Sunbeams Toddler Group

2009-02-05T21:08:00.004Z

Finally the Sunbeams blog gets updated sorry it has taken so long!

We had a great christmas party with lot of food, puppets and fun to end last term. We are now back into the swing of things even though there was still a lot of snow today. We did meet up which was great especially as I want to get my little one out of the house!

Here are some new photos for you to enjoy, please join us soon...

More animal craft at Sunbeams!

2008-11-26T18:20:00.002Z

This term we have been enjoying our craft activities, here are some photos for you to see! This week we start on our christmas crafts, how exciting!

2008-09-22T10:50:00.001Z

Sunbeams is back on!

2008-09-22T10:28:00.003Z

Hi there, Sunbeams has been meeting again for the last two weeks it has been lovely to see old faces missed over the summer and meet new ones. We are learning about Noahs ark and each week we hear a story from the bible involving a different animal. Here are some photographs of our different crafts;

Missing Sunbeams

2008-07-27T16:50:00.002Z

Hope you are all having a lovely summer break and not missing Sunbeams too much! Just to let you know we will be re meeting on Thursday 11th September, looking forward to seeing you...

2008-07-07T11:25:00.001Z

2008-07-07T11:20:00.001Z

Here are some great photos of Sunbeams this term and all the fun we have been having.

2008-07-07T10:31:00.002Z

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the long time since the blogs last update. Sunbeams has been lots of fun this last term and on Thursday 10th July we are visiting Finkley Down Farm before our summer break.

For information you can visit the website, www.finkleydownfarm.co.uk The farm is just signposted off of the A 303 and it takes about 45 mins to get there. For all those planning to join us we look forward to meeting you in the carpark at Finkley Down at 10.00am. If you have any questions you can always call Becky on 01252 875113 or 07754697071.

See you there!

2008-03-26T13:42:00.001Z

2008-03-26T13:36:00.000Z

2008-03-26T13:33:00.003Z

We hope you all had a very happy Easter weekend! At Sunbeams last week we made Easter cards, learnt about the Easter story and sang lots more songs together. Please come and join us next week we would love to see you.

2008-02-29T20:51:00.001Z

2008-02-29T20:05:00.002Z

Sunbeams is glad to be back on following half term. We all had fun on Thursday making our craft and listening to more stories about Jesus.

Lots of fun!

2008-02-15T17:11:00.002Z

Theme for the Term
This term we are going to be looking at stories from the life of Jesus. This will include Parables (stories that Jesus told) and things that Jesus did. The stories will all be told using puppets which hopefully the children will enjoy. The craft each week will be linked into the story.
In addition there will be an activity sheet available for your children to take home each week which will relate to the morning.
If you have any questions please speak to Becky or one of the other members of the team. Also, if you have any suggestions we are always happy to hear them.

This week we learnt about Jesus blessing children. We had lots of fun with the puppets, singing our toys and craft.

Sunbeams 2008

2008-01-25T20:49:00.000Z

We have started meeting again this new year, enjoying ourselves with lots of craft, singing, puppets, toys and new friends.

More updates and pictures to follow.

We're back on....

2007-09-02T21:58:00.000Z

Thursday 13th September!!!
I know for those of you without school children it is another week to wait but it gives those who do have children at school or just starting a week to ease into the routine!

Just to let you know as well Becky had her baby a lovely gorgeous boy called Isaac, weighing in at 10lb 10z (don't you just love that one extra ounce!!) Mother and baby are doing really well and I'm sure will make an appearance but is not able to help as much straight away.

Also, Hayley who was helping last term has gone back to work until baby number two comes next year so ANY help would be appreciated especially with set up.

THANK YOU so much for all those of you who helped last term with set up it was really appreciated!!

See you all soon!!

Sunshine or rain...

2007-07-25T09:18:00.000Z

Well if we like it or not the summer holiday period is here and we have children to entertain so what do you do?

Here are some suggestions for outdoor activities that you made. I will add some more when I have time. Please let us know if you go to any and what they are like!!

