This week, Reception have been diving into the chilly world of Blue Penguin, and what a busy week it has been!
As we explored the story, we talked about some of the important vocabulary and emotions in the book, including sad and friends. The children enjoyed talking about how Blue Penguin might be feeling and what we could do to help someone who was feeling sad or lonely. We heard some really thoughtful ideas! 💙
Our little phonics detectives have also been busy! 🔎 The children used their phonetic knowledge to go searching for sounds they already know. They listened carefully, said the sounds aloud and had great fun finding the correct matches.
There has been plenty of hands on learning too! The children developed their fine motor skills through picking, pinching, squeezing and using tweezers. These little movements are a great way to strengthen their hands and prepare them for writing.
In the construction area, we had a very important job to do. Blue Penguin needed somewhere to stay! 🐧 The children got busy building shelters and thinking about how they could make them strong and safe for Blue Penguin.
Our Antarctica small world was a great place for lots of imaginative play and conversation. The children explored the icy habitat, talked about the animals that might live there and created their own Blue Penguin adventures. ❄️ 
And of course, we had lots of fun with our blue water play! 💦 There was plenty of pouring, scooping, splashing and exploring as the children created their own chilly Antarctic scenes.
We also had fun at the Blue Penguin Message Station, where the children became busy writers and messengers! ✉️ They made marks, wrote messages for Blue Penguin and had a go at using the sounds they know in their writing.
We enjoyed lots of other Blue Penguin activities throughout the week too. The children created their own penguins using Play Doh and loose parts, explored numbers and quantities to 5 and shared their ideas about the story and the Antarctic environment.
It has been lovely to see how much fun the children have had exploring Blue Penguin this week. There has been lots of talking, thinking, creating, building, exploring and, most importantly, having fun!
