Christmas activities 2021

Santa and elves visit Tunbridge Wells nursery

Children at Bright Horizons Tunbridge Wells Day Nursery and Preschool were treated to a visit from Santa and his elves prior to Christmas.

The children were very excited to visit with Santa and receive their individual gifts.

“The children talked about what they were going to leave out on Christmas Eve for Santa and also what was on their Christmas list,” said Nursery Manager Becky Bushell.

Canary Wharf children make festive cookies

Children at Bright Horizons Bank Street Day Nursery and Preschool on Canary Wharf recently make their own festive cookies, in an activity part of the organisation’s Creative Cooks programme.

The children each took it in turns to make their own cookie, learning about the ingredients and how they mix together to make the dough. They helped to weigh out the ingredients on the scales and were able to recognise the numbers and learn about measurements.

The children used different tools to make their cookies promoting physical development, fine motor and gross motor skills. This activity encouraged lots of communication and language enabling the children to build on mathematical language.

“The children were very engaged and excited to learn what happened when we mixed the ingredients together,” said Nursery Manager Naomi Runeckles. “They then made choices around the shapes they wanted to make and patterns they wanted to design.”

Port Solent make scones during Creative Cooks Awareness Month

Children at Bright Horizons Port Solent Day Nursery and Preschool recently made their own scones as part of Creative Cooks Awareness Month at the nursery throughout January.

The month is all about understanding the importance of healthy living, nutrition and hygiene, while Bright Horizons’ Creative Cooks programme aims to encourage creativity in cooking.

“The children in nursery made scones together,” said Nursery Manager Kerry Mardle. “They measured the ingredients, practiced sharing and taking turns, and also learned about kitchen safety with our health and safety mascot Candy Floss.”

Windsor nursery children paint gingerbread house

Children at Bright Horizons Windsor Day Nursery and Preschool have been busy painting a gingerbread house after learning about the story of The Gingerbread Man.

Early literacy is supported through the growing awareness of the rhythm and pattern involved in story language. The children were asked will questions on the story to look at recall and memory.

“Communication and language development is being supported by the use of the story's repeated rhyming refrain,” said Nursery Manager Tara Herbert. “As the children join in they are building their attention and listening skills. This cross curricular learning really helps to reinforce the learning potential in a variety of forms using a variety of media.”