Playroom Activities | Viewpark Montessori Nursery School

Playroom Activities / Topics

The staff at Viewpark Montessori Nursery create fun, creative and responsive learning experiences for the children. They observe the interests of the children and use this as a focus for learning which supports their individual learning styles. We make use of national documents when planning including; Pre-Birth to Three Curriculum, The Curriculum for Excellence and Building the Ambition. The staff in each playroom have regular planning meetings ensuring children experience a breadth of opportunities. The planning of each playroom encompasses children’s individual learning targets / interests. Staff meet with parents / carers on a regular basis to discuss learning targets for children. The children also have the opportunity to decide their own learning target when they are able to express themselves fully, for our younger children, staff observe daily to discover interests and areas of development. We record all of the children’s achievements using learning journals, and we encourage parents to share achievements and fun moments from home too!

December 2018

The Little Stars Playroom

For the past few weeks the Little Stars have been having lots of fun preparing for Christmas! We have been busy creating different arts and crafts for our Christmas display and we have also made decorations for our upcoming Christmas party.

We are all very excited for our Little Stars Christmas party on the 13^th December 2018. It will be lovely to see all the children together, dressed to impress and ready to meet Santa.

For our last week before the holidays, we will be having a fun filled week with lots of activities and dancing. Please see below a list of the things we have planned:

Monday 17^th – Festive Crafts
Tuesday 18^th – Baking Day
Wednesday 19^th – Christmas Jumper Day
Thursday 20^th – Pyjama Day

Children are welcome to dress festively throughout our fun week. As we transition into the new year, we kindly ask that children are supplied with warm, waterproof outdoor wear. We do aim for the children to be able to explore the outdoors in all weather types. With the change in weather approaching, waterproofs would be greatly appreciated.

Home Links

Why not create a Christmas themed treasure basket that you and your child can explore together. All you need is a box or basket and a range of seasonal objects of different textures, colour, size, shape and weight for investigation. Have a look at this treasure basket for more hints and tips:- https://www.sbsnursery.co.uk/parents-guide-treasure-baskets-heuristic-play/

Song of the month: “Rudolph the red nose Reindeer”

Story of the month: “Happy Christmas Baby” by Fiona Watt

The Sunshine Playroom

We are all looking forward to seeing you all at our Sunshine playroom Christmas party tomorrow. The children have all been practising very hard to learn their Christmas songs to perform for you, before having a visit from someone very special. Bring along your cameras to catch that special moment. The party begins at 2pm and finishes at 4pm – children that are not in nursery that day must be collected by 4pm.

On the lead up to Christmas in the Sunshine playroom children have loved taking part in a variety of different festive experiences. Our last week in nursery is going to be full of fun, providing children with the opportunity to participate in a new experience each day.

On Monday the children will enjoy some festive games including an exciting chocolate coin hunt on the way to the North Pole.
On Tuesday the children will be able to take part in baking experiences, making some delicious melted snowman biscuits. The children are always keen to take part in baking experiences and will be encouraged to make their own individual biscuit to take home.
On Wednesday we will be having our Christmas jumper day. Please feel free to come in and show off your Christmas spirit with your festive outfits. We can’t wait to see them! On this day they children will be having a Christmas lunch!
Thursday is our last day in nursery in 2018. The children will be having a cosy pyjama day. The children will have some movies for a special treat and some nice snacks too. The children will also be provided with a packed lunch today.

The Sunshine playroom aim to expand their home corner. We would be very grateful if any spare bowls, cups, utensils, children’s tea sets or play food can be handed into the nursery to help us achieve this. We would like to give you all a small reminder if you could provide your child with a pair of soft indoor shoes and wellies that can be kept in nursey. This will encourage your child to become more independent within their nursery routine, so they can practice taking off and putting on their shoes. Also, for muddy days in the garden when we don’t want our lovely shoes becoming all dirty.

Home Link

Song of the week – “Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer”

Story of the week – “Waiting for Santa”

The Rainbow Playroom

The children in the rainbow playroom have been learning about ‘Light and Dark’ because of the changes that the early dark nights have brought with them. They have been looking at shadows in the sensory cube using the torches and playing outside in the dark.

This month, the children will be getting ready for Christmas by taking part in lots of different arts and craft experiences by making Santa hats, Christmas trees, snowflakes etc. The children will also be working on their literacy skills by writing letters to Santa and hopefully take a short walk to our local post box to post our letters to Santa.

To promote numeracy and counting skills the children will have the opportunity to sort a range of Christmas baubles into different sizes and colours. As well as practicing our number recognition skills by counting down the days to Christmas.

The children have been noticing the changes in the weather outside and to follow the ‘My World Outdoors’ document from Care Inspectorate, as well as the Curriculum for Excellence, we will promote healthy active play outdoors each day and in all weather conditions. The children will be taking part in puddle jumping, den building and group races to promote positive relationships with one another.

To ensure the children get the most out of their learning in nursery outdoor play we ask the following:

Welly boots
Waterproof jacket
Hats, scarves and gloves
A change of clothes including socks

“The benefits of outdoor play are widely recognised and understood. It helps children begin to understand the world that they live in, gives them fresh air and exercise, develops communication, imagination and thinking and builds confidence and resilience- all whilst having fun. The outdoor environment, including temperature, light, weather, colours, changes on a daily basis, providing children with a never-ending range of resources and challenges.” (Care Inspectorate 2016)

Important Dates to Remember

Christmas Party – Wednesday 12th December (2pm – 4pm). Parents are invited back at 3.30pm to listen to the children’s Christmas songs and to see their children receiving their gift from Santa.

Christmas Fun Week

Monday 17th December – Festive Games
Tuesday 18th December – Baking Day
Wednesday 19th December – Christmas Jumper Day (festive lunch provided)
Thursday 20th December – Pyjama & Movie Day (nursery closes at 4pm!)

Home Links

Why not try and make something for your garden at home? Making bird feeders is a great way to attract birds to your garden, whilst learning about different species of birds and how to look after them together. Feeding birds in winter can be a rewarding and enjoyable activity that provides lots of learning opportunities.

You can make feeders from empty water bottles with wooden spoons inserted for the birds to rest on whilst feeding. Here are some ideas to get you started: https://www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/for-kids/games-and-activities/activities/make-a-speedy-bird-cake

Story of the month – “Twas the night before Christmas”

Song of the month – Lots of Christmas songs!