Recently Laura made some very exciting sensory bags for her babies!!!

They then used their fingers and toes to touch and feel all the different textures within them; from paint, to crazy foam, to feathers!!!

All her children were very focused and they spent ages touching and feeling the variety of bags with their very different sensory textures contained within… xxxx

Little fingers got working and strengthening recently when our children used their hand/eye coordination to practise their threading on a metal dome.

They had to make decisions… which colour would they choose next? They had to investigate… how long was the piece they were using and how much could it be pulled before it came out? Which holes could it be woven through next and where did they have to place their fingers to enable them to grasp the ribbon to pull it back through?

Lots of choices to be made, lots of problems to be solved… lots and lots of beautiful ribbons to be interwoven to create a masterpiece!! We love the ‘randomness’ of the early years and how there’s method behind the madness in every unusual, wonderful, exciting invitation to play Xxxx

Christmas is all about the preparation… Santa and the elf are busy making a list and checking it twice!! Xxxx

When the frost and ice arrived outside recently Natalie saw this as the perfect opportunity to extend her children’s interests (as they had shown their natural curiosity on their journeys into nursery) so she found some books to reflect the weather outside and they shared a little group storytime about snowmen and wintry weather all together whilst they were all super cosy in the warm!!

The whole group loved listening to the story and they maintained focus really well and all enjoyed taking turns to explore the different textures they could excitedly touch and feel. They waited so patiently for their individual turns and they shared so well!

The favourite book was definitely the snowman puppet one and they were all transfixed upon this and watched so very carefully as Natalie made them all smile and giggle…

The magic of sharing stories is simply wonderful and so vitally important for young children’s development

Later on our children braved the cold themselves and got all wrapped up and ventured outside to explore the REAL ice and frost… They enjoyed feeling the textures and used a paintbrush and their fingers to make marks in the frost!!

Natalie showed her children some pieces of ice and they loved to (briefly!) experience the (very different and exciting!) cold feel upon their hands…

They all loved exploring and walking around in the icy frost. We were so very impressed with their stomping manoeuvres and their balance….they were very sturdy on their feet considering the very new and unusual conditions underfoot…

They were very excited little people on a serious wintry mission!!! xxxx

Whether we’ve been a helper-elf frantically mixing ingredients in the role-play kitchen inside, or Mrs Claus warmly serving up a feast outside, we have simply been Christmas dinner obsessed in Exploring Elephants recently!!

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Sone of our little ones have been tackling the ‘balls and sticks’ construction set outside. Initially they found it a little tricky to get the sticks into place, but not to be deterred our resourceful children came up with different ways of trying to achieve this result; such as balancing the ball on the floor and then using the pressure of pressing down onto the ground to lock the stick into place, or getting a nearby adult to assist by holding it still for them… the more they joined, the easier this process became as practice truly did make perfect in this situation.

They were all so determined and focused upon making their desired structures and it was very interesting afterwards to hear their detailed descriptions of exactly what it was that they had all made. Xxxx

Weetabix and Shreddies apparently?!?! Elise invited her children to participate in some marvellous messy farm play recently!

Following her children’s current obsession with animals she gave the concept of a farm a whole new sensory level… crushing up weetabix and sprinkling shreddies before adding some water to create the perfect messy pig pen.

Her children excitedly explored the different textures and it was simply great for their sensory exploration and corresponding feedback.

We saw lots of very muddy pigs relishing getting as messy as possible before splashing in all the puddles!

Lots of sensory exploration and sharing, lots of role-playing and imagination, lots of creativity as songs were sang, lots of communication as animal sounds, associated vocabulary and scenarios were developed together… Happy pigs and very, very, very happy children too Xxxx

On Thursday night the fairies brought Christmas to the inside of nursery as a surprise for our children and today helper-elf Ed has brought Christmas to the outside of nursery too…

So don’t forget when you arrive at nursery next week to ask your little ones to look up and see what they can see… xxxx

As you will be aware Sian is our SENDCo here at Jollies and refreshing (and transforming!) our multi sensory room has been a passion project for her recently

Sian is always looking to help the team fully understand each individual child and really ‘unpick them’ and ‘unlock them’ so we can ensure any potential barriers to their learning are removed for them.

Sian was aware that our sensory room was not meeting all our current children’s needs; so she was determined to work out why and then research and explore how to develop it to appeal to, and cater for, all their differing needs.

Out with the black and in with the white… the room transformed from a dark space to a light one… this immediately appealed to those children who had previously been reluctant to enter and play!

De-cluttering was the next task… there was simply TOO MUCH in the space… it was actually causing sensory overload, which is the very opposite of what a sensory room is designed to do!

Working out what may have been missing was the next step… we needed to order a few more resources to really enhance this space. So a mini trampoline, some sensory colour-changing (fluffy as clouds!) bolster cushions, an infinity mirror, a sensory switches board to enhance problem-solving and illustrate cause and effect, sensory floor tiles, super soft cloud mats, light up cause and effect resources, a suspended lycra body swing (so children can develop their sense of their body in space and feel the material enveloping them and benefit from this sensory feedback/awareness), different projectors to create various visual stimuli were amongst the many things purchased ready to be added into this exciting space.

This may sound a lot, but the idea is that these resources are now added into the room specifically for the individuals/groups accessing it. So our practitioners will observe their children and use these knowledgeable insights to gain the most out of this sensory space for them as they will change the focus of the room through the resources they are carefully selecting to add in chosen especially for them…. So there’s no risk of sensory overload as groups of resources are added specifically, rather than the previous approach of trying to cater for everything all at once.

The impact on our children is already evident and we are seeing such a change in those who would previously not want to enter this room. We are seeing focus, we are seeing a safe, calming space to self/co-regulate, we are seeing problem-solving and we are seeing superb sensory feedback for our children’s bodies, minds and souls.

We are very proud of Sian’s amazing efforts to truly understand every child’s wants and needs and in supporting our team to help every child reach their full potential and have the highest sense of well-being in this amazing sensory space… here’s to another 19 years of sensory exploration for our lovely Jolly children in our nursery’s newly-revamped multi- sensory room!!

Here are just a few of the wonderful invitations to play on offer to our children this frosty Friday morning…

So many things to delve into to extend their learning through purposeful play……but ultimately……. pirates win!!!

(Free-Flow have even been making treasure maps and are going on an actual treasure hunt later… no gemstones, but Imogen reliably informs me that there’ll be some chocolatey coin treasure ready for the finding!!)