Fox Group - Stage 4 Attention Autism and understanding and labelling feelings
This week our Foxes Group have been completing some Stage 4 Attention Autism activities. This is where they take part in a table top activity, where first they watch the adult model a task and then they are given their own resources to complete the same task independently. Here they are using the playdough to make a playdough snake.
The children in Foxes Group have also started using the happy and sad colour monsters to recognise and label their own feelings.
Well Done Foxes! We are so proud of you.
Summer Term Story Wow - Jack and the Beanstalk
Jen has introduced the children to the next focus story by using the story wow props. Jen used the Tales Toolkit structure and symbols to encourage the children to talk about the character, setting, problem and solution. Some of the children shared what they already know about the story and others talked about what they thought might happen by looking at the props. Jen said there were lots of amazing ideas from the children.
Making a bread roll
We have been reading a recipe and adding the correct ingredients to bake our own bread rolls. They were delicious!
Our Ice Cream Shop
We set up an ice cream shop in N3 outdoor area. The children enjoyed making, buying and selling and of course... eating the ice creams. We are now going to create an indoor ice cream shop with pretend ice creams where the children can continue their role play.
Water Day
N3 had a super Water Day. Look at their faces in our fantastic photographs. We really made the most of the sunshine and took the opportunity to get wet!
Mark the Bee Keeper
We had a very interesting and informative visit from Mark, the Bee Keeper. He told us all about his job looking after bees and making honey. He let us touch and hold pretend bees and bee larva, smokers (used to calm the real bees), the hive and beeswax. We could try on the protective bee suit and gloves. We even tasted the 'Lancashire Honey' which was made here in Bury and was delicious.
Thank you very much Mark for coming to see us at Hoyle.
Final Week at Hoyle for our ducklings.
Wow! Look how big our 5 ducklings have grown since their time at Hoyle. They have now outgrown their cage and even our deepest water tray! It is time for them to go and enjoy their new life with Lesley, Betty and their family.
Good Bye ducklings. We will miss you.
Tales Toolkit - a duckling story.
The children in Foxes Group made a fantastic story about 3 little ducklings (characters). They were at the duckpond with a log, some stones and water which the children added using the water spray (setting). There was a problem ...der der der! because the frogs in the pond were hoping all over and splashing the baby ducklings. The solution was Mummy duck. She came and put the ducklings onto her back and took them away from the splashing frogs.
Lambs visit Nursery
We had two beautiful, 10 day old, lambs visit us for the day. 'Curly' and 'Surprise' had lots of strokes and cuddles from the children. We even got to feed them their milk from a bottle.
Duckling update
Our ducklings have returned after their bank holiday stay at Joanne's house (thank you to Joanne and her family for looking after them for us). This week we have had so much fun watching them swimming. As you can see from our photographs we got very wet watching them! They have now been officially named, using the suggestions from the children. They are also so much bigger now.
Then there were 5!
Our 5th little duckling got rather stuck in his shell and needed a little bit of assistance to hatch. We were all extremely relieved to see that despite being smaller than his brothers and sisters and a little bit bedraggled, he was soon able to join the other ducklings in the cage. All 5 ducklings have spent lots of time in N2 and N3 today and the children have loved observing them and holding them. There has been lots of fabulous conversations around similarities and differences that the children have noticed as they have watched our new arrivals.
Betty, our school dog, was also very impressed with her new friends! She checked them out with a sniff and gave them a lick of approval. She was extremely gentle with them too.
We now have 4 ducklings and 1 left to hatch
The children (and staff) were very excited to see that overnight 3 more ducklings had hatched so we now had 4! We were also able to transfer them into their cage, giving us lots of opportunity for cuddles. You can see from our photographs that there was still one egg in our incubator and we could see the ducklings beak through the crack in the egg.
Duck Eggs arrive at Hoyle
On Monday afternoon we had a very exciting delivery of 5 duck eggs. We put them into an incubator to help them to hatch. By Tuesday morning, we took our first groups of children to see the eggs .......and one had already hatched!
Imaginative Play with Babies
Our Fox Group have been engaging in some lovely pretend play with babies. They used water, soap and sponges to wash the babies. It is a crucial stage of child development where children begin to use their imaginations to create scenarios, stories and characters.
