Stanmore Baptist Preschool

Just before the half term break we started to think about Autumn and the children got involved in lots of different activities centred around leaves, pine cones, conkers and acorns. This week with Autumn still in our minds we have also turned our thoughts to ‘Bonfire Night’ and ‘Diwali’. The children have created lots of pictures both inside and out reflecting the bright and sparkly colours we have seen lighting up our night time sky recently. When we came back from half term we spotted the car park had a carpet of leaves down one side so we seized the opportunity on Tuesday to help clear some of these up whilst having lots of outdoor fun! The children swept, raked and filled up wheelbarrows but also had a tremendous amount of fun running through the leaves, tossing them in the air and using a leaf blower!! Having so much fun was hot work so gradually the children shed their coats.

On Friday the Kangaroos were also out and about exploring the environment. They went on a pre-booked trip to Aldenham Country Park. It felt like we had pre-booked the weather too as after being a bit chilly first thing it turned out to be an absolutely glorious day for the time of year. The children had been told they were travelling by minibus so when a full sized coach turned up they couldn’t believe their eyes or contain their excitement. On arrival at Aldenham we made our way to the farm where we met our guide for the morning. As we pottered around the various pens the children learnt a little about the animals and had the opportunity to feed and stroke them. At one point a very special bear, none other than Pooh Bear, came out from his house to meet the children. We saw pigs, goats, ducks, sheep, cows, rabbits to name but a few of the animals and the children got to pet and hold some Guinea pigs. We were so busy that it was nearly the end of our morning out before we had a chance to think of sitting down for a snack and drink. We found some picnic benches in the sun.

On Friday it was such a beautiful day that the Stars went on a walk through the woods and up to the pond in Stanmore.

Some photos of the children exploring lots of different activities over the last few weeks. We even had some unexpected visitors pop in one morning!

It has been a busy start to the new academic year but the children are becoming more settled and seem to be enjoying all the activities. With quite a few new faces we have been spending time getting to know each other. There have been lots of smiles, a few tears, beautiful sunshine and some drizzly rain along the way!

Our last morning finished off with an ice cream in the sunshine in the garden. We hope all our Preschool families have an enjoyable and relaxing summer break and our best wishes to all the children who are moving on to school or other nurseries.

It is hard to believe that we only have one more morning left before the end of yet another academic year. Before we say our goodbyes tomorrow here are some photos of the children playing and having fun over the last week.

The Stars seemed to enjoy their garden time even though the sun wasn’t out to greet them.

The Kangaroos seemed to have lots of fun playing in our garden this morning!

Well this week we have finally been able to arrive in T-shirts - leaving jumpers and coats at home! (Only a couple of weeks ago we were still out in the garden in coats some days as you can see in the photos). We have been putting up extra shelter to make sure the children stay cool. The children have been busy working on their cutting, throwing, counting, cooking and mark making skills with lots of fun and creative activities. Some have even needed a little nap in between activities finding interesting places to enjoy their snooze 😴. We have thought about picnics, playing in the park, spent time travelling to the moon and taken a trip to the seaside. You can’t go to the seaside without enjoying an ice cream whilst pretending to be on the beach watching the waves. Lots of building work and interesting structures have been created by the children independently. Having watched the development life cycle of our caterpillars we set the butterflies free but they seemed to like us so much that they wanted to stay giving the children the opportunity to observe them sitting on their hands. Such a wonderful experience!

Today, we celebrated Elmer the Elephant’s 35th Birthday (a day early). The children came to Preschool dressed in bright coloured clothes and participated in some activities that involved different colours.

As another half term comes to an end here are some photos of the children engaging in a wide variety of activities. We have played in the glorious sunshine and in the rain! Some days we have been thankful for our large indoor area where the children have been able to participate in some more physical activities when it has been pouring. We have been to the park for a picnic which the children made themselves and on a ‘Woodland Adventure’. The children have chopped fruit, cooked, hunted for bugs, dressed up and as you can see in the photos had a lot of fun.

The first week back has flown with one day feeling like the middle of summer and the next more like the middle of winter! Typical English weather I hear you say. The children spent time in the garden preparing the soil, planting out seedlings and watering the plants in. Hopefully, we will get some peas and carrots later in the year. We also managed a little trip out to Stanmore where the children played in the park, popped into the library to say “hello” to some books and enjoyed a well earned break in a local café where they spread their own butter and jam on the toast. It was great to see the children challenging themselves in the park and as you can see in the photos the walk back to Preschool was a challenge too! Mind you after 40 winks perched on a wall, in the sunshine the children were raring to go and we then sped back down the hill.

Today was the last day of the Spring Term and as you can no doubt imagine the children seemed very excited about the Easter weekend ahead. The last few weeks have been busy with a trip to Pizza Express to make pizzas, lots of gardening activities - including preparing the soil and planting seeds and a talk about how to look after our teeth. Happy Easter everyone!

The older children have spent time thinking about water and construction recently. They have readily embraced the wide variety of activities on offer. They went swimming in our underwater role play world where they seemed to enjoy dressing up in swimming costumes, goggles and fins. They also appeared very excited when we had the work bench out and spent time using real hammers and a hacksaw. They have been building with a wide variety of different materials and had fun pretending to be work people on our construction site.

The younger children have been exploring the themes of animals and dinosaurs. As you can see in the photos they have also been creating their own fun and learning experiences with the resources available.

Last week the Kangaroos entertained us on the role play stage and then performed their own shows using the puppet theatre. They even enjoyed a snack in the Preschool theatre cafe before various performances. Then on Friday there was lots of excitement as the children travelled by bus and train to the Watford Palace Theatre to see a show on the stage. They seemed to enjoy the experience and even the wet and miserable weather didn’t dampen their spirits.

Today we said goodbye to all those children moving on to school and nursery. Here are some photos of them playing over the last few days and enjoying the bouncy castle today. Have a wonderful summer break everyone!