News Round-Up for Little Cedars Nursery, Streatham (Spring Term)

Today, we give you a glimpse into some of the themed activities and topics that children are getting involved in at Little Cedars Nursery this Spring term. They’re many and varied and give children insights into different subjects, elements of life that they may not yet be familiar with, different cultures, key dates, celebrations and traditions. Such insights will stand them in good stead educationally as well as socially — and many of them are simply great fun too!

One highlight from just this week, for example, was Pancake Day (a.k.a. Shrove Tuesday), which fell on 13th February this year. Children certainly enjoyed getting involved! The photo shows some of our nursery children getting involved in mixing ingredients. Later they could be seen rolling, kneading and shaping pancakes. The next day it was, of course, Valentine’s Day, giving children the chance to get creative and make or give cards if they so chose.

Learning Opportunities from the Spring Term Calendar

With this term running from early January until late March, there are many key dates and celebrations to draw children’s attention to. It’s a great way to broaden children’s horizons and help them learn about the wider world, society, different cultures and religions.

JANUARY

January saw many key dates arriving throughout the month. Examples included: • Martin Luther King Day on the 15th • Winnie the Pooh Day on the 18th • World Religion Day on the 21st • National Handwriting Day on the 23rd • Burns Night on the 25th • Australia Day on the 26th • the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch from the 26th to the 28th • and National Storytelling Week, which began towards the end of the month and stretched into the start of February, which we’ll come to below.

These, along with additional key dates not shown, represent great learning opportunities for children at Little Cedars Nursery in Streatham.

FEBRUARY

The start of February continued with the remainder of National Storytelling Week followed by additional key dates including • Chinese New Year and the Lunar New Year on the 10th • Shrove Tuesday (a.k.a. Pancake Day) on the 13th • Valentine’s Day, Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent on the 14th • Random Acts of Kindness Day on the 17th • World Thinking Day on the 22nd • plus additional key dates not listed.

These are great opportunities for children to discover new facts, understand new concepts, learn about different cultures, get creative, and so on.

MARCH

March 2024 is also jam-packed with key dates that can present great learning and discovery opportunities for children. Examples include: • World Wildlife Day on the 3rd • World Book Day on the 7th (we’ll certainly be making the most of that at Little Cedars Nursery) • the festival of Maha Shivratri on the 8th • Mother’s Day on the 10th — a wonderful opportunity for our children to make something creative for their mums • the start of Ramadan also on the 10th • St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th • the Spring Equinox on the 20th (it’ll be lovely to say goodbye to Winter!) • World Poetry Day on the 21st • the Jewish holiday of Purim (23rd to the 24th) • the Hindu festival of Holi (24th to the 25th) • Palm Sunday on the 24th, the Easter dates of Good Friday (29th), Holy Saturday (30th), and Easter Sunday on the 31st.

The 31st is also when the clocks go forward and we start to enjoy lighter evenings again — fabulous! With that in mind, we’ll be adding some Spring-focused content to the site, relating to the early years, in the coming weeks.

As well as looking at celebrations and festivities from the calendar like those above, we also explore additional topics with the children during the Spring Term.

Earlier in the term, for example, our nursery children enjoyed an array of fun, sensory activities. Using brushes, they explored primary colours and mixing to make secondary colours using snow foam. As well as learning about colours, this activity also helped them practise hand and eye coordination, get in tune with their senses and develop the small muscles needed for fine motor control.

Another recent activity that proved to be a hit with our nursery children was the insect/minibeast hunt. As you can see in the photograph, children gathered around a tuff tray, spotting and ticking off different insects that we’d hidden in the soil. While these particular insects were only man-made representations, children can also use our free Minibeasts Poster to find real ones out in the garden or countryside. Spending time around nature is hugely beneficial to children, as we previously reported, so follow the bold links if you’d like more information.

This term, with that in mind, there will be lots of planting in our garden. Children generally love this activity and it teaches them about nature, responsibility, caring for other living things and so much more.

We’ll also explore the topic of people who help us with the children. This may include a visit from the police, a postman and perhaps a short trip on a public bus. All such things will open children’s eyes to some of the facets of modern society and even the jobs that people do.

Later in the Spring Term, we’ll explore the topic of baby animals and this is sure to delight the little ones! As with the planting activity, it should also nurture their caring side, helping them understand the need to be gentle, responsible and empathetic towards other creatures.

And don’t forget, we also have exciting sports sessions for children every Wednesday, through the external expertise of coach Mihai of Sports Play Motion. Sessions are filled with fun, ever-growing skills, teamwork and laughter. The children look forward to every session!

A 5-Star Nursery in Streatham

Our Streatham nursery is a homely, welcoming, five-star learning environment for under-fives

If you’d like to explore the opportunity of sending your baby, toddler, or preschooler to Little Cedars Nursery in Streatham, please get in touch. We regularly attract 5-star ratings and reviews and are officially a ‘Good Provider’ of early years childcare and education, so you know your child will be in good hands. Please select an option below to get started: