Parish Magazine Update - June 2008

Now that June is upon us and the better weather is here, the children of Chapel Lane Pre-school are really enjoying playing out in the garden. Enjoying themselves with tricycles, seesaws and balance beams is not just a lot of fun, it is also vital for the children’s physical development too.

Using both our large and small outdoor sports equipment, improves the children’s body awareness and their co-ordination. After all the physical activity, the children are rewarded with a drink and a snack and have the opportunity of telling us how they feel after all their exercise. For example, we explain to them that they are likely to feel hot and thirsty and red in the face and we ask them to put their hands on their chest and see if they can feel their heart beating a lot faster.

All this physical practice should make for a great sports day this year which will take place later this month. Our sports day consists of traditional, fun sports day events such as relay races and obstacle courses. The obstacle course equipment includes: balls, tunnels and hoops and as well as helping with the pre-schoolers’ physical development, it also helps to focus the children’s attention on shapes, texture and colour, thus helping with their sensory development as well.

This term’s theme will change this month to ‘Under the Sea’. As part of this topic, the children will be asked to dress up as pirates on our ‘Pirate Day’ and bring in any old jewellery their mums and dads may no longer require to help make our Pirate Treasure Chest.

The theme will also involve the garden being turned into a pretend beach for the day, with some sand and a paddling pool to play in. The pre-schoolers will be encouraged to bring in their swimming costumes, beach towels and buckets and spades and re-enact a traditional ‘day at the beach’. The children will also be encouraged to enjoy a good book at the beach, as we will be reading them the fantastic children’s story: Rainbow Fish.

Helping us decorate our ‘Under the Sea’ wall display by making colourful, textured fish, crabs and octopuses will be one of the creative tasks to be enjoyed this month, as well as making sea-shells out of plaster of Paris.

To contact Chapel Lane Pre-School, please telephone: 01580 892750.