Little Owls Nursery Class
This page gives Little Owls parents a flavour of what the children have been up to lately. If you are considering enrolling your child at Little Owls or are interested in more general information about the nursery, you may also like to look at our introductory Little Owls landing page.
Below is an expanding photo gallery of some of our activities in nursery:
- The most recent activities are at the top - scroll down to see older ones
- Just click on the little photos to enlarge them
- Documents for each term are also linked as they are finalised
July
Potato harvest
It's been too dry for happy potato plants, but at least we still had enough of a crop for everybody to take home a home-grown spud.
Let's go! (kart)
This trolley is a challenge for young engineers. Its large size helps because the components are less fiddly than a normal construction kit. And the incentive of a ride works wonders!
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Lovely lollies
We made yoghurt lollies by mixing in chocolate drops and other sprinkles. The wait for them to freeze was almost unbearable. But in the end, it turned into a perfect lolly picnic.
June
Helping out
This is a lovely development in the nursery year, when the children realise they can help each other. A child can begin to see themself as a person who supports other people as well as being supported. Some children in stressful situations take on a supportive role too young, or with too much riding on that support. But it's never to young to make a contribution, and there is a feelgood factor which accompanies it.
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Get the rhythm
At first, our bucket drums sound like....chaos! But gradually, over the year, steady beats emerge and eventually repeated rhythms too. Rhythms link well to maths - all that doubling and halving of note-lengths - and to phonics, because words have rhythms built with syllables (e.g. 'cereal' = ♩♫). But honestly, music doesn't need those reasons - it can enrich the life of every child and give a creative outlet lasting a lifetime.
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Climbing
We've been using the big wall apparatus in the hall. This gives the children plenty of scope for all kinds of moves. There is a always a variation in confidence between the children. Have you been to the play park lately?
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Writing
Writing for fun often takes off at this part of the nursery year. We call it writing even if it is not legible, because it is an activity clearly distinct from drawing and because even squiggly emergent writing is an important foundation to later, more readable efforts. Many media are used - and often mixed! - as this playful imitation becomes more and more rigorous. We encourage the children to be purposeful, even with their squiggles, so that they can begin to see how useful it is for recording information.
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Paperwork for Term 6 
Our topic for Term 6 is Journeys
Click the links below for more details:
May
Bubbles
You don't have to be nursery age to find bubbles fascinating. Is it the shapes? The shifting colours? Their brief lifespan? Blowing a perfect bubble is satisfying, but it does take some practice...
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Water
There are so many uses of water in the nursery, it would make a very long list. As you can see from these pictures, one of the skills it can help to develop is balance and coordination as the water-bearers try not to get a soaking!
April
Can I take a message?
Although our phones now look old-fashioned, the children know what they are for and they make such a versatile aid to role-play. They encourage children to talk audibly and clearly, they can encourage a shy child to speak, and they can even prompt writing if the person on the end of the line needs a shopping list noted down...
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Weighty topic
With topics like these, it's lovely to see the children's developing vocabulary. In fact, much of the learning is about new words, e.g. 'lighter' and 'heaviest'.
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Plank-stomping
Sooner or later, one of the children figures out that you can launch objects with a well-aimed stomp. We have empty 5-litre tubs which are satisfying to launch, easy to catch and not too painful if they land on your head. Once the discovery is made, word goes round like wildfire and before long, everybody is stomping!
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Jumping
So many ways to jump! And all of them develop the children's coordination and motor skills...
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Paperwork for Term 5
Our topic for Term 5 is Water
Click the links below for more details:
March
Mud pies
Our digging area gets used in all different ways but what could be more iconic than making mud pies. This simple exploration enriches the children's experience is so many ways, from scientific observation to fine motor control. Worms in your pie, sir?
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Ice
We've been looking at all kinds of changes, including making water into ice and back again. Naturally, we had to see what happens when the freezing water has something else in it...
