Pancakes

We made some pancakes this morning.  The children helped to make the mixture and gave it a good whisk.  They enjoyed a pancake for their morning snack.  Yum!

More bark!

We had some more bark delivered this morning, so the children have helped us to move it from the front to the back. 

We went to B&Q last night to buy some bits and pieces for the children to play with, which could be used for whatever their imagination dictates.  We bought some foam tubes, which have today been used as a horse, light sabres and hoses, and some planks of wood.  They have been used with the workbench and tool set and also outside as ramps and roads for the toy cars. 

Patterns and outdoor play again

The children played a sorting game with some printed socks.  They all had a variety of patterns on the socks, which we sorted together.  Afterwards, the children played at 'going to work' and the socks became props for their 'jobs'. 

This afternoon the children played outside.  We have recently pruned some shrubs, so they played with the cuttings and twigs.  They made a 'bonfire' with a big pile of twigs and used small pieces of fir tree as small trees for the small-world animals. 

What a beautiful day!

This morning, before going to play out in the lovely sunshine, the children painted some daffodils for St. David's Day.  They are all beautiful and are up on our wall for you to see. 

We played outside for the rest of the day - it was quite warm and we didn't need coats!  The children dug the bark, brought us delicious food made from pebbles, built 'bark castles', played in the cars and on the slides.  Eszme and Kaiden had fun outdoors too, exploring the bark.  Kaiden loved the swing and Eszme climbed into one of the trucks, to be pushed around by Victoria. 



making 'bark castles'



Week beginning 28th February is week 1

A quick hello

Hope you have all had a nice break.  We've had a good few days together.  We've been walking at the Crook O' Lune, had a trip to the dentist (not so good!) and done some shopping.  We're going to watch PNE v Burnley this afternoon which we're all looking forward to.

We had some bark delivered on Wednesday, so on Thursday Chris and William spent the afternoon moving it from the front to the back.  It took them a long time, but at least it was sunny.  The bark goes quite muddy during the winter so we always get some fresh bark delivered around this time of year. 

Madhatters again

We visited Madhatters this morning.  The children had a good run around and lots of fun.  We will hopefully go next Tuesday to give Thomas and William a chance to play there, whilst they are on holiday from school. 

Children's Blog

The children's blog (homefromhomechildren) is for your children to use, both at our house and at home.  They love to look at their own page and would be very excited to show us, and the other children, photos from home.  It honestly doesn't take very long to write something and downloading photos probably only takes around the same time as they do on Facebook (if you have Facebook that is!).   

Tesco for schools

Tesco are starting their vouchers for schools on 28th February, so if you collect any, we would be very grateful for them. 

Learning Journeys

Please remember that, although we only complete our summary termly, you can take your child's learning journey home whenever you wish.  We're quite surprised that nobody has asked to see one as yet as we're sure you must be interested in reading what your child has been doing whilst with us.  Please, just ask for it whenever you want - it belongs to your child and is yours to view as and when :). 

Kites

We made some kites today.  William made one at school yesterday and the children really liked it, so they had a go today at making their own.

We've put them on the playroom wall for you all to see.

 

Happy Valentines Day!

Hope you've all had a lovely day. 

Thank you to Eszme's mummy again for making some delicious cup cakes for everyone. 

Week beginning 14th February is week 2

Madhatters and playdoh

We went to Madhatters this morning.  All the children had a good time. 

This afternoon the children have played with the playdoh.  They have dressed up too and used the playdoh as biscuits and cakes.  They have had a really great time!

We've done lots of cutting and sticking today too, so there will be lots of lovely collages heading home. 

Thank you to Tyler's mummy and Adam's mummy for putting photographs on the children's blog.  It is great to see photos from home.  Please use the blog to post any photos just to write a quick sentence about what your child has done at home.  It is your blog to use as you wish.    The more we all use it, the more interesting and exciting it will be for the children to look at and discuss.

Happy birthday Tyler!

Tyler was 1 yesterday and his mummy kindly sent in a birthday cake for all the children to share.  We sang 'Happy birthday' and helped Tyler to blow out the candles. 

We've played in the tents and tunnels, done some dressing-up and played with playdoh today. 

Week beginning 7th February is week 1

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy birthday to Tyler who is 1 on Sunday.  Hope you enjoy your party tomorrow! x

Happy birthday Joel!

A very happy birthday to Joel who is 3 today :-). 

We visited the duck pond this morning.  We had a walk through the woods and fed the ducks. 

