Yoga – Dear Zoo
The last few weeks we have been introducing simple yoga moves with the use of the story – Dear Zoo. The story feature various different animals which we use to make the yoga moves relatable to the children. Although we are not using the correct names of each of the yoga poses we have chosen ones that are achievable for the children and represent the animals which they see in the story. Each week we have seen more of the children joining in with these moves and really enjoying telling the story through their actions. We also use props to represent each animal as well as looking at the pictures in the book. This offers something for all of the children, including those that aren’t yet able or feeling confident enough to join in with the actions. If you would like any information on the poses that we do with the children or would like to try this at home please do let us know. We would also be really interested if your child has a favourite book that we could use to focus our next selection of moves around.
Active Story Making – The Three Little Pigs
Emily has recently been attending a course on active story making. This involves focusing on one story for a number of weeks so that the children begin to learn the structure of a story and how stories are told. We do this by using props and actions to share the story with the children and encouraging them to get involved. This term we are looking at the story of The Three Little Pigs. We use the repetition of three throughout the story to enable the children to join in with the words as well as the actions. We have also planned activities so that we are able to talk about the story together. On Wednesday we made playdough and used it to create brick houses for the pigs. We also explored making marks with the sticks and the pigs’ trotters in the dough. The use of tools in the dough and the actions of squeezing, stretching and squashing dough helps the children to develop their fine motor skills which prepares their muscles for the first stages of writing.
Toilet Training.
Following my recent training I thought it would be useful to feed back to you some of the information which was shared. Over the years we have started to toilet train our children later and later. This can lead to complications for our children later in life. So the following points come directly from the continence nurses who delivered the training.
1 Look for signs that your child is ready to potty/toilet train. You are looking for them starting to react either when they need to go or when they have been. Modern disposable nappies make it very difficult for children to register that they are wet, to help them you can place either some cotton underwear inside of the nappy or some kitchen roll. You can also invest in some training pants these are cotton but padded so they will hold a small amount of liquid.
2 Most children should start to show these signs between 18month and 3years. However the nurses suggest that we should all be introducing the idea of potty/toilet training by the age of two.
3Pottys should be kept in the bathroom as this is where we want them to use them in the long run. You can make the area inviting with a selection of toys or books which are just for this time.
4 Make sure they are in clothes which are able to be removed quickly The message from a child’s bladder to their brain to tell them they need to use the toilet only triggers once the bladder is full. This is why you can ask one minute and they say they are fine the next they are dancing and bursting to go.
5 Get boys to sit down. Some boys like to try and stand to wee, however this can make learning to poo a difficult experience if they are already sitting they are in the correct position already. All they need to do is relax.
6 If you can see they need to poo but are having some trouble use some bubbles or a toy in which they need to blow. When we blow we temporarily shut the back of our throat and this causes our muscles to contract which will help push.
7 Make it a positive experience, use rewards if you want to. If they have an accident try not to get to worked up it is going to happen especially if they are busy playing.
8 Make sure everyone that is caring for your child is doing the same routine so that they child can learn what is expected of them and feel secure.
9 If it not working out stop and try again in a couple of weeks it could be they are just not ready.
We have revamped our toilet area to make it much more inviting.
Award Winners
We have been awarded the Director of Public Health award. The award is deigned to ensure the holistic health of the children at the nursery, To meet the criteria we produced the cookery sacks and the purchased the climbing frame. We had to produce case studies and gather date to prove that these items are having a positive effect on your child’s health. The board which makes the assessment for the award were so impressed with our case studies that they have asked if they can use them on their website as examples of best practice. We could only produce the studies once we had gathered enough data from you so if you filled out a questionnaire, cooked with your children and completed a diary entry THANK YOU !!!
The children love the new climbing frame and it is constantly in use and from the diaries we have been reading it looks like they are enjoying cooking at home just as much.
We have been very busy this week thinking of the or Mothers and/or other special people in our lives and we have made some fantastic gifts and cards to share with them. It was also Holi at the end of last week. The Hindu festival of colour when it is customary to throw powder paint at each other. We have attempted to bring the two cultures together to make Holi Mothers day cards. If you have cream carpets you might want to open them in the garden. (you have been warned)
We also said a sad goodbye to Alyssia and Julie who have returned to France. We really enjoyed having them here and we will try to keep up the French they taught us. However we are looking forward to Rachael coming back to us on Tuesday I am sure she will have lots of new ideas and experiences to share with us.