Summer

Week 1

Welcome back to our last half-term!  After the holidays it is always so wonderful to see how quickly and happily everyone returns to their routines and picks up on the learning that they have left off.  We have been reading Jack and the Beanstalk as our sensory story this week and very much enjoyed creating with green paint and leaves.  We enjoyed the musical sound effects of the harp and the giant and loved the tactile pleasure of dried beans.  In between torrential showers, it was the usual joy to be out in forest school again, looking at all the plants that have charged up over the holidays.  A new half-term also means a new batch of playdough, blue this term in a wishful effort to beckon back some sun, and Iris class turned out to be champion cooks when it comes to playdough manufacture!

Week 2

The weather has made for exciting times this week, forcing us into wet play inside but also giving us the chance to watch hail come thundering down in June and splash in some truly stupendous puddles, courtesy of torrential rain.  In other news we have also enjoyed exploring the outer-reaches of Jack and the Beanstalk, practicing filling and emptying containers with various peas and beans, also also planting our own beans.  Having learnt Jack's lesson we eschewed magic beans in favour of broad beans - much less likely to encounter angry giants that way!  We have also embarked on a collaborative art project, enoying the stimulating textures of a variety of cardboard forms, helping us focus on painting with paint brushes instead of handprinting and thereby building our grip strength and fine motor skills.

Week 3

A busy, busy week for Iris class.  Tuesday saw the great outing to Treetops soft play where everyone's adventuous spirit was put to the test, ascending to new heights and enjoying the reward of slides on the way down.  Wednesday was also out of the ordinary!  Once the pouring rain of the morning had cleared away, we were blessed with a sunny afternoon for our sports day.  Thank you to all parents and grandparents who came a joined in, making it a really fun event for everyone.  As the weather warms up we've been enjoying playing with water and ice, watching the patterns on the floor and finding rainbows when we throw the water in the air.  We finished the week with some important collage, concentrating hard on using liquid glue and arranging different greens and textures to make leaves for our class beanstalk.

Week 4

A hot, hot week in Iris class.  We have enjoyed our sensory story of the gingerbread man this week.  We made ginger biscuits ourselves, and were very glad when our own biscuits did not run away!  Mainly we have been practising regulating, playing with big ice cubes and enjoying extensive water play in the classroom.

Week 5

A second week of the gingerbread man this week and thankfully cooler classrooms!  We decorated gingerbread men this week, carefully following instructions to put on icing, eyes and smartie buttons.  We also enjoyed sensory painting to make a big river for our classroom. 

Week 6

As temperatures soared again, this became another week of finding ways to stay cool.  Extensive waterplay provided lots of opportunities to continue strengthening our fine motor muscles squeezing sponges to make more bubbles, cooperatively sharing primer play spaces and  taking turns with the biggest bucket for splashing.  On days when it was easier to regulate we enjoyed exploring elements of our sensory story The Tiger Who Came to Tea.  As well as feeding our toy tiger, we practised using communication boards to choose our sandwich filling and enjoyed eating them without any interruption from marauding big cats!