We’d like to thank all our parents and children for kindly donating and sponsoring us whilst we took part in wearing our pyjamas and not only that, the children in the Hive have been taking part in “The Mini Peaks Challenge."

A few of the children have dressed up in their pyjamas alongside all the Hive staff. They looked very, very cute and cosy. Our “Mini Peaks Challenge” consisted of either walking around the farm to see the horses and tractors or a little walk up the hill!

Some children saw their siblings whilst on our “Mini Peaks” and they were able to take part in the challenge together.

This was a great opportunity for the Hive staff to see the children’s physical skills. It’s important that staff “Provide novelty in the environment that encourages babies to use all of their senses and move indoors and outdoors. – Early Years Statutory Framework”

It’s also important that staff “Encourage independence as young children explore particular patterns of movement, sometimes referred to as schemas - Early Years Statutory Framework”

Schemas are the ‘urge’ that children have to take part in things such as climbing, throwing and banging. Schemas appear through the child’s play. There are many different types of schemas, here are a few of them that we regularly see in the Hive:

- Positioning – the ‘urge’ in which we get to - position things, make things into neat lines, stacking things in the correct order.

- Connection – the ‘urge’ that we get to join things together such as Mega Blocks, train tracks. It could also be disconnecting things – so when a child see’s a train track all set out they may get the ‘urge’ to disconnect it.

- Transporting – is the ‘urge’ to carry many things on your hands at one time, in jars, in buckets and baskets.

- Rotation – things that go around (circular objects) - wheels, turning lids, watching the washing machine go around and round, drawing circles, or spinning around on the spot.

- Transformation – is the ‘urge’ to hold all your food in your mouth for a long time to see what it turns into, mixing your juice with your dinner or water with dirt.

Soraya has also recently written a blog exploring schemas, so if you are interested, please do take time to read her post from last week.

Whilst taking part in the “Mini Peaks Challenge” we spoke to the children about our surroundings and what we were able to see. We saw horses, and chatted about what noises they make. Some children responded with “clip clop” whilst others said “neigh."

When walking around the farm it’s important that the children are wary of their surroundings as sometimes there can be large machinery and horses. This is very important especially when walking through the car park. So before we set off around the farm we spoke to the children about the word “stop!” This is a great opportunity to watch and see the children develop their listening and understanding. We were very impressed with how well the children reacted when we asked them to stop! Well done Team Hive!

Whilst some of the children went to complete the “Mini Peaks Challenge” The other children were out enjoying our great facilities and resources in the garden! Not forgetting they could do this in the sunshine!

Now the sunshine’s finally made an appearance the cover of the ball pit has come off! The children have been exploring the ball pit in many different ways whether it be climbing in and out, throwing the balls or just sitting in there. When the children have been exploring the ball pit staff members have been talking to them about what they could see whether it be the different colours of the balls or how many we were about to count! The Hive children’s speech has really come on over the past few weeks – and they’ve been telling us what they want using their language!