‘Handa’s Surprise’ by Eileen Browne
The children have been giving attention to the narrative of this wonderful story whilst learning the names of different fruits. They have been tasting and cutting different fruits, exploring new flavours and textures through hands-on experience.
‘Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose’ by Julia Donaldson
The children have been introduced to a rhyming story, developing their phonological awareness through Julia Donaldson’s rhythmic text. They have been noticing details in the pictures of stories whilst talking about different animals and foods featured in the book.
Activities Related to Our Stories
The children have been using safety knives to chop fruits and vegetables, developing fine motor control and safe kitchen skills. They have been exploring the foods like carrots, chocolate mousse, and macaroni to compare texture, taste, and smell, building sensory awareness and descriptive vocabulary.
Sensory Exploration
We have been exploring cereals including cornflakes, shredded wheat, and Weetabix using our hands, bricks, and rolling pins to explore how to smash, crunch, and sprinkle whilst discovering different textures. The children have been mixing flour and hair conditioner to make playdough, noticing changes to the mixture and working our hand muscles to knead the dough, developing both scientific observation and physical strength.
Lunar New Year
The children have been using black paint to make marks on red card as inspired by Chinese writing and symbols, exploring mark-making in a new cultural context. They have been exploring the taste and texture of noodles, feeling the differences between cooked and dry noodles, tasting how the sauce changes their flavour, and using our fine motor skills to use chopsticks and tweezers to eat them.
The children have been decorating red money pockets, which are traditionally given to children to bring good luck at Lunar New Year, and were given one lucky penny to take home as a special keepsake.
