpillars into huge caterpillars and then make their chrysalis’.
– having outdoor naps.
– eating our lunch and tea in the beautiful outdoors.
– observing wildlife in their natural habitats for example the deer, squirrels and birds.
– making delicious creations in the mud kitchen using mud, mulch, stones, pinecones, leaves and flowers.
– running up and down our local ‘roly poly’ hill with our friends.
– collecting and painting sticks.
– planting bean’s after listening to the story ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.
– climbing up trees with adult supervision.
– listening to the different bird sounds that we can hear in the woodland.
– bark rubbings using the trees.
And much more!
Why don’t you get involved too with your little one(s) at home?!
Embracing nature with your loved ones can be calming, mindful and can help build confidence and self-esteem.
Have fun!

Water Safety

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Open Water Safety
Let’s set the scene! The sun is out, the shorts and t-shirt have made an appearance, sun-cream, and sun hats are on, picnic packed and everyone is loaded into the car. We have some absolutely beautiful places nearby to host our family picnic including Chasewater and of course the stunning Cannock Chase. Both places are home to gorgeous scenery, amazing wildlife as well as some beautiful areas of water. As tempting as it can be to have a quick dip to cool down in the summer heat this is open water, it does not behave like a swimming pool, it is not always calm, it is not temperature controlled and the bottom is not visible. Even confident swimmers can get into trouble in open water but those who are still learning to swim and are very small can get swept under the water quickly and silently. Within our settings we have been looking at water safety and have been reading Quack Quack Take Two Steps Back, which is a book created with the Canal and River Trust to help young children understand the best ways to keep safe around open water. Below is a link to a video you can visit at home with your own little ones that links in nicely to this book and helps get the message across the importance of keeping everyone safe around open water. Stay safe everyone and enjoy your summer together with your families.
We have been reading the below book with the children at nursery.

Happy Easter

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It’s Easter Time!

Easter time is here and it is such a lovely time of year. Time to spend with your families, visits out in nature where spring is in full bloom and the birds are chirping away happily.

Along with this is the joy of the Easter egg hunts and the smiles on little faces when they realise what’s been hidden.

With all the excitement it is easy to forget about the hazards that come with mini chocolates. Choking is a silent hazard. People say when things are silent with little ones around it is the time to worry and this is absolutely true with choking. When a child chokes they can not speak, they can not alert you to what’s happening and they go into a silent panic. Knowing what to do in these situations can help to save a child’s life. Below is a link to the Children Accident Prevention Trust website which has lots of information about preventing choking and also what to do if the worst was to happen.

Two main prevention techniques include…

STAY – stay with your child whenever they are eating

STILL – keep your child still when eating, this can be a difficult task but it much safer for them

Safe from choking | How to prevent choking in children (capt.org.uk)

We hope you all have a wonderful Easter ????

Knowing where to turn for support

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Knowing where to turn to for support
It can be really difficult to know where to find support for your child if they have any difficulties, for example with their speech and language or with their communication skills. Here at Little Owl Childcare we are always here to listen to and to support our families the very best we can. It may be that we can point you in the right direction to websites and articles or that we can make referrals for you if necessary to try and get your child the right support that they need. It may be that you just need to have a sit down and a hot drink and to have a chat! We are always here for our families.
Here is a link to the BBC little people website which provides families with some support with special educational needs and disabilities.

The Pathway to handwriting

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The pathway to handwriting

As a prime area of development within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), Physical Development is key to all other areas of development and their future school years. This is broken down into two main sections gross motor skills, the big muscles groups enabling our little ones to move around and explore their environments and fine motor skills, the smaller muscles within the hands.

Firstly, we develop our big muscles by learning to crawl, walk, run and jump. At the same time we work on strengthening our core muscles. At Highfields we provide our children with lots of opportunities to build these muscles using equipment such as climbing frames, swings and scooters as well as dancing with ribbons and mark making whilst standing. These big movement activities help to strengthen the muscles required to sit at a table with a good posture as well as the shoulder and arm muscles to hold a writing tool and use it correctly.

Within the craft area, which is readily accessible to the children, we have many many resources for them to experiment with. Glue and spreaders, crayons, chalk, pencils, pens, paint and an array materials to paint with. These help to spark the children’s interest in mark making.

Children go through stages of holding a pencil, from a Palmer grasp (fist grip) around 12-15 months, to the digital pronate grasp around 2-3 years, to a static tripod and/or Quadrupod grip at around 3-4 years of age. Children, typically, will not be able to hold a pencil using the correct dynamic tripod grasp until between 5-6 years old.