Park/Animals
Trilakes, Yateley
Alice Holt Park, Farnham (parking costs)
Sandhurst Memorial Park, Sandhurst (free)
Yateley Green Park, Yateley
Lookout, Bracknell
Fleet Pond, Fleet (free)
Wellington Country Park, nr Arborfield
Frensham Ponds and Little Frensham Ponds, Farnham
King George V Park, Farnborough (free)
Beale Park nr Reading
Lightwater Country Park, Lightwater (free)
Paultons Park nr Southampton
California Country Park, Finchampstead
Finkley Down Farm, nr Andover
Birdworld, Farnham
Fishers Farm, nr Guildford
Moors Valley Country Park, Ringwood (free entry, parking fee- max whole day £8)
Seaworld, Portsmouth
Marwell Zoo, nr Winchester
Butterfly World, London
Frimley Lodge Park, Farnborough (free)
Boulters Lock, Maidenhead (free)
Indoor Play Areas
Fizzy Kids, North Camp
Runabout, Farnborough
Rushmoor Gym, Aldershott (12:45 -1:45 Summer Holidays timetable £1 per person)
Swimming
Coral Reef, Bracknell
Carnival Pool, Wokingham
Indoor
Haslemere Natural History Museum (free)
Natural History Museum London
Intech, nr Winchester
Milestones Museum, Baisingstoke (great for little ones, dressing up and post office)

CONGRATULATIONS to John and Louise!!!!!

2007-07-14T22:31:00.000Z

John sent this message....

Louise will be returning I am sure sometime soon. She has got her hands full as we now have another boy!
Luke James Piper was born on the 26/6/07 at 5:09am! Mother and baby
doing well, Father pretty tired!

So pleased for you both we were all wondering when your new arrival had come. Hope all is well. John it was lovely having you part of the group and Louise we look for ward to seeing you again. We start back in September but if you do feel like getting out join us at Runabouts this Thursday at 12 noon we'd love to see you.

EVERYONE ELSE: if you can help with toy cleaning come at 10 am and everyone else see you at Runabouts...
Sue sorry you can't come have a lovely holiday!!

2007-07-10T21:51:00.000Z

Where did June go?

I hadn't realised how busy June was until I looked at the website and saw I hadn't posted since May. My apologies!!

Well this week is the last week of Sunbeams until September....I know what are we all going to do all summer. Well I was wondering if we could all pool our ideas. So come along on Thursday with any ideas for things to do...places to go..the more mad the better! Then I will put these up on the website.

If you missed out the last few weeks our craft has been definitely on the messy side. We have been letting the children just explore with paint and glue. This is something they really enjoy and is important for them to do. If you don't like getting paint out in your house why not make the most of the summer months (if we get them!) and let your children paint outside and on themselves (just wash off in the paddling pool!)

The paint we had last week used soap flakes mixed with warm water and paint. You then whisk it up until it looks like meringue. Then get your fingers in and paint!!

Next week (Thursday July 19th), to celebrate the end of term we are going to meet up at around lunch time at Runabout in Farnborough.

Here's to this year..

we have played,

read stories

dressed up,

jumped,

created,

made tea

and most of all made friends!!!

Rockets and Trips

2007-05-19T19:12:00.001Z

Hope you enjoyed making the rockets on Thursday. if you missed out here is what we did...
I printed out a rocket template from DLTK (I did have to adjust it slightly) and then use lots of different shapes of pasta to stick on with LOTS of PVA glue.

This activity is aimed at 18 month + and is *child lead*. This means there is lots of scope for your child to do what they want without too much help from you. Things you can do to help them is to asking questions like...

"Which pasta is straight/wiggly/round/bumpy?"...this helps your child to begin to recognise different shapes.
"What shapes would make good windows etc?"

Children love gluing and having the *bumpy* nature of pasta on their picture. Why not find some other pictures to stick pasta onto or you could cut out a shape like a butterfly, a flower or a car.

Other things that are fun to stick are lentils (red or green), split peas (yellow) or rice. Rice can also be coloured by adding a tiny bit of food colouring to it.

Go on let your child have fun expresssing themselves without you doing it for them!

NEWS
Half term is the 31st May so there will be no Sunbeams that day.

