This first part of the Summer term has been focused on the topic of ‘farming’. This has been a particular favourite with some of the children who are keen tractor enthusiasts!
Butterflies started looking at the different jobs that farmers do and even created their own farmer out of a variety of materials. The children came out with an extensive list recognising that not all farmers farm animals but some farm crops, fruits and vegetables. We particularly enjoyed using the book ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ as it prompted lots of learning opportunities around giving and following directions. As part of this, the children created their own farm where we strategically placed animals and buildings before then learning how to programme the bee bot to get from a- b without falling in any muddy puddles! We then moved on to looking at crops that farmers grow and where our food comes from. The children have really enjoyed some hands-on learning as they explored lots of different fruits and vegetables in the role play area as they chopped, sniffed and felt all the different textures. We had some particularly observant children who recognised that some vegetables grow underground, and some grow on top of the ground.
The Caterpillars have been busy little farmers; planting vegetables and remembering to give them a drink every day. After reading ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ we used our knitted characters to help us re-tell the story and even planted our own bean plants! We are anxiously waiting for them to grow high enough so that we can climb to the top and see if we can find the castle!We have had some interesting discussions about where food comes from and, as usual, our children surprised us with their wealth of knowledge. Most of us knew that an egg comes from a chicken, so we decided to have a closer look at them, identifying all the parts and then mixing them, we made some delicious scrambled egg for one of our afternoon snacks!
We have finished the term off in a party mood as we celebrated the Queen’s Jubilee. We have followed patterns to make bunting, crowns, paper chains and painting portraits all whilst learning all about The Queen and what she does for us.