January at Atworth

Hello 2023! The team had a very restful Christmas break and have been busy as ever this month! We have had loads going on from making feeders for national bird day to celebrating Australia day with sausages! Here’s a little look back at our month and some key dates for your diaries.

Events events events …

This month we have celebrated national bird day, Chinese New Year, burns night and Australia day! Pre-school even celebrated children’s inventors’ day and pre-school health and fitness day.

For national bird day we made bird feeders and popped out into the garden really quietly to see what birds we could find. Toddlers have been exploring the binoculars in their room looking at their environments super close and far away!

Chinese New Year brought an array of activities to Atworth, pre-school made spring rolls, toddlers made their own rocking rabbits for the year of the hare, and babies have been diving into Chinese culture and colours!

Burns night brought haggis for lunch which was a hit with most, but not with all! And plenty of activities using tartan patterns and Scottish flags.

For Australia day the children were able to explore Australian culture with some lamington cakes, cork decorated hats, and sausages cooked over the fire!

Take a look below at pre-schools amazing creations for their inventors’ day, and some of the sporting activities they got up to.

Babies spotlight

Babies have been getting creative! They have been exploring all things messy from pencils to crayons to moon sand! They have been exploring texture by squeezing and practicing their fine motor skills learning how to hold pencils and pens to make marks. We definitely have some little artists in the making!

Toddlers spotlight

The weather didn’t deter the toddlers! They have been busy getting outdoors and enjoying the gloomy weather! They have been putting their skills to the test with balance bikes, scooters and hula hoops! A firm favourite for the toddlers recently is football and seeing how many balls they can kick around the garden!

Pre-school spotlight

Pre-school have been focusing on The Tiger who Came to Tea, they have shared picnics in the role play area with a tiger, painted their own tiger pictures and made some tiger-coloured gloop! Pre-school have also been giving Mel a helping hand in the kitchen, making baby pizzas with muffins and kneading dough to make bread!

Ella’s big cycle…

We thought we’d better let you know that from the 24th-28th of April I will be on annual leave making my way to Amsterdam.. on two wheels! I have teamed up with the charity Sporting Family Change to take on the challenge of cycling across four countries in four days. We will start in London and cross through Dunkirk, Bruges and Rotterdam before arriving in Amsterdam, covering a different country each day. Snapdragons are very kindly sponsoring the ride and are behind me every step of the way. I am absolutely no cyclist so this will be a huge challenge, but for a great purpose and a great cause. There is LOADS more to come on this soon which will be e-mailed out to you, but in the meantime, if you wanted to sponsor me in the hopes I make it to Amsterdam, please follow the link below.

Ella's four countries in four days | Localgiving

Reminders and dates for your diaries

To round things up we just wanted to pop a reminder out that during this time of year we really appreciate having labelled woolly hats and gloves and where possible, and a waterproof suit for your little ones. We do try to explore the outdoors in all weathers so these few things really make it a lot more inviting! We do have a few spares – but just not quite enough to cater for all! Please also remember to bring your little one in with a named water bottle, and a pair of slippers for their room!

Also a reminder that you can follow the link below to nominate your ‘snappy superstar’ these really boost the team’s morale and pop a huge smile on their face. We are celebrating ‘time to talk’ day with our staff this week, making sure we make time to talk about what’s on our minds, and they have all received a little pick-me-up gift too!

https://www.snapdragonsnursery.com/superstar

Upcoming dates
- Children’s mental health week 6th-12th February
- Valentine’s day - 14th February
- Term ends for term time only children - Friday 10th February
- Next term begins for term time only children - Monday 20th February
- World oral health day - 20th March
- Nutrition and hydration week - 13th-19th March