October-December
Check here to see a selection of photos from
October, November & December 2021:
December 2021
A Little Christmas Magic
In a final treat of the year, the children were so excited to visit Santa's magical grotto, where they met our friendly special visitor and received a personal gift.
We wish all our children and their families a very happy holiday, and thank you for your continued support throughout the year!
Ho, ho, ho!
A peek inside the grotto
It's A Wrap!
Fine motor skills
Estimating and measuring how much tissue paper we need for the blocks depending on their size.
Cutting
The children decided to wrap up wooden blocks using different colours of tissue paper.
"This one is for you!"
Sticking
"This present is for my mummy, she will love it!"
"We can put them under the tree!"
Wrapping
ICT & Numeracy: patterns
Creating our own Christmas jumpers
Discussing and choosing patterns, colours and decorations
The children then started talking about their own Christmas jumpers and describing their patterns.
Copying more complex and challenging patterns and sequences, using the digital whiteboard
"The penguin comes next!"
Our Christmas Stay and Play
The children loved having their families come to the 'Christmas Stay and Play'. They enjoyed making a variety of Christmas decorations, singing festive songs and having a nice mince pie and a cup of hot chocolate. It was so much fun and got us all in the Christmas spirit!
Purple Group
"It will go on my Christmas tree in the house!"
"I'm having a cuddle with mummy and we made Christmas decorations!"
"Me and mummy did a jigsaw puzzle and look there is a mince pie"
"Smiling with mummy!"
Green Group
"A snowflake!"
"I was doing a jigsaw puzzle - it was a snowing jigsaw!"
Yellow Group
"Decorating pine cones so I can take it home and it will go on my tree!"
"My mummy came into the garden and played with me!"
"That is me and my grandpa!"
"Daddy was reading me a story!"
Red Group
"Mum was helping me make a Christmas decoration"
"Making a reindeer with my mum"
"Playing with elves!"
Thank you to everybody who joined us!
Festive Fun
Our Christmas tree arrived!
A massive thank you to Dear Green Place Ltd who very kindly donated a beautiful Nordmann Fir Christmas Tree to the nursery.
The children decorated the Christmas tree with baubles they brought in from home. Thank you for these lovely personal decorations!
Making a grand entrance: "I am decorating the tree! I have one in my house!"
Our Christmas tree is all decorated!
O Christmas Tree!
The children were also keen to assemble this smaller tree for our outdoor area, using the colour coding system to sort and slot in the branches.
"I have a red one here."
"Here's another black."
"It goes in that hole."
"I've found the top bit. Can I put it in?"
They then decorated it with plenty of purple and silver. All ready for welcoming our parents to Stay & Play!
Great construction & teamwork!
Making Salt Dough Decorations
Adding our ingredients & counting how many spoonfuls of flour and salt we need - "1,2,3..."
Kneading the dough
Rolling out the dough
Choosing what cutters we want to use
" I want the star!"
"I'm going to choose the tree!"
Painting and decorating!
Special visitors from the North Pole...
Evie and Sven the reindeers visited Busby Nursery. What a lovely surprise it was!
"They are so cute!"
"I love them!"
"They are real reindeers."
"One is white and one is brown!"
The children were so surprised and excited to meet their special visitors. They made sure to be a little bit quiet so they didn't scare the reindeers. Well done everyone!
"He has the same name as Sven in "Frozen" and he looks like him!"
The children learned what food Evie and Sven like to eat. One asked, "What are they eating?"
We learned that they were eating moss and grass.
"Horses eat that too!"
"They like to eat carrots and reindeer food too."
The children also learned about Evie and Sven's personalities.
We sang Evie and Sven a song -
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.
You can join in with the words below.
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer...
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say
"Rudolph, with your nose so bright
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
You'll go down in history"
Painting some juicy carrots for reindeer. Those look tasty!
Getting into the Winter spirit
"Look at this, it's a gemstone. Feel it."
The fire is so delightful...
"We're warming our hands."
Icy Science
Colourful ice and foam:
"It's cold... and hard."