Becky will be taking her maternity leave from the Sunbeams Team from after half term. This means there will be one less person to help set up and clear away. If you can help even just once or twice please let me know as it is SO much easier if there are more people. We generally start setting up at 9:30.

Thursday 7th May is our trip to Finkley Down Farm (we will not meet this week at the Leisure Centre) If you bring the money on the 24th June (this week) I can get a group discount and we will also buy a bag of food for each child in the group. Adults are £5.50 Children 2-14 are £4.50. (non group rates are Adult £6 and children 2-14 £5) Feel free to invite other members of your family as well and we can include them in the group booking too.

We will be meeting at 10:15 am at Finkley Down Farm. We have to go in as a whole group so if you are going to be late please text me. I will give out contact details this week.
Hopefully it will be really nice weather like last year because we all had a lovely time.

Apologies...

2007-05-16T12:50:00.000Z

to all those people who have been logging in and finding no new updates!! I have struggled to find time to get the blogging done over the last few weeks due to family staying and then recovering from family staying. Also the camera is not down loading my photos which is frustrating as I love posting the photos of you all ...and I have loads of good ones!

lets fly away...

2007-04-22T19:11:00.000Z

How many of you are planning a holiday? Well we thought we would get in on the idea and plan all our craft activities around the theme of 'travel'. We hope you enjoy this term.

It was so busy on Thursday which was lovely! There were four new faces this week, so if you have been coming awhile, look out for the new people and make them feel welcome. (thank you for all those who did do this!) This is a wonderful characteristic of our group and I am so grateful for your contribution to it.

if you did miss out this week we were making these fantastic planes....all you need is a VERY long straw. (These straws are so much fun!! I got them from 'Snip' in Fleet, a bargain at £1 for the whole packet. There are so many things you could do with them.

Ok what else, string and an aeroplane template from DLTK. I copied and pasted and made it slightly larger and printed it on paper. Allow the children to decorate it and tie the string to the plane and the other end to the straw. If you can't find a straw then use what I was going to use...a garden cane.

The children will LOVE whizzing this around... other alternatives are butterflies, birds, rockets, fairies, any thing with wings. Go on have some... fun get creating...it is a nice easy and clean activity!!!

By the way our little blog here caught the eye of someone on California and they were so impressed that they gave us an honorary mention on their blog called 'Gatherings'!!!

welcome back!!!

2007-04-18T20:18:00.000Z

Hope you all had a lovely Easter holiday...lots of chocolate!!!

This term our theme is 'Travel'. So if you have any good stories or songs about cars, planes, diggers, trains etc... please let us know!

For your diary...Yateley Community Pre-school is holding an excellent 'Nearly New' sale this Saturday (21st April) 10-12.

twinkle twinkle little star...

2007-03-22T13:37:00.000Z

Hope you enjoyed today. Did you get a chance to do the craft? Don't worry because if you didn't here is how we made it.

We bought some star tags or you could cut out your own. Put lots of glue on them and decorated them with glitter. Then we stuck a lolly stick on the back.

If you want to sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' I have put a link with Cbeebies website (for those who don't know about it) so you can sing along!!

A big thank you to Bev and Vanessa for doing the tea and coffee today. You did a great job. Both ladies are from the Beacon Church in Camberley which runs this toddler group. If you want to find out more then click on the link.

Book review ...

2007-03-21T18:51:00.000Z

A new Maisy book. I love these stories because they are so bright and colourful. Why not have a peak here. I found it on mumsnet.com also worth looking at! Lots of parenting advice and chatrooms for parents and carers.

Sorry for lack of posts!!

2007-03-14T19:53:00.000Z

I do apologise for the lack of posts in March. Both myself and Becky have been suffering with flu which seems to be taking ages to go away!! Hopefully we will be back to normal now.

this is what we did last week. Carolyn did this fantastic nursery rhyme bus...if you missed it it is very easy and the children love it.

the day it snowed we...

2007-02-10T20:32:00.000Z

Made mice puppets... Lots of glue and eyes...

Look at mine!!!

WE played playdoh..

Did puzzles...

Drove our cars...

Sang songs....

