*STARS OF THE WEEK*

***I am so helpful and kind….***

Violet - You have been so hlepful with the other children this week - helping Lenny to fix his train and helping Poppy to put her wellies on, thank you so much.

Lenny - You have been helping the children put their bags and coat on their pegs, you kindly wiped Bodhi's toe, gaving him a kiss because he had hurt it and you are now SO good at using the potty.

Mabel - You show you are so thoughtful and aware of the other children's needs at Pebbles - holding Finley's hand to help him walk down the slope and kissing Mollie's finger when you accidently catch it in the pretend kitchen door. 

Dear Parents,

We have loved our Diwali themed week. We have done lots of Indian dancing copying the moves, dancing with bells and scarves.  We will do more dancing with scarves as it helps the children develop strength in their shoulders and upper arms for mark making.  We found a video about Diwali for children that taught them that Hindu's celebrate Diwali (a festival of light).  From this we focussed on fireworks so we talked about firework safety and we were very good fireworks in P.E. 

We did lots of craft and malleable activities - making Diwali pots and adding fake flames for a candle effect as well as making sweets called Ladoos.  We mixed food colouring (the primary colours) making new colours and then we coloured rice burgundy, orange and green.  Once dry we created our own rangoli pattern and then the children played with it or should I say got it everywhere indoors because it was raining outdoors. 

We took advantage of the school being empty so used the school hall and the school parachute with all the children.  The older children were so aware of the little ones so nobody got knocked over and the little children had a introduction to our 'spots' game.  We used the parachute for colour recognition with the little ones and counting/identifying the triangle with the most and least children on them.

The musical instruments have been out this week.  We have had a go at making a firework inspired composition that built to a crescendo (just like fireworks) then stopping suddenly.   The children were very good at this.  We used lots of bells to join in with traditional indian music. 

After half-term we will focus on bonfire night and my favourite thing...fireworks!  We will use our coloured rice to make firework pictures, talk lots about firework safety specifically sparklers, create more musical compositions, move like fireworks in P.E. and watch some firework displays on the smart screen.

Have a lovely half-term. 

The Pebbles team.