Two Year Old Room
March 2025 - Promoting a love of books
At Birchwood Nursery and Preschool, we celebrate the magic of books every day, but World Book Day is always memorable as children have the opportunity to share their favourite book.
This year, the children and staff celebrated their favourite bedtime stories and came to school in their pyjamas. This is always a fun day for us, and we focus on the joy of reading. We expose the children to positive and engaging learning experiences so that they leave Birchwood Preschool and Nursery with a love of books and a desire to read.
February 2025 - Maths is everywhere!
“Without mathematics, there’s nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics. Everything around you is numbers.” – Shakuntala Devi
Math is an important part of learning for children in the early years because it provides vital life skills. They will help children problem solve, measure and develop their own spatial awareness, and teach them how to use and understand shapes.
Children notice and explore mathematical dimensions of their world in and outside of our nursery environment. They compare quantities, find patterns, navigate in space, and grapple with real problems such as balancing a tall block building or sharing a bowl of crackers with a friend at snack.
January 2025 - Dinosaur Roar
Dinosaur Roar by Henrietta Stickland, and Paul Stickland.
Throughout this book the children discover colourful dinosaur characters on every page! With a simple, rhyming text that is perfect for reading aloud, coupled with bold and charming illustrations, this much-loved picture book classic has been delighting young dinosaur fans for over twenty-five years.
Dinosaur Roar! is endorsed by the Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum, in London.
We have explored dinosaur footprints by mark making with toy dinosaurs in play dough and also the properties of ice during the recent cold spell as we observe the ice melting and discover the frozen dinosaurs.
December 2024 - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star sing along with me sound book - Bright, fun illustrations bring this well-loved song to life. The chunky board book pages are perfect for little hands! With a noisy sound button and bright, colourful illustrations, your little ones have enjoyed singing along and doing the actions too.
We can sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and join in with the actions, too. We have also explored a range of resources including magnets to create stars, wooden stars to stack and count and props to retell the story.
November 2024 - Incy Wincy Spider
The children have enjoyed exploring the spiders and resources supporting the core book, Incy Wincy Spider. They are able so sing and join in with the actions when singing together as a group.
Reading to children has astonishing benefits; comfort, reassurance, confidence and security, relaxation, happiness and fun. It builds self-esteem, vocabulary, and feeds the imagination.
November 2024 - Minibeasts and classroom pets.
The children show high levels of interest and engagement in minibeasts both inside and outside the classrooms. We keep stick insects and Giant African land snails inside and can find ladybugs and spiders in the garden.
Learning how to gently hold the insects and creatures teaches us to be gentle, calm and respectful. The children also learn how not to be afraid of spiders. Some are able to pick them up and put them down gently outside.
October 2024 - Light play
Light play is known to be one of the most intriguing elements of exploration with young children; a way to tap into emotion, beauty, vivid imagination, evoking feelings and CURIOSITY! Light play is the epitome of open-ended inquiry and discovery and not just for our children but for us too. Light play brings an ever-changing world for our children as they become curious and inquisitive about the projections, perceptions and dimensions exploring with light can bring. So, it is our job as the mindful practitioner, to provide opportunities for awe and wonder for the children, to be the scaffold in their learning.
Allow them to notice things, whether it be from natural light, where the sun creates shadows or silhouettes or whether it be from projections and what they can do with it. It is our responsibility to help our children notice, observe and be aware of these magical experiences, finding wonders in the world around us all.
Benefits
Light play is scientific, it’s inquisitive. Children are thinking how is this happening? It can really take their thinking to a deeper level. It’s a great way to introduce “STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) into children’s play. STEM is a deliberate grouping of subjects, which are essential for the development of critical thinking, creativity and problem solving and using light within children’s play is an absolute perfect way to do this.
October 2024 - “We are independent”
Independence is important because…
It promotes confidence and self-esteem as well as motivation and perseverance in school. It fosters self-reliance, allowing your child to feel they have control over their life.
Some of the most important attributes of independent learning include children being able to use the environment for themselves, to make choices and decisions and to start to develop their own thoughts and views.
Independence fosters one's ability to be self-reliant and self-sufficient, to be able to do what is necessary to create a fulfilling life for oneself and one's family.
September 2024 - That's not my...
The children have enjoyed exploring the That’s not my …. Usbourne touchy feely book collection. They are learning to handle books respectfully, hold the books up the correct way, turn the pages one at a time, gently explore the sensory tactile pages and listen to the story.
The importance of reading for children cannot be underestimated. Reading for pleasure can benefit a child’s education, social and cognitive development, their wellbeing, and their mental health.
September 2024 - First few weeks...
A very warm welcome to all the children and their families for the new term.
The children are settling well in to the new routines. They have the confidence to free-flow inside and outdoors within the setting, and are building relationships with their key person and other staff supporting them.
