Toddlers first approach numbers by memorizing the counting sequence by rote. Early on, your toddler may not even realize that the phrase “one, two, three” is actually made up of three separate words, and instead might hear it as a single “chunk”. Counting with the Cuddly Koalas helps them become familiar with the sequence of numbers and introduces them to the idea of one-to-one correspondence, a foundational math concept.

Our Cuddly Koalas welcomed the arrival of spring by painting beautiful dandelion blowballs with their fingers. It was a great sensory experience for the little Koalas. Some were very excited whereas others were a little hesitant to touch the paint.

The Easter celebration was a big success. Following the egg hunt, the children enjoyed various games and activities designed to spark their imagination and creativity. But the excitement did not stop there. The highlight of the day was a delightful puppet show that captivated the children from start to finish.

In the enchanting world of nursery, every week brings discoveries and adventures. Recently, our nursery class embarked on a captivating journey exploring the concepts of day and night. Through storytelling and interactive activities, we painted a vivid picture of the world and learned what happens during the day and what changes occur when night falls. We organised an activity with the light table and the children gathered around the table, their eyes sparkled with curiosity and excitement. We provided various colourful laminated shapes, allowing the children to experiment and create their magical worlds. The children also eagerly observed how light and shadow danced across the wall when we used the projector.

‘Mine!’, ‘I do!’ is the call of many toddlers. Children of this age can be very possessive and have difficulty taking turns and sharing. However, getting along with others is an essential life skill, and sharing is an important part of cooperative play. When the Cuddly Koalas are asked to share with their friends, as they are with the drum in this activity, they have the opportunity to learn and practice sharing in a safe environment. This will help them make perhaps more importantly keep friends.

The Cuddly Koalas painted Easter bunnies as they prepared to celebrate Easter. The children enjoyed creating their bunnies with stamp painting, glueing on eyes, and a colourful nose.

There is something truly magical about taking little ones outdoors and letting them explore the beauty of nature firsthand. It helps them to develop a deeper appreciation for the world around them. Children outside can see, hear, smell, and touch things they would not encounter indoors. These sensory experiences are crucial for their cognitive development and help them build a connection to nature from an early age. Going on a nature walk and collecting greenery to create a sticky plate masterpiece is simple and enchanting. We encouraged the children to pick leaves, twigs, and other natural treasures that caught their eye.

Music can have a strong effect on our emotions. It can therefore be a powerful tool for teaching the Cuddly Koalas how to soothe themselves and regulate their emotions. These skills play an important role in problem-solving and learning in all stages of life. By breathing deeply and relaxing, we are modelling for the Cuddly Koalas what ‘calm’ looks and feels like. We can further their understanding by verbally describing how their bodies might feel (relaxed, loose, easy) in this state.

The Cuddly Koalas explored the changing weather and created stunning sun catchers with colourful paper pieces to gain a deeper understanding of the natural world around them.

There is nothing like a carnival to dress up in fun costumes and have a great time. There were princesses, superheroes, astronauts, cartoon characters, and animals to see. The Cuddly Koalas played fun games, like balloon balancing and ball-tossing. But the coolest part was the TuráZoo. We met reptiles like snakes and lizards. We touched their scaly skins and learned interesting things about them.

In our classes, when we teach the Cuddly Koalas new concepts such as up and down, we employ all of the children’s senses to help them connect meaning with a specific word. In this activity, we connect the words up and down with their meaning by moving our bodies, saying the words in the poem, and watching each other move as we say the poem.

The little Koalas were setting up the bird feeder project, where young minds eagerly embraced the task of preparing personalized feeders for their feathered friends. We used paper rolls, pinecones, honey and seeds. The children created unique and imaginative bird feeders, fostering a sense of responsibility and environmental awareness. The nursery also witnessed the magical world of paper theatre. The “kamishibai paper theatre” is a traditional Japanese narrative art. Various themed stories and children’s tales can be told using this method, engaging the children’s multiple senses while listening to the stories. We have also come up with a new creative idea that encouraged children to create their imaginative world by building with large and small paper boxes. Children utterly enjoyed structuring the boxes and challenging themselves.

