Unicorn Class Blog                     Term 3 Week 2                         Week Commencing 15th January 2024

This week we have enjoyed a bird themed week. As part of this we discussed and discovered what makes it challenging for birds to find food in the winter such as the ground is harder and some is covered in ice, making it difficult for them to dig and find worms and a lot of fruits were harvested during the autumn. Some children remembered collecting apples from the trees and blackberries from the bush at forest school during the autumn, then having apple and blackberry crumble. We made a special bird cake mixture for the hungry birds using bread, sunflower seeds, raisins, apple and lard. When we first saw the lard lots of us thought it was butter because it was the same shape and wrapped like butter. We discovered it was called lard, we noticed that lard was white, felt sticky, smooth and felt like butter when we touched it. We were very interested in watching the lard melting in the microwave. When it came out we noticed it looked different and we made comments such as; “It looks runny now”, “It looks like squash”, “It’s changed colour” and “Look it has melted like the ice”. We mixed the lard with all the ingredients we had put into our bowls and then filled our yoghurt pot that had ribbon threaded through. We took some of the bird cakes to Forest School and some in our playground, to hang on trees and bushes. We made some binoculars using paper, felt tips, tape, scissors and ribbon that we used to spot birds with. We enjoyed looking at the bird identifier chart to tick off birds we spotted and were interested in the names of the birds. Some of us chose to paint pictures of birds. Some of us were interested in making flying birds by colouring a bird shape looking at the colours observed and then using a concertina fold to make the wings to thread through the bird shape. This week we have also enjoyed pretending we were birds using our arms and scarfs as wings.

This week we have continued to think of ways to keep us healthy with the main focus on washing. We discussed when we should wash our hands, for example after going to the toilet, before eating and cooking.  Also why it was important to wash our hands. We enjoyed washing away the germs on the blue gloves using water and soap, washing babies and dinosaurs. We made healthy delicious banana and strawberry smoothies. we washed our hands first, the surfaces had been cleaned, we used a clean plate and knife to carefully cut the fruit. We then added it to the smoothie maker with some milk. The smoothie maker was very loud but we were all fascinated by the way the fruits spun around and changed colour and texture. We all tried the smoothie and most of us thought the smoothie was yummy.

This week we have also enjoyed playing doctors and nurses, doing drawings, mark making and writing, making Mr potato heads, making long train tracks nearly the length of the classroom, using playdough, using the cars and car mats, doing puzzles. Some of us have enjoyed playing with the fairies, building homes and beds for them using bricks and pretending to be fairies using our imagination to make up and act out stories. We have also enjoyed building dens using a range of materials and having picnics.  

We enjoyed playing musical snowmen and were really good at freezing like snowmen when the music stopped. We had 2 toy snowmen, one wished it was winter all the time whilst the other wished that it was summer all the time. We thought about which one we agreed with more and why. We had responses such as I wish it was summer because it isn’t freezing all the time, I wish it was winter all the time because it may snow,   I wish it was summer because then I can put my arm bands on and jump in a pool. We also discussed whether it was alright to have different opinions and to disagree with someone.

During Forest School we enjoyed exploring a dinosaur swamp that was frozen and had turned pink, using the wheel burrows to transport ice using good teamwork, smashing ice using sticks, making dens and comparing sticks. We enjoyed using the swings and hammocks and did good turn taking. We also enjoyed walking between the trees and looking for birds. We saw mostly robins, blackbirds and blue tits.

Outside we have enjoyed playing chasing games, hide and seek, making obstacle courses, using the colourful scarves and spots, bird watching, riding the bikes and scooters and exploring shadows.

We have enjoyed a range of books, we were interested in finding out more about winter and birds whilst sharing information books and stories. Supertato was also a popular story this week which was chosen by a child and encouraged lots of discussions about the pictures, characters and what was happening in the story. 

During maths we have been singing number songs, practising counting using books and objects, looking at numbers and showing that amount of fingers and objects. During continuous provision we have been using Numicon to make towers, sorting number pieces that are the same, we have been doing great problem solving such as making sure we have the same amount of fairies/trains by counting and discussing with each other when someone has more or less and it is not being fair. Snack time has been another great opportunity to practise our maths and problem solving skills. For example when setting the table children have been helping to count how many plates/cups/chairs there are and how many more are needed. Some of us have also been using good problem solving to wrap up presents for Father Christmas.

During phonics we listened to different water sounds such as turning the tap on, the sound of rain and waves and tried to work out what the sound was, we joined in with a rhyming poem with actions and then played a game where we had to stand up when there were two words that rhyme such a mop and plop. We also continued rhyming strings with real words and made up words such as mop, pop, shop, dop, fop, plop and lip, ship, pip, plip, bip and dip. We have also continued to enjoy playing Georgie’s gym using oral blending and segmenting.

This coming week we are going to be exploring the Polar regions. If your child has a book about Arctic or Antarctic animals they are welcome to bring them in for us to share.

As part of our personal, social and emotional development we are going to be thinking and discussing how they help others at home, as part of this we will be making a ‘Wow’ wall so if you could offer a few suggestions about how your child/children help at home, please can they be written on a piece of paper and brought in with your child/children. Also please can you send a picture of your child/children’s family.

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend and looking forward to more exploring with your child/children this coming week.

Best wishes

Mrs Fenwick