w/c 30th September 2022
This Week at Downend

Nursery

This week in Nursery, we have spent lots of time in our sensory room! It was a unique atmosphere, with the spinning lights and bubble machine. We liked lying still on the floor, watching the different colours and bubbles floating past!

In the art area we have been exploring paint dabbers! Their big chunky size is great for our smaller hands, we had a good grip and tried lots of different motions. We tried out sweeping the dabber side to side, and tapping it up and down on the paper!

We've also been helping the adults make some playdough! We listened carefully as we poured the different ingredients into a bowl, and worked hard stirring it all together with wooden spoons!

Kindergarten

This week in Kindergarten we have been playing outside, no matter the weather! In the rainy weather we watched how the water gathered and collected in the various resources. We used paintbrushes to make marks on the pebbles, and making tiny splashes with our hands!

Back inside the room we have been talking about Autumn. We took it in turns to explore a sensory tray, looking at the pine cones and conkers. We talked about the textures we could feel, and where all these resources come from! We the read the book 'The Gruffalo', spotting some of the trees, pine cones and conkers that we had played with. 

At the art table we spoke about how the leaves on the trees are changing colour, from green to brown, orange and red! We then created our own trees using paint and cardboard for the leaves. Some of us chose to decorate the branches, where some of us painted the leaves falling to the ground!

Pre-School

This week in Pre-School we have spent lots of time at the Woodwork Station! With some support from the adults we tried out using the hammers and screwdrivers, learning how to handle these and use them to push nails and screws into the soft wood!

We also followed a recipe this week, making our own playdough! We looked carefully at the ingredients we needed to add, taking turns to put them in the bowl and stir it all together. Afterwards we used rollers, stamps and cutters to shape the dough, adding resources such as pasta and shells to see what shape they leave on the dough!

In the garden we tried some water painting! We used brushes on the shed, noticing that the water made the wood darker. We tried writing some numbers and letters!