We just love to dance, dance, dance in Nursery!

Here are the links to some of our favourites dance-alongs…

This one has got to be our current favourite: it’s ‘Fight Song’ (by Music Express Magazine) and you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGNLYGrZbzQ

This one is Wake Up, Shake Up with Sportacus (from Lazy Town): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD7zbsGjFo4

This one is called Awesome Rainbows (by Koo Koo Kanga Roo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbPGvZDNoY0

And this one is called ‘Big Fish, Little Fish’ and it’s sung by Bob the Builder. Your grown-ups may already know it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD1ENnVnMXM

Here’s another one from Koo Koo Kanga Roo – it’s called Dinosaur Stomp!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imhi98dHa5w

And we also love dancing along to the Gummy Bear song!  This version is from Just Dance Kids 2:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q7-tzCCh3w

Finally, why not have a go at dancing along to ‘Let It Go!’ with Anna and Elsa – we haven’t tried this in the classroom yet, but it looks like a good one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKrxiYEGEkU

If you have anymore dance-alongs that are a hit at home, please do share them by commenting on this post!

You might be wondering if your child is holding their pencil correctly and whether there are things you can do to help him or her develop the correct pencil grip.

First of all, it’s important to realise that pencil grip is like many of the skills your child will develop during their first years of life – it’s something that develops over time and at your individual child’s own pace!

This guide (A Guide to Pencil Grip Development) contains a really useful overview of pencil grip development and describes the different grips you might see between the ages of 1 years and 7 years.

And this video outlines the same information:

https://youtu.be/DYXB2B0IfDM

Depending on your child’s stage of pencil grip development, there are lots of fun, play-based activities you can encourage him/her to have a go at to build up the strength in their muscles.  Click here for some of these ideas.

Once your child is beginning to develop a tripod pencil grip, you can encourage him or her to ‘pick and flick’ to support a comfortable grip for writing.  This video explains how to pick up and hold a pencil using the ‘pick and flick’ technique.

This technique is also sometimes called ‘nip, flip, grip’ and these printable posters demonstrate it in three steps:

How-To-Grip-A-Pencil-Posters

Finally, you might find this explanation of a Good Pencil Grip useful – if your child is holding their pencil like this by the time they go into Reception, their Reception teachers will be very impressed!

We all love listening to a good story, don’t we?

Why not have a look at this website where you will find lots of videos of children’s books read by famous people that your grown-ups may recognise!

I’ve already spotted some of our favourites such as The Rainbow Fish and The Kiss That Missed.

You might also like to have a look at this playlist from Oxford Owl:

If you enjoy listening to audiobooks, why not check out Audible which is free why schools are closed.

And why not visit The Children’s Poetry Archive where you can listen to lots of wonderful poems and rhymes!

The RSPB website also contains some lovely audiobooks – read by some very famous voices including Alison Steadman and Zoe Ball:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/for-kids/kids-stories/bedtime-stories-audiobooks/