Blog for Extra Curricular activities
At The Learning Tree we strive to offer the best care and experiences to your children, we are constantly evaluating our practice and enjoy providing new and exciting experiences for the children. As many of you will know we have offered Extra Curricular Activities over the Years where we invite professionals in to teach the children a new skill. We have previously had Rugby Tots, Dance and Baby Massage.
Currently at The Learning Tree we have Libby from Writhlington Leisure, who is a Preschool dance teacher. Libby has been coming to the Learning Tree for 2 years now and the children adore her. Music and Dance is a great way for children to express themselves, getting lost in the music and moving their bodies in a variety of ways. The Dance lessons have allowed practitioners to see children fully engage in learning new skills, build self-confidence and enjoy being active. Libby often brings a box of props to support the lesson, this helps children to concentrate and turn take during the session. Libby also incorporates imagination into the session, in our previous term the children were mesmerised by Goblins and the antics that they got up to each session, the children would listen to the story and then build up the story based on their own imagination. The dance lesson has been so beneficial for all of the children, the babies have also participated and show lots of excitement when the colourful props are used. Our Send children have welcomed this new experience and have responded to Libby by listening and anticipating what will happen next. We look forward to continuing with dance and the children developing more skills.
We also have Julie who comes in to sing with the children each week. Julie always has lots of exciting things with her props, key board and a Guitar. The children are mesmerised by Julie and are really in-tune with her, they are able to follow actions and particularly enjoy the props available. Music is so important in the early years it’s not only fun and interactive but it build’s on children’s listening and attention skills, language and improves children’s moods and how they are feeling.
We are a busy Nursery and have lots of activities and different play going on throughout the day it is important to stop and recharge. We have recently invited Rosie from Rosie glow yoga to come and teach the children Yoga and mindfulness. The benefits of yoga include resilience, emotional and stress regulation, balance co-ordination and concentration. It is beneficial for the children to have the opportunity to take a step back and to be calm and focused. Yoga has allowed the children to learn a new skill and for practitioners to incorporate this into the children’s routine when it is needed. Rosie has also completed a Yoga and Mindfulness session with the staff, which we all found hugely beneficial for our own self-care.
