Two children had their own idea of hanging cds’s to the mug tree. Today We extended this with more loose parts and more mug trees. Straight away this became a popular activity. We saw lots of creativity as well as developing their fine motor skills , engaging in counting and working together. #looseparts #loosepartsplay #ownideas #theirplaytheirway #finemotorskills #number #imagination #creativity #earlyyearseveryday #eytagteam

As you will know from previous posts, block play is very popular with our children at St Margaret’s. Our metallic shiny blocks from @tts_resources are always very well used. When adding them to the tuff tray along with the mirrored insert it became even more inviting to the children. The children built, designed and used their imagination. They independently added the people to their building to engage in storytelling and small world play. Can you spot the lift on the castle? #blockplay #invitationtoplay #smallworld #imaginativeplay #imagination #problemsolving #earlyyearsmaths #shapespaceandmeasure #theirplaytheirway #earlyyearseveryday #eytagteam @cosydirect

Parachute games 🔴🟢🟠🔵🟡🟣 It was lovely to have the sun shining again yesterday and the garden was very busy We had lots of fun with our parachute- playing games such as “All change” Singing songs and bouncing and rolling balls. Parachute games give our children opportunities to develop their social skills such as sharing and turn-taking. Developing physical skills like hand-eye coordination, rhythm,balance and mobility. Muscles are strengthened as the core and arms are put to work as they shake and move. Fabulous Friday Fun 😀 Have a try at home with a sheet or blanket….. #outdoorplay #parachutegames #earlyyearsideas #eyfsoutdoors #physicalplay #physicaldevelopment #eyfs #earlyyearsfun #earlyyearsplayshare #earlyyearsactivities #playingandlearning #earlyyearseveryday #eytagteam #barnetearlyyearsalliance #maintainednurseryschools

Tomorrow is Children In Need …. You are invited to wear Spots or stripes to nursery and donate £1 to this special charity #childreninneed2022

It was lovely to see some of our families at yesterdays #welcomewednesday It was a great opportunity to share some of the forest school activities we enjoy here at St Margarets and demonstrate how we are learning to build fires and stay safe 🔥 The children made leaf crowns 🍁explored our autumn ice using real tools🔨 made bird feeders 🐦 and wrapped sticks before joining together around the camp fire for hot chocolate ☕️popcorn🍿marsh mallows and songs. A very special time for staff, parents, carers and children 🧡 #welcomewednesday #forestschool #firebuilding #outdoorplay #getoutdoors #togethertime #learningtogether #celebratinglearning #earlyyearscurriculum #earlyyears #eyfs #eytagteam #earlyyearseveryday #maintainednurseryschools #barnetearlyyearsalliance

Today the children helped to prepare for our #welcomewednesday…… In preparation for our campfire and forest school activities they made autumn lanterns to add some light to our evening session. They used jam jars, leaves, PVA glue and tea lights 🍁 🕯 They were a lovely addition to our camp fire 🔥 this evening…… It was wonderful to see so many of you joining us today. We will share more of our welcome Wednesday tomorrow #autumnactivities #autumn #earlyyearsautumn #forestschool #candlecraft #earlyyearslearning #eyfscreativity #eytagteam #earlyyearseveryday #maintainednurseryschools #barnetearlyyearsalliance

A lot of our children’s independent play and exploration involves mixing different combinations of ingredients together so to mark the end of #scienceweek we had an explosive time making volcanos using bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. The children were then given the opportunity to explore and experiment to see how they could make their own bubbly experiments. They described the mixture as it erupted and bubbled - “it’s like strawberry yogurt” “it’s bubbling” “let’s make it bigger” Lots of wonderful descriptive and mathematical language as they worked as scientists. Some used different sized bottles, some used pipettes and bicarbonate of soda in a tray. It was great to see them all trying out different quantities and problem solving independently. At the end of the day we tried the mentos and coke experiment to see how high the explosion would go…… it has been lots of fun and very very messy. #scienceweek #earlyyearsscience #eyfsscience #earlyyearsexperiments #earlyyearslearning #experiments #finemotoractivities #communicationandlanguage #exploringandlearning #eytagteam #earlyyearseveryday #nurseryeducation #maintainednurseryschools #barnetearlyyearsalliance

Remembrance Sunday. #remembrancesunday #poppies #poppiesofinstagram #lestweforget🌹 #remember #paintingpoppies #earlyyears #raisingmoney #royalbritishlegion #understandingoftheworld #earlyyearseveryday #eytagteam #maintainednurseryschools #barnetearlyyearsalliance

🦖 We’re going on a dinosaur hunt 🦕 We’re going to catch a big one We’re not scared …… We always find our children love joining in with different hunts in the garden whether it be for jungle animals, birds, shapes, buses or dinosaurs in fact anything that follows their own interests. The charts are quick to make and our garden is always filled with excitement as the children try to match the pictures and tick them off. We often find this is a great way to encourage some of our less reluctant mark makers to put pen to paper too. The children have shown lots of interest in dinosaurs after sharing the story “If I had a dinosaur” … that afternoon they ran around the garden using their imagination as the “dinosaurs” chased them. We followed their interest and used this opportunity to introduce them to our dinosaur hunt and it was a great success. The children have also used the dinosaurs to make prints in the playdough and paint and they had lots of messy fun as they explored a cornflour and cocoa swamp 🦕 Counting, matching, working together, running, learning new vocabulary and so much more learning , all through following their own interests. #markmaking #dinosaurday #extendinglearning #followingtheirinterests #earlyyearsideas #eyfslearning #earlyyearseveryday #nurseryeducation #outdoorlearning #eyfs #earlyyears #eytagteam #maintainednurseryschools #barnetearlyyearsalliance

Mark making with charcoal. We used the charcoal from our campfire on Friday to make marks on paper. We explained to the children where it had come from. The children talked about the colour and asked why it made their hands black. #markmaking #forestschool #charcoal #differentmedia #colour #texture #makingmarks #earlyearseveryday #eytagteam

Its never too early to start painting here at St Margaret’s ! Today was our children’s centre Stay and Play session and as you can see this mummy and baby shared a special moment painting together….look at those little toes wriggling under the apron 😍 Stay and Play sessions encourage children and parents to play and learn together to improve attachments, relationships, strengthen bonds, and support children’s overall development. There are always a variety of resources and play equipment and children are encouraged to explore messy play. It’s a lovely way to meet other parents and make new friends. Our next session is on Thursday morning at 9-30 a.m check out our stories for the rest of the weeks timetable. #stayandplaybarnet #barnetchildrenscentre #childrenscentre #earlyyears #babyplay #earlyyearsart #earlyyearseveryday #eytagteam #barnetearlyyearsalliance #maintainednurseryschools

Our terrific twos engaging in colour mixing outside with brushes, paint and water as well as using big movements with their arms to brush and mix the colours. The children talked about the colours they made and how it turned into the shape and colours of the rainbow. #colourmixing #colours #outdoor #outdoorsctivities #painting #maintainednurseryschool #grossmotorskills #shape #direction #rainydays #water