Reception- What do we celebrate?

Project Overview

In Reception this half term we have been learning about different celebrations. We started by learning about the Hindu festival of Diwali. We looked at how people celebrate the festival of lights and made our own rangoli patterns and Diwa lamps. We then looked at Bonfire night and talked about fire safety. We were really lucky to get a visit from the local fire station. The children were so excited to go on the fire engine, use the hose and learn about the firefighters’ equipment. We also went to the campfire to roasted some marshmallow. At the campfire Miss Taylor read us the story ‘Room on the broom’ which kicked started our learning about ‘Magic’!

We couldn’t believe it when we found a broken broomstick on our carpet. Who could it belong to?! We had lots of fun learning about the book “Room on the broom”, the children thought about what the witch looked like and how she felt when her broomstick broke in half. We even helped her writing the instructions for her broomstick-fixing potion! To prepare for our Witch’s tea party the children have been learning how to make a spooky ‘Witches Brew Jelly’ and some lovely jam sandwiches. First, we learnt how to be safe and hygienic when cooking and then we worked together to carefully follow the instructions on the recipe. We discussed the correct amounts of the ingredients and how to measure them and talked about the changes that occurred to the jelly. At home the children made some beautiful witches and wizards’ hats and we went to the hall where the children had the chance to show off their beautiful creations.

Finally, it was time to celebrate Christmas! The home corner was turned into Santa’s workshop and the children had lots of fun wrapping presents, writing cards and pretending to be Santa and his elves. We had a Christmas craft day making cards, eco-friendly Christmas decorations and reindeer food. We also worked really hard to help the Grinch to enjoy Christmas a little more! Well done Reception!

What The Student Says

“I loved going to the campfire! My marshmallow was delicious” – RPB child

“My favourite was when Santa came to visit. We could hear his bells jingling and he gave us a present!” – RLK child

“I enjoyed making the fireworks picture on the Ipad” – RPB child

“I used playdough to make a Diwa lamp, like the ones in the video” – RLK child

“I liked going on the stage to say my line in the nativity play” – RLK child

“It was fun when we learnt about magic! We made silly potions and .. Iggety, Zigety, zoom! Just like the witch!” – RPB child

What skills were developed?

  • Developed their communication and language skills
  • Developed their observational skills 
  • Made predictions
  • Followed instructions carefully 
  • Through learning about Diwali and Christmas they gained an understanding of different religions, cultures and ways to celebrate
  • Used technology as a mean to express creativity, noticing details to be able to abstract an image in their own art when making their fireworks pictures
  •  Used logical reasoning to predict the behaviour of simple programs
  •  Developed their cutting skills

What The Teacher Says

The children were so excited about their learning this half term. It was lovely to see them all so enthusiastic about exploring different cultures’ ways of celebrating.  

Learning about magic gave us the opportunity to get excited about writing. I am so proud of the children’s progress in phonics and their relsilience when learning to write. 

Finally, It was amazing to see the children grow in confidence when performing our Nativity play. They were all so brave when delivering their lines and singing in front of their grown ups! 

– Miss Korenika, RLK Class Teacher