To get children to this stage we have to do a lot of build up work. This includes lots of fine motor activities such as picking up small objects using just a thumb and forefinger, threading activities and a particular favourite within Highfields is playdough. We make and play with playdough on a regular basis, this is brilliant because the children can play with the dough using rolling pins, cutters, children’s safety knives, and potato mashers, all of which help with the strengthening and development of their small hand and finger muscles. The playdough can be used to enhance their imaginative play being made into sweets, cakes, pizzas and much much more. We then take this one step further and use the dough during Dough Disco sessions. These are small finger dance sessions that get the children to manipulate the dough in specific ways to work the precise muscle groups needed for handwriting a few years into the future.

Below is a link to a handy website with useful information about fine motor development and some lovely activities you can try at home with your little ones.

 

https://busytoddler.com/learning-handwriting/

Chinese New Year

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Chinese New Year
We have enjoyed learning about Chinese New Year at our woodland nursery. The children listened carefully to the story ‘Lanterns and Firecrackers’ which gave us an insight to how this festival is prepared for and celebrated. We thought about how some of our own celebrations are similar to Chinese New Year such as New Year and Bonfire Night where we also let off fireworks. The children listened to the story of ‘The Great Race’ and had lots of fun having their own great race on the field near our woodland. The children listened well to the rules and ran when they heard ‘ready, steady, go!’ and stopped at the finish line near one of there teachers. We enjoyed Chinese New Year letters and sounds activities such as playing ‘I spy’ using pictures of animals from ‘The Great Race’ story. We had lots of fun creating our own dragon head; we painted a box red and used natural and craft leaves for the dragon’s facial features. At the end of the week we enjoyed responding to music performing a dragon dance in the woodland. Finally, we explored Chinese food! We had the option of tasting sweet and sour chicken, rice, noodles and prawn crackers!
Happy New Year from our woodland explorers.
Here is a video of a JoJo and Gran Gran episode where JoJo learns all about Chinese New Year. Enjoy!

Lets be safe on-line

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The World Wide Web
The internet can be a wonderful place to learn, play games and talk to your friends if it is used safely.  Many children are confident that they know how to be safe online and that they know all about the sites that they visit. However, there are a few reasons children are often more at risk. They may not always think about the consequences of their actions, which can cause them to share too much information about themselves on sites that they shouldn’t. They may think they are talking to someone they know when they are not.
In our Out of School Club we are continuously talking to our children about being safe online and encouraging them to share their worries and concerns if they have any. We encourage them to share information not just about themselves but any worries they have about their friends as well. We constantly reassure the children that we are there to help and listen.

To ensure internet safety for your children, below are some guidelines from Online Safety (for Parents) – Nemours KidsHealth.

  • Follow the family rules.
  • Never post or trade personal pictures.
  • Never reveal personal information, such as address, phone number, or school name or location.
  • Use only a screen name and don’t share passwords (other than with parents).
  • Never agree to get together in person with anyone you met online without parent’s permission.
  • Keep children’s computer in a common area of the house so it can be seen.
  • Install parental locks on child’s devices.
  • Parents can frequently check children’s browser history.
For further information on safety on-line please visit:

Healthy Eating

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Healthy Eating for Young Children
A child’s learning and development is impacted by their lifestyle and in particular their diet and activity levels. The importance of a healthy balanced diet is crucial during their early years. We all know how difficult it can be to get children to eat their fruits and vegetables because they are good for them but by doing this through play we help our little ones to understand what foods help their bodies to grow big and strong and which don’t.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar story is a brilliant way to do this as the caterpillar grows big and strong when he eats all the fruits throughout the week but develops a tummy ache when he eats foods that don’t help his body on Saturday. Our children love getting involved with a story sack with physical objects they can hold and move around. We talk about the different foods and whether or not they will help the caterpillar to grow or possibly give him a tummy ache. We also allow the children to explore different foods through messy play, this can be through printing with them in paint to create art work or by using them to develop cutting skills with safety knives. These activities spark some wonderful conversations and get the children asking lots of questions about the foods they eat or foods they have never seen before.
We have provided a link to the NHS’s Healthier Families website which is full of advice and tips to help with leading a healthy balanced lifestyle for the whole family as well as a link to the BBC Food website with some lovely recipes ideas to try with your little ones at home.

Embracing Nature

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Embracing Nature
Nature is full of wonder for children. Children get first hand experience’s to feel the roughness of a tree, to look for minibeasts under logs, to observe the changing colour of the leaves and watch leaves dancing in the wind. The outdoors helps to build children’s confidence, social skills, resilience and their gross motor skills.
The article below from ‘The Curiosity Approach’ beautifully explains the importance of ’embracing the authenticity of nature’.
https://www.thecuriosityapproach.com/blog/embracing-the-authenticity-of-nature