N3 New Climbing Equipment
The Nursery 3 children were very excited to see what had been happening during our Easter Holidays in our outdoor area. We have now got a fabulous new den area, with a tunnel and climbing wall. We have got a big tunnel and a new wibbly wobbly bridge. As you can see from our photographs the children absolutely love it.
Exploring Emotions
The children have been observing each others faces to see how it changes when we express different emotions. They were able to talk about how their eyes, eye brows and mouths changed to express a feeling. They then drew faces showing a range of emotions. Maybe you can guess from their drawings which emotion it was showing.
Vincent Van Gogh
The children have been inspired to create their own Van Gogh style art work after looking at his Sunflower painting. They used paint with glue in to change the consistency and applied it with a palette knife. There was lots of lovely discussion about the colours that both Van Gogh and the children used. We are going to be displaying the children's work in our entrance soon, so look out for that.
Mother's Day Peppermint Creams
The children have been busy making Peppermint Creams for their Mummy. We hope all of our Mums have a lovely day on Sunday and enjoy their sweet treats.
Building using loose parts
Hedgehog group have been using the loose parts area for our transition area this week. Look at some of the fabulous creations they have made. We have had cars, buses a train and even a Lamborghini!
Betty visits N3
The children were delighted to have another opportunity to stroke Betty. We particularly noticed how much our Foxes group are growing in confidence around her, which is lovely to see.
Creating More Story Props
The children have enjoyed creating props so much for our Tales Toolkit bags. Here is another one of the children's fabulous stories.
Character - An Octopus. He can swim. He has 8 legs. He dives under the water. He fills up his mouth with seawater and squirts it out.
Setting - A sparkly flowery garden. The octopus fills up his mouth to water the flowers. The flowers grow really big.
Problem - An Alien. He stops the water working. The octopus is sad.
Solution - A magic bread stick box hoover. It will suck up the alien. It can suck up water to help the octopus water the flowers. They will both water the flowers.
What an amazing story and the props the children created are so imaginative.
Our Herb Garden
The children in N3 have had a fabulous time planting herbs and creating a new area in our outdoor classroom. We planted a whole selection of scented herbs including rosemary, thyme, lavender, sage and lemon balm. We have put down a stepping stones path for the children to follow through the middle of the herb area to allow them to look, touch, smell and taste the herbs.
Foxes - The Three Little Pigs Story WOW
Jen used the Tales Toolkit big bags to introduce the foxes group to the story of the Three Little Pigs. Look at their fantastic attention and listening skills as Jen uses the props to bring the story to life. Their favourite character was the big bad wolf. They loved the huffing and puffing and the houses being blown down!
Story WOW - The Three Little Pigs
Jen has introduced the children to the focus book for this half term 'The Three Little Pigs'. She brought the story to life by using lots of exciting props, expressions and different character voices. The children had lots of opportunities to get actively involved including feeling the materials that the pigs used for building and joining in with the huffing and puffing. Give your child the opportunity to retell the story for you at home.
Creating our own Story Props
The children at Hoyle have had a great time creating props for our Tales Toolkit big bags. They were delighted to see their props brought to life in a group story.
Here is the story the children made -
Our Character - A robot. He has square eyes and a triangle nose. His mouth is red. He has got a line for his mouth. He likes eating carrots. He doesn't like lettuce.
Our Setting - A playground. He might go on the slide. He will go on the swings.
Our Problem - It is a problem guy. He is smacking him. He is pushing him.
Our Solution - A magic egg box. It will gobble up the problem guy. The robot will be happy.
Making Chapatis
The children in N3 have been following a recipe, counting out their own ingredients and making chapatis. An adult then cooked their chapati and they were then able to eat them and enjoy them. Delicious!
More lovely story sessions with Betty.
Betty joined the children in group for story time. It is lovely to see that even the children that were initially more hesitant and now becoming more confident. Betty was her usual perfectly behaved self. Well done Betty!
Miss Polly Had A Dolly
The children have been singing the rhyme 'Miss Polly had a dolly'. We gave them a dolly each to look after and to give a wash.
Story Wow - Little Red Riding Hood
Jen has introduced the children to their next Story Wow. Using the props from the story and the Tales Toolkit structure, the children gave their own ideas and shared what they thought might happen in the story. They were very creative and had some very interesting ideas.
