Preschool - Chinese New Year

This week in Preschool, we have been celebrating Chinese New Year. We’ve learned about how it is celebrated around the world, with dances, food and gifts. The children went into the school hall to dance to some classical Chinese music with streamers. They watched Chinese dancers on the big screen and showed fantastic listening and attention skills, whilst trying to recreate the dances. We have talked about Dragon dances and how people dance under the dragon to make it move. The children were fascinated by the dragon, and noticed that it had a head and feet like a lion.

We have made lantern decorations by cutting carefully along lines to make the slits and decorated them with paint and lots of sequins. Our home corner has been transformed into a Chinese restaurant, with traditional music. The children have been serving up dinner to each other and recreating going out for a meal. We have also practised using chopsticks! In our tray, we had noodles and the children used their fine motor skills to pick up the noodles with the chopsticks. They found it quite tricky but showed determination and kept trying to work out how to pick things up with them.

We finished the week by having a Chinese feast. The children made their own spring rolls and then we ate them with some noodles and prawn crackers. We also had some sauces to try with them.

In phonics, we have also been focusing on rhyme and alliteration. We played games where we found words that rhyme with our names and then matched objects to the sound they begin with. The children have shown good awareness of this, and it’s a great activity to try at home. You can name things by their rhyme, such as ‘pog the frog’ or by the start sound ‘bouncy ball’. Why don’t you try and let us know what rhymes and alliterations you can come up with together?