Chinese New Year
Early years settings across the country celebrated the Year of theRabbit, which arrived on 3 February. At Stone Eden Nursery in Carlisle,Cumbria and Hatton Hill Day Nursery and Pre-school in Windlesham,children made their own dragons to dance under and tried eatingtraditional Chinese dishes with chopsticks. At Queensway Chapel Nurseryin Melksham, Wiltshire, children made Chinese lanterns, while atStepping Stones day nursery in Lingley Mere they created Chinese moneybags to bring good luck. Children at Little Red Hen Day Nursery inAshton-Under Lyne and Little Acorns in Rothwell also learned all aboutChinese culture.
Stories come to life
Snapdragons Nurseries in Bath and Wiltshire marked National StorytellingWeek, 29 January to 5 February, with early years practitioner JaneyMondal touring the chain of six nurseries performing the fairy tale 'TheElves and the Shoemaker' using homemade props. At Busy Bees Nursery inOldbrook, Milton Keynes, children made their own books and read them toeach other.
Motoring police
The police paid a visit to Chimneytots Pre-School in Marston Moretaine,Bedfordshire, replete with a big motorcyle. 'The children and the staffhad lots of fun', said interim manager Suzi Wuidart.
Little twitchers
Children from Cullompton Pre-School in Devon took part in the RSPBBirdwatch Count (24 January to 4 February) to help garden birds survivethe winter. They made fatballs from lard, apples, seeds and dried fruitfor their bird feeding area and created a camouflaged den. On the day ofthe Birdwatch Count the children all went out into the nursery gardenarmed with binoculars to find out how many birds they could see andidentify.
First impressions
Mornington House Day Nursery in Clifton, Bristol, invited a parent in tothe setting to share her knowledge and enthusiasm for the works ofFrench Impressionist artist Monet. The children painted a large lilypond similar to Monet's original masterpiece by using tissue paper andbubble wrap.
IN STOCK
Free Red Nose kit
For this year's Red Nose Day on 18 March, Macmillan Children's Books,supporting partner of the charity, has created an early years activitykit being provided free to nurseries and playgroups. The pack includesstickers, balloons, posters, storybooks and fundraising ideas to raisefunds for Comic Relief. For more information and to order a kit, visitwww.rednoseday.com/earlyyears.
Photo of the Week
Children from the Spinney Day Nursery in Chester do some warm-upstretches before an aerobics and games session. The weekly workouts aredesigned to develop the children's co-ordination skills through avariety of different activities, supported by hearing music and usingsports apparatus.
- Do you have a story to tell? Share it with us atnews.nw@haymarket.com.
The best photo of the week will win 30 worth of books andposters.
