Morning Group Theme: Dinosaurs 🦕 | Afternoon Group Theme: Pets 🐾

Welcome to the Spring Term! We’re so happy to have your children back after the festive break and ready to dive into a fun and engaging half-term. Our morning and afternoon groups will be exploring two exciting themes this term—Dinosaurs in the morning and Pets in the afternoon—while also celebrating some key events like Chinese New Year, National Storytelling Week, and Valentine’s Day.

Here's a look at what your child will be learning and experiencing over the coming weeks:

🦕 Morning Group – Exploring Dinosaurs

Children will go on a prehistoric adventure, learning about dinosaur names, fossils, and volcanoes, while building storytelling skills and developing their imagination.

Weekly Highlights:

• Week 1: Holiday chats and dinosaur introductions

• Week 2: Digging into fossils

• Week 3: Hide-a-Saurus fun

• Week 4: Celebrating Chinese New Year

• Week 5: Storytelling week – retelling tales like Goldilocks

• Week 6: Valentine’s kindness and crafts

• Week 7: Reflecting on our growth and achievements

🐾 Afternoon Group – All About Pets

Our afternoons will be filled with stories and activities about caring for pets, understanding animals, and celebrating the people (and pets!) we love.

Weekly Highlights:

• Week 1: Talking about our pets and Christmas memories

• Week 2: Learning how to look after animals

• Week 3: Sorting pets from wild animals

• Week 4: Exploring Chinese New Year traditions

• Week 5: Storytelling with books and role-play

• Week 6: Celebrating Valentine’s Day

• Week 7 & 8: Wrapping up our learning and sharing our favourites

🧠 Personal, Social & Emotional Development (All Groups)

• Building friendships and welcoming new children

• Learning to care for living things (whether pets or prehistoric!)

• Talking about what makes people special to us

• Celebrating differences and understanding how to work with others

• Exploring future dreams and goals

💬 Communication & Language

• Sharing stories about pets and dinosaurs

• Expanding vocabulary with themed role-play (vets, small world dinosaurs)

• Exploring family celebrations and talking about love

• Listening to and retelling familiar tales

✍️ Literacy Adventures

• Drawing thank-you letters to Santa 🎅

• Reading books about dinosaurs and animals

• Creating name tags for pets and Valentine’s cards

• Making Chinese Dragons

• Storytelling through drawing and writing

🔢 Maths Fun

• Writing and recognising numbers in the year 2025

• Sorting animals, measuring sizes, and using role-play money

• Comparing dinosaur bones or pet food weights

• Making heart patterns and matching halves

• Engaging in counting and matching games using real-life themes

🏃 Physical Development

• Re-visiting favourite dances

• Fine motor fun with chopsticks, threading, and cutting

• Sensory play with noodles, porridge, rice dragons, and animal grooming

• Valentine’s themed playdough, heart crafts, and tool use

🌍 Understanding the World

• Talking about celebrations: Christmas, Chinese New Year, and Valentine’s

• Exploring the differences between pets and wild animals

• Discovering fossils, volcanoes, and dinosaur diets

• Learning about animal care, safety, and rights

• Using books and real-world stories to build curiosity

🎨 Creative Expression (EAD)

• Crafting paper plate dinosaurs, paw prints, pet rocks, and dragon collages

• Making kennels, fossil imprints, and Chinese lanterns

• Creating heart wreaths, glitter handprints, and symmetrical art

• Drawing favourite pets, story characters, and family memories

💌 A Note to Families

If you have any pet pictures, dinosaur books, or family celebration stories you'd like to share, we’d love to include them in class discussions and displays. Thank you for supporting your child’s learning journey—we can’t wait to see how much they’ll grow this term!

Warmest wishes,
The Tithe Farm Nursery Team 🦕🐾💛