January Planning

I plan loosely around a theme every month, with some ideas for each area of the EYFS.  I don't always do all of the activites and sometimes I add new ones as I find them!  They are there to enrich the children's time here, but they are not the be-all and end-all, i don't let them rule me or the children's days; I follow them and their interests!

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Make Winter ‘makingfriends’ little people.

Communication, Language and Literacy

Ezra Keats, It’s a snowy day, make pictures with different white materials than stick Peter figure onto it, re-tell the story.
Shallow black tray with layer of salt to draw pictures, letters and numbers in with fingers/implements
Collection of books showing birds and stories about birds.
Jan Brett’s book ‘The Mitten’, I have printed out this copy from enchanted learning, and the older one will colour the pictures before we laminate all the pages and string them together into a book with a front cover made from gluing and old jumper onto card and then cutting out the mitten shape - I find that the children stay interested in a book or theme and the ideas that it may hold if there is a book that they have made thmesleves in the book basket!
Winter poems

Problem Solving Reasoning and Numeracy

Look at snowflakes, count the points, talk about the shapes.
Make 'snowflake rubbings' from doilies under paper and wax crayons over.
Counting and shape books from enchanted learning winter pages
Use winter animals to make paint footprints, talk about the numbers of legs, shape of the footprints, etc.
Ordinal numbers, using 'The Mitten' as a starting point. Some printable for ordinal numbers can be found here, I will make my own with the animals that go into the mitten.


Knowledge and Understanding of the World

The RSPB Little Schools Birdwatch, 18th Jan-1st Feb, laminated cards out for identification, make feeders from bird recipe book, bird crafts.
Freeze various shapes and sizes of ice blocks with objects in to defrost in the builders tray.




Physical Development

Moving to classical music
Using rollers and cookie cutters to make snowflakes to hang using Sarah’s recipe from book no.8, the Christmas Planning e-book.
Make a den to imitate the mitten in Jan Brett's book, the children can crawl inside, opretending to be the animals, add differently sized cardboard boxes to extend the activity.


Creative Development

Shaving foam snow pictures
Classical music that reflects winter themes –dance and movement
Make bird nests from various materials
Make ice sculptures to hang out on a frosty day
Make Wellington boots, hats and scarves to display
Make a large snowman to put up
Painting with ice cubes