Investigating 3D shape, texture, colour & the properties of materials
Imaginary Worlds
The children have been excitedly talking about elves, so we read the story Ten Little Elves and set up an Elf world together.
"It's the stepping stones to get into Santa's house."
"It's a secret passage!"
"I have a book about elves."
"These are mushrooms. We need a basket for the mushrooms."
"Santa's elves make the presents."
Owl Babies is another story the children have been eagerly exploring and role playing with.
"They can all sit on this branch."
"The Mummy has to fly away."
Sticky Business
Julia Donaldson's Stick Man is always a seasonal favourite. After reading it together, some children carefully crafted their own stick characters.
"I'm drawing his eyes."
"I cut a leaf."
"He's a happy Stick Man."
Festive Story-writing:
Authors & Actors
In continuing Helicopter Stories, one of our budding young authors wrote the tale of "Buddy, the (Bad) Elf"...
...and the children have shown wonderful creative skills and expressions whilst acting it out.
"I am the Bad Elf!"
"I am the Christmas tree."
"The Bad Elf wrapped toilet paper around the Christmas tree."
"I'm the mince pie."
"The Bad Elf ate the mince pie."
The Art of Paper Marbling
To create calendars for their families, the children have been keen to try out the technique of paper marbling.
They selected their colours of marbling inks, dripped them on to the water, then carefully placed, floated and lifted their card.
A Spot of Stencilling
The children also tried out a stencilling technique to create snowflake cards.
Carefully creating gold writing inside
Printing & Painting Techniques
Another art technique the children wanted to try was printing a Christmas tree, using triangular and square blocks. They found the shapes they needed among the building blocks, then enjoyed mixing up colours of powder paint, then printing their shapes. To create baubles some used cotton buds. Others had the good idea of using their fingertips to print with or developed other individual methods.
"I want some yellow for my baubles. "
"I'm going to put a star at the top."
Getting Fired Up
Printing a brick pattern
Creating a crepe paper fire "to keep us warm"
Our fire is burning brightly. It feels warmer already!
Trying out more Printing Techniques outdoors
Keeping it cosy in the role play corner
"Look, I made a Christmas tree with the green play dough. I stuck it on the wood. Now I'm going to make a cupcake for Santa."
Gingerbread Bakers: The children have been taking turns to mix gingerbread dough, and then to roll it and create their choice of biscuits to take home. They have been working carefully, following good hygiene rules, trying out different tools and techniques, investigating ingredients and developing new vocabulary as they go.
"You crack it like this."
Whisking the egg
"Can I mix it?"
Adding syrup
"It's so sticky!"
"It smells good." (ginger)
"We add them together" (wet & dry ingredients) "It's too sticky.... more flour."
Creating a personal cookie design by imprinting with kitchen tools
"Can I have the spatula?"
"I'm making a Christmas house."
The finished product
"That's my column there."
"What can we make next?"
November 2021
More Outdoor Action
Light, colour, shadows...
Mark-Making: "We're painting like Mummies and Daddies."
Science - Weather & Forces:
The children noticed that it was very windy one day. So they tried attaching ribbons to cane sticks to test which way the wind was blowing.
Outdoor Numeracy Challenges
We have been sorting scallop shells and putting the numbers in order...
...right up into the teens."I found fourteen!"
Successful sequencing! "We did it!"
Matching & exploring length
Nature Number Stones
Counting creatures & identifying the numerals on the back:
"There's eight spiders! I got it right. "
"Six bees."
"That says zero."
"This is four toadstools." "Five butterflies." "Twelve raindrops."
"Seven leaves. This is seven."
We also used the stones to talk about the seasons and how the trees change each season.
"That's Autumn."
Sequencing the number stones: "I need number 8."
Rights & Responsibilities
The children have been learning about their rights to play, to learn, to be safe and to be healthy.
