Welcome to Spring time, as February arrives here at The Children’s House!! We’ve had a lovely time in January but are looking forward to a new month, & to celebrating St Brigid’s Day on Wednesday by making St Brigid’s crosses, & we’re excited about all the changes that Spring will bring!! We’re going to be talking about the weather changes that will be happening, & making bird feeders at the end of the week, as well as doing music & movement & listening to Vivaldi’s Spring – a lovely week ahead!!

Hello Spring (to tune of Frere Jacques)

Hello Spring, Hello Spring,
Goodbye snow, flowers grow.
Birds and bees,
Leaves on trees,
Hello Spring, Hello Spring!

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!! We will be learning about the year of the Rabbit with the children this week, and we will be talking about some of the traditions associated with the Chinese New Year – cleaning the house and decorating it (mainly in red the lucky colour), the red packets of money given to children, the New Year’s Eve family dinner, and the fireworks to drive away evil to name some! We will be doing process art making fans, and also creating cherry blossom trees with our arms & hands!

Chinese New Year Poem

Dragons, lions,
Red and gold,
In with the New Year,
Out with the old.

Banners flying,
Bands playing,
Lions prancing,
Dragons swaying.

Fireworks crackling,
Lanterns swinging,
People laughing,
Dancing, singing.

We’re going to be doing all about healthy eating this week at The Children’s House!! We will be looking at the food pyramid during the week, and discussing what sort of food our bodies need to work properly, and how much quantities we should have of different types of food – lots of fruit, vegetables, meat, milk, bread & breakfast cereals, and the occasional treat! It’s so important to have a healthy attitude to nutrition while also being aware of the amount of fats, sugars and salts that there can be in food. To this end, we will be talking about using the energy that food gives us to exercise, and how important this also is for our bodies’ growth and development. We will look at food sample jars to match to the pyramid, to relate it to the children’s lives in a practical way, & they will be making lunch plate artwork – they should come up with some interesting meal ideas!!

Apples & Bananas

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.

Now let’s make a long “a” sound…ay-ples and ba-nay-nays
I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays
I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays

Let’s try a long “e” sound…ee-ples and ba-nee-nees
I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and ba-nee-nees
I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and ba-nee-nees

How about a long “i” sound…i-ples and ba-nigh-nighs
I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and ba-nigh-nighs
I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and ba-nigh-nighs

Great, let’s sing it with a long “o” sound…oh-ples and ba-no-nos
I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and ba-no-nos
I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and ba-no-nos

I know let’s make an “oo” sound…oo-ples and ba-noo-noos
I like to oot, oot, oot, oopples and ba-noo-noos
I like to oot, oot, oot, oopples and ba-noo-noos

Apples and bananas, one more time!
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas.

Welcome back to The Children’s House and a very happy new year to you all!! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the break – we’re definitely ready to get back into our routine here and see all our friends again! This week we’ll be settling back in, telling all our news from the holidays, doing some new activities on the Practical Life shelf and progressing with others, doing fireworks art & sensory play with rice, & yoga as well as a birthday walk for the Earth!

We Wish you a Merry Christmas

Bells are ringing, people singing,
New year’s here! New year’s here!
Happy, happy new year!
Happy, happy new year,
Let’s all cheer –
New year’s here!