W,e have been very busy outside these last few weeks. After reading the story Grandpa's Garden we decided to plant our own vegetable patch. There were lots of jobs to do. First we decided to make our own compost bin, we collected up lots of dead leaves and put them in and have been saving the leftover fruit from our snack to put in too. Then we needed to prepare our beds for planting, it was a tough job digging and preparing the ground but we all helped and got stuck in. We found lots of worms and other minibeasts while we were doing this! Then we put down some new compost for our vegetables to grow in and raked it flat so it was ready to plant in. Finally it was time to plant our seeds, some of us noticed how the seeds looked different depending on which vegetable they would grown into. We made some signs so we could remember what we planted and watered the soil. We can't wait to see if they grow! 

When we came back to school this term we found an exciting delivery, some caterpillars! We quickly got to work finding out about the caterpillars and what will happen to them, and we made some signs telling others to be careful around them. For our Key Texts we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Crunching Munching Caterpillar, we are all really good at retelling these now and also talking about the lifecycle of a butterfly. Our caterpillars have now cocooned and we are eagerly awaiting our butterflies emerging so that we can see what they look like and then release them! 

This week we have shared the book - The Emperor's Egg by Martin Jenkins.
The children (and grown-ups) have really enjoyed finding out information about Emperor Penguins. Did you know there are seventeen kinds of penguin and the male Emperor Penguins are the tallest in the world?! 
Today we have been waddling like penguins and getting from one place to another by using our tummies to slide around just like the penguins. It was lots of fun!

We have had lots of fun in the snow today. The children made snowmen, snowballs and we even had time to squeeze in a quick science experiment of making a snow volcano! 

We had a surprise when we arrived in FS2 this morning, Jingle the Elf had arrived and is going to stay with us for a few weeks. He had a letter with him, and some treats too, and had put our Christmas boxes out. We put on some Christmas songs to get us feeling festive and got to work decorating our tree and classroom. We also found some Christmas themed outfits in our box and had fun dressing up in these too. Later on some of the children decided to draw some fantastic pictures of our tree and some other children practised their letter formation when making another decoration. Jingle was watching carefully all day and at home time he chose two children to have one of the treats he had brought us. He is going to pick two children each day to help us count down to Christmas. What a festive, fun day we have had! 

We have been very excited in FS2 because we have a new swing! Some of us found it tricky to get on and keep our balance but with lots of practise we are now becoming experts! Swinging helps to build our core muscles, balance and spatial awareness, not to mention it is lots of fun!! 

During our outside time we have been learning all about keeping safe on and near the roads. The children have loved using the traffic lights and bikes on our painted road.

We did lots of talking about keeping safe. It is important to find a safe place to cross, wait for the green man, look both ways, listen and always hold a grown-ups hand when crossing a road. We also went for a little walk down our path to look for zebra crossings, practise crossing the road and looking for different signs. 

There has been lots to celebrate recently and the children have loved sharing their experiences of Halloween, Birthdays, Bonfire Night and Remembrance Day. 

This week we have also learnt about Diwali, the festival of lights. We have read the story of Rama and Sita and been very creative making Rangoli patterns and Diva lamps. What a busy week we have had!