We will be reading a range of winter books that explore different winter themes and ideas. The children will get the opportunity to join in with stories using puppets and masks. Children will have the opportunity to act out stories to each other and in small groups in our Winter Wonderland role play area.

We will be entering the world of Nursery Rhymes by reading a large range. Children will play different rhyming games to hear and match rhyming words.

We will start learning Phonics through the Read Write Inc. programme and will have a focused sound every week.

This half term we will be focussing on following two characteristics:

• Playing and Exploring – being willing to ‘have a go’ at a range of activities.
• Active Learning – being involved and concentrating.

This term we will be talking about different feelings, what makes us happy, sad and angry and what we can do when we feel these emotions.

We will also talk about how our actions can influence others by making them happy or sad. This will be done during circle time stories.

During these cold months the children will be encouraged to put on their own coats, hats and gloves.

Children have access to the outdoor environment to enjoy daily energetic play and develop gross motor skills. This term’s focus will be on ball skills.

The children will continue to enjoy a range of malleable activities that will help to strengthen their fingers and hands.

We will continue to challenge children to form their letters correctly when writing their names.

1 little, 2 little, 3 little numbers…

Through the use of songs, the children will familiarise themselves with numbers and number names. The children’s mathematical development is developed through practical activities throughout the Nursery. This half term there is a strong focus on comparing groups of objects to say which one has more/less and representing numbers using fingers and marks on a page.

Our role play area will be a ‘Winter Wonderland’. We are going to build an igloo from boxes and will also make a range of different winter animals such as penguins and polar bears. Children will experiment with colour and materials through painting, printing, junk modelling and cutting and sticking.

We will have a music area which will encourage the children to use and explore instruments and the different sounds that they can make. We will be looking at different beats and making up our own songs.

Children will be encouraged to talk about how the environment looks different during the winter months, developing their understanding of growth, decay and changes over time. We will be looking at a range of winter animals and why they hibernate. We will experiment with ice, and hopefully snow, to see how it changes to water.

We will also be looking at the story of Chinese New Year, we will retell the story using props and talk about wishes we would like to make.