Noodles!

The children created some lovely pictures today using maize noodles.  They used lots of different colours and enjoyed sticking the noodles to paper.  They described them as 'squishy' and had fun squeezing them in their hands and between their fingers. 

Biscuits

We made some delicious biscuits today.  The children chose which shape they would like to use and we talked about the names of all the shapes. 

RNLI

We visited Fleetwood lifeboat station yesterday.  The shop opens especially for SOS day each year and the two staff members recognised us from last year and had a little chat with the children.  They all got a sticker too.  We donated £20 into the collection box.

We saw a lifeboat in the sea - it had visited from the Isle of Man and was on its way back again.  The children also had fun following the metal fish along Fleetwood prom and were quite disappointed when it was time to come home for lunch!

Week beginning 31st January is week 3

Little schools birdwatch

Yesterday the children made some binoculars using cardboard tubes.  They decorated them with lovely stickers.

We did the birdwatch today and recorded the different types of birds on special sheets.  We saw 25 different varieties of birds in the hour!  I've copied and pasted the record for you below. 

Bird Number seen


Black headed gull 8

Blackbird 2

Blue tit 2

Carrion crow 1

Chaffinch 1

Coal tit 1

Collared dove 2

Common gull 0

Dunnock 2

Feral pigeon 5

Goldfinch 9

Great tit 1

Greenfinch 1

Herring gull 3

House sparrow 0

Jackdaw 0

Long tailed tit 3

Magpie 2

Pied wagtail 0

Robin 0

Rook 0

Song thrush 0

Starling 22

Woodpigeon 2

Wren 0

67

RNLI SOS day on Friday 29th January

Next Friday is RNLI SOS day and we will hopefully be going to visit Fleetwood lifeboat station again, like we did last year. 

We will be looking at our RNLI magazines next week and talking about how the RNLI keep us safe.  Like last year, we will be collecting for them, so if you would like to donate any money we will take it with us on the Friday.

William is a member of Stormforce Sam, which is a membership of the RNLI for children.  The link is as follows if you are interested:

 http://www.rnli.org.uk/how_to_support_us/membership/storm-force/

Madhatters

We went to Madhatters this morning and the children had a good time playing in the play area and also on the bus!

Week beginning 24th January is week 2

Feeding the birds

We will be taking part in the 'Little Schools Birdwatch' again during the next couple of weeks, so we filled up all the bird feeders this morning. 

Little Kaiden really enjoyed listening to the wind chimes and kept shaking them to make them jingle! 

We've been blogging!

We showed the children their own special blog today.  They had a chance to write a little something on their own page and put on some photos of their choice.  They all seemed to enjoy it and are keen to have another go.  We've explained that their mummies will get a password and that they might have a chance to post at home sometimes.  If not, we will look at the blog regularly here anyway so they will have plenty of opportunity to contribute. 

Thank you!

Thank you for my birthday wishes and to those of you who sent me cards.  Thank you to Adam and Victoria for the lovely presents too - they are very much appreciated xxxx

Guess who!

The children have recently been talking about the colour eyes, so we had a chat together today about what we looked like.  We all looked in the mirror and at each other, and talked about hair colour, eye colour, skin colour and other features of ourselves. 

The children then painted a picture of their faces, which we've cut out and put on our wall.  See if you can guess who is who when you come in!

Rhymes and songs

We had a great time this morning with the musical instruments.  The children played with a variety of instruments; shakers, rattles, drums and whistles.  We sang lots of songs and did some actions. 

Little birthday celebration

Eszme's mummy and daddy sent a beautiful birthday cake for us all to share today.  It was Eszme's birthday last week but her mummy had the week off to celebrate with Eszme, so this was her first day back after Christmas!  We sang 'Happy Birthday' to Eszme and all shared some cake.  It was delicious!

Week beginning January 10th is week 3

Baby news!

Lots of love and congratulations to Emma, Will and Erin on the birth of Kirsten Rose Phyllis yesterday evening.  She kindly arrived 10 days early and all is well.  She has arrived on a great day too - it was my dad's birthday yesterday; he is 75 years older!!

We can't wait to meet little Kirsten! XXX

Madhatters

We took the children to Madhatters this morning.  William and Thomas don't go back to school until tomorrow, so it gave them a chance to play and run off some energy.  All the children enjoyed themselves. 

Week beginning January 3rd is week 2

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had an enjoyable New Years Eve and that 2011 brings you health and happiness. 

See you on Tuesday!

