Welcome to our February Newsletter

30th Birthday Celebration

This year, Lancaster University’s Pre-School Centre celebrates 30 years since its official opening by HRH Princess Alexandra, former Chancellor of the University.

To celebrate this significant milestone, we are inviting the many families and children with ties to the Pre-School Centre to attend a 30th Birthday Reunion Party, on Saturday 23 March, between 2-4pm.

Baby Room

New Experiences

The babies have loved exploring new textures using their hands and feet, we have been utilising resources and have enhanced their experiences and interests by exploring textures using different senses. The babies have particularly enjoyed exploring flour, gloop, cereal, water, and they were also lucky enough to explore snow too with some mixed reactions to the textures as you can see.

Crèche 1

Bounce

We have been exploring how balls work and move in different ways. The children enjoyed a floor level activity where they used their gross and fine motor skills to get the balls out of the taped tuff tray. Within their physical development, the children were able to reach to get the balls and manipulate them with their hands, seeing how they rolled within the tuff tray. Additionally, the older children within the room enjoyed copying the names of the colours of the balls which the adults modelled for them. The younger children enjoyed feeling the different textures of the balls, by adapting the activity we ensured we catered for all ages within the room.  

 To follow on from this we created a tuff tray, so the children were able to bounce the balls. The children watched their peers and the staff in the room, copying dropping the balls on the tape to see it bounce. The children enjoyed this table top activity, and it encouraged the younger children to pull to standing enhancing their gross motor skills and core strength. 

To further enhance this, and to see how balls move in other ways, we are going to look at rolling balls down ramps and throwing balls outside. 

Crèche 2

Ice Exploration

Crèche 2 have been exploring the artic ice tray for Penguin Awareness Day. The children were able to use their senses to explore the ice. We also extended the children’s learning by taking them outside to explore the snow. The children were able to recognise their footprints in the snow and develop their vocabulary by learning single words such as ‘snow’ or ‘cold’. The smaller babies were able to pull to standing to explore the snow on the ledge. The children really enjoyed this experience, and they got so much out of this learning opportunity. 

To follow on from this when the weather turns colder again, we will make ice mobiles using natural materials to hang outside. 

Nursery 1

Friendship

We’ve been helping the children to develop new friendships and learn to share and take turns. Taking part in numerous group activities in large spaces for everyone to have the chance get involved in.

During play on the carpet with the large road the children were discussing different names of vehicles. Talking about which cars went fast and which went slow and comparing the sizes of vehicles.

The parachute was another favourite game, the children took turns in throwing the ball on the parachute. Using their listening skills to hear their names being called so they knew when it was their turn. We adapted the game, and the children held the parachute and moved it up and down. The children then held hands with their friends and ran underneath. It was great fun, and the children were very happy and excited!

Nursery 2

Fun In The Snow

Nursery 2 have been exploring cold weather and the brief flurries of snow we had outside. We discussed what it feels like after one of the children asked, “what is snow like?” We played out in the snow and tried to catch snowflakes in our hands, we also tried to catch some on our tongues! We looked at where it had landed on the ground and tried picking it up to explore the texture. It felt very cold.  

Inside we made a mixture similar in texture to snow using cornflour, shaving foam, conditioner and baby oil all mixed together, this could then be moulded into shapes or crumbled into small pieces like snowflakes. The only difference was this ‘snow’ was warm to touch. 
 
Gill filled a tuff tray with water and left it outside overnight to see what would happen to the water. The children were delighted that it had frozen and explored how cold it was, they described the sizes of the pieces it made comparing big and small, they also observed we could see through the ice.

Pre-School 1

Birdwatching

The children in Pre-School 1 have been making and decorating their own binoculars and learning about different birds for National Bird Watching Week. The children also took part in different sound lotto games to learn what each bird sounds like. Once everyone had made binoculars, we took them to the nature nest and looked out of the windows for some birds which they could then identify based on their knowledge. 

Just ask the team if you would like some Spotter sheets for use at home. 

You could also visit Leighton Moss Nature Reserve for a family day trip.

Pre-School 2

Volcanoes

The children in Pre-School 2 have enjoyed engaging in a scientific experiment, creating volcanoes. We did this activity following on from observing some fantastic imaginative play in the sand area, where a group of boys created a construction site with erupting volcanoes. They independently took turns allowing each person involved in the play to create the eruption adding lots of narrative and descriptive language to their play. 
 
To extend the children’s play and knowledge we explored real volcanoes using the computer to watch news reports of the recent volcanic eruption in Grindavik, Iceland. This promoted lots of descriptive language, the children asked relevant questions and shared their own knowledge about the lava and fire. We looked at a book which explained about volcanoes and where in the world they are found. 
 
We then talked to the children about creating our own volcanoes with Coca Cola and Mentos mints. Chris explained to the children what we were going to do prior to heading outside, once outside the children decided how many mints we would put into the bottle. For the first bottle they chose five and counted the mints as they were put in the bottle, they laughed as the coke shot out of the bottle into the air. We asked what they thought would happen if we put more mints in the second bottle, as we counted ten mints the children all predicted correctly that the explosion would be bigger. In the final bottle the children suggested we put in the whole packet, which created a huge volcano that promoted lots of cheers and giggles from the children! 

The children then painted pictures of volcanoes. As each child was collected by their parents at the end of the session, they couldn’t wait to share their newfound knowledge of the erupting volcano in Iceland and of our scientific experiment. 

In case you want to try it at home, here's how to create a DIY soda explosion!

Pre-School 3

Owl Babies and More

We started to look at birds and began with the story of Owl Babies, the children enjoy listening to longer stories and can remember much of what happens, many of the children later enjoy talking about these familiar stories.

To facilitate building this story telling language and allow the children free exploration of different materials to develop their own ideas, we provided play dough, sticks, leaves and feathers just like the owl babies nest and invited the children to build their own nest.  

The children made some lovely creations and used language from the book. We then introduced garden bird figures and the children were very engaged in learning about the names and asking questions about how they live.  

We watched a video about a blue tit building its nest and laying eggs and this added another layer to the children’s play. They began making eggs for their nests, worms for them to eat and even began making other habitats for creatures like rabbits.  

We then went into the nature nest to read and look for birds. One of the children brought in a book about bird song so the children could listen to the different tunes birds could make.  

I also provided some enhancements of owl puppets, and these provided another opportunity for the children to build language skills, gave group play opportunities and develop imaginative play. 

Reminders

Internal Door Codes  

A reminder that all internal door codes have been changed, and that you will need to speak to a staff member to gain access to the relevant code you require.  Please ensure that door codes are not given to any other person who may collect your child/ren on your behalf.

Pre-School Website and Newsfeed

We would like to remind parents that you can access regularly updated information from our website and on our Twitter and Instagram.

Main Door Access

Can we please ask ALL parents to ensure that when accessing the Pre-School Centre they use their access cards/fobs. We are experiencing a high volume of disruption due to the doorbell being used so frequently, for which office staff are being interrupted having to open the door.

If any parents have lost their door access card or fob, please inform the office so that a replacement can be purchased for £5.00, and lost cards can be de-activated.

Any Library cards that have been replaced will need to be activated on our system.

Contact details

Please remember to provide us with any new contact details, you can do this via the ParentZone app or by calling/advising the office.

Appropriate Outdoor Clothing

Can we please request that with the weather changing parents provide appropriate outdoor clothing and footwear for their child/ren.