Previously his children had enjoyed focusing upon developing their fine motor skills by using a screwdriver to attach shapes to a board and whilst doing this they were strengthening their finger muscles and increasing their control and coordination. Which, of course, later leads to being able to write effectively and enjoyably when it comes to big school and the wider world beyond.

So Stephen helped his children continue with this focus of strengthening little hands and developing control and coordination by setting up an activity whereby they could use elastic bands to stretch and pull, with their fingers, to create patterns by placing the bands over the hooks on the board. This was then taken to another dimension when little fingers had to get to work to free the trapped superheroes!!!

Lots of fun was certainly had and lots of focus, attention and hand/eye coordination was observed as little fingers really got working and got stronger and stronger and stronger!! Xxxx

Seeing as our multi sensory room is upstairs it was also a great opportunity for our babies to show off their superb physical skills as they made their way up there to visit.

They confidently held onto the bannister rail and some walked and some crawled and some used a mixture of both, but all ways chosen by our youngest giraffes required their core strength, balance and coordination and all ways proved highly effective in making their way onwards and upwards towards this very exciting room!

They also loved to say hello to their older friends on their way past the upstairs’ rooms too as our children are all just super sociable and friendly xxxx

Our youngest giraffes have been loving exploring colours changing and the contrasting effects of light and dark within our multi sensory room… the gigantic bubble tube is ALWAYS a hit too!! Xxxx

….. just so many wonderful things!!! Xxxx

Sadly we are continuing to say goodbye to more and more of our very lovely school leaving giraffes… but our hearts smile when we receive heartwarming messages from their families expressing how they’ve simply had a blast!! xxxx

“Hello all Jollies staff

It’s **** last day at Jollies and **** and I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone that’s been part of our Jolly journey since 2016 when **** started.

A quick Facebook post doesn’t feel sufficient to say thank you for all the love and care you have shown our boys over the past 7 years. You’ve all played a part in helping them grow and become the people they are today.

From their first days to their last, and everything in between (including a pandemic!) – it’s been a blast

Obligatory first day school photos to follow in a few weeks’ time!”

When we reflect upon how our Jolly babies have grown and changed from the tiniest of dots into the huge superstars they are today we can’t help but all feel proud of them and privileged too that we have been allowed to be a part of their lives so far and we know they are more than ready to spread their wings and fly onto their next BIG school adventure…

We do hope they’ll come back and visit us in the future though as we are definitely going to miss them all…. Xxxx

We love it when our children express themselves as they create their masterpieces.

They mark make using soooooo many different types of media; from water to chalk, to digital, to felt-tip!!

We love to see the progression as fingers strengthen and grips develop from palmar to pincer and huge movements turn into intricate ones and random marks turn into precise ones as meaning is ascribed to them.

What will be created today?! We can’t wait to find out…. xxxx

If I use this, what mark will it make? Let’s find out…. xxxx

Another week of adventure begins here at nursery, but sometimes our adventures take us outside of Jollies into the wider community as we explore wonderful Woodlesford.

Even though we have brilliant equipment to climb, slide and play on here at nursery there’s nothing quite like going on a walk and exploring EVEN BIGGER slides and climbing frames as a recent trip to our local park illustrated…

With our lovely Jolly grown ups on hand to give us the confidence and support we require to explore there’s simply no stopping us as we put our physical skills to the test and have the utmost fun along the way xxxx

A prediction of the future?! We certainly hope so as this little one has drawn the Lionesses scoring a goal… here’s to a HUGE win on Sunday and hopefully the World will be coming home!!!!

Happy, happy weekend everybody and don’t forget to support the Lionesses on Sunday…

COME ON ENGLAND!!!!

We’ve been footie crazy today with excitement for our Lionesses bid for World Cup glory on Sunday…

From football shaped toast, to football themed snack, to painting and printing footballs and flags, to designing our very own football kits, to playing with gigantic inflatable footballs, to dancing and singing along to lots of football songs… we’ve had it all going on!

It’s certainly been fun and everyone at Jollies wishes our fabulous Lionesses amazing luck on Sunday… we’ll all be cheering them on!!! Xxxx