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!

Did anyone look at the Santa website?

Just a reminder of the fantastic Santa website if you haven't had chance to look (see link below).  It really is worth taking a look.  The message is great if you include photos :-)

Calendars

The children had fun making calendars today.  I think tomorrow we'll take down the displays and the children can bring home their Christmas creations.  Get ready to make room in your houses!

Sam leaving at the end of this week.

Just to let you all know, it is Sam's last day on Friday.  He is off to pastures new at the start of next year and we wish him well.  Chris and I will miss him, as I'm sure all the children will too.  xx

Week beginning December 13th is week 1

Number 7

We were going through numbers yesterday and found that the number 7 is one which some of the children aren't familiar with.  We now have a number 7 on our wall, on which the children have drawn 7 dots, which we use to remind the children of the number.  If you spot any number 7s whilst at home or out and about, it might be a good idea to bring them to your child's attention. 

Fantastic website for a message from Santa

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/home

You can make a personal video, including photos of your child.  Its lovely :-).

Mmmmm, chocolate!

We made some special treats for mummies and daddies today.  I won't go into detail, but YUM!!!

More Christmas creations

We made some more pictures today.

Here are some photos of our Christmas displays.  Don't they look great?  The children have done really well.

I've got my phone back!

No mobile at the moment

Just to let you all know, I lost my phone in Preston on Saturday.  It has been found, but I won't get it back until Monday or Tuesday.  If you need to contact us, please call either Chris' mobile or our house phone.  Thanks.

Week beginning December 6th is week 3

Snow!

We had great fun in the snow this morning!  The children picked it up, threw it in the air and just generally had a good time. 

Norad tracks Santa

There is a fantastic website that the children might enjoy (adults will definitely!!). 

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html

Have a look and see what you think!

Fireman Sam

Joel's mummy told us today that Fireman Sam will be at the Grand Theatre on January 15th if anyone is interested :-)

Christmas creations

Yesterday, the children did lots of painting.  They painted some lolly sticks to be used in todays activity, a large piece of paper, covering it in lots of shades of green (now a Christmas tree!) and they each made a beautiful snowy picture, using white paint and glitter. 

Today, the children made Christmas cards, using the painted lolly sticks from yesterday, and some lovely decorations for the Christmas tree at home. 

Childrens' colds

We know children get colds all the time, but if your child has a temperature, is coughing badly, complains of a headache, sore throat and is generally ill, i.e. not just an everyday cold, they are better off cared for by mums or dads.  We are legally bound to try and prevent the risk of infection in our setting so would appreciate you keeping your child at home if they have more than just a 'cold'. 

Your understanding and support are appreciated.

Duck pond in the frost

We had a walk to the duck pond this afternoon.  It was lovely and frosty.  The children fed the ducks, who were very glad of the bread!

Menu week beginning 29th December - WEEK 2

A Bug's Life

We've not had a good week this week I'm afraid.  There had been a horrible sickness bug here and nearly all of the children have caught it, although we aren't really sure where it originated.  We hope you all feel better soon.  Big hugs and kisses to you all xxxxx

Next week will be a much better week, as we're going to start creating for Christmas!!!  As you all know, we already have our Christmas trees up, so we're really getting into the festive season from next week. 

The weather looks set to be frosty, cold and sunny, which is great.  The children love to play out when its like this - please remember to send hats and gloves, along with a thick, warm coat.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and that all the children feel much better very soon.  Hope no parents catch it! 

Evaluation sheets

If you've had chance to complete our evaluation sheet please would you send it back.  If not, would you be able to fill it in sometime this week.  Thank you, your comments are very much appreciated. 

Week beginning November 22nd is WEEK 1 of our 3-week menu

Menu

I've put our 3-week menu on a page on our blog site.  This saves me creating a new post each week with the menu, which unfortunatley, I sometimes don't get round to doing ~ sorry. 

This week we're on week 3, and will start week 1 next week. 

More cooking

The children are really enjoying baking and cooking at the moment. 

Today, they created their own pizzas, using ham, sweetcorn, cheese and tomatoes.  They looked delicious!

Happy birthday Sam

It was Sam's birthday on Sunday and he is now 3.  We all sang 'Happy Birthday' to Sam and he blew out the candles on his cake. 

We've done lots of dressing up today, as well as playing with fire engines, train tracks and at hairdressers. 

Just have to show you the photo below.  Sam kindly provided our cat Sally with a lovely hat.  I think she looks rather fetching and fits the description of 'The Cat in the Hat' quite nicely.  Her humiliation is now complete!!!!

