Successful Learners – Page 37 – Hecklegirth Nursery

Learning in the Rain

For most adults, hours of heavy rain are not likely to put smiles on their faces, but for Nursery children it provides great opportunities for fun experimentation especially when we add some washing-up liquid and a few appropriate resources.
After a recent heavy deluge we had a range of objects out in the garden which produced some valuable discussions about floating and sinking as well as lots of pouring and measuring to develop numeracy skills. The children worked so well together and enjoyed investigating their ideas in a real life context. Great fun was had, for example, by our younger children experimenting to balance their little ducks on a floating piece of wood. What better way to learn some early science?
It may have been a little inconvenient for adults to use a different entrance to Nursery but the children certainly took advantage of conditions that were very exciting for them.
Click then click again for a closer look at our clever little learners.

Kandinsky Artists

We have been learning about the work of the artist Kandinsky in Nursery. A range of media has been used to create artwork in his style and the children have been amazed and delighted to be able to produce a piece of art that looks similar to that of a famous artist. We hope that enjoy our little Kandinsky gallery. I wonder if the children can find their own work?

Sparkler Safety

Just like the afternoon children, those in the morning showed good listening skills when learning about staying safe with fireworks. They were very patient waiting their turn for their sparklers and all followed the rules very well. It’s good to know that you remembered how to stay safe boys and girls.

Staying Safe

Sparklers are a great way to learn about staying safe with fire and the children listened so well to all our instructions when we enjoyed them in the Nursery garden last week. Just look at the faces of the afternoon children, all concentrating and listening to our advice as we talked about how to behave and what to do once the sparkler is finished. Some were more cautious than others but everyone was happy to hold a sparkler so well done boys and girls for being confident to try out something that was new to many.

Sticky, Stretchy Marshmallows

As we have been talking about staying safe for Bonfire Night, we had a fire in the garden last week to support our discussions. Toasting marshmallows also gave us the opportunity to talk about what happened to them as they were heated over the fire and they certainly tasted delicious once our experiment was over. The children used some good vocabulary as they talked about how the marshmallows felt once they were cooked as they found them “sticky”, “stretchy” and “like a spider”.

Pumpkins

One of our carved pumpkins provided great motivation for some of the children at the drawing table this week as they attempted observational drawing so we would like to share some of their work.
Click then click again on photos to make the drawings bigger and see the artist’s name.

Take One Pumpkin …

It wouldn’t be Hallowe’en without investigating a pumpkin and the children in the Sunshine Room had a busy time today emptying all the flesh and seeds from their pumpkin. They had a great experience investigating what they found inside and then spent lots of time decorating their final lantern. Well done boys and girls! We love your decorated pumpkin lantern.

The Sticky Mud Game

We love it when the children play co-operatively to plan and carry out their own ideas. These photos show a group of children playing a game of their own creation which they called “The Sticky Mud Game”. They used the resources that they found outdoors and made their own rules, telling me, “You have to get the mud and move it into the puddle. It’s a bit hard but it’s easy if you keep doing it”.
As the children moved mud into the puddle, they then realised that the puddle was filling up so they said, “We need to make the puddle bigger so there’s room for the mud”. Cups and bowls were then used to transport water from another part of the garden to make the puddle bigger.
What super teamwork and creativity they have shown to invent their own game, agree on the rules together and work out how to solve problems they came up against. We love the Sticky Mud Game.