AND HAD LOTS OF FUN!!!

Well done to everyone who made it. If you were stuck we were sorry you couldn't come. Hope

to see you all next week. We are going to do the puppets again so if you missed out come along.

snow news...we are open for buisness see you there..

2007-02-08T08:33:00.000Z

I f your school is closed and you bring older children please be aware that they are your responsibility to make sure they behave carefully around all the younger children.

getting out and about...

2007-02-04T00:08:00.000Z

It was such nice weather today that it seemed a shame to stay indoors, so why not get out and go for a walk or to a play park. If you have any good ideas about where to go then let us know...

If it is a playpark, I love going to Sandhurst Memorial Park in Sandhurst. It has a large play area suitable for children from walking to at least 12. There is a large sand pit with slides and climbing frames in it.

If we want a walk we go to Virginia Waters. It is a lovely walk around the park and there is a giant totem pole. There are lots of different paths to follow and it is great for bike riding. There are toilets in the pub near the car park so it is worth going before you set out. You do have to pay to park but sometime along the main road you can find free parking spaces. Well worth a visit especially when the magnolia trees are in bloom in early spring and then early summer for the rhododendrons.

Anyone else know any good places?

The Three Little Pigs Housing Development!!

2007-02-01T13:43:00.000Z

The three little pigs have well and truly taken over the housing market today with their new luxury style houses! Well done to Tracey who came up with this cute craft. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves...there was a bit of a buzz around the craft table! What lovely houses you all made.
If you missed it we made them from paper cups donated by McDonalds. Tracey had painted the cups with a white acrylic paint. We stuck a door on then cut around it so it opened. Inside across the opening we stuck a pieces of paper inside the cup and stuck the pig on so, when we opened the door we could see the pig.
The roof was made from a circle which we cut a slit down one side then glued it into a cone shape. a base was cut out of green card and both the roof and the base were stuck onto the cut with PVA glue. Decorate the houses with straw or sponge the brick shape on with paint and a sponge cut to the right size. You could at home make another house with twigs.

Why not go to the library this week and try to find as many 'Three Little Pig' stories as you can. It is such a fun story too where the children can join in with trying to be the wolf and blow the house down.

Why don't you try telling the story to your child rather than reading it too them. The art of story telling seems to be dying out but children love hearing YOU tell them a story. They really like it if they are in the story as one of the characters. ie what about if they are the fourth little pig. What would they make their house out of? Could the wolf get in?

Don't worry if the original features of the story change that is the whole beauty of story telling, you make the rules. By talking about the story, the characters, what happened, what do they think will happen; you are developing in them really good language skills which will help them when they go to school. It doesn't take long just a few minutes of one to one time.

Notices:

There is no Toddler Group on February 22nd as it is Hampshire's half term

Also some people said they had trouble posting a comment. If you do not have an account with blogspot or a web address then click on anonymous and you don't have to leave any e-mail address. You will have to complete a word verification. This is to stop junk emails from being posted!

PLEASE POST A COMMENT even if it is 'hi'!!!

More pictures of the Three bears...

2007-01-31T22:36:00.000Z

Goldilocks and the Three Bears....

2007-01-24T18:24:00.000Z

We hope you are enjoying our theme of 'nursery rhymes' this term. If you didn't notice the *home corner* became the three bears house!! Lots of the children really enjoyed playing with Goldilocks and the three bears so here's an idea for some role play at home. (Carolyn took some photos so I will post them up as soon as I get them.)

Activity For You To Do At Home

Set up a three bears house of your own. You will need some pillows and blankets, three bowls and spoons, chairs might be difficult so we had three different size cushions instead. Then of course three bears and not forgetting Goldilocks.

Children love role play....even as young as 18 months they will be able to play a little. It is a good chance for you to interact with them and also it develops their language and imagination skills. Don't worry if it ends up being a multi-animal tea party where everything ends up in the house except the bears, just you providing them with the facilities to do some role play is really good fun and you don't have to be there all the time doing it with them.

If you do this activity and take any pictures let us know and we can post them here for others to see.