Scones, collecting leaves and designing a tree

Yesterday the children made some delicious scones in the afternoon.  Hope you all enjoyed them!

Today, we played outside.  The children noticed lots of leaves on the floor, so we decided to make our own tree.  We collected lots of leaves of all shapes, sizes and colours, and stuck them on to a painted tree. 

For some reason, it won't let me download the photo we took.  I'll try and download it next time.  Sorry. 

Happy birthday William!

It is William's birthday today and he's now 6 years old.  He got various football related items for his birthday, including a PNE away kit, Fifa 11, some goalie gloves, and yet another football (he's wanted this particular one for a long time as its the same ball they use at the PNE matches).

We had a little tea party and all the children sang 'happy birthday' to William.  Thank you so much to those of you who gave him a card and present.  :-)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.   

Firework pictures

We made some lovely, sparkly firework pictures today, using lots of different coloured glitter glue.  We got very sticky and glittery!  The pictures look great on the playroom wall at the moment, and the children will be able to take them home tomorrow.

Bonfire pictures

The children made bonfire pictures today, using twigs, red and yellow paint and glitter.  Even the babies had a go at painting, using their hands to spread it around the paper. 

Yesterday, when we were talking about bonfire night, one of the children made us laugh when they said they were going to 'Pontypandy' to see a fire.  :-)

Biscuit baking

Yesterday, we made some biscuits.  We made stars, hearts and diamonds.  The children had one for their morning snack and took the rest home. 

Welcome back

We welcomed the children back after their holiday this morning.  It was lovely to see them all.  So much can change in a week - the two babies have both started to crawl which is great.  I love it when they move across  the room purposefully when they spot something interesting. 

We had an extra day with William too, as his school don't go back until tomorrow.  We'll really miss him as we love having him at home.  Oh well, only 7 weeks to go before the Christmas holidays!  Best get shopping!

Midweek hello!

Hi everyone.  Hope you're all having a lovely holiday with your children! 

Diggers and building

The children played with the toy diggers, trucks and dumpers today.  We provided the wooden blocks for the children to transport and build and later brought in a basket of conkers, which they incorporated into their play.  We also had to work bench out with all the tools.  What a busy day!

Hope you all have a lovely holiday with your children next week and we'll see some of you on Friday!

Cars down a ramp!

The children were playing with the toy cars this afternoon and started to roll them down a lid, belonging to a small box.  To extend their learning we provided them with a long length of guttering, which they used to push the cars down.  We explored how we could make the cars go faster or slower, by lifting or lowering the guttering. 

Chris took a great photo of them all but unfortunately I've managed to delete it somehow.  Sorry......

Outdoor play and fruit salad again

We spent a lot of time outdoors today.  The children played with the stones, transporting them in trolleys etc, and they played in the cars and trucks, giving each other a ride. 

Later, the children made their own fruit salads again.  This time I remembered the clementines! 

Fruit salad

The children made their own fruit salad today.  We gave them various pieces of fruit, including melon, strawberries, grapes and apples from our own apple tree, and they chose what they wanted to go into their fruit salad.  The children then used knives to cut their fruit into pieces.  They ate their own fruit salad for their morning snack and enjoyed every mouthful!

Painting autumn leaves

We collected some leaves from our garden and talked about the colours.  The children decided what colour paints we would need to paint a picture of the leaves and then painted their own picture, using the various colours. 

Duck pond and autumn trees

We went to the duck pond this morning to feed the ducks.  We looked again for signs of autumn - there were lots of leaves on the floor today.

When we got back, we made some autumn tree pictures, using handprints for the branches and autumn-coloured foam leaves.  The children really enjoyed creating their pictures and couldn't wait to take them home.  

Fire engines and firefighters!

The children are really enjoying playing with some new 'Fireman Sam' engines we bought at the weekend.  They've had all the fire engines out and have been building houses and fire stations out of wooden blocks.  We got out the dressing up clothes today and they wore the firefighters helmets and role-played, using the tent as a house on fire!

Happy birthday Charlotte

Just to wish our very special daughter a happy 17th birthday today!  With lots of love xxxxxxxx

Menu, week beginning 4th October 2010

Monday - Corned beef hash
Tuesday - Shepherds Pie
Wednesday - Cheesy turkey and ham pasta with vegetables
Thursday - Chicken curry and rice
Friday - Fish fingers, wedges, beans