Weekly Bulletin 5 - Covid-19

 Weekly Bulletin – Week 5 13th – 20th July

This is our final weekly bulletin of this school year, as our term draws to an end we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for being a part of the Little Dolphins family this year. Even though it’s been a different and challenging year with the coronavirus, we hope that you have enjoyed spending this extra time with your family. We would like to wish you all a great and hopefully fairly normal summer holidays.

For those children that are going to ‘big school’ in September, we wish you all the very best in the next chapter in your big book of life. We have enjoyed getting to know you and your family, and hope that you are able to pop past the pre-school and show us your new uniform very soon!!

For those children who are returning to us in September we are hoping that it will be a normal return as much as possible (more information will follow soon with our plans for September). We are very much looking forward to your return, and being able to hear all about your adventures during lockdown!

The last weekly bulletin’s topic is all about ‘The Garden’, and all the great things you can see and grow in it!


Activity 1: Fruit Kebabs

fruit kebab.jpg                                   

What you will need:
  • A selection of different fruits (for example; strawberries, melon, grapes, blueberries, pineapple – softer fruits)
  • A Kebab skewer or wooden stick
  • A knife (adult supervision at all times)
The Method:
  1. Wash and cut fruit into pieces (If your child is helping to cut up the fruit please supervise them at all times with the knife).
  2. Thread the fruit onto the skewers (remember to talk about hand positioning here, we do not want anyone to skewer their hand).
  3. When finished enjoy as a healthy snack!
Things to talk about whilst creating
  • Knife safety, how we hold things when cutting etc. (Physical development – Health and Self-care).
  • Where does the fruit come from? If you can grow any in your garden? (Understanding the World – The World)
  • Patterns and colours of the fruit, is the skin the same colour as the fruit inside? (Mathematics – shape, space and measure; Understanding the World – The World; Characteristics of Effective Learning)
  • Textures and taste of the fruit (Expressive Arts and Designs – exploring and using media and materials)
Extending the activity:
  • Growing some of your own fruits
  • Make fruit smoothies
  • Make a dip for your fruit kebabs (our favourite is a chocolate one!!! Not the healthiest one but definitely a yummy one!)
  • Colour matching activities (find different items that are the same colour as the pieces of fruit you have used)


Activity 2: Bird feeders from bottles

bird house.jpg                                            

What you will need:
  • Clean milk bottle or plastic bottle
  • 1 or 2 sticks for the perch (approximately 30cm long)
  • Scissors
  • String or wire for hanging
  • Bird seed
  • Stuff to decorate your bird feeder with (stickers, permanent pens, glitter glue etc.)
The Method: Please note that some of these steps may need an adult to help.
  • Wash the bottle and if possible remove the label.
  • Cut a hole in the side large enough to allow a free flow of seeds, but in such a way that it won’t all fall out on the ground in the slightest puff of wind, and won’t get wet if it rains.
  • Make a few small holes in the bottom of your feeder to allow any rainwater to drain away.
  • Decorate your bird feeder, you could make it look like a house or you could camouflage it… make it unique!
  • When your bird house is finished (and dry) next you will need to Hang it with wire, or even strong string from a tree or your washing line.
  • If your feeder starts to wear out or the food in it goes mouldy, recycle it and make another one! Remember to keep your feeders well stocked, especially in winter. Birds come to rely on them and will go hungry if you forget.
Things to talk about whilst creating
  • Caring for the birds, where do they get their food from (Understanding the World – The World)
  • Talk about the design and the techniques you can use to join materials together (Expressive Arts and Design – Exploring and Using media and materials)
  • Safety of using tools (Physical development – Health and self-care & Moving and handling)
Extending the activity:


Activity 3:  Flower walk

flower hunt.jpg                                       

What you will need:
  • A piece of cardboard
  • A walk where you can see / pick flowers (or you could buy a bunch and hide them around your garden / house, if you’d rather not pick any)
  • Pen and a blob of blue-tac
The Method:
  1. Create you cardboard flowerpot.
  2. Use the pen and blue-tac to create the holes (you may need an adult to help with this part).
  3. Go on a walk and collect flowers for your flowerpot.
  4. Put somewhere to enjoy your flowers.
Things to talk about whilst creating
  • What shape is your flowerpot? (Mathematics – shape, space and measure)
  • Where are you allowed to pick flowers and where are you not allowed to pick flowers (Understanding the World – The World; People and Communities)
  • Safety on the walk (Physical development – health and self-care)
Extending the activity:
  • Planting and growing your own flowers.
  • Litter walk (Take a plastic bag and some gloves with you and fill it up with litter on your way around).
  • Painting and decorating real flowerpots.
  • Making a nature crown.
  • Making straw flowers

 

                                  

Activity 4:  Hungry Caterpillar Counting Collage

caterpillar.jpg                                            

What you will need:
  • A large piece of paper
  • Materials to create;
    • A caterpillar
    • An apple
    • 2 pears
    • 3 plums
    • 4 strawberries
    • 5 oranges
  • Or you could use paint to create each of the pieces (finger painting)
  • Glue
  • Scissors
The Method:
  1. Read the story together.
  2. Have fun creating your collage, start with the caterpillar and then each fruit in turn (you could re-read the story as you go).

 

Things to talk about whilst creating
  • The number of each piece of fruit (Mathematics – Numbers)
  • The techniques you are using (Expressive arts and designs – exploring and using media and materials)
  • If you are finger painting – you could talk about colour mixing (Expressive arts and designs – exploring and using media and materials)
  • Healthy eating (Physical development – health and self-care)
  • The life cycle of a caterpillar (Understanding the World – The World)
Extending the activity:
  • Butterfly printing
  • Going on a bug hunt
  • Creating story stones of the hungry caterpillar

 

Some extra ideas and activities:

 

We hope you enjoy exploring these activities! Have a wonderful summer holidays… see you all soon.  

Just for fun… Singing hands Makaton ‘Summer Holiday’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj5zY7Lovm8