Ice Creams, Beach Tales & Big School Adventures at Fun Box Nursery

What a wonderful, sunshine-filled week we've had at Fun Box! From beach memories to froggy fun, from imaginative ice cream creations to the big step towards "big school," our children have had a joyful and enriching time.

🌟 Big School Adventures

This week marked an exciting milestone for our school leavers as they attended their move-up days at their new schools. The buzz around the nursery was full of chatter about new classrooms, new friends, and all the exciting things they did during their visits. We were thrilled to hear them talk about what they played, who they met, and how they felt—full of pride and anticipation.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had visits from teachers at Hazelwood Infant School, Calmore Infant School, Eling Infant School, Copythorne Infant School, and Lydlynch Infant School. The children loved showing their soon-to-be teachers around Fun Box, proudly pointing out their favourite toys, games, and spaces.

A special thank you to Hazelwood Infant School for sharing a beautiful Transition Book with us—it sparked some fantastic discussions and helped our children visualise what Reception Year might look like. We’re proud to work closely with local schools to ensure this big change is as smooth and supportive as possible, not just for our children but for their families too.

🍦 Ice Creams Galore!

With summer in full swing, it’s no surprise that ice cream has taken centre stage in our play! But while it may look like just fun and sprinkles, we’ve cleverly woven in plenty of learning.

• Maths in Disguise: Using 2D shapes to create ice cream pictures helped children with shape recognition, counting, and sorting.

• Sensory Play: Shaving foam, cones, and sprinkles made for a brilliant sensory experience while challenging their fine motor skills.

• Coordination Fun: Balancing balls on cones turned into a playful way to build hand-eye coordination.

• Creative Printing: Potato printing ice creams? Yes, please! A simple classic that never fails to spark creativity.

🏖️ Beach Talk and Holiday Tales

With many families recently returning from holidays, our conversations naturally turned to the beach. The children were eager to share where they’d been, how they got there, and what they loved most.

We expanded on these stories with a “beach bag” memory game using items like sun hats, towels, sunglasses, and sun cream. It was a great activity to:

• Enhance Communication and Language through storytelling and sharing.

• Boost Understanding of the World by talking about travel, sun safety, and summer routines.

• Support cognitive development, particularly memory and recall skills.

🐸 Froggy Fascination

Our garden frog tray was a massive hit this week! Frogs captured everyone's imagination, and we turned their interest into a fantastic learning opportunity. Together we explored:

• Where frogs live

• What frogs eat

• Their life cycle

And of course, we sang Five Little Speckled Frogs, combining music with numeracy and rhythm.

This topic not only expanded our children’s knowledge of the natural world but also introduced important early science and maths concepts in a fun and meaningful way.

In Summary

It’s been a vibrant and diverse week at Fun Box—full of learning, laughter, and a whole lot of summer spirit. Whether preparing for the next big step to school or just enjoying the sunshine, every activity has helped build confidence, curiosity, and connection.

We can’t wait to see what next week brings!