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Happy New Year from everyone at Hollies!
Our first week back got off to a bit of a cold and slippery start, which sadly meant we had to close, but as we are watching the ice melt we are ready for a great 2025 full of new and exciting adventures.
All the children have come back full of big smiles, hugs and lots of exciting stories about their time off. We have also welcomed some brand new faces into Hollies who have settled in brilliantly, especially with the help of their new friends!
What have we been up to...
We have only been back in for a few days but have managed to pack lots into them!
Last week, the children had great fun exploring the snow in the playground. All the chocolate over Christmas has given the children some great big muscles and they have been pulling each other around on the sledges, doing some really great turn taking!
The playground was full of hundreds of little footprints and we enjoyed trying to make snowmen and snowballs.
In the main room we have added a 'Calm Corner' for the children to use. There is a cozy box to sit in and some blankets to use. This is for if the children are feeling a bit sad, overwhelmed or would just like some quiet time. Looking through the window whilst sitting inside has been well enjoyed and sitting with a book or having a chat with a friend has been working really well.
Very coincidentally with the snow, an igloo has been built inside the home corner and we love it! Just like a real igloo it is nice and cozy inside and the children have loved peeping through the window at the top. It has been a great introduction for talking about people around the world who might live in different houses and how their lives are different to ours. There are also lots of building resources so the children can build their own designs and lots of snowy animals for us to chat about and explore.
What we are working on...
Over the coming weeks we will be welcoming the children back into the setting and helping them to settle back into our Hollies routines. We will continue to support them to build and nurture friendships with their peers and adults.
As most of you will know our older children have their circle in Badger Base and are known as our Badger's, this helped the children to understand who we we're talking too when we asked the 'Badger's' to line up for circle. We were asked by one of our new parents what our younger children are called, which then started a conversation between us. Before Christmas we introduced the term 'Cub's' to our younger children and that is what they are now known as. In their younger years with us they will be our 'Badger Cub's' and once they get a bit older and move into their last year with us before school they will turn into our 'Big Badgers'. So if you hear them talking about being a cub you now know why 😊.
What is coming up...
After a very busy term at the start of the academic year, this half term is looking a bit quieter. However, there is still so much for us to look forward to.
Throughout this term we will be celebrating Chinese New Year, this year being the year of the Snake.
On February 5th we will be having a visit from the Bookstart Bear, they are absolutely brilliant and come and read some stories with us and sing some songs. Afterwards a REALLY big bear comes into Hollies for a hug and to do some dancing, the children always love it.
We have also introduced our Rhyme Books for the children to take home with them. Every few weeks a new rhyme and sign will be added in for you to enjoy with the children at home.
Our Favourite Stories...
We love to read all different kinds of stories at Hollies. The children love our singing stories, our picture books and also making up their own stories. At the minute we have got lots of fact books out in the home corner, the home corner is an igloo at the moment, so there are books about snowy places such as Canada and Alaska, there are books about different animals and people who live in the snow. There is also an Atlas out for the children to explore and look at.
A big hit with some of our younger children at the moment is 'The Hungry Caterpillar' and no matter how many times we read it we still love it, especially seeing it turn into a butterfly at the end.
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