They have been talking about ways to fufil these rights and also ways to be responsible. Their ideas are being collated into a Nursery Charter, which some have been helping to scribe. To show their agreement with the charter, they are each being invited to add their own photo to it. Here are some of their thoughts and contributions so far:
"Eat pears and broccoli"
"Hold Mummy's hand" (when crossing roads)
"Run about" (to keep fit)
"Don't fight with your friends"
"Don't say bad words"
"Be kind"
"Share"
"Take turns"
The children also enjoyed this story about every child.
Where does our Food come from?
Some of the children took a trip to the local shops to buy items we needed in nursery for Snack and baking. They have been learning about where different foods - like tea and chocolate - come from and about how they grow and how they reach us. The children have also been looking at the Fair Trade symbol and learning what it means. In the local shop, they looked out for this logo and spotted it on several of the items we were looking for - bananas, tea, coffee and brown sugar.
"It means they will get money..." "Bananas come from a hot country." "That's tea. My Mum drinks tea."
"There it is!" "That's tea"
By sorting different photos, we traced a Banana's journey from the tree where it grows, across the water, and finally to our supermarket shelves.
Time for Tea
We've been investigating where the FairTrade tea comes from and learning about how it is picked.
Some children tried brewing their own (lukewarm) tea and tasted it.
"It's turning brown."
"Mine's red like lava."
They were very curious to explore inside the teabags too, looking at, smelling and experimenting with the dried leaves.
"I need a spoon"
"Mmm... I like tea."
"I'm gonna tell my Dad I made a cup of tea."
At our Fair Trade tea parties the children also smelt and tasted coffee - to some mixed reactions...
"I don't like coffee... I like chocolate."
This Charlie & Lola book helped us to find out more about where chocolate comes from and where cocoa beans grow.
Strike a Pose!
Who am I...?
A Dressing-Up Bag has led to the children inventing a wealth of individual outfits and different characters.
"Put the glasses on..."
"I'm a queen."
"I'm Supergirl."
"I'm Batman girl."
Drama...
Invention...
Storytelling...
Costume Designers at work:
"I need this tied here."
Textures, colours, role play, independence skills, imagination...
"I'm a coconut... with a fat tummy."
Why not just wear the lot?
Literacy: letters
After proudly putting together their names using mirror letters, the children had fun creating some nonsense words! "What does this say?"
S is for Spaghetti...
... making spaghetti letters.
Getting Crafty: String painting
Making paper lanterns by pasting tissue paper over balloons
Balloon Printing led to very interesting effects.
Ice surprise:
Exploring different ice 3D shapes
"It's a star..."
"A heart shape."
"It feels cold and heavy."
Fine Motor Fun & Pattern-making:
elastic bands on nail boards
Threading pasta to develop fine motor skills and concentration
Slime Science First it was "too sticky", then "too gooey"...
...but like true scientists we kept experimenting until it was "just right"!
The third batch was the best!
Look how far this can stretch!
Skills at the Snack Table
Enjoying snack time
Socialising and interacting with friends
Being Independent
Making Choices
Engaging in conversation
Learning new vocabulary
"The orange is sour"
"The orange is juicy"
"The watermelon tastes of water"
"It tastes sweet"
Teamwork
Problem solving skills
Concentration
Perseverance
"I see cucumber, tomatoes, orange and bananas"
"I think this one fits there!"
"We need to find the other bit of banana!"
Matching
Sorting
Counting
Conversations
"You can get bubblegum flavour ice cream!"
"This one is melted cheese"
"Macaroni cheese has cheese in it"
"Chicken is chicken wings"
"Bread like garlic bread"
"Pizza is a triangle shape"
"I want to draw the carrot. I am going to draw around it so it will be the same shape!"
"Rabbits like to eat carrots"
"If you eat carrots you will see better in the dark!"
The children have been very involved in helping to make our 'What's for Snack today?' board, which means they can choose in the morning what they would like for snack and can see what is for snack during the session.
" Green, yellow, red and orange peppers"
"It looks like a tooth!"
"There is 2 of them" (Letter 'e')
Creativity
Drawing
Cutting
Writing
"I am copying the letters"
"M for Melon and M for Mouse!"
Our step by step snack routine...