The learning and movement connection is especially evident in instrument play. In exploration time, we encourage the Cuddly Koalas to explore the texture and colour of the instrument, the many ways to play it, and the variety of sounds it makes. Playing the instrument to music engages the senses of touch, hearing, and sight. The Cuddly Koalas observe that as they change the way they move the instrument, their sound changes, too. They learn to coordinate their movements to play fast or slow and quiet or loud. They also learn that they can express themselves by choosing how they play.

During a lesson, the Cuddly Koalas worked together to create a carnival banner, in which they first learned about the symbols associated with carnival and then used stamps, and balloons to make prints on the banner.

An instrument play-along provides many opportunities to practice social skills. We ask the Cuddly Koalas to get instruments for themselves, they wait their turn, interact with the teacher and with their friends as they play, and at the end, they work with the group to put the instruments away and get ready for the next activity. These are all big steps in developing cooperation, relationships, and empathy.

The Cuddly Koalas learned about polar animals and excitedly painted penguins during one of the visual arts classes. They were happy to mix colours and stick the wiggly eyes onto their penguins according to their preferences.

It is time to celebrate the chill in the air with exciting educational activities for children. If the temperature is cold enough, even without snow, there is plenty of winter magic to discover outdoors, such as how water turns into ice. We had a great time indoors as well with our winter sensory box, which captured the imaginations of the children. Besides our winter topic, children explored different forms of transportation in the world of vehicles.

The children of the Cuddly Koalas Class got into the Christmas spirit and created their own beautiful Christmas trees. They had a blast painting the trees according to their preferences, using sponge stomping. In addition, they decorated their trees with buttons and sequins, making them even more festive and unique.

One of the first musical skills the Cuddly Koalas develop is the ability to keep a steady beat. This skill is extremely important, of course, for future musical experiences, but it is also important in everyday life. Think of all we do that requires paced repetition walking, running, riding a bicycle, cutting with scissors, bouncing a ball… and the list goes on.

The preparations for the Christmas celebration have begun in the Cuddly Koalas class. We are already making handmade little surprises for Christmas. The class also wrote letters to Santa Claus and sent them to him. We hope he will come to visit us soon. The little Koalas enjoy the Christmas atmosphere, and there are many decorations in the classroom to enhance the festive mood. Another great joy was the arrival of the first snow. The children’s eyes lit up with excitement as they discovered a world blanketed in a fresh layer of snow. We ventured outside to explore the snowy playground. Sledding, snowball fights, rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes — a truly memorable winter day.​

It is hard work waiting for the drum. Like all stop-and-go games, taking turns fosters the development of patience, something most children have not mastered yet. (In fact, many adults still have trouble with it.) Allowing the Cuddly Koalas to practice and master the important skill of patience helps them succeed in school and life.

The Cuddly Koalas children made Thanksgiving-themed pumpkin pies in one of their visual arts lessons. First, they learned to say Thanksgiving, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie. Then, they looked at pumpkin pie pictures and identified the main ingredients needed for making a pumpkin pie. We pretended that orange paint was pumpkin puree, liquid glue was melted butter, silver glitter was sugar, and gold glitter was cinnamon. First, they mixed pumpkin puree (orange paint), melted butter (liquid glue), sugar (silver glitter), and flour (white paint). They covered our baking moulds (Art paper) with our pasta, and we put them in the oven to bake. Until our pie was in the imaginary oven, we built our pie crusts with brown paper pieces. Then, once our pie smelled nice and ready, they took it out from the imaginary oven, put some pom poms as cream, and sprinkled sugar (silver glitter) and cinnamon (gold glitter) on the top.

Some of our brave Koalas boldly mounted the ponies this week, experiencing the thrill of a gentle ride. For others, it was a chance to observe closely these friendly animals and touch their fur. The fun did not stop there as we dived into the world of shapes through engaging games. The Koalas had a blast while learning about shapes in a hands-on and interactive manner.

How else can Halloween be more magical and mysterious than to provoke the Cuddly Koalas children with a water-resistant spider web artwork? The children loved exploring the water-resistant effect and colour mixing at the same time and revealing the hidden spider web from brush stroke to brush stroke. They also loved selecting and glueing the baby spiders prepared for the activity and placing them in their beloved new homes, on the spider webs.

