Daisy Chains Nursery

Friday 8th February 2019
#ChildrensMentalHealthWeek
Day 5: Goal Setting
... Well today is the last day of our children mental health week activities.
Today is all about goal setting.
Goal setting is a skills which teaches children responsibility, for their goals and their behaviours. It is important because it gives them a sense of purpose, helps with confidence and builds their self-esteem. Having a child take an active role in their goal setting is incredibly important.
As adults, we should try to encourage and develop their early ideas.
• 3 stars and a wish: - Have your child come up with 3 things they have done well (this can be anything from being kind to their friend to running fast at playtime). - Have your child come up with a “wish”. The “wish” is something that your child needs to work towards (goal). - Set a time-frame for this goal e.g. a week.
• Make a family bucket list: This is a great idea to involve all the family. Gather all the family around and grab some paper and pens. Together list experiences, goals and achievements that you all agree upon. At the end of the year you can all look back and see what has been achieved.
• Ask fun questions: Having a discussion with your child itself can encourage them to achieve their goals. Asking them silly question helps them think about what they would do in certain situations. Ask things like “What would you do if you had superpowers?” “What would you do if we won the lottery?”.
We hope you have enjoyed doing these activities. If you and your child have enjoyed taking part in some of these games/activities, why not keep it up.
Remember to like, share and comment any stories or feedback you have.
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Thursday 7th February 2019
#ChildrensMentalHealthWeek
Day 4: Active Listening
... Listening skills are important at any life stage, but even more so in early years. Developing language and communication comes from listening.
Active listening is a communication skill which will help bring clarity, understanding, and connection when building positive relationships. One of the most effective ways to teach kids to be good listeners, is through daily interactions with your child. It’s amazing how quickly young children will pick up on actions, and copy them.
Here are a couple of games which you can play with your child which encourage them to listen and learn, while having fun!
• I spy: I spy is a game that we would have all played at some point or another. But I bet you didn’t know that this game can be used to help children to listen and pay attention to close details. For those who haven’t played it. Give your child clues about an object in the room, and have them try to guess what you’re describing. For instance, to describe a ball, you might say, “I spy something round, and filled with air, that bounces.” Take turns, and allow your child to give clues while you guess what they’re describing.
*The good thing about this game is it can be done anywhere
• Story time follow up: Choose a favourite story to read with your child. When you’re finished reading, ask them various questions about what you just read. What happened in the beginning, middle, and/or end of the story? Encourage children to come up with an alternative ending for the story, and talk about the differences in their ending. Afterwards maybe have your child draw a picture that depicts what they heard, and then ask them to tell you about it.
• Simon says: This childhood classic is an engaging way to teach children to listen carefully. Be sure to take turns, allowing the children to have a chance to test your listening skills as well.
Remember to like, share your stories, and feedback any ideas you may have.
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Wednesday 6th February 2019
#ChildrensMentalHealthWeek
Day 3: Character
... Hi all, today's focus will be on character. Building a child’s self-esteem is incredibly important for their development. Giving and receiving compliments is a great way to build self-esteem and respect for others.
When a child has good self-esteem they are more likely to try new things. A great self-esteem game to play with your child is called ‘catch the compliment’.
Here’s how it’s done.
1. Find a soft ball e.g. a foam ball, fly away ball, or if you’re stuck just squish some paper together.
2. Make a large area, (away from any breakable items) and gather all players in a circle.
3. The players will take turns throwing the ball to a different players in the circle. As each toss is made, the tossing player gives the receiving player a compliment.
4. The receiving player then tosses the ball to someone else, again, giving a compliment as the ball is tossed.
5. At the end of the game, take time to ask players what was most difficult for them, what was easiest, what was the funniest thing that happened during the game. Ask players to explain what they had to do to be successful at the game. You will find that listening, looking, thinking, and other skills will be mentioned.
*Add more balls into the game it make it more challenging and fun!
One of the beauties of this game is that you can add new rules or twists in any way you like. Perhaps add a round in which the kids have to give themselves a compliment.
*Be sure when giving your child compliments to try and focus more on your child’s personality, rather than their abilities.
Remember to like, share your stories, and feedback any ideas you may have.
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Tuesday 5th February 2019
#ChildrensMentalHealthWeek
Day 2: Appreciation
... Positivity is a great way to make you and others around you feel happier. Today’s activity will centre on this. This activity can be incredibly rewarding, it focuses around appreciating everyone/thing that is around you and being thankful for this.
With your child, focus on one thing that has happened today or in the week which has made you happy. Have a convocation with your child on what they have chosen and why, this allows you and the child to reflect. Afterwards get them to draw this out as a picture. Drawing a picture helps the child take an active role in this activity, which is important.
This is a great technique as it emphasises thankfulness and happiness in ourselves. It also teaches children how to internally reflect in a positive way.
If you and your child enjoy it then why not try it every week.
Remember to share your stories and feedback any ideas you may have.
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Monday 4th February 2019
Day 1: Breathing
Breathing activities are a very simple and proactive way to calm your mind. Just like meditation and yoga, breathing activities help balance the mind. A great inclusive activity that can work for both adults and children.
... Elephant breaths: This is a great one to start with, helping to wake up you and your little one/s. Stand with your feet wide apart, and dangle your arms in front (like an elephant trunk). Breathe in through your nose and raise your arms high above your head. When exhaling through the mouth swing your arms down. Repeat this exercise three times.
Hissing breaths: Inhale through your nose and out your mouth. When comfortable inhale a deep breath and exhale through the mouth, while making a hissing sound (like a snake). Prolonging the exhale will help you and your child feel a lot better and relaxed.
Bunny breath: This exercise is great fun for the children. Teach your child to do three quick breathes through their noses and then exhale with one deep breathe through their nose. Like a bunny, this breathing exercise can helps calm upset children.
Bumblebee breathes: Sit comfortably with crossed legs, and close your eyes. Breathe through your nose and put your fingers in your ears. Breathe out making the sound of a bumble bee.
All these quick breathing activities help promote calm minds and bodies. They are very good coping strategies to help children and adults managed any stressful thoughts they may be feeling.
So get involved. And why not share your stories and feedback any ideas you may have.
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As you may know today is the start of #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek which aims to help children be healthy inside and out.
When we hear the words mental health, we often feel overwhelmed by what these two words mean. This week we aim to change that.
Thanks to myHappymind we have some tips to share with you throughout this week to help improve children’s mental well being.
... These tips are small activities that are time efficient and easy to complete at home or on the go. So why not give it a go this week.
Share and get involved.
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We will be celebrating Chinese New Year tomorrow.

