A week of curiosity, cooking, and creativity
This weeks learning was a wonderful mix of cooking, healthy living, maths skills, and storytelling — all helping to build independence, understanding, and imagination
🥔 Cooking: Jacket Potatoes with Beans and Cheese
We began by preparing a simple and comforting meal: jacket potatoes with beans and cheese.
First, we washed and dried the potatoes before placing them in the oven to bake. As they cooked, the kitchen filled with a warm, earthy smell. Once soft inside, we carefully cut them open and watched the steam escape!
Next came the toppings — baked beans and grated cheese. The heat from the potato melted the cheese into a golden layer over the beans, making it both delicious and satisfying.
This activity helped develop:
- Fine motor skills (grating cheese, cutting safely)
- Independence and confidence in the kitchen
- An understanding of where food comes from
🥗 Understanding Healthy Food
While cooking, we talked about healthy eating choices.
We explored how our meal included:
- Potatoes → a source of energy (carbohydrates)
- Beans → protein for growth
- Cheese → calcium for strong bones
We also discussed the importance of:
- Eating a balanced diet
- Including fruits and vegetables
- Drinking water
By connecting cooking with nutrition, learners begin to understand how food helps keep our bodies strong and healthy.
We continued this through the week and sampled lots of different healthy foods.
Exploring Pictograms in Maths
A fun step into data and discovery
This week in maths, we explored an exciting way to collect and present information using pictograms. The children were enthusiastic and quickly engaged with this visual approach to learning numbers and data.
🖼️ What is a Pictogram?
We began by learning that a pictogram is a type of chart that uses pictures or symbols to represent data. Each picture stands for a certain number of items, making it easier to count and compare.
For example:
🍎 = 1 apple
or sometimes
🍎 = 2 apples
This introduced the idea that symbols can represent more than one item, depending on the key.
📖 Story Time: Tiddler by Julia Donaldson
Exploring imagination and storytelling
This week, we enjoyed reading the delightful story Tiddler by Julia Donaldson, a tale full of imagination, creativity, and adventure under the sea.
🐟 About the Story
Tiddler tells the story of a small fish who is always late for school because he creates fantastical excuses about his journeys. Each day, he arrives with a new and dramatic tale, describing adventures such as meeting sea creatures or travelling through underwater worlds.
Although his stories are not true, they spark curiosity and excitement among the other sea creatures.
💬 Our Discussions
After reading the story, we talked about:
- Imagination vs reality – What parts of Tiddler’s stories were real or made up?
- Honesty – Why is it important to tell the truth?
- Storytelling – How stories can be fun and creative
The children loved sharing their thoughts and even came up with their own imaginative ideas.
✨ What We Learned
Through Tiddler, we explored important skills and themes:
- Creative thinking – imagining new and exciting ideas
- Listening and speaking – sharing opinions about the story
- Sequencing events – remembering what happened first, next, and last
- Understanding consequences – learning that honesty matters
