Dear Parents and Carers of our Kingston and Worcester Park nurseries,
Welcome to our newsletter for March 2017.
February was a month full of love and literature as we celebrated both Valentine’s Day and the birthday of Charles Dickens. The children made cakes and biscuits to mark the day of love, and we explored Dickens’ best-known work: Oliver Twist.
This month welcomes in festivals and celebrations from across the globe. The children will be celebrating the traditional Hindu festival of colour – Holi – and will be creating colourful splatter designs to keep and take home.
From the 20th until the 26th March we will be commemorating the work of Shakespeare, Britain’s most acclaimed playwright. The children will learn famous quotes from Shakespeare’s plays and even create their own plays.
March is rounded off with a celebration of mummies everywhere as the children will make cards and gifts to give on Mother’s Day. We will also be talking about our mummies and what makes them so wonderful.
Coming up in March
St David’s Day – 1st March
March marks both St David’s Day and the beginning of Spring. The children will learn how to craft tissue paper daffodils and make daffodil badges. We’ll also be using wooden spoons and socks to make castles and dragons and there will be Welsh fruited bread to taste, too.
Dr Seuss’s Birthday – 2nd March
Dr Seuss’s birthday falls on 2nd March, and to celebrate we will be reading some of his classic stories including ‘If I Ran the Zoo’, ‘Horton Hears a Who’, ‘If I Ran the Circus’, ‘The Cat in the Hat’ and ‘Green Eggs and Ham’.
As well as talking about their favourite stories and why, the children will make their own ‘Cat in the Hat’ and ‘Green Eggs and Ham’. The Pre-School Academy will also take part in some rhyming games using story sacks.
World Book Day – 2nd March
To celebrate World Book Day and encourage the children to explore the pleasures of reading, we would like the children to bring their favourite book from home and come to nursery dressed as their favourite storybook character.
We will be reading from our favourite books, talking about our costumes and discussing our favourite characters.
British Science Week – 10-19th March
The theme for British Science Week 2017 is ‘change’. The children will explore changing colours, changing states and changing weather. Activities include using food colouring to change the colour of the water in a vase of flowers, mixing colours, making slime with cornflour and using empty bottles to measure rain water.
Holi Festival – Mon 13th March
The traditional Hindu festival of colours, known as Holi, marks the transition into Spring. The children will be taking part in spray painting using spray bottles to mark the occasion.
If you would like your child to create a colourful Holi splatter design to keep, please bring a plain t-shirt to nursery for them to decorate. We will also be hosting a neon tea party, and would like the children and team to come to nursery dressed in a neon coloured t-shirt. The children will also be dancing to music with glow sticks.
St Patrick’s Day – Friday 17th March
St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. On 17th March, the children will create their own shamrocks and leprechauns to decorate the nursery. We will also be making our own pot of gold from craft materials, listening to Irish music and learning how to Irish dance.
Shakespeare week – 20th – 26th March
Throughout the week, our pre-schoolers will learn about Shakespeare and what he achieved. The children will be creating their own performances, learning famous quotes from Shakespeare’s plays and practising their writing skills.
Comic Relief – Friday 24th March
To celebrate and raise money for Comic Relief, we would like the children to bring a donation of £1.00 to nursery and dress up as their favourite superhero character or alternatively in something red. We will be designing our own red noses and will be making our own superhero capes, shields and gadgets.
Mother’s Day – Sunday 26th March
To celebrate Mother’s Day, the children will make special cards and gifts to give to their mummies. Please could we ask parents to bring a photograph of your child with their mummy or send a photo to worcesterpark@starsdaynursery.co.uk or kingston@starsdaynursery.co.uk so the children can talk about their mummies.
February Celebrations
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Parent Partnership
Mother’s Day Tea Party
We would like to invite all mothers, grandmothers or any other significant person in your child’s life to join us for a special tea party on Friday 24th March 2017 at 3.45pm – 4.45pm.
If you would like to attend, please email your nursery by Thursday 16th March to confirm your attendance. There is a minimum of 2 guests per child.
Photographer
We are planning to book a photographer to attend the nursery during spring to take individual photographs of the children for you to purchase. A separate announcement will be sent to you with the finalised dates and arrangements.
Reminders
- All parents/carers should make sure their children have suitable warm clothing so they can take part in outdoor play. Children will need a warm waterproof coat, a hat, a pair of gloves, a scarf and wellington boots for the rain.
- When dropping your children into nursery in the morning, please ensure their bag and coat are either in their cupboard or on their peg.
Activities to continue at home
- Explore science – Add a Mentos mint to a bottle of fizzy drink and watch it erupt like a volcano. Remember to try this in the garden!
- Make mummy a beautiful bracelet for Mother’s Day by threading buttons and pasta shapes through a piece of string.
- Celebrate the Holi festival at home and create beautiful patterns by mixing shaving foam with different coloured paints in a mixing bowl.
