Tag Archives: Childcare

Celebrating Mothers Day

Posted in achievements, celebration, Learning, Playing by

We had a fabulous session this morning where we were joined by 30 adults and their children to celebrate Mothers Day. The children had been busy bees in the week making biscuits which they decorated with their special adult. They also made their mums a necklace and decorated a cup ready to do a flower display using a small piece of oasis. Parents and carers were treated to a bacon or sausage roll and a hot drink. The children in the week decorated some bunting which we hung in the room. We are so lucky to be supported by 2 fabulous businesses – Clayton Butchers donated the Bacon and sausages and Highland garage donated the bread rolls and supplied the flowers. Thank you both so much.

Flowers supplied by @Highland Store- Potton
Soaked oasis
Biscuits in their named bags.
Beautiful bunting
Bread rolls donated from Highland garage- Potton.
Bacon donated by claytons Butchers in Potton
Sausages donated by Claytons.
Claytons Butchers gave us some gluten free sausages as well.
Adding sugar to the butter.
Giving it a good mix before adding the flour.
Adding the flour. Everything is measured in cups as this is so much easier for the children to manage. They really enjoy making their own biscuits.
The biscuits smelt delicious as they were cooking.
Pressing the biscuits out. We avoid using a rolling pin as this method helps them with develope their muscles needed for future writing. Plus its a great way to experiencesome sensory play.

Fixing up the units.

Posted in repairing by

Our wheels on our wooden units have fallen apart so today, Tim and I have spent time replacing 16 wheels on 4 of our units. These are used for our children’s drawers where they place their artwork and bits ready to take home. They velcro their names to the drawer front so reinforcing name recognition.

The old wheels- lasted about 3 years.
Sparkling new wheels, ready to help us move the units in and out of out room when we have to clear for football ⚽️ games or functions.

Curiosity Approach Accreditation

Posted in achievements, Learning, News, Our Natural World, Playing by

We are really proud to announce we have achieved the accreditation. This has been a long journey which has been very eye opening in what we do and how we do it. It has really encouraged us to look at the children’s learning and interests bringing in resources not only to enhance their learning but to move them forward developing well rounded children. This helps them to move forward to their next stage of learning and we hope will support them in being fabulous members of our community.

Donna, our assessor said…….

Jackie and Kathryn and their staff have worked really hard to gain the accreditation. Firstly, I would like to thank them for their patience, and for providing me with lots of extra evidence and in answering my questions. They have been real stars.

There are a lot of things they can not change due to them being in a football club. They have worked with the setting to the best of their abilities.

They provide some wonderful  provocations to learn and fully understand The Curiosity Approach.

They provide lots of loose parts and authentic materials. 

I particularly like the apple trees they have grown in pots at the setting.  They are going to take them to a local orchard that has been set up near them. This is an area that they are going to use for forest schools.

One of my favourite sentences from their submission was “We have discovered that things do not have to be beautiful to be interesting “

I would like to wish them every success for the future”.

Making Easter nests.

Posted in Early Years Foundation Stage, Learning, Playing by

When we do cooking, the children make their own food with help and guidance from the staff.

We scrunched up a shredded wheat biscuit. It’s really good as it looks like straw or twigs when squashed.

We added some melted dark chocolate. We worked for each shredded wheat biscuit we needed 17 dark chocolate ‘buttons’ to cover. We melted the chocolate in the microwave for around 20 seconds.

We stirred the mixture, making sure the chocolate covered all the shredded wheat.

The finished product smelt delicious and the children were eager to take their nests home.

Making Mud Pies

Posted in Early Years Foundation Stage, Learning, Our Natural World, Playing by

The children have a great time in the mud kitchen area. They add water to make the mud all sloppy, measure and spoon out what they need. They have lots of discussions about what they are doing and why, then they share their ‘food’ with their friends and staff.

Weighing out the ingredients.
The finished pie.

Making playdoh

Posted in Early Years Foundation Stage, Learning, Our Natural World, Playing by
We used a small IKEA bowl to add the ingredients together. We halved the mixture so had 1/4 cup of flour, 1/8 cup of salt, 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar, a tablespoon of oil and 1/4 cup of water. Mix together. Put in the microwave for 30 to 40 seconds.

The finished product.

This week ( 23/1/17) at Woodentops

Posted in Learning, Our Natural World by

On Monday we discovered the the toy animals and leaves in the tuff spots had all managed to get very frozen. The children worked hard together to free the animals and leaves and we ended up with a lot of ice on the grass.

Afterwards the children did some ‘obstacle course’ making use of the decking boards, crates and stepping logs. They worked really well together, listening to and sharing ideas with each other.

On Tuesday we had Simon come in from Triumph Wellbeing. The children helped tidy away the obstacle course from the day before and move the play equipment to the side ready to do lots of fun running around with Simon.

On Wednesday, we had the birds out from the RSPb, who sang beautifully, and made bird feeders for the Big Bird watch at the weekend. We hope the children managed to do some counting.

On Thursday we made donuts, oh my, they were delicious.

The children worked with Jackie, to mix the ingredients, and then watched from a safe distance whilst Jackie poured the mixture into the pans. They helped check whether the donuts were cooked and were very forward in their advice for Jackie. We made plain ones and then got a bit adventurous and made chocolate donuts- they were just as nice. They sampled the donuts for snack. Later on they iced the donuts with all the edible sparkly bits left over from Christmas.

On Friday we had the stay and players in. A fun morning was had by all. We made bird feeders using pipe cleaners and cheerios. Lots of threading and a little tasting- just to check the cheerios were ok for the birds!