This half term we will be looking at life cycles to traditional stories to the universe and even people that help us.

During our life cycle topic we will have frogspawn at preschool and watching as the little tadpoles develop and then turn into little frogs. We also had our caterpillars delivered this week. They are very tiny but in a few days we will transfer them into the butterfly pavilion and watch as they develop. When they have transformed into beautiful butterflies we will release them and watch as they fly away. During this we will be drawing and painting caterpillars and butterflies, we will also be creating models of how they might look like as they grow. Books we will be ready at preschool are The Very Hungry Caterpillar, A seed in Need and The Enormous Turnip – perhaps you could share these at home as well. You could also try making a little “sprout house” – plant a bean in a jar or bag and watch as the roots grow. Also if you are out for a walk, talk about the changes to the trees and plants.

Traditional Stories – Read your favourite books together. Can your child re-tell you their favourite story? Maybe you could make porridge, like Goldilocks. Perhaps you could match shoes to their owner at home, just like in Cinderella.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know, the more that you will learn, then more places you will go”

Dr Seuss

The Universe – we can all help to protect our planet – can you recycle? Perhaps can you try making compost from any un-eaten vegetables? Can you save water? All these little things will help to save the planet.

Can you look at the similarities and differences between the planets of the solar system? How many planets are there? Are you able to make any of them? Please bring them in to show us. Also try counting down to launch a rocket into space.

People who help us – can you practice road safety? What would you like to be when you grow up? Who will you help? Maybe you could draw or write a letter and post it to someone. How does it get there? Who collects and delivers it? Look at house numbers and postcodes – they help the postman find the right house. Possible books that could be read – The Smartest Giant in Town, Little Red Riding Hood and The Elves and the Shoemaker.

Pirates and Princesses – You could host a tea party or a treasure hunt. Who doesn’t love a treasure map? You could make a princess crown with repeating patterns. How about making a pirate ship den or a princess castle – how exciting! Books you could share are 10 Little Pirates, Cinderella or your favourite princess book.

This half term we will be looking at “how things grow”. This will include babies and children, animals, plants, fruit and vegetables. We will be growing our own potatoes, growing beans in a jar or bag, measuring the children to see how much they grow over the next few weeks. Also we will be matching baby animals with their mummies and daddies! To support your children at home with the following books are great – The Hungry Caterpillar, Jack and the Beanstalk and Someone bigger. You can also look at baby photos and talk about the changes you see. Plant some seeds at home and watch them grown. Measure each family member to see who has grown the most!

4th March is World Book Day – come to preschool dressed as your favourite book character. What will the Little Owls ladies come dressed as?!

This leads us onto Science week – How exciting creating lots of experiments to create awe and wonder for the children. Circle time activities will be science based, along with magnetic painting, bath bombs, celery and food colouring experiments and how can we have science week without gloop and volcanoes! To help at home have a look at http://www.dadlab.com for some experiment ideas. Try making and mixing potions. Maybe even make some gloop with water and cornflour. Or get really creative and make a volcano with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda.

Mother’s Day is 14th March – we will be making something special for special people.

We are also going to be looking at the weather. What a great subject, we love talking about this don’t we! We will be making rainmakers, windmills, window water cycles, wind chimes and sun catchers. Please ensure your children have appropriate outdoor clothing as we will also be looking at and creating paint blowing and bubbles. Stories you can share at home are Kipper’s Snowy Day, Percy the Park Keepers The day after the storm. Why not try getting dressed for different weather conditions, can you fly a kite? Make rainbows, find puddles and look at the reflections – what can you see? Then best of all jump in them!

This brings us almost to the end of the spring term and looking at Easter. We will be making cards for the children to send, Easter hats and crowns and also painting egg shapes made by a potato masher! We will be revisiting baby animals to see how they have grown and creating a spring farm scene for our wall. Are you going to have an Easter egg hunt at home – how many do you think you will find? Perhaps you could make some Easter cards at home and take them to the post box to post.

As advised on our term dates we are closed for a PD day on Thursday 25th March.

Please make sure that your child brings a sunhat to preschool each day and that you apply suncream before drop off on sunny days. We’ll top up suncream as necessary during the day.