There have been plenty of great discussions about animals in autumn, including dormice, queen bumblebees, bats and hedgehogs, all of whom are getting ready to have a very long sleep until it becomes warmer once again. We read a story about a hedgehog who was so good at sharing, he let the others from the forest share his hedge to hibernate in. This prompted lots of questions about different animals that hibernate, and about hedgehogs in general. We found out that hedgehogs are nocturnal and like to eat worms and beetles! We also made a hedgehog hotel using a box, newspaper, straw, tarpaulin and the leaves and twigs from our autumn display collection. The hotel has been placed in our front garden just in case a hedgehog needs somewhere to hibernate this winter.
Creative tasks similarly followed this theme and we used clay to make hedgehog models, using matchsticks for their spikes, googly eyes and a fluffy nose. We have been very creative using autumnal colours this week in our activities and made our own stained-glass autumnal leaves using tissue paper and glue. We took enjoyment in hammering golf tees into Mrs Tomkins’ pumpkins – all grown from seed in her garden – one of them was enormous!
We continue to work hard at being a ‘Shareodactyl’ and ‘Kindosarus’ who told us that they want to see us sharing toys, ideas and tidying up with our friends and teachers. We have enjoyed listening to ‘The Sharing Song’ by Jack Johnson which has helped us remember the rules of sharing.
We continue to learn the Golden Rules, focusing on ‘Do Listen to People’ – we are trying very hard at “listening first time” whether this be with our friends or teachers.
Our topic after half term is Autumn Celebrations.