February
Making tracks
There are many ways of making tracks and routes and young children are interested in all of them! So much so that we revisit this area thoroughly in Term 6 with our Journeys topic. Tracks and routes stimulate mathematical thinking but on a more practical level, they require problem-solving of various kinds.
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Circuits
The nursery children have really enjoyed exploring these simple circuits. The wires, battery and motor are all fixed in place but the wires have to be connected in the right way. Trial and error in action!
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Paperwork for Term 4
Our topic for Term 4 is Growth & change
Click the links below for more details:
Growth & change detailed planning
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Tight fit
Nursery children are still learning the exact size and shape of their own bodies. They test this by fitting into spaces and containers which continue to amaze nursery staff. Unfortunately, some spaces are easier to get into than get out of!
January
Pulleys
At the beginning, these pulleys are quite a challenge for nursery children - "you're telling me I have to pull it down to make it go up?!" and also the sand bags are heavy enough that the children have to really make a big effort just to shift them. All good learning for young engineers!
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Holes
As part of our week all about holes, it only seemed natural to dig a hole in the garden and see what we could find. There were some nice worms and plenty of stones of all shape and sizes. It was hard work but we all pitched in. Filling it up again seemed so much quicker. We counted the children afterwards but, fortunately, nobody got left behind!
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Let's link up
A few simple lengths of rope provide many possibilities for the children to explore linkages. The potential to control an object which is some distance away (remote control!) is at first surprising and then can become quite a thrill for some children, who find new applications and test out how different objects and techniques respond.
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Paperwork for Term 3
Our topic for Term 3 is What if...?
Click the links below for more details:
December
Show time!
Here are the nursery nativity players preparing for their first performance!
November
Colour and light
We've been playing around with colours and lights and all the phenomena that our eyes can lead us into. Torches, shadows, colour filters, colour-mixing. Lights in the wintry darkness.
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Spot the spot
Oh no! Pudsey Bear lost his spots! But we managed to find them all, practise our counting and then return them to him...And after all that, we even had time for some Pudsey crafting. Hooray!
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Drawing? Writing? What's the difference?
This is the age at which we aim to give the children a good sense of the potential of each of these important media - what each is for and what you can do with it. The great thing is that the muscle control skills required are very similar. We work towards writing through drawing, gently demonstrating that those little black squiggles have a different power to self-explanatory drawings. And so the lifelong career of a writer begins!
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Fireworks!
We had our very own sparkler display!
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Exploring
We are lucky that Eldene has such large grounds. To a 3 year old, they must seem huge, and they contain a number of different interesting environments. Young trees make a suitable climbing challenge. And we could run around the field all day long!
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Paperwork for Term 2
Our topic for Term 2 is Colour & light
Click the links below for more details:
Colour & light detailed planning
October
Clean up crew
Everybody shares the tidying up in nursery. Well, that's the theory! By providing the appropriate tools, we can encourage the children to develop the basic life skills which help maintain a functional and pleasant play environment. Of course, we all try to avoid chores sometimes....
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Water everywhere
Water has a particular fascination for young children. It's an everyday material but is so variable in its behaviour and so versatile in its uses. In nursery, we use water in lots of different ways. Alas, it never wants to stay only where it is put...!
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Read all about it
In the nursery, we have books both inside and outside. We encourage the children to read whenever they feel like it, and to mix reading with other activities. An exciting story is only ever a page away...
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September
Messy business!
Constructive play is often messy. These children are learning how everyday materials behave. There's no shortcut - it has to be experienced to be believed. But we all help with the tidying up afterwards (well, that's the theory anyway...!)
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Welcome, new starters!
It was lovely to see some old friends back in the nursery after the summer but we also have lots of new faces. There's so much to explore and new routines to learn. No wonder all of us - children and staff - go home tired!
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Paperwork for Term 1
Our topic for Term 1 is Who Am I?
Click the links below for more details: