Messy Hands Childcare

08/10/2026

World Space Week 🌕
4.10.26 - 10.10.26

🟢 Curriculum

Not only is it Space week but the moon has become a big interest in nursery due a number of children having the first hand experience of seeing the moon at Carlisle Cathedral.

🟡 Teaching

We created a risky play moon sensory tuff tray for the children to learn how to use safety googles and hammers safely and develop their hand eye coordination to create craters on the moon.

In the playdough area, the children were encouraged to scrunch foil into meteorites and then press and push them into the playdough to create more craters.

We have also been able to incorporate the story, ‘Whatever Next’ into our play due to a group of children setting up a picnic in their play. The children looked at the pictures and used them as inspiration to source and recreate props, they used their imaginations to retell the story and then outside created a larger scale space rocket, where we were able to challenge the children to climb steps.

🟣 Achievement

- Beginning to understand and use new space related vocabulary in their play
- Building confidence and enjoyment in risky play
- Developing fine motor skills and hand eye coordination
- Developing their role play and story telling skills
- Experience cause and effect
- Practised using alternative feet to climb the steps into the rocket

🌟 At home

- I wonder who else would like to visit the moon at Carlisle Cathedral
- Have a look outside at the moon just before bedtime
- Sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

08/10/2026

National Vegetarian Week
1.10.26 - 7.10.26

🟢 Curriculum

National Vegetarian Week enabled us to deliver many aspects of our curriculum. We aim to acknowledge and respect differences in lifestyles, explore how we can look after our planet, embed healthy food choices into our diets, use tools competently and have regular sensory experiences.

🟡 Teaching

The children were given a range of vegetables to feel, smell and explore with their eyes, they were encouraged to talk about what they noticed and name them.

We supported the children in peeling, cutting and blending the vegetables to make soup, encouraging the children to notice the changes at each stage.

We then tasted the soup for our snack.

🟣 Achievement

- First hand sensory experience
- Used words to talk about their findings
- Learnt about the purpose of tools and practised using them in a safe way
- Developing an understanding of why vegetables are important for our bodies
- Developing an understanding to respect each other’s choices
- Developing how our choices can help our planet

🌟 At home

- I wonder what you could prepare and cook with vegetables

07/10/2026

I wonder which seasonal food you will enjoy this month.

02/10/2026

National Poetry Day
1.10.26

🟢 Curriculum

What a day to have fun with rhymes!
The focus was to enjoy and join in with rhymes and to show awareness of rhymes.

🟡 Teaching

We sang Humpty Dumpty, filling in the missing words and challenged ourselves to change the rhyme too. There was lots of giggles as we played with the words.

🟣 Achievement

Here are some of our wonderful creations, we hope you enjoy them.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a “chair”
Humpty Dumpty saw a big “bear”

Humpty Dumpty sat on a “mouse”
Humpty Dumpty hid in the “house”

Humpty Dumpty sat on a “light”
Humpty Dumpty had a great “fright”

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty was very “tall”

🌟 At home

- One of our favourites books is ‘Wriggle and Roar’ by Julia Donaldson, look out for the ‘Nut Tree’ it’s a great one to put actions to at this time of year.
- Read and enjoy a poem at bedtime
- Play rhyming games

01/10/2026

21st - 27th September
International Week of Deaf People

🟢Curriculum

We aimed to raise awareness of deafness and British sign language, whilst exploring communication, learn about differences and how to be inclusive and kind.

🟡Teaching

We used the book, ‘Freddie and the Fairy’ as a stimulus to have meaningful conversations about hearing, the characters' feelings and to think about how we communicate. We played games where the children guessed the action, practised British sign language and played listening games.

🟣Achievement

- The children showed empathy for the fairy and how she felt.
- The children have an increased understanding of how to communicate effectively.
- The children learnt how to sign please, thank you, hello, help and toilet.
- The children were able to listen and guess the musical instrument.

🌟 At home

- Revisit the story, ‘Freddie and the fairy’ with your child.
- I wonder who can learn some more sign language.
- Play I spy, guess the action and guess the sound.

11/09/2026

7.9.2026 Zero Waste Week 🌏

Curriculum
Sustainability is an ongoing part of our curriculum, we consciously incorporate it into our everyday experiences and interests to develop an early understanding and respect for our environment.

Teaching
We had a little dilemma she needed help, we had lots of rubbish but didn’t want to just put it in the bin! Luckily our creative children were great at problem solving, some children suggested recycling, whilst others decided to reuse it to create castles and cars. We responded and encouraged the children to think about what materials and tools they needed and supported the use of them.

Achievement
Our future citizens have independently been making positive choices that show they care and want to take action:
* Asking to use the litter pick
* Using their own creative ideas for how to reuse items
* Selecting and using tools for a purpose

🌟At home
I wonder who could
* create a delicious “use up dinner” using only the items you already have
* Use our ‘Messy Hands Reuse and Drop Off Station’
* Reuse, swap or repair clothes
* Go on a local area litter pick

Please share your home experiences we love to talk about them and build upon them at nursery.

10/09/2026

Messy Hands Movement Mission 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️

The challenge is here, can you help us make our way around the key landmarks of Carlisle? For every “half a mile” of movement your child completes, write their name in one of the circles on the map in our entrance hall. Let’s enable and encourage some movement fun for your child, walk, bike, trike, scooter… let’s get moving!

I wonder how fast we can complete our movement mission!

We are passionate about physical activity and below are just some of the important reasons why:

* Helps health
* Supports learning
* Embeds healthy habits for life
* Supports brain development
* Develops social and emotional skills
* It’s fun!

It is recommended by the NHS that:

1. Preschool children (3-4 year olds) have at least 180 minutes of physical activity throughout the day at least 60 minutes of this should be of moderate to vigorous intensity.

2. Toddlers (1-2 year olds) have at least 180 minutes of physical activity throughout the day.

3. Babies (under 1 years old) have 30 minutes of tummy time throughout the day. If not crawling, encourage reaching, grasping, pushing, pulling, moving head, arms, legs and body.

03/09/2026

1.9.26 International Write A Letter

Curriculum:
Pre-writing skills are an important part of our curriculum and are embedded into our everyday play. We aim to encourage a love for writing and develop an understanding of a purpose to write so on this day we waited for a potential opportunity to arise.

Teaching:
When a child asked for the story, ‘Dear Zoo’ and other children joined in with this interest listening to and talking about the story, we extended the moment by providing paper, pencils, name cards and a postbox to write our own letters to the zoo. We differentiated the activity by teaching some children to have the confidence to make marks, talk about their writing, recognise their name or practise writing letters.

Achievement:
The children were fully engaged and we were proud of their achievements. They each wrote a letter, talked about which animal they were asking for and worked towards their own specific next step.

🌟 I wonder who you and your child could write and send a letter to.

Please share your home moments with us.

Little Hands and Big Hands

11/08/2026

Here is a very useful guide to ensure safer sleep for babies.

Please read and if you have any questions or would like any further support please let us know.

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10/08/2026

👻 Clay monsters 👻

The children made clay monsters last week. They rolled, patted, cut and shaped the clay, to make these amazing monsters. 😁