1.We find our name and place it at our space on the table.
2. We wash our hands with soap and warm water.
3. We take a plate and a glass and put it at our space.
4. Using our hand eye co-ordination we independently choose which fruit/vegetables we would like to have using the tongs.
5. We pour our own milk/water carefully.
6. We enjoy our snack with our friends.
7. We put our leftovers, plate and glass away.
8. We wash our hands again to make them clean after eating..
The Wonder of Woodwork
The children have been learning how to use screwdrivers at the Woodwork table. They showed great concentration & hand to eye coordination as they got to work.
Safety first: putting on the safety goggles
Book Week Scotland: The link above lets you browse some of the great events that you can join in during this year's Book Week Scotland, with the Scottish Book Trust. As always, in Busby Nursery the children have been requesting and enjoying all types of stories, including Aaargh Spider, Grumpy Monkey, Don't Eat the Teacher and The Fish who could Wish. They have been sharing their thoughts and discussing the stories with enthusiasm...
"The Spider is upside down!" "Feel the spider webs. They're all shiny." "Look, there's frogs in the swamp..." "He's a gorilla, not a monkey." "What happened to the prickles?" "He ate the table!!"
In Helicopter Stories, the children have been making up their own stories. These are written down, and then they illustrate and act them out together, with themselves and their friends taking on various roles in the script and production. Thus the child becomes an author, illustrator and actor, which helps to promote self confidence and self esteem. Helicopter stories also help the child to understand the link between the spoken and written word, and the importance of non-verbal communication like gesture and expression. This practice also promotes turn-taking and teamwork, as well as literacy & drama skills. Here are a few examples of the children's wonderful story writing and acting:
White masking tape marks out the stage. The author chooses their cast, and the actors take to the stage.
"We are trees."
Acting out different emotions, and collaborating as a team.
"I'm the bone on the beach. The dog is coming to get me."
Wonderful acting and storytelling!
Our familiar friend, Bookbug has also been reading with us again, inspiring us with fun songs & actions.
Mrs McInnes's favourite book is Supertato, which is also a firm favourite among the children. They love finding out what Evil Pea will do next and how Supertato will foil him.
What's in the Story Box this week...?
It's What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson!
The children loved joining in the story with the different characters, songs and animal noises.
Making our own Hungry Caterpillar books
"Shhh! Here comes the giant!"
Taking the Long View:
Colourful ways to explore mark making outdoors
Building Bridges
From tiny seeds great ideas grow: A simple piece of masking tape with road markings on it inspired our young engineers into building increasingly complex bridges and tunnels! They worked collaboratively in dynamic teamwork, experimenting with different shapes, heights and measurements.
More Brilliant Building:
Later that day... "We're making a pet home."
"I am the cat inside. Miaow!"
"My Special Book"
The children take great pride in their personal Learning Journals, they love looking through them and adding in their new work and photos. We hope you enjoy them at home too, and thank you for sharing some of your own photos and comments with us.
Developing Independence Skills at Lunch
Serving ourselves
Using our cutlery
Eco Studies & Literacy
During COP 26, the children have been enjoying the book, Greta and the Giants by Zoe Tucker, and re-enacting this story plus their own stories with props.
"This is what the giants did - chopped down trees!"
"The giant is inside his tower."
" I've made this home for the beaver. I'm putting my STOP sign here."
"Look, Greta is actually holding the sign now."
"Look, the sign is saying stop cutting down all the trees."
Some children wrote their own STOP signs to add to the scene.
"That says STOP." "That one says LISTEN."
We have also been reading & talking about how plastic litter can harm our oceans and sea creatures.
The children role played a litter pick of the ocean, clearing away all the plastic rubbish. They could identify all the sea creatures: "Octopus, squid, dolphin, starfish, jellyfish..."
Outdoor Action:
It's all been happening outside. Recent outdoor adventures have included:
Drama & Storytelling; Spicy & Icy Science; Treasure Hunts and Creativity with sand and power tools!
Outdoor Drama: Miss Cairnie has been inspiring the children (in her storytelling cape) with songs and stories about pumpkins.
