we simply love to explore!!!!!

Recently our children have wrapped up warm and been filled with awe and wonder at the exciting weather they’ve discovered outside…

They attempted to break the ice up that they found in the tray and then they sent the smaller pieces whizzing and sliding down the tubes to see if the pieces would break up into even smaller pieces!

They also enjoyed exploring and investigating the different sounds they could create by hitting and scraping the ice with the metal utensils… they made a whole range; from very loud to extremely quiet sounds.

One little one collected lots of icy pieces together in a bowl and then explained to Stephen excitedly that she’d made some ‘crystals’… truly awesome and a little bit wonderful!

The funniest of all though was when our children decided to create their very own version of ‘dancing on ice’… slipping and sliding and moving and grooving in the whizziest of ways!! Xxxx

The perfect choice of fun snack here at Jollies xxxx

On Friday Free-Flow definitely had that ‘Friday feeling’… so they decided to bake a cake together with Imogen and Emma

They found a recipe, followed it carefully; weighing out ingredients as they went and they even found out how to safely use the electric mixer to ensure all their ingredients were whizzed together and super smooth.

The result… an awesome cake baked and then decorated with icing and an array of sprinkles… created through the perfect blend of teamwork… yummy!! xxxx

Making choices and independence doesn’t stop at breakfast you know! Our children expressed their preferences and showed off their skills when they poured their milk and peeled their chosen fruit at snack time recently… what stars they truly are!! xxxx

Learning our colours through play… can there be a better way?!

What fun our Exploring Elephants had as they learnt all about the colour blue whilst exploring their imagination and creativity with a very exciting ocean-themed sensory tray! xxxx

Exploring mixing colours again, but this time on a much larger scale!! Our children used a variety of brushes and rollers to move the paint around on their huge sheet of paper.

They loved to discuss the colours they were all making together…everyone decided that when they had finished they had created a dark green/brown colour… ‘just like the forest’ apparently! They then discovered that by turning their paintbrushes upside down and using the other end they could continue making even more marks in this new shade of paint!

Discovering ways and paint mixing days spent creating here at Jollies xxxx

Our oldest children enjoy making choices throughout their day and recently it started as soon as they entered the building, as they got to serve themselves breakfast!!

Excellent independence skills were exhibited too… every moment is a learning opportunity here at Jollies xxxx

Recently our oldest children were encouraged to take a moment to reflect upon this question as they considered their current mood and how they were feeling… were they happy, sad, angry, tired, excited?

Fortunately for most of our children their reflections led to them soon realising they were feeling happy and the reasons stemmed from having had egg and toast at Mummy’s house to looking forward to going swimming later, to having been able to spend time playing with their favourite toys…

Once our children had decided upon their emotion they drew the corresponding face and then pegged it onto our feelings tree! xxxx

In our sensory room the focus has mostly been upon lovely, lovely lights and cause and effect recently!

Our children have been enjoying switching them on and off and exploring colours as well as exploring textures within the room too. Some amazing marks have been made upon sequinned cushions and we have squashed, squeezed and snuggled into comfy cushions.

Our newly-revamped sensory room is such a versatile space as we have boxes of grouped resources (all focusing upon different areas) that we bring down into the room to enable us to follow our children’s differing current interests and meet their unique developmental needs.

Every day is different and every day is AMAZING xxxx

Next time our children venture upstairs in Free-Flow they will be able to sit and share their stories with their friends in their very own jolly secret garden.

Gone are the former superhero cushions and figures and instead flowers, leaves and vines are bursting with colour around them as they look up at the starry sky and take in the surrounds of their very special secret story garden…

Flowery ways and brilliant reading days spent relaxing here at Jollies xxxx