Reception Project: How did you have fun? – Summer 1 2022

During Summer Term 1 we will be discovering lots of different ways to have fun!

We will start by sharing our favourite toys and looking at how these are different from the toys we played with when we were babies and toddlers.

We then compare our toys and games to the ones our grownups and grandparents played with when they were children.

As we go, we will be talking about the different materials the toys are made of and how they work before making our own toys and talking about how we can make them even better.

Check back each week to see how our project develops.

Cottage Museum - Woodhall Spa

Today we went on our school trip. The children learnt about and played with a variety of old toys. They also played ring games, had the opportunity to dress up in old clothes, make wooden spoon puppets and retold traditional tales. 

The children made us incredibly proud with how grown up, sensible and polite they were. 

Week 5

This week we learnt about old games that people played in the past to have fun. After  playing the games together we talked about what they were made and discussed the importance of rules, we then began designing our own games for the queen to play with at her Jubilee celebration. The children decided on resources they would need, came up with rules for their game and decided how you would win.

In maths we have continued our learning with Now, Then and Next stories, this week focusing on taking away. The children loved stealing treasure from the queen, retelling the stories and using subitising to figure out how many pieces of treasure where left. 

This week the whole school took part in a writing for pleasure session. The children in Reception blew us away with their independent writing! It was wonderful to see everyone so engaged and excited to write for pleasure. 

Week 4

This week we have been learning about Queen Elizabeth II. The children shared some of the facts they had learnt at home and we looked at lots of pictures of the Queen, her homes, her family and her guards. Later in the week we looked at photos of the Queen from the past. We created a timeline to show how the she had changed from a baby to an old lady. We then talked about the different toys that she used to play with and what they were made of. 

In maths we have been learning to add using Now, Then and Next stories. We read Mr Grumpy's Outing and then thought of our own stories with children on buses going to visit the queen.

In music we have reached the middle of our story about toys. The children listened to their third piece of music and that abut what exciting things/ problem might happen. 

Week 3

This week we have continued our discussions about how we grow and change. With the help of the grown-ups from home adding photos to Tapestry,  the children created a whole class timeline to show their history so far. We then talked about how we might change as we get older and thought about what we might like to do when we grow up. 

In guided reading this week we read Little Bear Lost. During our prepare session the children talked about the meaning of the word lost, what they could do if they were lost and who might be safer strangers that we could ask for help. 

Week 2 

This week we have learnt about the toys that our parents and grandparents played with when they were little. Our grown ups added photos to Tapestry and the children loved talking about what the toys did, how they work and what they were made of. 

In our circle times we have continued our discussions about how we have grown and changed by talking about what we can do now and what we still need help with as children. 

Our guided reading story this week was 'Old Bear'. After watching the beginning of the story, the children were challenged to think of different ways that they could rescue Old Bear safely from the attic. We discovered that we have two attics in Reception so we tested out our ideas and came up with a list of equipment that Mrs Knight would need to rescue Old Bear. 

In maths we have continued learning about numbers to 20 and beyond. The children have been ordering numbers, working out what numbers are missing and talking about numbers that are bigger and smaller. 

Week 1 

On the first day back the children brought to school their favourite toys and a toy they had when they were a baby or toddler. We had lots of fun playing with them and talking to our friends about what they do. We discovered that lots of our baby toys were soft and made noises, that the toddler toys had big buttons to press or things to pull, where as the toys that we like now had smaller, pointer parts that needed us to do a range of different things.  

We then learnt about different materials and sorted our toys into different groups. Most of the toys were made of fabric or plastic. 

At the end of the week we read the story "Once there were giants". We talked about how we have grown and changed and listed lots of the things that we did or couldn't do as babies and toddlers. 

The children have also been enjoying playing with the babies, selling toys in the toy shop and creating our own soft toys with felt.