What we’ve been up to this month…
This month, the children explored our topic Our Planet and Nature Explorers. They learned about caring for theenvironment through simple activities focused on reducing, reusing, and recycling, including sorting materials and creating with recycled items.
The children also explored natural environments such as forests, oceans, and woodlands through sensory play, small world activities, and outdoor experiences. Nature walks in the forest garden and hands-on activities helped develop their understanding of how to look after the world around them.
We have been encouraging positive habits like tidying up and caring for resources, both indoors and outdoors. The children also enjoyed celebrating Easter, National Sibling Day, Earth Day, St George’s Day, and International Dance Day.
What’s happening next month…
Next month, we will begin our new topic, Growing and Gardens, with a focus on nature, plants, and life cycles. The children will have opportunities to explore how things grow through hands-on experiences such as planting seeds, watering plants, and observing changes over time in our garden area. This will help them develop an understanding of growth and the importance of caring for living things.
We will also use sensory trays, puzzles, and small world activities to explore different parts of plants and the life cycle in an engaging and age-appropriate way. The children will take part in activities such as sorting seeds, exploring soil, and using natural materials in their play, encouraging curiosity and discovery.
Throughout the month, we will promote responsibility by encouraging the children to help care for our plants and outdoor spaces, while continuing to build their awareness of the natural world around them.
We will be celebrating mental health awareness week, international day of families, world bee day, national outdoor classroom day and world turtle day!
May Preschool focus:
This month, our theme focuses on preparing children for their transition to school by encouraging independence, confidence, and self-care skills through a range of activities.
We will support children in developing practical skills such as putting on their shoes, changing independently, managingtoileting needs, and practising good hygiene, including handwashing and oral care. We will also learn about our bodiesand the importance of healthy habits.
Alongside this, we will continue to build on the children’s mathematical development by exploring numbers, recognising numerals, and comparing quantities through play. We look forward to supporting the children as they grow in confidence and independence during this important time.
Activities we will do at nursery:
- Plant pots decorating (paint, stickers, natural materials)
- Paper plate life cycle (seed → plant → flower)
- Flower collage using tissue paper, leaves, and petals
- Junk modelling gardens (cardboard boxes, tubes, bottle tops)
- Make “seed packets” with drawings of plants
- Soil and seed digging trays with scoops, pots, and spades
- Sensory tray with compost, stones, twigs, and artificial/real plants
- Watering and planting rice or pasta “soil” sensory tray
- Mud kitchen gardening role play (mixing mud, water, herbs)
- Observing growth charts (measuring plant height)
- Nature scavenger hunts (leaves, worms, flowers, stones)
- Bug hunts using magnifying glasses
Some ideas to do at home:
- Plant a seed together: Use a pot or small container to plant a seed (like cress, beans, or sunflowers) and watch it grow over time.
- Watering routine: Let children help water houseplants or garden plants to learn responsibility and care for living things.
- Nature walk: Go on a walk and collect natural items like leaves, flowers, or stones to talk about and exploretogether.
- Grow vegetable off cuts: Try regrowing vegetables like spring onions or lettuce from off cuts in a jar of water.
- Garden or plant observation: Encourage children to notice changes in plants daily and talk about what they can see (buds, flowers, insects).
- Creative plant craft: Use leaves, flowers, or twigs collected outside to make simple nature collages or pictures at home.