Activities at Nursery and Home

The Avenue Nursery Planning for focused activities

Winter Term

Topic - Winter

 

Communication and language

Possible Learning Outcomes

• 2-3 Children will understand and respond to questions.
• 3-4 Children will express their thoughts and ideas with increasing confidence.

Activity or Experience

• Circle time - name or describe a favourite dinosaur.
• Create an adult-scribed dinosaur story together.

 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Possible Learning Outcomes

• All children will resettle after the Christmas break.

 

Activity or Experience

• Resettling after the Christmas break.

 

Communication and Language

Possible Learning Outcomes 

• 2-3 Children will be introduced to winter words and begin to understand them.
• 3-4 Children will learn and use new vocabulary e.g freezing, melting, ice, snow.

 

Activity or Experience

• Explore weather and natural phenomena and learn new descriptive words.

Maths

Possible Learning Outcomes

• 2-3 Children can compare the size of shapes using size language and arrange things in patterns.
• 3-4 Children will select shapes appropriately for tasks and/or name some 2D shapes.

 

Activity or Experience

• Use shapes to make a collage Snowman.

Understanding the world

Possible Learning Outcomes

• 2-3 Encourage children to respect living things through activities, modelling and discussion.
• 3-4 Children will begin to understand the need to respect and care for the natural environment and all living things.

 

Activity or Experience

• Make a bird feeder.

 

Physical

Possible Learning Outcomes

• 2-3 Use large and small motor skills to do things independently, for example manage buttons and zips, and show an increasing desire to be independent, in dressing themselves.

• 3-4 Be increasingly independent as they get dresses and undressed, for example, putting their own coats on and doing up zips.

 

Activity or Experience

• Dressing in warm winter clothing.

 

 Expressive art and design

Possible learning outcomes

 

• 2-3 Use their imagination as they decide how to use different materials.

 

• 3-4 Explore different materials freely to develop their ideas then decide how to use them.

 

Activity or Experience

• Create winter themed transient art.

 

Literacy

Possible Learning Outcomes

• 2-3 To enjoy a wider range of winter themed stories.

• 3-4 To enjoy sharing winter themed stories with adults and to respond to what they hear with questions and new vocabulary. 

 

Activity or Experience

• Children will share a wide range of winter themed stories with adults in groups and one-to-one.

 

Winter

Communication and language

• Answer questions about what they see.
• Sing winter songs e.g here we go round the mulberry bush.
• Share winter stories such as Winnie in winter, The Gruffalo’s Child and Stickman.
• Introduce new vocabulary such as freeze, icicle, melt, thaw.

 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

• Take turns and share resources.
• Talk about how we feel in winter cold days, dark nights, snowy weather. 
• Play Snowball roll - roll a white ball to another child when an adult rings a bell or aim to roll it to a specific person.

 

Physical Development

• Play Simon says keep warm by … running, jumping, stamping feet etc.
• Catching and throwing pretend snowballs (bean bags).
• Building self care skills when dressing themselves for going out to play, coat, hat, scarf, gloves etc.
• Musical Statues - freeze in different positions eg spiky, round etc.

 

Literacy 

• Share winter pictures alongside winter words cards.
• Provide lolly sticks to make marks in flour/ cornflour.
• Clap syllables for winter objects.
• Provide chalk and black paper for winter art.
• Read winter themed stories.

 

Maths

• Use shapes to create a snowman.
• Sort mittens in to matching pair, group hats by colour or shape.
• Throw pom-poms into a tray - ask how many? (Without counting them).
• Snowflake counting - show up to 5  snowflakes - can children show you how many they see using their fingers. 

 

Understanding the World

• Explore a range of materials (tray with winter natural objects).
• Make bird feeders.
• Talk about people who help us in winter eg snowploughs, gritters.
• Detecting Winter - what do you see, taste, feel, smell etc.

 

 

Expressive Art and Design

• Create art printing with winter vegetables.
• Creating textured winter pictures using themed colours, sand, sugar.
• Use loose resources to create a winter themed transient art.
• Draw around hands and design own gloves. 
• Explore winter movements e.g skating, sledging, snowboarding.

 

 

Home Learning

If you are self isolating or unable to attend Nursery, there are a wealth of resources available on the following websites.

 

Tiny Happy People

https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk/

 

If you would prefer you can contact Nursery on 07836 730 444, and we will arrange for you to receive a home learning pack.