Nursery Explore the Ocean
To explore our ocean topic further, the Dragonflies read ‘The Snail and the Whale’.
While reading the story, the children found a range of sea animals and thought of some great adjectives to describe them. They then used oil pastels to draw their favourite sea animal and paid close attention to detail when choosing the correct colours. Afterwards, the children wrote simple sentences to describe their chosen animal. While exploring the ocean, the Dragonflies thought about where else we might find water. They then learnt about the importance of water and why we must not waste it. To help share this important news, the Dragonflies collaged a range of pictures showing our friends how to save water. They came up with some great ideas including to turn the tap off, fix a leaky pipe, have a quick shower, and use rainwater to water the plants. Throughout the week, the children have been making a conscious effort to save water in the classroom. Well done Dragonflies for looking after our planet!
To finish the week, the Dragonflies put on their wetsuits and goggles and became scuba divers! They used their imagination to swim around the garden to collect all the sea animals they could find. After finding them, the children worked together to put the animals into size order using the language small, medium, and large.
This week the Ladybirds and Butterflies have been on an underwater adventure via boat. We began the week creating boats in Forest School. The children used a hand drill to make holes in the bark base and a hammer to create some beautiful Hapa-zome sails. The children experimented sinking and floating while sailing their boats in the water trays.
Over the week, we have looked at the different levels of the sea, beginning with the top layer - rockpools. We read the story 'Tip Tap went the Crab' and the children went on a hunt to collect all the creatures hiding from the story, ensuring they had the correct amount. We talked about crabs. looking at how they move and counting how many legs they have. The children then made crabs using paper plates.
On Wednesday, we climbed back on our boat and explored the middle of the ocean, armed with fishing rods and nets, the children went fishing and were thrilled to catch a real-life fish. We looked closely at the fish and named the different body parts, paying particular focus to the gills and the dorsal spine. The children were fascinated as we looked closely at the scales and then inside the bodies of the different fish. They were then inspired to create their own fish bone pictures.
At the end of the week, we hopped onto a yellow submarine to find out what lies at the bottom of the ocean. We sang the song 'There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea' and discovered jellyfish and octopus and then the children made their own, developing their fine motor skills through threading.
Mrs Manchorova and Miss Wadman
