Our projects for the Spring Term are ‘Shapes’ and ‘Springtime’.
Shapes
For the first half of the term we will be exploring the amazing world of ‘Shapes’!
Children learn and recognise shapes through continual use of ‘shape language’ and activities which include handling shaped items such as making shapes in cookery or clay, or simply colouring, printing or painting shapes. Montessori materials lend themselves extremely well to this project and the natural resources provide a great tactile experience of 3 dimensional shapes.
Initially the four basic shapes that most children learn are circle, triangle, square and rectangle. Once they recognise these first simple shapes they will delight in finding them in the everyday objects around them. ‘Shape hunts’ can be incorporated into nursery Learning Walks and the children can photograph their finds to talk about later in nursery and to include in nursery displays. As they develop children enjoy starting to make recognisable shapes in their mark making and these can then be incorporated into a wide range of arts and crafts activities.
Pattern and repetition of shapes can also be explored through sorting of natural objects and looking at the patterns and shapes that we find in nature. This leads to great outdoor play opportunities.
Our teachers encourage the use of language to compare, contrast and describe. Straight, wiggly, curved, round, pointed, bigger, smaller, longer, shorter, like, different – all help with recognition & labelling of common shapes. Descriptive language extends our children’s vocabulary and stimulates their imaginations.
Tying in very nicely with our Shapes Project is our termly House of Maths visit. Our young mathematicians will have the chance to take part in some great shape-themed activities alongside other mathematical challenges aimed at the early years age-group. Barney’s shows are fun and energetic and are a great way to get our children thinking and talking about the shapes that make up our world!
Springtime
In the second half of the term our project will be ‘Spring’ and the children will be learning about all things associated with the British Springtime.
There are many different Spring activities for children that make learning fun. It’s an ideal time to see and understand the changes that take place in nature; an opportunity for children to become familiar with the joys and wonder of the new season.
Spring is a great time to explore lifecycles, seeds and springtime animals that are visible during this time of year. Easter provides a perfect opportunity for our children to learn about eggs and how they hatch into chicks.
Nature walks, planting and growing and lots of great outside activities as the weather warms up will from part of this project which is always very popular with our children.
If any of our parents have any ideas or would like to get involved with either of our projects this term – please speak to a member of staff. We are always delighted to welcome visitors to Chrysalis and your input would be really appreciated by the children.