Skeletons, pumpkins, and giggles—Halloween at the nursery is a day where imaginations run wild, creativity flourishes, and the air is filled with laughter and excitement. The little ones, adorned in their adorable costumes, were surprised to observe the unusual outfits of their teachers. The Halloween celebration was filled with fun games and learning. Throughout the day, the activities were tailored to spark the children’s imagination. The spider web sticking activity, Jack-o-lantern sensory bin, and the dance party were fantastic. Snack time was equally festive and the little Cuddly Koalas thoroughly enjoyed their special snacks and programmes. Halloween day was wonderful, providing us with great memories.

Many traditions and cultures around the world use circle dances to strengthen community connections. In our classes, we value the long tradition of circle dancing as well as the learning that circle dances offer. Circle dances can be simple and fun with everyone contributing equally (no leaders or followers) and they give everyone a sense of accomplishment and joy. When we dance together, we synchronize our movements to a common steady beat. Research shows that this connects us both physically and emotionally to one another, allowing us to relax together as we dance. Circle dances create the perfect environment for the Cuddly Koalas to thrive and grow emotionally and socially.

Touching each of the Cuddly Koala’s fingers individually while enjoying fingerplay will help them to begin to recognize each finger as separate from the others. When they were babies they moved all their fingers together at the same time. As they grow and develop, children learn to move their fingers individually, beginning with the thumb and pointer finger. The ability to move each finger, one at a time, is called finger isolation and it is vital to fine motor development. It contributes to the ability to hold a pencil correctly, use scissors, button and zip clothes, tie shoelaces, and play a variety of musical instruments.

The Cuddly Koalas children explored and investigated the beauty of painting on a vertical and see-through film surface. First, we distinguished colours with the children. Each child received one recycled egg carton with tempera paint and a brush. Then, the children stood in front of the see-through surfaces and were challenged to make marks on the surface to the best of their abilities. In the meantime, the children listened to The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi.

The Cuddly Koalas have been busy discovering the world of emotions. Circle time is that special part of the day when we all come together to sing, dance, and learn. Through songs, children explore a rainbow of feelings and develop important emotional skills. Circle-time songs are a creative outlet for self-expression. Children can dance, sing, and move in ways that help them communicate their feelings, even if they cannot quite put them into words yet.
With all these emotional explorations, our little ones were buzzing with excitement for the Harvest Festival. They had a blast decorating pumpkins and making them all colourful and fun.

The Cuddly Koalas children made apple artwork in their visual arts lessons. First, the children looked at some apples and observed the apples’ parts, colour, and texture. Then, the children used apples to create prints on apple samples to the best of their abilities. The children held and manipulated the apples bravely, explored the sensation of pressing them on the samples, experimented with different colours of paint, and explored their artistic abilities. They realized their actions, such as pressing the apples onto paper create specific outcomes, such as prints. They focused on the art project and left the art table with a sense of accomplishment.

One of the highlights of our bustling weeks was the spirit of exploration that evolved in our nursery. Every day was a new opportunity for growth and discovering something new. Children learned the value of cooperation, problem-solving, and sharing, all while having an absolute blast. During inside play or outdoor times. In the class every season is a new opportunity to learn and get to know something new; we have created a sensory wonderland where they can touch, feel, and explore acorns, and pinecones that symbolize this enchanting season. Hand painting is also an all-time favourite where they can explore the colours and foster a sense of wonder about the world around them. Furthermore every day, our little learners practice the movements in the gym with joy and boundless energy.

The Cuddly Koalas love to move but they ESPECIALLY love moving independently. One of the ways to encourage a toddler’s drive for independence is to engage them in simple movement rhymes. With repetition and time, the Cuddly Koalas will delight in showing off the movements they have learned. It is through mastery of age-appropriate independent skills like these that your toddler’s self-esteem will blossom.

One of the first musical skills we develop is the ability to keep a steady beat. This skill is extremely important, of course, for future musical experiences, but it is also important in everyday life. Think of all we do that requires paced repetition walking, running, riding a bicycle, cutting with scissors, bouncing a ball… and the list goes on. The Cuddly Koalas like to do a steady beat with different instruments.

The first two weeks in the nursery for our little Koalas have been nothing short of magical. These little explorers have embarked on a journey of discovery, each day filled with wonder and excitement. While the initial days may have brought a few tears and waves of emotions, these brave children have shown incredible resilience, adapting to the daily routine with enthusiasm and courage. We could not be prouder of how well they have done in these crucial early steps towards their bright future.