Cherry Room at Hartcliffe Nursery School has had lots of interest in food and making things this week, with children engaging in imaginative play, cooking experiences and collaborative building projects.
Outside in the sand, children have been making cakes, using twigs and sticks to make candles for birthday cakes. They even looked up a recipe to know what to put into their mixture to make the cakes, with lots of talk about cooking at home and how children help their grown-ups. The activity developed over the week as children thought really hard to remember what ingredients they needed for their cakes. When dinosaurs were added to the sand area outside, some children thought it was the dinosaurs’ birthday, so they made cakes for them and thought about how old they were and how many candles they would need to find.
Kelly has been coming in to cook with Cherry Room on Monday mornings, and this week children made a pea and cream cheese dip. Lots of children helped to make it and especially enjoyed squashing the peas, although this was quite tricky as they liked to roll away when squashed with a fork. Many children helped to cut ingredients and mix them all together. Once it was made, children tried the dip on its own and with carrot, cucumber, pepper sticks and pitta bread. It was really healthy and delicious!
Towards the end of the week, Cherry Room had a teddy bears’ picnic inside and children had a go at writing shopping lists for things they would like to have at their picnic. There was lots of talking about the picnics children have been on, connecting their play experiences with real-life memories.
Building with blocks, both inside and outside, has also been very popular. Children have been working together to think, design and plan what they wanted to build. The blocks looked very heavy, but children showed strength in carrying them and helping out friends if they were struggling, demonstrating both physical development and collaborative skills.
These diverse experiences in Cherry Room support children’s mathematical thinking, creative expression, physical development and social skills whilst encouraging healthy eating and teamwork.
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