This half term our topic is Wheels

Our weekly themes will include trains, buses, diggers and cars. We will look at books such as ‘Fix it duck’ and ‘The Little Red Train’ and our role play areas will be a bus, then a construction site and finally a Chinese restaurant. Outside, we will have a train and then a garage and car wash. For our creative work we will make ‘junk model’ vehicles and investigate tyre rubbings and prints as well as exploring wheeled toys, cogs and water wheels. We will also find out about Chinese New Year and the Buddhist symbol of the Dharma wheel.

At home, you could follow up our wheels work by:

• Counting the wheels on vehicles or toys and looking at the tyre patterns.
• Reading transport books e.g. ‘Meg’s Car’, ‘Go, Maisy, Go!’
• Playing with wheeled toys – make your own ramps and tunnels and measure how far the toys travel on different surfaces.
• Travelling on a bus or train (when allowed!), talking about where you are going. Buy the ticket together and look at the sign at the bus stop.
• Sorting your toy cars/trains by colour/size etc.
• Looking at number plates and road signs and talking about road safety.
• Visiting a transport museum (when allowed) e.g. Whitewebbs Museum of Transport EN2 9HP http://www.whitewebbsmuseum.co.uk/, Brooklands (J10, M25) https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/, London transport museum https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/ or Science museum (virtual tour at https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/virtual-tour-science-museum) or Harlow’s museum with its large collection of historic bikes https://www.harlow.gov.uk/parks-and-culture/harlow-museum-and-walled-gardens or the Speedway museum at Paradise Park https://www.pwpark.com/attractions/national-speedway-museum/

If your child has any specific interests in this topic, please let us know and we will make the most of this. Also, do keep adding your own observations to Tapestry – it’s lovely to share their wider learning experiences of days out, new skills, favourite things etc.

Dates for this half term

Tuesday 5^th January – New children start nursery

Wednesday 6^th January – First day for children returning to nursery (usual hours)

Date to be confirmed – Phonics meeting on Zoom

8^th-11^th February – Parent Consultations on Zoom

12^th February - Chinese New Year

If you are willing to make a £2.50 per child contribution towards cooking for the Spring term, there will be a pot for donations by the gate. Thanks!