What's in the Witch's Kitchen?

Reception have explored the text and enjoyed finding the rhyming words.  We have been acting out the story "What's in the Witch's Kitchen?" by Nick Sharratt in our role play area and enjoyed making potions.

Write a Spell

Reception wrote their own spell containing CVC words, using the sounds we have been learning in phonics.

 Day of the Dead

The children scrunched tissue paper to make flowers and strengthen hand muscles.

Tasting Pumpkin Soup

Chef Matthews came into Reception Red Room to make pumpkin soup with the children, it had the classroom smelling amazzzzzing!

In Reception this week we had some special visitors.  Wizard Rob shared the story of "Zoo on the Broom".  We were introduced to exciting creatures from the story including a tarantula, snake, giant snail, rat and even a hissing cockroach.   

Slime 

The children loved getting their hands dirty in the slime while they were searching for eyes and spiders.  We mixed cornflour with water and green food colouring to make our slime. The slime becomes hard when we move it in our hands and a liquid when we stopped moving the mixture. 

 Ghost Cups

Amongst all our fun this week we made our own ghost cup that fires pom poms.  We had a competition to see who could fire the pom pom the furthest.  It was so much fun!

Halloween Party 

Our Reception children had a spooktacular time at their Halloween party.  The children enjoyed the spooky games which included pass the parcel and pin the tail on the black cat.  I'm sure you'll agree that the children looked frightfully good in their Halloween costumes and party clothes.

Week 7

  Pumpkin Soup

Our story for the week was "Pumpkin Soup" by Helen Cooper.  Every day the characters, Squirrel, Duck and Cat slice up a pumpkin from their pumpkin patch, stir in some water and salt to make the perfect pumpkin soup… until the day the animals want to swap jobs!  We used our senses and phonic knowledge to describe a pumpkin from Squirrel, Duck and Cat's pumpkin patch.

 Investigating Pumpkins

The children loved getting their hands dirty.  They pulled out all the seeds and described what it felt like. The children then used their phonic skills to hear sounds and write describing words.

 Pumpkin Hammering

To develop our hand eye co-ordination we hammered golf tees into pumpkins.

 More Than and Fewer Than 

This week the children have been learning about comparing quantities of objects.

We used stem sentences:

____ has more than ____ , ____ has fewer than ___ or they are both equal.

Bubbling Magic Potion

We mixed together bicarbonate of soda and vinegar to make fizzy potions.  Look what happens when the ingredients are mixed together.  What words can you use to describe the potion?

Week 6

 Leaf Man

This week the children have been creating their own 'Andy Goldsworthy' transient art using natural materials from our bushcraft area. The children really enjoyed making their own leaf people using different coloured leaves, pinecones, conkers and twigs.

  The Leaf Thief

This week we continued to look at the signs of Autumn. "The Leaf Thief" by Alice Hemming is a lovely story about a squirrel that thinks his leaves are being stolen from his tree. The squirrel asks the bird to help him work out who is taking his leaves away from him until he is told that it is the wind and the cold making them fall.  

 Music 

The children are continuing to make great progress at keeping a beat in music.  This week the children used the lycra to pass side to side and up and down to the beat / pulse of the music.  

PE - Pirates 

We continued our Get Set 4 PE lessons.  This week we developed our ability to move safely and stop with control.  We loved playing the game 'all aboard the ship'.  The children had to match actions for climb the rigging, walk the plank, submarine, sharks, all aboard, scrub the deck and Captain's coming.

Week 5 

 Owl Babies 

This week we have been reading 'Owl Babies' by Martin Waddell. We have had a lot of fun making our own owlets from pinecones and cotton wool. We have used our decorations to turn our seasonal class tree into Autumn.  

Numberblock 3

This week the children identified when a collection was made of 3 objects. We continued to develop our observational and touch counting skills by making our own collections of 3. 

 Comparing Weight

The children explored the weight of objects within the classroom. They used the scales to determine which object was heavier or lighter. 