Fox Mark Making
Our Fox group have been doing some amazing mark making. They have investigated our whiteboards with whiteboard pens, experimented with dabber pens and done some amazing mark making during a dinosaur themed Tales Toolkit story.
Electrical Circuits
For our latest woodwork project, the children have made their own lanterns complete with a bulb lit by an electrical circuit. The children used the saw to cut a piece of wood for the base of the lantern. Then they used the hand drill to make 4 holes ready to support the poles. Next they wrapped coloured cellophane around their frame to create a lantern. Finally, using a bulb, a battery and connecting wires, they made an electrical circuit to power their bulb and light their lantern. The children loved taking their lanterns into the quiet room to see their lanterns shinning. Well Done everybody! This is an amazing achievement for children so young.
Tales Toolkit Mark Making Story
During our group times, we have been creating our own Tales Toolkit stories by mark making in response to different props. Look at our marks and you will see our stomping dinosaur prints, climbing and jumping monkeys, erupting volcanoes and many more of our wonderful ideas.
RSPB Bird Watch Week
We have been doing lots of bird themed activities this week, as part of the RSPB Bird Watch. We have been making bird feeders using pine cones, fat and seed. We hung them on our Christmas Tree which we have taken into our outdoor area. Foxes group have taken part in a lovely singing activity. They used the props and sang 'Two Little Dickie Birds', before making some more feeders for the birds.
We also had our Stay and Play, where we walked up to the woods to look for birds - these photographs can be seen under our 'Events' tab on the website.
More fun with Santa's sleigh
The children's interest in sleigh building has continued. This time they chose to use our outdoor equipment to create a sleigh. We introduced bells and had some festive music for the children to play along to.
N3 Christmas Sleigh
We used our large construction blocks to build Santa's sleigh. The children then became Santa's elves and wrapped and packed the presents. We even had Rudolph joining our play.
Fox Group Stay and Play
Thank you to all the parents who came for their child's stay and play. Parents observed Attention Autism Bucket Time and then spent time with their child's key worker to see strategies being delivered.
A Christmas Tales Toolkit Story
The children really enjoyed creating a special festive Tales Toolkit story. The character bag contained a Santa hat and so the children took the opportunity tower the hat and take on the character role. We had a polar bear in the problem bag and the children decided that the problem was that he was cold. In our solution bag there was a reindeer so we solved the problem by the reindeer hugging the polar bear to keep him warm.
Our Fabulous Wooden Christmas Tree
As you know, in our woodwork area, we have been using saws and hammers to decorate pieces of wood. This week, we used all of our wooden pieces to make 2 amazing Christmas Trees.
Clay Snowmen
Unfortunately the real snow had melted before we were able to build a snowman, however we used clay to build snowmen instead. We had lots of objects to choose from to decorate our snowmen.
Investigating Ice
When we returned to Nursery after a very cold weekend we discovered lots of ice. The children enjoyed collecting the ice from all over the playground and putting it into a big tray. They then had lots of fun using different tools to smash it up. They used lots of fabulous descriptive vocabulary as they investigated too.
Woodwork
N3 have been using a hammer and nails to attach objects (pom poms, corks and buttons) to their pieces of wood. We will be arranging all the pieces of wood into a Christmas Tree shape.
Look at the amazing hand eye coordination the children are demonstrating whilst holding the nails and hitting it with the hammer!
Tales Toolkit - Pig, Fox and Dinosaur
Different groups of children used the story props in different combinations to see what different stories we could come up with. In one story the pig was the character and in another the pig was the solution.
Making Gingerbread
After hearing the story of 'The Gingerbread Man', the children in N3 followed a recipe to make their own gingerbread man. This time, we won't be eating the gingerbread though, we will be hanging them on the Nursery Christmas Tree.
A Cheeky Monkey Tales Toolkit Story
A group of N3 children helped Kathryn to make a fantastic story about a cheeky monkey at a party. There was a big spider which was a problem as he was spoiling the party. Luckily the solution bag contained a net, which the children used to catch the spider and carry him away from the party.
Story Wow - The Gingerbread Man
The children from N3 discovered some unusual items in our community room - flour, ginger, milk, butter, a cookie cutter and lots of floury gingerbread shapes. We also found a treasure box with a timer inside.
