Corpus Christi

In RE this half term, Nursery have been thinking about Advent; the time of waiting for the celebration of Christ’s birth. We discussed what a birthday is and how it is celebrated, some children remembered a time that they had attended a birthday party. We held our own birthday party for one of our class teddies, enjoying biscuits, party games and singing ‘Happy Birthday’. The children couldn’t believe that the day a baby is born is called it’s ‘BIRTH-DAY’.

We then discussed Advent; when people get ready for the birthday of Jesus at Christmas. We introduced the concept of Advent, we made a class Advent wreath and discussed the colours of the candles on the wreath and when each candle is lit. The children then took part in making a class kindness Advent calendar. We had some lovely acts of kindness suggested by the children that they could do each day during Advent such as “help mammy and daddy”, “share my toys” and “give a hug”.

Next we talked about Christmas; the birthday of Jesus. We introduced the Nativity story using our Nativity crib and figures. The children were very inquisitive about the gifts that were brought by the Wise Men. We made some Christmas cards and used pictures from the Nativity story to play a matching game. The children were able to retell the Nativity story using the pictures they selected throughout the game. We shared how we thought the figures from our Nativity may have felt after the birth of Jesus. All of the children thought there would be lots of ‘happiness, shock and smiles’.

This was followed by a moment of reflection about the meaning and purpose of Birthdays.