Pumpkin song - have fun at home together with one of Miss Cairnie's rhymes:
It’s Grown and Grown
It’s grown and grown and grown and grown and grown and grown and grown (x3)
It’s time to up that pumpkin now and make some soup of my own!
It’s wide, it’s large, it’s holding fast, to dirt and muck and soil (x3)
It’s time to up that pumpkin now and make sure it won’t spoil.
The helping hands of all around, will help its growth to stop (x3)
Then all who join this hardest task will eat until they pop!
We’ll cook it long and cook it strong then cool and slice and chop (x3)
We’ll slurp it up and lick our lips and eat up every drop.
Then lastly if there’s any left we’ll send it out to share (x3)
for sharing time is caring time, and sharing time is fair.
Spicing it Up... Science in the Mud Kitchen: Sensory exploration & transforming textures
What happens when we mix water with spices like turmeric, paprika, parsley, garlic, rosemary, and add coffee, porridge oats and more...? How does it look, feel and smell?
"It's turning orange!" "This smells like curry."
"We need more oats... more water." "It's a thick one now."
Home Learning suggestion
If you have any old out-of-date spices, cereals etc at home, before being thrown out, they can offer a great fun way for children to experiment outdoors in an old pot, bowl or container and can help them learn about changing colours, textures, smells and consistencies, as well as stimulating creativity and some imaginative role play.
Experiments with ice & colour:
"I need another cube."
"I'm crushing it with the rock. All melted....water."
Indoors there has been further sensory exploration as the children learn more about their Five Senses. Using Sense of Smell, they tried smelling and describing different herbs and essences. They also crushed flower petals with a pestle and mortar to create their own fragrant perfumes. They have been exploring Sense of Touch by feeling and describing many different textures in the Sensory Room, like pom-poms & gloves filled with different substances.
It smells like...?
"Marshmallows..."
"White chocolate buttons."
"Ice cream."
(Vanilla essence)
"It feels squishy."
"This feels crunchy... like Cheerios."
Sensory Board: The children found that marbles fit down the tube. "These fit. These ones are too big, they get stuck."
Map reading: "Look! We've found treasure in the sand pit!"
"We're making a forest. We could stick this here."
Many different ways with sand: exploring its properties and creative possibilities, wet and dry.
Making patterns & mini sand castles
Transporting
Building resources together
Cool with Tools
Observing & assisting:
"I am a builder."
Discussing safety and how the drill works:"You have to be careful".
Look at the new outdoor tables we've made from old pallets!
Creating personal mini jigsaws, on wooden lolliop sticks
Investigating pumpkins & squash
We've been planting carrots & sweet peas. Look how they're growing!
Inspiring Artists:
After looking at work by the environmental artist & sculptor, Andy Goldsworthy, some of the children chose to create their own pictures by arranging natural objects like sticks, stones, conkers, pine cones & apples. When the local cat wandered by to take a look, one of the children was inspired to create a picture of her.
"This is Bess the cat. Those are her eyes and nose, those are whiskers."
Thinking about Diwali
Some of the children have been learning a little about the customs of Diwali and making clay candle holders.
Small World Play: fireworks display in the tuff tray
October 2021
Hallowe'en Hammering...
Pumpkins, golf tees & hammers to develop dexterity and tool techniques
Welcome to our healthy
Cafe Snack.
Time to choose, chill and chat with friends
Cultural Traditions
Dooking for Apples
Estimating the fork angle...
Success!!
More Mud
means more Fun and More Discovery!
As the puddles get deeper so does the learning...
What happens if we add soapy water to muddy puddles...?
"I think we can play in the rain because it's more funner."
Sensory & Messy Science:
Mixing, observing, describing, investigating, exploring the properties of substances...
The children were very excited to make up their own Sensory Bottles, mixing oil, water and a range of textured objects. They used them in the Sensory room to create different effects, shaking them to catch the light & colours.
