Fireworks Galore
Date: 9th Nov 2019 @ 10:34am
Welcome to our first S4YC combined out of school blog!!! You are probably used to receiving regular newsletters and updates from your child’s setting but, with thirteen out of school settings (and two additional holiday clubs) between us, we thought it would be nice to collaborate and share our news not only with each other as a team, but more importantly with you as the parent/carer. As well as sharing news about your child’s successes and achievements, this will also be an opportunity to share our afterschool planning and details our monthly theme nights which will begin with a Christmas party in December (details to follow!!)
October half term is always a tricky time after such a long half term in school so we aim to keep children active and on task but also appreciate that they are tired and need time to recharge their batteries so, as usual, holiday club ranged from chilling out on a beanbag watching a DVD to games of football (when the weather allowed) and other outdoor activities, with plenty of arts and crafts in between. The theme of the week was Aladdin, so activities included a range of crafts from Genie cross stitch, magic lamps and Princess Jasmine necklaces to Aladdin cupcakes and magic carpets. Huntington also managed to squeeze in some Halloween activities where children enjoyed carving pumpkins and especially enjoyed the sensory experience of making slime with the ‘guts’ of the pumpkin!! They went on to have a fancy dress competition and a disco with games and prizes, something that Woodlands did the week before they broke up. Judging by the amount of resources left over at each of the settings I think we can presume that the children had a fun-filled and busy time.
Whilst Upton spent the week moving into their new build, the rest of us created firework inspired arts and crafts giving the children plenty of opportunities to talk about their own visits to a number of firework displays over the October half term as well learning about Guy Fawkes and talking about firework safety the use of sparklers. Many settings were lucky enough to be able to watch local displays from the safety of their playgrounds which certainly helped us from a health and safety point of view!!
During the week, those children who opted to stay indoors made firework cones, rocket wands and bonfire night crowns, as well as creating some of their own firework pictures with a range of media from chalks (on paper and the playground) to paints and sparkly embellishments.
As you can see, Parkgate produced some especially beautiful bonfire night scenes.
It will come as no surprise to hear that the chocolate dipped apples activity was a firm favourite across the board although Whitby Heath went the extra mile and ended their week with a movie night accompanied by popcorn and hot chocolate and cream. What’s not to like about that??!!
For the more active amongst us we had a very successful week of sport including football, dodgeball, gymnastics, Spiderman tag and other indoor ball games. We are now finishing our sports clubs at 4.15pm due to the darker evenings. If your child is taking part in any outdoor activities, please make sure they are wrapped up warm and wearing ‘muddy friendly’ clothing!!
In the coming week we are turning our thoughts to our amazing war heroes as we remember the fallen and take part in a number of remembrance/poppy inspired arts and crafts. Alongside this we will be focusing on what it is to be a good friend as part of ‘Anti-Bullying Week’ before rounding up the week with some Pudsey inspired activities for Children in Need.