It’s been a mentally healthy week in nursery this week.

Throughout the week we have had a focus on our mental health and making sure that we keep our minds and brains fit and healthy. It is important for children to realise that our minds can get poorly too, just like our bodies and that it is really important to take steps to look after them.

*We have revisited our Colour Monster story and the children have been making fantastic links between the colour, their feelings and how these feelings actually present for example, what does your face look like if you’re sad or how does your body feel if you’re angry. We also sang a song to reinforce this too.

*We talked about things that make us feel calm and relaxed (and of course this is different for everyone) and also this really developed our emotional literacy which is such an important skill. We reminded ourselves of things that are good for our minds like talking to friends and family, drinking plenty of water and getting fresh air and exercise.

*We also did some yoga!...stretching and concentrating on our poses helped us to focus our brains which in turn helped us to relax.

*On Thursday as we celebrated World Mental Health Day we wore yellow clothes to raise money for YoungMinds, a charity that supports children’s Mental Health. The children looked great and it gave us the opportunity to discuss not only their right to learn about how to keep their minds (and bodies) healthy (UNCRC A24/ A31) but also to discuss the importance of helping others. We even launched a Mental Health Challenge on Tapestry, to get everyone involved in realising the importance of positive Mental Health for all.

*In phonics this week we have been retelling the familiar story of the Bear Hunt and focussing on rhythm and rhymes. We continued to join in with familiar rhymes, sometimes as a solo using the microphone! We listened carefully for rhythms the rhyming words.

*We've been using symbols in nursery to support us with the routines of hand washing and snack time...making sure that we remember to do things in the right order to keep us clean and germ free.

*As we begin our Tales Toolkit storytelling we have been focussing on what character and setting are and linking them to symbols to help us to become better at telling our own stories.