For children between 3 and 5 years old The Creative Caterpillar room caters for 11 children from 3 to 5 years. Our highly qualified teaching staff are experienced at introducing children, through play, to a broad and balanced programme of activities and experiences linked to the EYFS.
Like the other rooms, there is a carpeted and uncarpeted area for the children to use for different activities and meals, when positive behaviour and good manners are encouraged. The children have direct access to the outside area and can take their learning
outdoors whenever possible.
In our Creative Caterpillar room we offer an extensive range of activities to ensure children have the opportunities to reach their full potential in a fun and engaging way, such as:
Reading: Children are encouraged to enjoy and share books and stories, both with staff and with their friends. We have quiet times during the day for this, but books are available at all times. We visit the library to get new books
to read, and a library van visits us once a month. Staff talk about letter names and sounds with the children, and as they become more aware the children are encouraged to look for something at home to bring in that begins with the sound that is on
the sound table. Some children like to hide what they have brought in and give their friends clues to see if they can guess what it is. Some of the local schools use Jolly Phonics to help children link letters and sounds and we can help the children
with this (and you!). Games such as I spy are fun and help children with sounds. The children are encouraged to recognise their own name, and to make their own marks to represent their name on paintings etc.Writing: Children are encouraged to make marks. They draw and paint and get the opportunity to use lots of mark making equipment. As they get older they ascribe meaning to the marks and start to make connections eg: when playing
in the shop, they may write a shopping list, or they might write about a patient when they are being a doctor in the hospital corner. As they become more skilled, and get an effective pencil grip, they may show an interest in writing their name.
When this happens staff will endeavour to help the children form the letters correctly. This process needs to be fun as we do not want the children to feel pressured, turning it into something they no longer want to do.Numbers: Children are supported and encouraged to explore numbers. They will begin to recognise some numbers and count and estimate. We can give them a reason to count eg: how many cups do we need today? Through games and songs they
begin to explore adding up and taking away often using fingers to help them calculate. Simple songs such as 5 little ducks and 1 little elephant introduce them to the concept of addition and subtraction. Sometimes in the garden we may have numbered
bays. The bikes and cars will have numbers on them and the children are encouraged to park them in the appropriate bay. We may even play Bingo! Good for number matching and recognition.Shape, Space and Measure: We aim to help children explore and develop mathematical language and ideas and to solve problems. For example children playing with the brio train track need considerable skills to make a track up. What
shape will we make? How big will it be? How can we make it join up? How many straight pieces do we need? How many curved pieces? How do we make a bridge? How many trains are there, and how can we share them out fairly? This one activity has provided
opportunities to estimate, count, sort, divide, think about shapes and space and hopefully been fun!The world: Children are supported and encouraged to help them make sense of the world they live in. They explore and investigate and question how and why? We try to foster an interest in the natural world by planting and growing
flowers and vegetables, watching lifecycles with tadpoles/frogs and caterpillars/butterflies. They may learn about patterns such as changing seasons or changes why did that ice melt? How did that runny mixture turn into a cake? We like to take
the children out in the Pea Pod car on occasions, maybe to the park, or the library, or the garden centre, to look at what or who is around them, to listen to what or who is around them and to respond positively to what or who is around them. Is this
the same or different to where i live? Are these people the same or different to my family? Contact us To find out more about our Creative Caterpillar room and how it can help your child to develop, then please give us a call today on 07577209625