On Friday Emma, Imogen and Free-Flow went for a walk into the shady forest!! They had lots of fun along the way. En route they passed the new shelter in the train station and just had to sit in it!! Imogen showed everyone how to print tickets and they then each got one!

They then marched over the bridge, stamping their feet to make lots of noise, as well as spotting the 446! They walked very sensibly along the path, holding hands with their friends to keep safe, BUT then the path ran out… So they all chatted about needing to stay near the very edge (and not in the road!) and this quickly turned into a balancing game…… They had to balance, staying on the white ‘snake’ (the white lines!!). We saw lots of great control and coordination…

Emma then noticed their shadows so they all spent some time making their shadows wave and some shadows even stood on one leg!!!

They moved onto the kissing gate which led to the wiggly paths through the forest!! Emma and Imogen let their children lead the way; choosing which path to follow whenever they got to a crossroads until they all found the perfect spot for a snack!

A lovely dog must’ve smelt their fruit as it came bouncing out of the bushes to see everyone before running back to find its owner.

Refuelled it was swiftly on to even more adventures through the twisty paths and into a meadow… It opened up into a very wide space which gave everyone the perfect opportunity to do some spinning and twirling!!

They stumbled upon a little magpie who was blocking their path and it looked to be asleep, but they thought it actually had a poorly leg when they carefully and quietly looked more closely…

They then ventured back to Jollies by travelling over the trip trap bridges, going around the muddy patches and avoiding the nettles!!!

Exhausting …. but excellent all at the same time!! xxxx

Teamwork made the dream work… and experimentation and investigation was definitely the name of the game!!

Different ramps were created, speeds compared, sizes discussed (as some vehicles simply didn’t fit down the tubes and ramps!), cars were counted, dumper trucks filled and general fun was had between friends; as they all played imaginatively together and solved any problems they encountered along the way when their cars’ journeys were temporarily halted by too tight a tunnel!! xxxx

We’ve been football crazy today here at Jollies!!!

All that’s left to say is… COME ON ENGLAND !!!! Xxxx

Experimentation was the name of the game when Jade and her children were using and exploring the paint recently as they decided they wanted to do some painting, but instead of just using paint Jade added crazy foam into the mix!!

Her children could add foam and different colours and quantities of paints into their tray and then they gave it a mix to see what would happen before placing their paper on top.

Fabulous mixing occurred and lots of discussion about the colours of the paint and what it looked like when it mixed with the crazy foam naturally arose. Once the paper was placed onto the paint the children then pressed it down firmly to transfer the print onto their paper.

When they all lifted the paper off they were very pleased with their artwork as you could see all of the different colours and how they had squashed and squeezed and mixed together.

A unique and wonderful piece of artwork was created, but the process was way more important as it was fascinating to watch colours mixing, textures being explored and little fingers really got working and strengthening to independently add paints from their chosen bottles by pumping them and then mixing them into the foam with little sticks which required a firm pincer grip and excellent control!

Painting with a twist… it’s just the Jollies way!! Xxxx

We are sooooooo excited about our upcoming 2024 Reception Class School Leavers Trip!!

Today Emma and I have been on a recce to Swithen’s Farm to refresh our memories about all the lovely things we can expect from our day.

This trip is simply fabulous and the farm are super organised and always provide us with an excellent leavers trip and a day to remember.

This day is a special treat for all our big school leavers and a chance to spend the day with their key people before they begin the countdown to leaving Jollies to take their next exciting, amazing step!!

A huge thank you to Lisa for providing us with updated risk assessments and showing us around this morning to help with our planning so we feel organised and ready for our visit…

All the animals are looking forward to seeing us MOOOOOOOn….. ooops we mean Sooooooooon!!!! Xxxx

A mini impromptu band (or ten!!) popped up throughout the day when our children discovered a table covered in musical instruments! They worked collaboratively together to create mini musical masterpieces and these ranged from pop songs, to tv programme theme tunes, to nursery rhymes to literally their very own creations!!

We love our children’s musicality and confidence here at nursery as Jollies becomes their very own stage!! xxxx

One of our lovely parents brought in this gorgeous sweet treat for us today… we hadn’t even realised, but today is ‘National thank a teacher day’

What a lovely thing for us to receive and Team Jollies are truly feeling thankful and appreciated (…..and very, very excited for our lunch breaks now too!! )

We are very lucky to have such supportive parents/carers who work in such close partnership with us as we strive together to help their little ones reach their full potential… and for this we are always grateful xxxx

Ellison set up an investigation station in Cheeky Monkeys and it certainly piqued her children’s interest and sparked their curiosity.

There were many things to explore and our children used the magnifying glasses to see things in a very different light. They investigated the giant magnets… …. Which things would the magnets pick up? Why did some things not stick to them? There were unusual objects to explore too and the type writer was simply amazing to see levers lift as keys were pressed.

Fascinating stuff to explore, explore, explore…. Xxxx

After a recent huge delivery Stephen found a way to get creative with the very last of the cardboard boxes.

He imaginatively created a fun game involving said box and some balls! His children then worked together to try and get the coloured balls to fall down into the holes that he had made. How many could they make disappear? ……and how quickly could they do this? …… would any fall off, or could they balance the box to keep them all on?

This challenge required our children to use their coordination and work as a team as they had to communicate as they tipped and tilted the box from side to side and up and down together!!

They constantly talked to each another as they did this about which way they needed to move the box to achieve their goal.

What a challenge this was and what excellent communication, collaboration, coordination and control they all exhibited!!

Who knew that a box and some balls could be so exciting?! xxxx

This morning Sally and Colin brought the story bus to Jollies. We visited it in small groups to have a singsong with Sally, accompanied by Colin on his guitar. We then chose stories to share with each other or on our own in the story den holes. We loved this as we absolutely LOVE books at Jollies!!!