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Baby & Toddlers: How do we belong?
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Baby
Week 1: “Belonging in our room.”
This week baby room officially opened and all of the children began their settling in sessions. During this time the children engaged in lots of free flow play to allow them to explore all areas and found their individual interests within the room. We started to introduce our routine to the children during settling in sessions such as our meal times and designated times for sensory play and songs.
Week 2: “Belonging to ourselves”
The children were encouraged to begin to have an idea of their sense of self. Babies engaged in singing the one little finger song to encourage understanding of our body parts as well as enjoying metallic play with mirrors and body part flashcards to further this. We also began to encourage a sense of independence through self care routines as children brush their own teeth and wash their hands supported by our washing babies in the water tray activity.
Week 3: “Belonging with our friends”
We had a strong focus on collaboration this week as we set up lots of group activities to encourage babies to play alongside others and develop turn taking skills. We particularly loved our spaghetti meatballs messy tray where the babies developed their motor skills as they scooped plates of pasta onto plates for their friends and carers to “eat”. During construction play we all built towers together and carer ensured to use “my turn, your turn” approaches to lock in on the children’s turn taking.
Week 4: “Belonging in Nature”
To develop our sense of belonging within nature babies engaged in lots of messy and sensory activities linking to animals such as our large beach set up where they expanded their understanding of the world as they explored the new textures of the sand between their toes whilst looking at the different animals they can find on a beach. Another activity was a woodland messy play, children began to play with a range of natural resources such as pinecones and wood slices.
Week 5: “Belonging with our Families”
Carers sat down alongside the babies to read stories about families and the people we love. We drew pictures of our mummy’s and daddy’s using chalk and did a variety of valentines crafts such as making heart paintings and cards as well as ice play
Week 6: “Celebrating Belonging”
For our final week of belonging we have reflected on what we have learnt and delved deeper into collaboration. The children engaged in construction messy trays, making music and nature themed trays. Next term we will be looking at “Community”.
Toddlers
Week 1: “Belonging to Ourselves”
This week the children have enjoyed exploring how they belong to themselves. The children have sung head, shoulders, knees and toes recognizing where parts of their own body are. We have focused on our hygiene this week, encouraging our handwashing independently and brushing our teeth properly too!
Week 2: “Belonging with our Friends”
Our children enjoyed collaborating this week; they enjoyed creating together in the construction area taking turns to build towers and problem solving together. We also enjoyed exploring the sea animal water tray together, discussing the different sea animals we could find.
Week 3: “Belonging in our Room”
We have explored belonging in our room this week; the children have engaged in our daily routine. Together we discussed what comes next in our routine, and the children identified what came next. We also enjoyed self-serving our snack using the spoons to
scoop the fruit into our bowls, deciding how much snack we would like.
Week 4: “Belonging in Nature”
This week we have discovered belonging in nature, the children enjoyed using leaves and paint to create their own leaf print pictures! We also had lots of fun exploring the different insects in our insect tray. The children also engaged in some research about how flowers grow.
Week 5: “Belonging with our Families”
The children began making Valentine's Day crafts this week, when making a card we discussed the people we love and who was in our family. We also enjoyed reading children’s stories about love and who we love. We also researched different families and discovered that all families consist of different members.
Week 6: “Celebrating Belonging”
Lastly, for our final week of belonging, the children have enjoyed reflecting on belonging! We have collaborated in the garden
together racing the bikes around, explored our jungle animal tray and completed puzzles together, developing our sense of belonging! Next term we will be looking at “Community”.
