We have had a fantastic first week back after our Easter break and the children have all settled back in beautifully and have shown so much confidence throughout the week to get involved in new activities. 

Our first theme this term is Around the World and we are focussing on the story A Ticket Around The World by Natalia Diaz and Melissa Owens. To develop the children's knowledge and understanding of the world, we have been learning about different homes, clothing, foods, animals and ways of life from all around the world.

One activity was making our own passports. They were asked to write their name, draw their photograph and draw a picture of where they wanted to go on holiday. This was a great opportunity for the children to practice their colouring and mark-making skills and was a great talking point for children to share about their holidays.

The children also enjoyed creating their own homes and buildings from around the world. We looked at different flashcards of famous buildings and used our wooden blocks to either imitate the pictures or create our own. The children did amazingly at looking at the shapes of the buildings and choosing corresponding blocks to match. 

We have been practising lots of small motor skills this week, including using scissors. The children enjoyed cutting holiday items out and sticking them in their suitcases. This activity supported their hand-eye coordination and ability to make continuous cuts in the paper, rather than just small snips. 

On Thursday, we also celebrated Saint George's Day. Everybody used great listening ears in our group time and could later recall lots of facts about Saint George's Day. After learning about it on the carpet, the children wanted to create their own swords and shields, so we worked together to make our own creations. We also watched a video of some Morris Dancers and their instruments, and tried to join in ourselves with bells, sticks and scarves! 

Well done again to our new children who have moved up from the Robins class for settling in so quickly. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again next week to learn some more about our world! Have a great weekend.