Our 2025 Reception Class school leavers had an AMAZING day out at the farm today!!

Adrian, our farm guide, was brilliant and he told us all about the different animals and how to feed them safely.

The day was perfect, from the moment we were picked up by Tony in his tractor to choosing something to spend our pennies on in the shop at the end!

We loved seeing Izzy and Whizzy the meerkats, Rocky the bull was HUGE, George the Guinea pig was so sweet to brush and pet, the pigs and their piglets were cute, but quite smelly!! The cows had such long tongues and they slavered a lot as we fed them carrots with a flat hand! The sheep were noisy and the lambs giddy (and hungry!!) and the llamas and alpacas were super cute and we just saw sooooo many different animals throughout the day

We loved our packed lunch and we loved playing in the different play areas too and everything about the day was simply brilliant!!

Getting the bus there and back was exciting and having a third tractor ride just made our day as the lovely Tony drove us back down the lane afterwards too…

Our children have done us proud and they were nothing short of superstars all day long!! They were much quieter on the bus on the way back to Jollies, as they were exhausted, but it has been a truly excellent day!!! We have loved making memories today with our BIG school leavers… thank you all for a wonderful day!! xxxx

Snip, snip, snip!!

Terrific Twos have had a cutting bin in their room for a few weeks which has focused upon their children’s skills and ability to hold the scissors correctly to enable them to snip successfully…. So Emma, as a closely observing, skilful, supportive and knowledgeable practitioner then linked this to the room’s current mini beast obsession!

She facilitated a natural, exciting progression when her children had to then snip along the slippery snail trail. She had observed that they were very good at snipping ‘willy-nilly’ to chop the wrapping paper into tiny pieces within the cutting bin, but they had not really had the chance to practice, and hone their skills, when it came to cutting for a purpose (and in a specific direction)….. So this was the perfect challenge and natural progression for them to explore.

We had many tongues poking out in concentration and little minds were focused and little hands were busy as trails were carefully followed….. xxxx

It was all aboard the Jolly Express both inside and out last week for Exploring Elephants. Their train obsession continued and this time instead of small world play and track building it led to furniture moving to create their very own steam train within the room!

They imaginatively role played as they went on their train ride with Blue and Sian (it all started when they listened to the Magic Train Ride)and they even found themselves in the buffet cart as they had their morning snack aboard their train!!

They watched some video clips of real life steam trains and they created their own sound effects after getting tickets to enable them to board the Jolly Express.

When they went outside to play they initially went on a big hunt as this is another current fascination of theirs…. Whilst hunting for bugs Tracey turned over the wooden hexagon platforms and then the group decided it might be much more fun to climb in rather than use it as a platform to stand on and jump off and after a quick sweep to get rid of old spiders’ webs the children soon found themselves venturing off on an ever bigger steam train!!! This time the destination was the cinema…. They all wanted to watch Peppa Pig! We had a few wheel problems initially, but after a quick check over by the engineers we were good to go!!!

Our children displayed wonderful imaginations throughout and they are such a caring, sharing bunch who swapped places and happily took it in turns to drive the train! Choo choo!!!!! xxxx

For Exploring Elephants the obsession continues…. After playing with trains and building tracks together inside they then decided to extend this interest outside too and they built collaboratively again, but on an even grander scale in our garden!!

Choo-chooing days and the best track building ways spent happily negotiating together here at Jollies xxxx

Cheeky Monkeys have been busy working upon their problem solving skills and their focus whilst completing the multi-piece Gruffalo jigsaw puzzles!

They had mastered the inset puzzles so this was a great natural progression for them…. As we like to provide challenge to get little minds and fingers really working! They got to choose which animals they wanted to work on and try and complete the pictures of them and they all did some fabulous sharing throughout with their friends and they weren’t afraid to ask for a little help and guidance when it was needed; as they knew a supporting Jolly grown up was nearby should a helping hand be required

Gruffalo days and the best puzzling ways spent focused together here at Jollies xxxx

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With tap, tap, tap and a pat, pat, pat sandcastles emerged as buckets were lifted!

We love to fill, tip, pour and shape sand in our HUGE outdoor sandpit…. Sand in a tuff tray is fun, but it’s even better when you can step inside and dig and build on an even bigger scale!!

Happy sandy days and the best Jolly ways spent loving life here at nursery Xxxx

A closely observing, carefully tuned in practitioner is all you need to achieve!

This little one was desperate to slide down the climbing frame’s pole, but getting onto it was proving tricky… So Katie offered a helping hand and was nearby to offer reassurance, as required, and this little one was soon whizzing down the pole!!

Katie’s job then was then to praise and watch them glow in their achievements and observe them seem to grow just that little bit taller with pride!

We love helping our little ones challenge themselves and achieve and their resilience and determination makes our hearts sing xxxx

Another day, another trip out….

But this time Cheeky Monkeys went on a walk across the road to Woodlesford station.

Their recent train and vehicle set up within the room had got all the children totally transport mad; so this was the perfect outing for them all!

Whilst they were there they had fun sitting on the wall waiting very patiently (and VERY excitedly!!) chatting away ready to spot the first trains coming into view…

They had so much fun waving to them all and they even heard some very LOUD ‘choo choos’ too.

Our children really enjoyed their alfresco snack with a view!!!

Then something REALLY exciting happened…. the conductor on one of the trains that had pulled into the station hopped off and gave our children their very own train tickets! They found this sooooooo exciting and gave the conductor the HUGEST of smiles and thank yous!! Xxxx

………but the beach can come to Jollies!!

Seashells, seashells by the sea shore… to celebrate ‘National Seashell Day’ last week Elise created a mini beach for her children within their room.

They were soon busy, busy exploring and playing in it. They were talking lots about the different sizes, shapes and colours of the shells that they could see, as well as exploring the different sea creatures they might find at the beach too.

They enjoyed feeling the texture of the sand mixed with water as they played and they liked to experiment by scooping the sand up using all the different shells. They also did a LOT of splishing and splashing, which was also the perfect way to cool everyone down on a warm day… Hello summer!! xxxx

If you go down to the canal today you’re sure of a BIG surprise….

If you go down to the canal today you’ll never believe your eyes !!!

Our local canal certainly did not disappoint when Exploring Elephants went for a stroll along there recently…

They were obsessed with transport within their room, so they decided to all go on a little walk in the hope of discovering some real boats. It was soon mission accomplished along with many, many other exciting finds:

Boats

Ducks

Horses

Gruffalo

Beautiful flowers

Wonderful alfresco snack

What a perfect morning walk they had before coming back to Jollies to enjoy James’ scrummy home-cooked lunch …… that was after they’d fed the ducks their lunch, of course!! xxxx