After lots of investigating using our senses, Jen read us the story of 'The Gingerbread Man'.
World Nursery Rhyme Week - The Big Ship Sailed
As part of World Nursery Rhyme Week, we have been singing The Big Ship Sails whilst building our own ship, looking through our telescope and walking the plank. Shiver me timbers!
World Nursery Rhyme Week - Old MacDonald
As part of World Nursery Rhyme Week, we have been singing Old MacDonald whilst building our own farmyard in the outdoor area. We enjoyed making all of the different animal sounds.
World Nursery Rhyme Week - 5 Currant Buns
As part of World Nursery Rhyme Week, we have been singing 5 Currant Buns whilst making our own buns in the mud kitchen and making playdough cakes.
World Nursery Rhyme Week - Incy Wincy Spider
As part of World Nursery Rhyme Week, we have been singing Incy Wincy whilst exploring spiders, drains and webs. We even found a REAL spider that came to watch all of our activities.
Story Time with Betty
This week Betty joined Owl group and Hedgehog group for their story sessions. The children were really pleased to have her as part of their group. They also loved giving her a 'well done' stroke after the story had finished.
An owl themed Tales Toolkit story
Suzanne, our Forest School Leader, has been teaching the children about nocturnal animals. We created an owl themed Tales Toolkit this week, to reinforce our new 'wow word' in a meaningful and memorable way. We had lots of fun creating this story about our character the owl that found a problem which was a poisonous toadstool. Luckily our solution bag contained a magic star which saved the day.
Spooky Day
We had lots of exciting spooky things planned for spooky day in Nursery 3. We decorated our room and reception area. All the children and staff wore spooky outfits. We painted spiders webs, played with our black playdough, investigated the jelly, felt the gooey slime and made spooky masks. We even went trick or treating to Lesley and Rachel. It really was a spooktacular day!
Making Porridge
After having lots of opportunities to hear the story of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' and lots of opportunities to retell the story using the props, the children have been making their own porridge. They followed the recipe card and counted out all of the ingredients. Whilst making the porridge the children were using lots of mathematical language. As you can see from our pictures, the best bit was eating the yummy porridge at the end.
Foxes Group - Our First Tales Toolkit Story
The children in Foxes group used the big bags and props inside to make a story. The character was a dog (the children also each had a dog character to use). The setting was the leaves, which the dogs were playing in and jumping in. The problem (der! der! der!) was the rain. The rain wet the dogs and made them sad. The solution was a cloth which dried the dogs and made them happy.
Well Done Foxes! Your story looks great fun!
World Animal Day 2024
Meeting Betty - Hoyle's Dog Mentor
Now that Betty, Katy and Lesley have completed their Dog Mentor training, Betty is now able to work more closely with our children. This week we began some gentle first introductions. Some children preferred to look at and wave to Betty through the glass. Other children were happy to sit beside Betty and give her a stroke, a brush or a treat. We are all looking forward to spending more time with Betty.
Tooth Brush Bus
We have started our tooth brushing time in Nursery 3 now. The children have been helping to brush the big teeth and using their own brushes to brush their teeth. Well done! We love your healthy smiles.
Story Wow - Goldilocks and the Three Bears
The children have been using lots of exciting props to explore the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Please talk to your children about our story wow and see if they can remember what happened in the story.
Creating stories using our Tales Toolkit bags
We have been busy introducing Tales Toolkit to our new cohort of Nursery 3 children. They have been using the 4 big bags (character, setting, problem and solution bags) to create their own story from the props. As you can see from their faces they are really enjoying the excitement of discovering what is inside the bags.
Our Climbing Wall
We have had a new climbing wall installed in Nursery 3. The children have really enjoyed using their problem solving skills to negotiate their way across the traverse.
Our First Week
We have had a fantastic first week of the new school year. Both our returning children and our new children have settled in wonderfully. We have had so much fun exploring our indoor classroom, our outdoor classroom and our lovely forest school.
Betty the Bulldog
We had the pleasure of another adorable puppy visiting at Hoyle today. The beautiful Betty, owned by a member of staff, came to brighten up a cold wet morning. As you can see she put big smiles onto our faces. We loved our cuddles and hope Betty comes to visit again soon.
