This week we had stories about minibeasts and the children have been painting minibeasts at nursery. They will have opportunities whilst painting to make decisions about colour and shape, to look carefully, to think of ideas and express them in paint and to think and talk about their work. Don't forget to look for minibeasts yourself. Maybe you can spot a ladybird on a leaf or a bumble bee visiting a flower. We have recorded several versions of stories about minibeasts including The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider so you can look at these at home on the Learning at Home Blog posts.

We spent time watching the lit candles together. The children had opportunities to experience awe and wonder as they watched the flames and we turned off the lights to make the experience special. The children could have noticed similarities and differences between the candles as we provided a variety and the activity will also have helped them to practise focusing their attention - something which is good for wellbeing as well as for learning. The characters from Frozen are there watching as well. Perhaps these are the Northern Lights. Do you know the film Magic of the Northern Lights? After an exciting race to Lookout Point to view the Northern Lights, Anna and Elsa arrive to find the lights have gone missing! With the help of Kristoff, Sven and Olaf, they go on a quest to the far north to find them.​

We have been looking at the work of different artists such as Henry Matisse with our children and they have then created their own versions. This is encouraging them to look carefully and helping them appreciate the variety of ways in which artists can work. They are thinking about features such as colour, shape and style and they have produced some amazing paintings. We create displays to celebrate children's work and also to inspire the other children to have a go for themselves. There are lots of examples of paintings online so you could try this activity from the National Gallery www.nationalgallery.org.uk/stories/make-and-create-a-collage-inspired-by-rousseaus-surprised and look at this art work from Tate Britain for example www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/kids-view/why-tate-britain-covered-lights