Nursery is open as normal today, we will keep you updated of any changes.

Don’t forget we will be celebrating Chinese New Year on Tuesday 5th February. Children are invited to dress up, any Chinese inspired clothes or inspired by it being Year of the Pig

Pre school parents we have a Chinese New Year home challenge if you would like to participate please collect a sheet from An Auntie.

Following our topic of the month and children's interest in the story of Noah's ark, children are using the various resources to make their own animal stick puppets and Noah's ark. This activity supports children's language, imaginative play as well as literacy skills retelling the story using their own creations.

As most parents are now probably aware our new outside area is now complete. The children have been enjoying using it over the past week. We are all very excited about our new garden and enjoying spending as much time outside as possible. We are very happy with all the hard work that has been put in to make our garden fabulous. we would also like to thank everyone for your patience over the past few months while the work has been carried out üòä here are some pictures of work in progress and children enjoying the finished project.

PRIMARY SCHOOL APPLICATIONS
Just a reminder that the closing date for primary school applications is just a few days away closing date is 15th January.
Make sure you get your applications in.

The main entrance to nursery is now open again, please use this entrance to access nursery. Thank you

We close today at 12.30, we reopen on Wednesday 2/1/2019, grant only places return Monday 7/1/2019. Any messages will be responded to on 2/1/2019. Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year from all of us at Daisy chains 🎅🏻☃️

This afternoon some of our preschool children visited Pendleton croft to do some Christmas craft activities and sing some Christmas carols with all the residents. we all had a lovely time and the residents really enjoyed spending time with the children. 🎅☃️