Spring Time at Ladybirds
What a fabulous term this is for our little Ladybirds, as the winter fades away and spring is in the air we spend a lot of time noticing the changes in our environment. From the beautiful bulbs that have flowered at the front gate, to the birds singing in the trees, the sunshine warming up the top garden and the minibeasts starting to show themselves it is a term full of exploration and hands on learning.
This spring time we had a wonderful celebration of Holi, the Hindu spring festival of colour! We learned a fabulous dance all about the brave and noble Prahlad and his evil aunt and father and we found out all about the traditions of this vibrant and colourful festival. Using pompoms, streamers and floaty scarves we danced to indian music – it was great to see the children move to the rhythms of some fabulous Bhangra beats! “That was such cool music!” “I did some flower dancing” “I’m like a firework, whoosh!”
The children loved all the paint splatter activities, using the paint markers to splat life size paper cutouts, droppers and flick brushes to decorate mini cardboard people and a big collaborative activity using spray bottles, brushes and pipettes to cover a big sheet in amazing colourful patterns. “I can see rainbows!” “I see dots and line” “I can see small dots and big splots”
It was wonderful to be able to share these art works with parents and families at our end of term “Come and Play” – along with an introduction to mark making dance, imaginative play and other elements of our Expressive Arts and Design area of learning. There is nothing better for us than to see our little ladybirds proudly showing off their preschool to their families – an experience we have not been able to share for what feels like forever!
With the spring time comes varying weather, from gorgeous sunshine to sleet and snow and everything in between! We had the big storm with the “naughty wind”, sunny days just like summer “we need our hats to keep our eyes from going all woooooooo” “I’m sooooo hot I need a drink!” and torrential rain and hail “it’s so loud like a drum!” “I bringed my umbrella, my mummy has it now, my peppa pig umbrella!” “I found a hail stone, it melted in my hand!” It’s great to let the children show us what they notice about the weather and that they understand how to look after themselves in different temperatures and environments.
The sun and rain brings other changes, including the return of the minibeasts! We love hunting for bugs in the wood pile and the bark, and rescuing worms from the sand pit! We see the children coordinating their own play, sharing out the magnifying glasses and binoculars and hiding bugs all around the top garden for their friends to find.
We are so lucky to have these wonderful resources – many of which were purchased with grants and match funding from the wonderful Greenham Trust – please follow this link to our latest fundraising project supported by this wonderful trust AGAIN!
https://app.thegoodexchange.com/project/18402/ladybirds-pre-school-newbury/resources-to-enable-an-engaging-learning-environment
Anything donated gets matched – so double the resources for the children to enjoy!
As we wave everyone off for their Easter holidays we can’t wait for a summer term filled with joy, imagination and fabulous learning! See you soon!
