This week, Reception have continued their exciting Beastly Beasties topic by exploring the wonderful world of minibeasts and life cycles.
The children have been reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar and were delighted when their very own caterpillars arrived on Monday! They have enjoyed observing them closely and learning about the fascinating life cycle of a butterfly. The children have written fact sheets filled with interesting information and created a variety of representations to show the different stages of the life cycle.
The classroom has also been home to some stick insects this week. The children have loved carefully handling them and discovering how these amazing creatures grow and develop throughout their own life cycle.
To make learning even more exciting, the children welcomed ZooLab for a special animal-handling workshop. They met a giant African land snail and learned all about the healing properties of the slime it produces. Many of the children were incredibly brave and enjoyed holding the snail in their hands.
The children also met a tarantula and discovered that it can flick tiny hairs as a defence mechanism. They learned that these hairs can be very itchy and may cause irritation for several weeks. The children were fascinated to meet a snake and learn about how it grows and sheds its skin. To finish their adventure, everyone had the opportunity to stroke a cockroach and learn more about this unusual insect.
The children have shown great curiosity, enthusiasm and bravery throughout the week. We are so proud of how engaged they have been in their learning and look forward to continuing our Beastly Beasties adventures next week!
