Openwoodgate Pre-school

18/10/2026

It’s a spooky one next week at Openwoodgate Preschool! This is our last week before half term and Halloween, so we’re going all things spooky 👻👻
The minis can look forward to plenty of imaginative play, creative activities and seasonal fun throughout the week.

Our role-play area will become a spooky costume and accessories shop, giving the minis opportunities to choose costumes, act out different roles and develop their imaginative play. Our small-world area will be transformed into a haunted house with a ghost train, creating lots of chances for storytelling and spooky adventures.

On Monday Mrs Bestwick will be doing a fantastic Room on the Broom tuff tray activity with our minis. We’re also going to be doing some activities that will fall over the weekend, so make sure to pop back for those!

Tuesday is National Sloth Day, so we’ll be taking everything at a slower pace — hopefully! 😅😂 The minis will be invited to join in with some sloth yoga 🧘‍♀️ and explore a little bookish play set-up. This will be a lovely opportunity to enjoy calm movement, stories and imaginative play together.

Wednesday is a busy day, as it is Reptile Awareness Day, Apple Day and National Honey Day. We’ll be exploring activities linked to these special days and finding out more through play and discussion.

It’s also our woodland session with our older minis. Please look at your Tapestry for all the information you will need about what to bring, as well as the collect point pickups.

Thursday is International Stuttering Day and National Colour Day, so expect lots of fun, colourful activities. We’ll be exploring colour through creative and playful experiences.

It’s also a super-special TinyTalk Derbyshire session with Kath and we honestly can't wait!

Finally Friday will be a spooky day for our Friday minis! They can come dressed up in spooky costumes. Dressing up is not mandatory, so please don’t worry if your mini would prefer to come in their usual clothes.

There will be lots to explore, including “skelly bob” activities, spider-throwing games, bubbling cauldron painting, magic potion-making, pumpkin carving, and we might even get to solve a mystery! It promises to be a busy and playful day full of spooky discoveries, creative experiences and imaginative adventures.

17/10/2026

A Team of stars! 🌟

As part of early years practitioner day we just wanted to give a huge shout out to our team!

We are so proud of each and every one of you for all your achievements both as individuals and as a team!

Thank you for everything that you do for our children and families, it is much appreciated!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

17/10/2026

Its world singing day today, and our minis had a blast using these microphones and putting on their own little mini-concert!

16/10/2026

Baking with Mrs Nightingale 🧁🧁🧁

Mrs Nightingale took on baking with our minis today, and what a fantastic time they had! Our minis made themselves little cupcakes and enjoyed taking part in every stage of the process.

They got to crack the eggs, weigh the sugar, flour and butter, and do lots of mixing. They then helped to scoop the mixture into different cupcake cases, carefully choosing where each little portion should go.

There was plenty of excitement in the kitchen as the cupcakes baked, and the delicious smell soon filled the room.

Judging by how quickly they were eaten, I think it is safe to say they were delicious! A big thank you to Mrs Nightingale for baking with our minis and helping them to create such tasty treats 😋

*all dietary requirements were taken into consideration *

16/10/2026

Exploring World Food Day Outdoors 🥕🥔🍠

We took World Food Day outside today. Setting up the mud kitchen next to our water tray, filling it with lots of autumnal leaves and different coloured water. We also added in this book "Where Food Comes From" and a big bowl of different root vegetables for our minis to explore.

This inviting outdoor experience gave the minis lots to investigate through their senses. They could scoop, pour, mix and compare the colours and textures while talking about the foods they recognised. The root vegetables offered opportunities to notice their shapes, sizes and smells.

We used the book, Where Food Comes From, to support conversations about where our food grows and how it reaches us. The open-ended play encouraged curiosity, language and cooperation as the children shared ideas and explored the seasonal setting together.

16/10/2026

Making Play Dough Cupcakes for World Food Day 🧁🧁

As today was World Food Day we decided to make our own play dough cupcakes. The minis worked out which ingredients were needed and completed the entire recipe all by themselves with supervision from Miss Wardman.

The minis were able to follow the recipe carefully, taking turns to add the ingredients and helping one another throughout the process. They also chose the scent and colour for their play dough. The chosen scent was mango and the chosen colour was green, creating bright, colourful play dough ready to shape into cupcakes.

We did do the activity again because it was extremely popular and many of our minis wanted to have a go. This gave everyone the opportunity to take part, practise following instructions and enjoy making their own creations.

Once the play dough cupcakes had been made, we added lots of extra details. The minis used cupcake cases, little coloured sticks, pompons and coloured tissue paper to decorate their cupcakes. They enjoyed making different designs and deciding which decorations to use, turning each cupcake into a unique creation.

16/10/2026

Christopher Pumpkin Table Activity 🎃🎃

Mrs Wardle set up this brilliant Christopher Pumpkin table activity today. The minis got to explore pumpkins of different sizes, along with the story of Christopher Pumpkin and lots of natural animal objects.

There were plenty of opportunities for hands-on learning as the minis investigated the pumpkins. They compared their sizes, counted the pumpkins and natural objects, and talked about the colours and shapes they could see.

They also used the materials to recreate the story of Christopher Pumpkin. This encouraged them to remember key events, arrange objects in sequence and retell parts of the story in their own words. The activity supported early mathematical language, including big, small, more and fewer, while also developing communication, imagination and confidence through play!

16/10/2026

All set up ready for the day!

Smiles For Miles Toys

15/10/2026

🧼🌍 Happy Global Handwashing Day! 🌍🧼

Clean hands are one of the simplest and most effective ways to help prevent the spread of germs and keep ourselves and others healthy. 💧👐

To make handwashing fun and memorable, we’ve attached a fun handwashing song 🎶 perfect for singing along while we scrub, rinse and wash those germs away!

Let’s make clean hands a healthy habit every day! 🫧✨

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15/10/2026

Who knew a bowl full of water and some hands could teach so much? 🧤🫧

This simple setup encouraged conversations about germs, handwashing, and healthy habits while strengthening fine motor skills, vocabulary, critical thinking, and communication. Sometimes the easiest activities create the biggest learning moments.