 Rosh Hashanah

This week the children learned about the Jewish New Year celebration 'Rosh Hashanah'. We tried some of the foods that Jewish people typically eat during the celebration such as apples with honey and pomegranate seeds. Jewish people count how many seeds the pomegranate has and traditionally try to carry out the same number of good deeds throughout the year. We also listened to the shofar which is a musical instrument made from a rams horn. The horn is blown 100 times during Rosh Hashanah celebrations. We also developed our fine motor skills to pop honeycomb bubble wrap which was so fun. 

Honeycomb 

We have been continuing to develop our fine motor skills by popping bubble wrap with our thumb and index finger. This will help the children to develop their pencil grip that is needed for writing. 

Week 4

 Room on the Broom Story Ordering 

This week we have started to creep into spooky season as the the dark gloomy nights sneak in by reading "Room on the Broom" by Julia Donaldson. The children have enjoyed listening to the rhyming words and joining in with the repetition of 'whoosh' throughout the story. Everyone was amazing at ordering the story by identifying which animals came onto the broom in the correct order. The children continued to develop their fine motor skills by using scissors to cut out the characters.

Witch Hat Snack

We all made our own 'Witch Hat' snack on Friday.  We used a biscuit base with a cone on top, smothered in chocolate sauce and topped with magical sprinkles. It was really delicious! 

Magnets

We read the story "Magnetic Max" by Monica Lozano Hughes and wanted to experiment using our class magnets to search for objects that will attract (stick) to the magnet. The children did a fantastic job finding many magnetic objects that we successfully tested. 

Finally, we used our magnets to retell the story of "Room on the Broom" by using paperclips and magnets to move the characters. 

Week 3 

Portraits

This week we have been thinking about ourselves and what makes us special.  We shared the gorgeous book "We Are All Different" before discussing and comparing our hair, eye and skin colours.  We painted our own portraits while carefully looking at our facial features in a mirror.

 Walking Through the Jungle

We’ve been reading "Walking Through the Jungle" by Julie Lacome.  This repeating story was great for retelling from start to finish, as we recalled the ‘action words’ used throughout the story; walking, running, leaping, swinging, creeping and wading.

In our writing we made a list of the animals from the story, listening carefully to the initial sounds.  In phonics we have been linking sounds to letters and some children are beginning to use these letters in their writing. 

Make a Snake Challenge

We looked at photographs of snakes and their repeating patterns, particularly focusing on how the patterns are the same all along their bodies. Reception described the pattern out loud together, “Black, white, black, white...”.  Many children chose to make a snake with bright colours to scare off predators.  The children cut out their snake designs.  

 Bushcraft

Mrs McHatton shared the bushcraft rules and how to stay safe.  We explored the woodland area with our friends.

 Roald Dahl Day

Ordering Numbers 1 - 5

This week we celebrated Roald Dahl day by reading "The Enormous Crocodile".  We then worked hard to identify numbers to 5 by looking at the numeral and then put them in the correct order. 

 PE - Witches and Wizards

In PE the children have be learning how to move safely and sensibly in a space with consideration of others. The children became witches and wizards and created a potion by suggesting things to put in before mixing it. Once we put everything in the cauldron, we mixed our potion by moving around in a circle and changing directions ensuring we didn't bump into anyone. 

 Music 

Reception have enjoyed learning some new songs this week.  We have started to develop our listening skills and kept a steady beat using body percussion.  The children were brilliant and we can't wait for next week!

Week 2

This week we have begun to use our phonic skills to 'Fred talk' and write the sounds in words. 

 Color Monster Goes to School

After reading "The Color Monster Goes to School'"by Anna Llenas we had had a lot of fun creating our own Color Monsters using artistic skills in collage.  The children remembered what colour the monster turned when his emotions changed and matched the pictures accordingly. 

Week 1

 The First Day

My delightful new Reception class have settled into school life seamlessly!  Here they are enjoying their first week.  We have been learning routines and how to use the classroom equipment.  They explored the indoor and outdoor environments, stayed for lunch and have been making new friends.  All of the children have settled in very well and I am looking forward to a fun filled year!  Have a look at some of the things we have been up to ...

In Reception we balance adult led activities and child initiated play.  Through adult led activities we can introduce children to new ideas and provide opportunities for them to develop their skills.  During play children explore their own ideas, learn how to use resources and use imagination and creativity.