Train obsessions are no joke in Cheeky Monkeys (they take ALL kinds of transport VERY seriously ;)) but to feed their children’s obsession a little bit more the lovely Cheeky Monkey grown ups thought why not take a little trip across the road to the train station to watch real trains in action!!!

Our children were not disappointed. The excitement in their hearts and faces was palpable from spotting the very first train all the way through until they saw the last train before their return to Jollies. All our children were clearly in their element.

Every time a train passed many of our children would shout with excitement and they literally couldn’t smile wide enough as they waved to all the passengers onboard.

They also loved having a cheeky alfresco snack too whilst they did their spotting… you’ve got to keep yourself fuelled after all!!

We’re certain it won’t be long until our little monkeys are ‘choo-sing’ to do this again as this has definitely fed their train obsession!! Xxxx

Tia continued on with developing the fine motor skills of her little cheeky monkeys!

By experiencing invitations to play that enable them to practise their fine motor skills our children are able to develop their hand/eye coordination further and this helps us out when it comes to learning how to write in the future as without strong fingers and coordination you simply cannot control a pen or pencil!!

So a parcel was delivered to Jollies and an opportunity was spotted by Tia as she utilised the discarded box to go pom-pom crazy!!!

Her children were introduced to an assortment of pom-poms and then got busy posting the different sized pom-poms into the different sized holes and tubes! Sometimes they fitted and sometimes they didn’t… Lots of opportunities for extension of knowledge surrounding colour recognition and counting also emerged too; as well as the obvious comparisons of size.

Oh so simple, but oh so effective!! Pom-pomtastic it certainly was as we really got those little fingers working!!! Xxxx

Cheeky Monkeys have been working on their fine motor skills with Tia, using their fingers to carefully free the animals from the tape. They were very soon being closely observed ‘picking, pulling and peeling’ them free!!

The problem of how to free them was all theirs to solve and they soon found the most effective strategies through a process of trial and error and some strategic thinking at times too…

Some children struggled with this concept initially and couldn’t quite work out how to peel the tape enough to set the animals free, but most were determined to do it!

We saw some fabulous perseverance as our children continued trying, watching what their friends were doing and also looking at techniques modelled by Tia and then copying until they did it! They were all so pleased when they managed to free their animals after using a trial and error approach having been so determined not to give up!!!! Xxxx

(Just to clarify: No animals were harmed in the making of this activity )

….But you’ve also got a super whizzy transport area, sensory shelves, dressing up and a crunchy, glittery seaside to pique your interest too!!!

Enabling, enticing and inspiring environments bring the fun to Cheeky Monkeys and their Jolly grown-ups clearly know their children’s interests well and are on a mission to follow them as they help them all learn and develop through their play… it’s just the Jolly way!!!! xxxx

If we can’t get to the seaside then the beach can come to us!!

Giant sandpit playing days and castle building ways spent loving life here at Jollies xxxx

Magic happened in front of our very eyes here at Jollies as our eggs turned into caterpillars, which turned into chrysalises, which turned into butterflies…. AMAZING!!

This life cycle was incredible to watch and the excitement and anticipation built as we waited patiently for each stage and our children loved getting up close and personal with the butterflies before finally setting them free!! They enjoyed their time at Jollies, but the time had come finally to say goodbye as we said flutter by butterfly and sent them on their wonderful way.

Before this though we took part in close observation, we used reference books to find out more, we created artwork inspired by our butterflies, we pretended to be caterpillars turning into butterflies and we talked lots and lots and lots about them all xxxx

Of course those who ventured out, rather than up, had a rather marvellous time too…

It’s always about friendships and fun whatever the weather here at Jollies!!!! Xxxx

……what better way to brighten our spirits than taking a trip up the stairs to our marvellous multi sensory room

Ellison took her Cheeky Monkeys up to explore and, after independently navigating the stair mountain expertly first, they then set to exploring this exciting sensory space…

They observed the bubbles and colours changing, they flicked switches to turn lights on and off, they balanced on stepping stones, they climbed and slid on the soft play, they explored the sensory floor tiles, they span around and around on our spinning fish and they explored their bodies in space as they were enveloped within our suspended sensory swing… Maybe our giggles will encourage the sunshine to come out and play later……. xxxx

Creativity and fine motor came together to form the perfect blend as masterpieces were created by Cheeky Monkeys using the paint pens… xxx

This little one melted Fiona’s heart this morning with the total joy she could see in her face whilst she was telling Fiona all about her holiday photos that they were looking at together on the tablet.

She talked about each one individually; ‘the crab goes pinch, pinch’, ‘I smashed ****’s sand castle and she was cross’, ‘ice cream was yummy’! ‘Birds with daddy’, ‘It’s a water fountain’.

She was just soooooo excited to talk about them all with Fiona when she shared the photos that her mummy had sent in on the app. Recounting her adventures and smiling widely as she reflected very fondly upon all her recent holiday fun…

We love it when parents/carers work in close partnership with us and we love it when they upload photos of weekend adventures, special family occasions, holiday fun etc.

These all help to strengthen links between home and nursery and they offer a different platform to really get our children excitedly talking about significant people/things/events in their lives with grown ups and each other too… after all who doesn’t like to reflect upon time spent with our nearest and dearest?! Xxxx