Yellow Room at St Werburgh’s Park Nursery School has been finding lots of creative ways to stay cool and engaged during the warm weather, with water play offering wonderful opportunities for exploration, creativity and shared learning experiences.
Over the past week, the children have taken great care in looking after the nursery plants, thoughtfully watering them and noticing how they change in the heat. This has supported their growing understanding of the natural world, as well as fostering a real sense of responsibility and care for living things. The children have observed which plants need more water on hot days and become more aware of how their actions help keep plants healthy. Alongside the gardening activities, stories have provided a calm and engaging way to cool down, with a particular interest in bear-themed books, including the familiar We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. The children have enjoyed retelling parts of the story together, building language skills and confidence as they share ideas and experiences.
Water play has also inspired some exciting investigations and discoveries. The children showed strong curiosity in filling containers and watching what happens when they overflow, exploring cause and effect through playful experimentation. This curiosity led to the creation of their own volcanoes, where they explored how different amounts of water caused ‘explosions’ and spillages. These hands-on investigations supported early problem-solving skills as children made predictions, tested them out and observed the results.
It has been a week full of curiosity, imagination and collaboration, with children at St Werburgh’s Park learning through play whilst keeping cool and comfortable.