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January
- holidayclub0
- 12 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Breakfast and Afterschool Club
We have welcomed some new faces into breakfast and afterschool club recently and they have settled in brilliantly. They have come over with their friends from school and the children have been amazing showing them around Hollies, where they can play and what they can do.
Everyone has enjoyed the wooden blocks coming back out, creations have been made that are bigger than the children. There has been some great team work, helping each other stack, build and balance ready to be turned into a zoo, garage or even a robot.
Painting is always a big hit and what lovely pictures we have had, it is such a relaxing activity after a busy day at school.
Racing around on the ride ons, especially the go karts, is a favourite outdoor activity. There is a couple of ride ons that can be connected together and the children like to pull each other along on them, going around and avoiding objects. Some of our younger after schoolers have also been enjoying the balance bikes and scooters.
There is so many different story books at Hollies and we all love having a sit and a read, they sound even better when the older children read to us.
We started trialing a new way of serving snack over the last couple of weeks, which so far has been going really well. We have set up a table in the main room and the children have been lining up to collect their own snack, this has been working well as it helps reduce the noise levels in the room slightly and the children are enjoying the added independence it offers.
Pre-School
What have we been up to...
Well, what a chilly start to the New Year we have had! It came with some very exciting adventures. The children loved getting our red sledge out and racing around the playground with it. A favourite was shouting the teachers to go faster as we pulled them around, but they did also love pulling their friends along and speeding around corners.
We had to be extra careful on the slippery floor and it made us all walk like penguins. There wasn't quite enough snow for a proper snowman but we did manage to make a couple of tiny ones and some super, duper snowman were made at the playdough table inside. The school field had a bit more snow than we did and the school children came over to the fence to show us what big snowballs they could make.
The Home corner turned into a Hairdressers for the first couple of weeks back and we have had some very jazzy haircuts. It has been clip and bobble galore at Hollies recently and you probably wont be able to guess some of the places they have been found!! The children have been so kind and gentle whilst doing each other's hair and our chief hairdresser, Melissa, has been showing them some new hairstyles to give a try.
After hiding in the sheds for a little while the balance bikes have come out to play and they have been very well used. The children LOVE them and are amazing at whizzing around the playground, navigating obstacles, practicing braking and completing little challenges. It has been a great opportunity to practice sharing and turn taking with the children, the sand timers have never been so well used. The children are managing this much more independently the longer the bikes have been out. We have had a ramp to go up and down and have drawn a track along the floor for them to follow along, the trick is making sure everyone goes in the same direction!
So far this year our Caterpillar Group has been very busy and we have added some extra sessions on. We now have one available every morning and afternoon for our younger cohort of children to access and they are loving it! It is a great quieter area for them to explore, helping us to build friendships, encourage language and build up lots of different skills. We especially love a sing song or an ice cream when we visit, though sometimes there is a bit of a queue!
The Big Garden Birdwatch has just gone bye and we have been busy watching and exploring all about birds. The binoculars and magnifying glasses came out to play and we have spied lots of different kinds of birds in our garden, we have had pictures inside to look at and have then tried to see if we could find the same birds outside. So far we have seen magpies, pigeons, robins and more. We have hung up some tasty coconuts with seed inside for the birds to eat and they have been pecking away at them, the birds do seem to visit when we have all gone inside though and its a bit quieter, so we have to peek at them through the window.
Inside we have also been exploring birds in our sensory box, looking at eggs, how they hatch and then who comes out. We have been talking a lot about how birds make their nests and exploring some of the different resources they might use.
Early Language and Literacy
As staff at Hollies, we have some designated roles that allows us to each focus on a different area of the children's development/needs so we can give them the best support and guidance in all areas of their development. Jo is our Early Language and Literacy Lead and has been introducing lots of exciting things into the setting for us to explore. Here is a little paragraph from Jo to tell you a bit more about her role.
"Hello, I’m Jo – Early Language and Literacy Lead
My role is to help children develop their speech, language, and early love of books in a fun and natural way. I support this through everyday play, stories, songs, talking together, and exploring mark‑making. I work closely with the team to create a warm, language‑rich environment where children feel happy, curious, and confident to share their ideas.
I also enjoy working in partnership with parents, sharing simple and practical ideas to support language and early literacy at home. My goal is to help every child start school feeling confident and ready to thrive as a communicator and future reader — and to support families as active partners in that exciting journey.
I’m always happy to chat about your child’s language development, share ideas, or answer any questions, so please feel free to come and talk to me."
Jo has been very busy throughout the setting introducing new and exciting activities and resources to help us support your child's language development. She has been working very hard to reintroduce the 'Nursery Rhyme Books' which have been coming home in your child's bookbag and keeping them up to date with fun and exciting songs. Jo has also been putting signs with these songs to help encourage language for those who may have limited speech and help give everyone a wider vocabulary.
What is coming up...
Coming up in February we have got some exciting events that we will be celebrating with the children.
The Winter Olympics are being held in Milan this year between the 6th and 22nd of February, we can explore these with the children looking at and introducing some sports that they have perhaps not heard of before.
The 9th to the 15th is also Children's Mental Health Week which is so important for us to talk about and explore with the children. Although we do this with our children daily, it is a great opportunity to spend a bit of extra time talking about feelings, giving them names and helping give the children tools to regulate themselves.
Both Pancake Day and Chinese New Year fall on the 17th Feb, although this is in Holiday Club we will celebrate these with the children before we break up for half term.
Our Favourite Stories...
A favourite story in younger circle at the minute has been 'We're going on a bear hunt' and they love it! We have a story sack just for this story that had bottles filled with the different obstacles in the story, it's great listening to the sounds each one makes and matching them up to the pictures. I think we can all say the story without words now, we've read it that much. When playing outside the story comes to life, everyone joining in as we make our way through the water, mud and sneak into the cave, it does get very noisy on the way back out though!
Our older children have been enjoying some of the rhyming books we have been getting out, they are picking up some words throughout the stories that rhyme and we have been chatting to see if we can think of anymore.
A Mindful Moment...
Welcome to this blog’s mindfulness and wellbeing moment.
This gentle activity is a small invitation to slow down, connect, and enjoy a calm moment together. There’s no right or wrong way to join in — even a minute or two can help support your child’s emotional wellbeing and sense of security.
February – Talking About Feelings
Try asking: “How are you feeling today?” Happy, sad, tired or excited — all feelings are okay.
❤️🙂😴😠 💛 This helps your child understand their feelings and feel listened to.
👂 March – Listening Time
Try this: Sit quietly for a moment and listen. “What sounds can you hear around you?”
👂🎶🚗🐦 💛 This supports focus, attention and being present in the moment.
At two years old, children learn best through being close to you, copying what they see, and enjoying simple, repeated experiences. These prompts are short, playful and flexible — even a few seconds is enough.
😊 February – Feelings Faces
Try this: Make a happy face, a sad face, a tired face. Name them as you show them.
❤️🙂😴 💛 This helps your child begin to notice and recognise feelings.
👂 March – Listening Moment
Try this: Pause for a moment and listen together. Point and name any sounds you hear.
👂🎶🐦 💛 This supports attention and shared focus with you.
You may not notice a change straight away, and that’s okay. The impact builds slowly through repeated, caring moments. Thank you for taking this time with your child — your presence is the most important part.
Thank you for reading, we hope you all have a lovely half term and we will see you all for lots more excitement soon.
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