We had a busy end to the first half of the Spring term in Reception. To kick off our learning about old and new toys, the children brought in their favourite teddies. The children measured their teddies and we found out that Kesiah had the tallest teddy and Jasmine had the shortest. The children also made a clay version of their teddy.
The children also enjoyed showing their friends their favourite modern toys and demonstrating how the toys worked. We discovered a lot of the new toys had batteries to make them move.
We also had lots of fun exploring old toys that belonged to parents and grandparents of the children or to the teachers. Particular favourites among the children were the View Master, which belonged to Miss Barnett's grandmother and was used to view 3D pictures from stories, and the Disney Movie Viewer which belonged to Miss Barnett's siblings in the 80s. After learning that many children in Victorian times could not afford toys and would make them themselves, we decided to try to have a go at making some. We made peg dolls and a cup and ball (which the children thouroughly enjoyed playing with). We were also very lucky to be visited by Kate from Stevenage Museum who brought a selection of toys from the museum for the children to explore.
We had another visitor in the form of an artist who taught us about the life of Kandinsky and the style of his artwork. The artist showed the children how to draw and paint like Kandinsky and the children all created a painting in this style. As we are usually asking the children to look very carefully at what they are drawing or painting and to represent the shape and details carefully, the children found the abstract nature of Kandinsky’s art a little tricky but all had a go. The artist then spent a day with KS2 exploring the artwork of Banksy. We were lucky to be able to sit in on their morning session to hear a little about the artist ourselves.
Towards the end of term, we also enjoyed KS1 Activity Day where the children took part in many different activities throughout the day. We started off creating Banksy style artwork using stencils and paint, then enjoyed a dance session with Miss Vivian, followed by a session of indoor athletics. In the afternoon, we had indoor orienteering where we went on a hunt for puzzle pieces and finally finished our day with speed stacking with Mrs Light. It was a very tiring but fun-filled day.
I hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful half term break and that the children are rested and ready to return for another busy half term of school.