Craft

There were some lovely bears made today. We got the template from here so if you missed out you can down load it. Otherwise you could cut out different circles for the head, mouth, nose and eyes, and then ears were a semi-cirlce shape. You could make a whole family!!!

If you want find out more bear activities and listen to the Godilocks song why don't you click here
If you find any other books or crafts why don't you share them and post them under 'comments'.

Thank you to Jules and Liz for lovely tea, coffee and cakes today!!!

SPECIAL OFFER

If you are interested in making sure your child has a good diet of fruit and veg but have children who are reluctant. Why not try this book. It is a bargin at £2.99 at Aldis this week. It has easy, sensible recipies which children should like and which fruit/veg are good and why. If you don't manage to get hold of a copy Sunbeams have one which is avaliable to borrow.

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY:

Next wednesday morning two of our mums Pippa and Lisa have organised a fundraising event for the PHYLISS TUCKWELL HOSPICE.

It is at Yateley Infant School Hall on Wednesday 31st January at 10:30-11:45am

There will be a raffle on the day . Any cake donations would be appreciated. Ring (01252 ) 691172 for more details.

Any good places to go..

2007-01-23T09:55:00.000Z

As the weather is not so good either raining or too cold, where do you go to keep the children occupied...click on 'comments' and type in your suggestion don't worry if it sounds obvious..we just need a long list we can all use as a reference. If you can put details ie phone number or an e-mail link even better.....ok bring it on..

Lots of sheep...

2007-01-19T14:19:00.000Z

If you were there on Thursday. I hope you enjoyed yourself. Thankyou to Carolyn for cutting out all those sheep. The craft was a big hit. I just love the different expressions the children put on their sheep. If you missed out and want a go here's how to do it...

Draw a sheep shape on some card and cut it out.

Glue cotton wool to the body and head

Add google eye and draw a mouth.

We did sing Baa Baa black sheep...but forgot Old Mac Donalds..that would have gone well.! If anyone has see any good stories with sheep in then let us know.

By the way if you liked the cake and wanted to have a go yourself it is very easy...

Lemon Cake (sorry don't do grams!!)

6 oz butter (not marg)

6oz sugar

3 eggs

6oz Self Raisinfg flour

1 lemon

1. Beat sugar and butter (leave butter out to soften)

2. Beat in eggs and then flour

3. Pour in two cake pans or one large on

4. Bake on Gas mark 4 for 25 (2 small pans)-40 mins (1 large pan)

5. It is ready when you gently press the top and in comes back up.

6. Take out and poke holes all over the top with a skewer and pour half the lemon juice over.

7. Leave to cool. Use the rest of the lemon and mix with icing sugar to make the icing.

8. Eat some before the children discover it!!!

News...

2007-01-19T14:12:00.000Z

Hope everyone is ok after those storms! I have had no internet so sorry for the delay in posting.

A big tree in Beckys garden came crashing onto the conservatory, we thank God she had put Abby up to bed as that is where she normally plays.

For those who didn't know congratulations to Karen for the birth of Matthew on Wednesday 10th (hope thats right) mother and baby are both well.

All about spiders....

2007-01-11T19:57:00.000Z

...Toddler group was over run with spiders today! It was alright because the children ate most of them....they were only made of biscuits and sweets. Hope you enjoyed them! thanks Hayley Thaysen for organising the craft this week.
If you missed out or want to do it again all you need is plain rich tea biscuits, icing sugar mixed with a little water, strawberry laces and chocolate drops.

If you want a fun tickly song try incy wincy spider. Make the spider climb up your child or on their arm or leg...it will make them giggle! What about letting them repeat it on you...it might make you laugh. Its a very simple way of engaging with you child. Even babies love this
song/rhyme.

Incy Wincy Spider
Incy wincy spider, climbed up the water spout,
Down came the rain and washed the spider out,
Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain,
So incy wincy spider climbed up the spout again

Jan 2007

2007-01-11T19:48:00.000Z

Welcome back! Happy New Year to everyone. This term our theme is "Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales". We hope you enjoy the activities and stories we have planned for this term.

A big thank you to Ann Robinson and her team who serve us with tea and coffee each week. They are the nicest "tea ladies"!!