Reception

Do you want to be friends? Would you like to play with me? In this topic, we explore friendship, being kind, being helpful and working together. We also look at people who help us and learn to appreciate them.
Throughout this topic, we will share many stories about friendships. In particular, we will look at how to resolve conflicts and listen to other points of view. Through our small world provision, we will provide the children with lots of opportunities to recreate their own experiences of relationships. We will also use our home corner and role play areas to share our experiences of the last few months. In addition, we will work with the children on recognising their name for pegs/drawers/stamp cards and self-registration. The children will learn to independently take their jumpers, cardigans and coats on and off. We will start to get changed for our PE lessons and so lots of practise at home will help. Our outside provision offers the children plenty of opportunities to play and work alongside each other in our mud kitchen, fairy garden, sand pit, water trays, construction and DIY area and climbing frame.
This term, we will be teaching the children how to think creatively and begin to use media and materials in a variety of ways. We will be going on daily walks so that the children feel closer to nature and feel calm and relaxed when going home. 

Board games
play some board games with your child. This will teach them all about taking turns and waiting patiently. Model praising your child when they do well and encourage them to not give up.
Helping around the house
Ask your child to help around the house. You could ask them to tidy their toys, help with the washing up or make their beds. This will give the children a sense of responsibility and ownership. It will teach them how to work with others towards a shared goal.
Cooking
Make one evening extra special by asking your child to help you cook the dinner. Give them small jobs like stirring or mixing. You could even teach them how to chop some vegetables! After all the hard work, sit down and enjoy your lovely meal.
Autumn walk
Go for an autumn walk with your family in your local area. As you are walking, talk to your child about what is around them. Look at then changes on the trees – what do you notice? Listen to the noises all around you – what can you hear? You could even collect some natural materials to create a nature collage when you get back home.
Friendship artwork
Ask your child about the friends they have made in Reception. Get to know their name and what your child likes about them. Then, ask your child to make a picture of their friends. They could draw or paint a picture or even make one out of Lego. The choice is yours!