A typical session
Children attending Happy Hours enjoy a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities including:
Registration
Children join in with answering their names to our register song, they help to count attendees and set the date, month and weather on the calendar. Jobs are allocated for helping out with day-to-day tasks such as: shaking the shaker, ringing the bell, preparing the table for snacks etc. Each child has a job stick so turns are taken fairly.
Small group time
Children are encouraged to partake in small adult led activities. These will focus on the seven areas of learning and will be planned to cover a range of needs and abilities. The activities include things such as: Phonic game “Silly Soup”, craft work and scissor action, weighing and measuring with cookery, going for a listening walk on the field, Numicon and other number work, and simple board games to encourage turn taking.
Outdoor play We have a wide range of bikes trikes and scooters, a slide, balls and/or supervised games – ensuring plenty of time explore the outside world and have space to run around. We have a designated gardening area and with the support from the Royal Horticultural Society, are trying to grow some of our own vegetables.
Creative and messy play
At a supervised craft table there are a variety of creative resources available for the children to have easy access to collage, junk modelling, painting, sand table, play dough and water play.
Quiet Time
In our quiet room children have access to books with a comfortable reading area, many maths resources and lots of puzzles and games to play with help from grown ups if required.
Snack time
We have our “Happy Hours Café” that opens for roughly an hour during each session. Children are encouraged to come to the table at some point during their play and are offered a variety of healthy snack options. If the children have been baking in their small group activity they will often get to sample it at snack time.
Plenty of toys These encourage social and imaginative play from construction, wild life, role play and computers. Come in and see all that we have to offer.
Shaker time
Five minutes before the end of free play someone will have the job of “shaking the shaker”, at this time children know to take off any dressing up clothes and put their shoes on.
Tidy Up time
The next job “ringing the bell” happens and all the children are encouraged to help tidy away with plenty of help and support from grown ups.
Song time
We sing a wide variety of songs either with puppets, CDs or props and most songs are by request from children, this time consolidates all the learning the children do by repetition and familiarity.
Story time
A member of staff will read to the whole group. At other times, children have free access to the pre-school library and can look at the books themselves, ask an adult to read to them or take books home.
Home Time
Children put their coats on and receive back their book bags and any toys that they have brought from home. We all sing our goodbye song and say farewell for another day!