They also loved mixing ingredients for Spooky Slime, working out what they needed to change the consistency of the mixture, and exploring its intriguing properties of part-solid, part-liquid. Afterwards they tried adding it to the water tray for further experimentation and imaginative play.
Messy play stimulates the senses and is the best fun!
"It feels like snot...!"
"We need more water.... more cornflour."
Volcanic Experiments:
Meanwhile outdoors, some of the children have been testing out a volcano they built the week before. By mixing ingredients, they triggered a reaction and some spectacular eruptions!
Very carefully they spooned in bicarbonate of soda, then poured in vinegar.
"It's erupting with lava!"
Science (observing living things) & Food Technology:
When the weather grew colder we re-potted the tomato plant that the children planted last spring, and brought it indoors to help the tomatoes ripen in the window and the warmth. Now they are starting to turn red, so the children eagerly picked all the juicy ripe ones, then washed and counted them. Next they chopped them up to turn them into Tomato Salsa for Snack.
"1,2,3,4,5.... There's 14 of them."
Tomato Salsa: Chopping the tomatoes
The children concentrated hard and worked carefully with kitchen tools. No nipped fingers!
They smelt ingredients, like spring onions, parsley & lime... "Mmm, I like the lime smell."
...and they were keen to squeeze the juice out of the lime for our recipes.
Adding the lime juice to the salsa:
"I need to make more of the juice to add."
Grinding pepper:
"You twist it to make it come out."
As we worked through the recipes for salsa and guacamole, the children soon got to understand the instructions and followed the sequences of chopping, mixing, squeezing, grinding and mashing independently:
"Look, I've chopped all these onions." "Let's add some parsley."
The children were interested to dissect the avocado and talk about its different parts.
"It's green inside."
"That's a seed... it will grow into a tree."
Guacamole: Mashing the avocado with lime juice and pepper to make a dip
Trying out the finished product at Snack
Textiles Technology:
The children were fascinated to watch Mrs Ahmed sewing together some nursery tea towels (which they drew their faces for) , and they helped to press some of the pedals and buttons on the sewing machine to make special new table runners for our meal times.
They helped to measure out how many were needed, using a tape measure. "That's a 6!"
"It's going to be too long for my dinner table at home."
"I'm going to sit next to my face."
Sensational Sensory: Lights, textures, colours, patterns, sound, movement...
Welcome to our new Sensory Room
Exploring with light:
"There's a rainbow in it."
"My favourite colour is red."
"It's an egg shape."
"It's like a disco..."
Experimenting & storytelling with spooky silhouettes
"A light, a light... it's blue now!"
"A tunnel..." "It's like an alien..."
Chasing the light fantastic
Literacy
"Round, round, round the ring, passing round the key,
Who will unlock the Story Box? Now it's time to see..."
This month the classic "Room on the Broom" is in the Story Box. Many of the children know and love this Julia Donaldson tale and have been keen to join in the words and the action using the props in the box.
"I will fetch the hat..."
"Can I be the dog?"
"Here comes the bird with the bow."
"The witch needs to be lying in the dragon's arms, like this."
"Where's her wand?"
"Can I put in the bone in the pot?"
"I'm going to throw in the cone!"
More Creative Fun
Sand writing & drawing, and enjoying the sensation of sand slipping through fingers
Spaghetti, Play Dough & Cheerios:
"I've made a monster..."
Experimenting with weight and balance: "It's falling..."
"I'm putting all of these on to make it up to the top."
"I'm making a spider."
Literacy, Art & Design:
Puppet Masters
Some of the children asked to make puppets to put on a show. So they were given a range of design resources, which they used imaginatively. Many of them chose to create monster puppets. They used lollipop sticks and kitchen rolls to mount their puppets and made some scenery too, before trying them all out in the puppet theatre.
"This can be for the grass!"
"I need some hair for my monster."
October Art Gallery
Threading autumn leaves on string - great fine motor skills!
Mud Glorious Mud!!!
Rainy day play offers so many opportunities... The children have had a ball experimenting with water and mud.
Teamwork, problem-solving, investigation...
