Hatchlings Newsletter
Theme of the Week: Exploring Australia through nature, sensory play, and creative discovery.
This week, our little Hatchlings embarked on a journey filled with nature, creativity, and sensory adventures. From sunny walks and wildlife discoveries to hands-on crafts and playful mindfulness, every moment was designed to spark curiosity, strengthen skills, and bring joy to learning together.
Come see how our Hatchlings grow through language, discovery, and creativity
Amazing excursions- Barbican highwalk
The Hatchlings made the most of the beautiful weather with a nature walk on Barbican Highwalk. The children were captivated by the insects all around them, spotting butterflies fluttering among the flowers and ants busily crawling underfoot. These exciting discoveries supported their growing curiosity about the natural world and helped develop their observation skills. We rounded off our outing with a cheerful outdoor circle time, singing some of our favourite songs together—encouraging language development, social interaction, and a sense of joy in exploring the world around them.
Regional Activity
The Hatchlings explored the new regional theme of Australia through hands-on, sensory activities. They began with a desert insect hunt, searching sand and cacti for bugs to build observation skills, fine motor coordination, and knowledge of habitats. Sensory foam play introduced Australian wildlife, with children adding ‘spider legs’ to practise pincer and palmar grasps. They also crafted playdough cacti with pipe-cleaner spikes, strengthening hand muscles, improving hand-eye coordination, expanding vocabulary with words like “spiky” and “cactus,” and sparking curiosity about desert plants and their environments.
Physical Play
Throughout the week, our physical play activities centred around developing scooping skills. Using tools to scoop items like pom-poms and silicone eggs, the Hatchlings improved their hand-eye coordination—a key skill for everyday tasks such as feeding. Some children preferred to use their hands, which added a rich sensory dimension to the experience, helping them explore texture and form through touch.
Sensory Play
In a wonderfully wild sensory activity, the Hatchlings went on a jungle adventure! Using playdough, wooden pieces, greenery, and a variety of jungle animals, the children constructed their very own jungle landscapes. This open-ended play encouraged creativity, imaginative thinking, and gave children the opportunity to express themselves through their unique creations.
Specialist Session
During our specialist session, Miss Molly introduced a joyful new mindfulness theme: the Teddy Bear Picnic. The children delighted in wearing teddy ears, which encouraged imaginative role-play and boosted confidence in group settings. Together, they sang “I’m a Little Teapot”, supporting language development and participation. Each child practiced pouring with their own teacup, refining their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The picnic also encouraged important social skills like turn-taking and collaboration.
Thank you to our wonderful team and families for making this week so full of adventure and learning!
Blue Dragons Newsletter
Theme of the week: Exploring Australia & the South Pacific!
This August, the Blue Dragons are setting off on a brand-new regional adventure! We’re learning all about Australia and the South Pacific—from unique wildlife to fascinating cultures. Regional activities
To celebrate the start of our new theme, the children took part in a traditional Aboriginal finger painting activity. Using earthy colours and patterns, they explored this beautiful and meaningful form of artistic expression—engaging their creativity while learning about Aboriginal culture.
Specialist teachers
The Blue Dragons enjoyed a fun-filled week with Miss Molly, starting with a Teddy Bears’ Picnic, bubble play, and calming mindful breathing under star lights. They also took part in a sports mini session to develop gross motor skills, beginning with stretches, practising ball control around cones for coordination and spatial awareness, and crawling through tunnels to build core strength and problem-solving skills. The children showed great enthusiasm, engagement, and growing physical confidence.
Dragon Flights Newsletter
Theme of the Week: Exploring nature, culture, and active play through Australian and Māori traditions
This week was packed with discovery, creativity, and active adventures! We explored fascinating creatures from Australia and Aotearoa, dived into cultural storytelling and art, enjoyed energetic sports and yoga, and took a memorable trip to the farm. Every activity brought new skills, curiosity, and joy to our learning.
Regional Education
We kicked off our new monthly theme by exploring Australia’s incredible insects and animals. A lively picture-matching game helped us identify and name various bugs, sparking curiosity and supporting early literacy skills. We also coloured kangaroos, koalas, and wombats while talking about their habitats, from forests to the outback.
Our cultural learning continued with the Aboriginal Dreamtime story The Rainbow Serpent. After discussing its meaning, we worked together to create a large, colourful serpent using dot painting inspired by Aboriginal art. To mark Waitangi Day, we learned about Māori culture, focusing on the meaning of feathers as symbols of strength and kindness. We decorated our own paper feathers with bright colours, pens, and shiny materials.
Physical Activities
We kept active with walking, stretching, and a friendly football match, practising teamwork, kicking, and passing. At Fortune Street Park, we climbed, balanced, and explored the play equipment, building coordination and confidence in the fresh air.
Specialist Sessions
Our Sports Mins class encouraged listening skills, teamwork, and balance through fun games and mini-competitions. In yoga with Miss Molly, we moved like dinosaurs roaring like a T-Rex, stretching like a brontosaurus, and balancing like a pterodactyl before ending with calm, deep breaths.
Amazing Excursion – Spitalfields City Farm
A trip on the Elizabeth line took us to Spitalfields City Farm, where we enjoyed a story show and met a variety of farm animals. The children observed closely, asked questions, and interacted with the animals, making this a hands-on learning experience that tied beautifully into our themes of nature and care for living things.
Thank you to our dedicated team and wonderful families for making this week so memorable and inspiring!
Supporting a Cause Close to Our Hearts
Hatching Dragons is proud to support our founder Cenn John, running the Cardiff Marathon this October to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Inspired by the loss of a sibling to congenital heart disease and Down’s syndrome, this fundraiser aims to help children facing life-threatening illnesses.
We would love for our Hatching Dragons community to join us in supporting this cause. Every donation, no matter how small, can help change a child's future.
In case you missed our update last week regarding important changes—including the new fee structure starting 1st September 2025—we kindly ask you to review the details.
Please take a moment to catch up and see how this may affect your family:
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