This was our third week at Forest School and what very wet and muddy one it was! There was even a ‘swamp’ in the middle of the forest! We had to think of a safe way to cross the ‘swamp’ and without waking the mud monster. He tried to get lots of wellies but didn’t manage to keep any!
After all the excitement we made a tree fairy using clay and resources we found in the forest, we left it them the forest for the night time fairies to come and visit.
This week, we have been baking bread. Mrs Emmerson weighed all of the ingredients then we put them in a big bowl and mixed it altogether. When it was all mixed, we kneaded the dough until it felt nice and soft.
We rolled the dough into little balls and left them to ‘prove’. After half an hour Mrs Emmerson put them in the oven to cook.
Our room was soon filled with the smell of bread.
When it was ready, we tried some of the bread at snack time. It was delicious!
Recipe for bread
Mix ingredients together until it forms a dough. Knead for 10 minutes, separate into equal amounts and make into bread buns.
Cover and leave to prove for 30 minutes. Place in a preheated oven 230oc for 10 minutes then turn the oven to 180oc for 20-25 minutes. Tap the bottom of the bread, when it is cooked it should make a hollow sound.
Enjoy!
On Thursday 7th November we celebrated Outdoor Classroom Day.
All of the children took part in a range of activities in the outdoor area. We built dens using crates, twigs, canes and string. We made cowboy bread with added garlic on the fire pit. Some children made magic potions using natural materials, herbs, spices and food colouring. Children also made clay star decorations using star anise, pumpkin seeds, dried rose petals and glass beads. In the allotment we dug up the vegetables which we have grown. We all had a great day and look forward to the next National Outdoor classroom day!
Our first week at forest school was very successful with yellow group, all of the children enjoyed making a camp, exploring the woods making a trail with charcoal (forest pencils) and looking for the MUD Monster. We enjoyed hot chocolate in our camp and cant wait to go back next week.
We had fun exploring all of the sensory activities in nursery.
We enjoyed feeling the cold jelly in our toes, squeezing the gloop through our fingers and making lots of marks in the angel delight! Some of the children even sat and lay in the trays, using all of their bodies to explore the different textures.
To end our messy play, we played in the water tray with nice warm, soapy water to wash it all off.
We had LOTS of FUN!!!!!
This term we have been learning about the season Autumn and Harvest Festival.
In the creative area we have been using autumn leaves and a variety of fruit and vegetables as printing tools to make repeated patterns. We have been learning how to mix our own paint using powder paint and water to make lots of different shades to represent autumn colours.
We have been making autumn leaf biscuits, apple pies using apples from the garden and soup for our Harvest Festival in the cooking area this term.
In the outdoor area we have been busy picking blackberries and raspberries which we crushed using a pestle and mortar to make special paint for our autumn pictures. We have also been weaving with stems and leaves to create mobiles and dream catchers to hang in the outdoor area.
This week we had a fire in the secret garden. We learned about staying safe, we had to sit on the seats and not walk around because the fire is very hot!
When the fire was ready, we put our bread onto big, long sticks and held them over the fire to make toast. We ate our toast sitting around the fire then we washed it down with hot chocolate. It was delicious!
Next week we are going to make popcorn on the fire.
It has been very busy in Blue group!
We welcomed our returning children back and they have all grown so much over the holidays! They have been very kind and helpful towards our new friends.
Some of the children are showing lots of interest in using the potty and the toilet, please look at our ‘Fun at home’ section of the website for helpful tips.
Our new starters are enjoying exploring the nursery and are settling really well into our nursery routine.
On mental health awareness day we received our Mental Health Charter Mark Bronze Award. This is a recognition of all the hard work the staff at Oxclose Community Nursery School do to support your children and families mental health. Things we have celebrated this year include family nurture groups, being safe in the community, celebrating uniqueness.
For more information please speak to a member of staff.
This was our first week at forest school, today’s session was spent getting ready, discussing how to be safe and exploring the woods. We made a trail around the forest using charcoal so we didn’t get lost, we found a fantastic climbing tree and a huge puddle that we thought might be the home of the mud monster! Thankfully he was not home and didn’t eat anyone’s wellies. We enjoyed hot chocolate and a biscuit sitting on a log in the open air it was great!