Utilising the "soup" imaginatively in the Mud Kitchen
Transporting rain water while building core strength
Muddy Puddle Jumping!
So good for body and soul...
Outdoor Numeracy: Using autumn treasures to count & explore numbers on a Transient Art Tree
Thank you for bringing in all the Autumn treasure that the children have gathered at home. We enjoyed sharing their Autumn Bags and talking about what was inside. The children were able to identify conkers, pine cones, berries, acorns and helicopter seeds! They had fun exploring the treasure, and sorting and counting with it. It also made some great sounds, like leaves crunching and conkers clunking...
"Birds eat the berries... not for us.!"
"It's a helicopter seed."
Guess what!
After most of the children had gone home, the nursery staff spotted a cheeky squirrel sneaking into the nursery garden and nibbling on some of the acorns and conkers we left there...
Technology: The Joy of Junk Modelling
There's no such thing as rubbish at our modelling table. The children have imaginatively recycled junk, using their own ideas to produce fantastic models. Great fine motor skills were on display too as they taped, cut, stuck and aligned.
"This is a dinosaur. It's for Mummy."
"It's a lollipop!"
"This is a rocket. I need to attach these straws at the bottom."
"I'm making a butterfly. I want to put pink here."
"I'm taping them together"
"It's a boat."
Three clever architects also collaborated to design and build a very impressive "Bug Hotel".
"I'm going to give it turrets..."
"This is the Rainbow Bridge."
Junk and block modelling materials were then fused together... "This is the water and this can be a warm towel."
Super Scissor Skills:
Chopping up paper straws and wrapping paper. "We're making lunch."
Consultation and Planning:
Co-operative Play
Inventing Props:
Who can you see "down in the jungle"?
"That's a smart rocket... Where are you off to?"
Reading Jill Murphy's "Whatever Next" inspired this next large-scale junk modelling project.
In great teamwork the children collaborated on a smart rocket to take them on their own fantasy adventures.
They used their hammering and writing skills to make up this very smart control panel.
Their imagination is their next destination.
Lights on, we're ready for Blast Off! 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...
Where shall we go next...?
.
More Ways to Build & Design
Some recycled swimming woggles and matchsticks offered further opportunities for inventing, and for exploring 3D shapes and colour.
Developing focus and fine motor skills
Languages: French Songs
We've been learning lots of new French songs with Miss Cairnie. This one is about a little snail (Petit Escargot).
Mark Making: The children drew their own snails and printed their shells using halved apples.
Numeracy
"I'm going to do the really big one."
Building, copying and matching lego sequences.
Colourful Counting with Pompoms
Glass beads & Number bags
Sorting, counting, estimating, matching beads to the numbers on the bag.
"I have number 8."
"I've got the most in my bag."
Fun with Froebel: Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) was the inventor of the kindergarten and he designed these beautiful wooden gifts, which are still inspiring children today and promoting their learning holistically across many curricular areas. This day, the children used some of Froebel's gifts to explore line and shape, to test the properties of shapes, and to create their own imaginative structures, patterns and pictures, in both 2D and 3D.
"Look at my diamond!"
"I'm making a triangle."
"This is like a horn for a unicorn."
"Those are circles. And those are broken circles."
"Look, this can roll!"
"This is a hospital." (3D)
"I made a house" (2D)
Health & Wellbeing: How are we feeling today?
We've been talking about how we feel, and picking out our names then adding them to the Feelings Board to help express this.
We also tried drawing our feelings on the whiteboard. "I'm excited like Tigger." "I'm a bit tired." "That one means worried."
Clever with Clay
Inspired by reading Owl Babies and other books, some of the children created clay owls, learning different techniques as they worked with clay.
Using water to smooth, blend and join.
Testing out different tools for imprinting.
Science & Nature: Eco Studies
Outdoors, the children have been developing their cutting skills and their confidence with tools, as they dissect different fruits and vegetables.
They have been looking for the seeds, then extracting them and planting them. Let's see if any will grow!
They also placed the carrot and parsnip tops in water to see if they might grow any shoots. Busy green fingers!
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