Autumn Term 2020 Dear Santa

Our children love this story. They love to help to lift the flaps to unwrap a Christmas present on every page, it’s a festive book by Rod Campbell, creator of the preschool classic Dear Zoo.

You can share the story together here…

Communication and Language

There are lots of lovely words involved in Christmas preparations. ‘shiny – sparkle – glitter – twinkle – tinsel – bauble – beads – bells – stocking – star – lights- ’  We like to provide the children with lots of sensory experiences linked to Christmas. As the children explore we help them to name the resources as they are possibly experiencing them for the first time. Here are some examples to try at home.

Understanding the World

Not all of our families will celebrate Christmas but at Canterbury we think it is important for children to begin to understand that there are different religions and celebrations.

Follow this link to hear the story of the Nativity.

Literacy

We begin to see children put meaning to the marks that they make during their time in Nursery. We often find that talking about writing letters to Father Christmas and modelling our own letters to Father Christmas are a great way to get the children to put pencil to paper.

Encourage your child to think about and talk about what gifts they would like to receive – they may want to draw some pictures or you could help them to write a small list to send to Father Christmas.

Mathematics

This story gives you the perfect opportunity to explore size and shape with children. On each page you can ask the children to think of presents that match the description e.g. What could be small and round?

Physical

In Nursery we provide children with wrapping paper, scissors and cellotape and help them to wrap presents. This is a very tricky skill and great for developing hand-eye coordination and fine motor control.