The children were excited when we received a delivery of new resources containing balls and other gym equipment such as skipping ropes and bibs.
We asked the children what they would like to do with our new equipment and they decided that they wanted to play football. We collated all of their fantastic ideas and then together came up with a plan.
First of all, the children took responsibility for preparing our resources by pumping up the new footballs.
We have been focusing on different skills with the children, such as kicking and stopping the ball, as well as passing and dribbling. This has supported the children to further develop their understanding of the different stages of football.
The children have also been developing their gross motor and teamwork skills working alongside each other in small groups. The children have really enjoyed this block of football and are excited to show their families their talents.
Do you have an old sheet lying around?
Do you have some empty spray bottles and/or paintbrushes?
If you do, then this activity might be the one for you!
You can help your child develop their big, gross motor muscles and their small, fine motor skills through painting on a large white sheet.
In this activity, the children were using varying brush sizes to accomplish the “splat” look! They have been developing their gross motor skills through using their shoulders, arms and wrists to splat with the brushes and they challenged each other to see who could splat the furthest.
“I have big muscles so I can splat mine the furthest.”“Maybe I can do it the furthest because I can do a full circle with my arm!”
The children have also been developing their fine motor skills through the use of spray bottles. The children are manipulating the nozzle and using their knowledge of direction to ensure that they spray the sheet.
“Don’t point it to the ceiling or the paint will go all the way up there! We need to keep it down low.”“I like spraying the bottle. It makes my fingers strong.”“This nozzle is a bit tricky to press, I need to use two hands to do it!”“I need to point it at the sheet to make marks on the white bits.”
Did you know?
One of the most important skills developed through art activities is fine motor development. During art experiences, your child’s small muscles in their fingers, hands, and wrists are exercised and strengthened, helping to make learning to write easier!
Ideas to develop your child’s fine and gross motor skills at home:
● Spray bottles with paint or water- your child can spray a sheet to decorate it or spray the flowers to help care for them!
● Paint brushes- a variety of sizes are perfect to develop your child’s fine motor and pincer skills! Helpful hint- larger handles can be useful for younger children i.e. siblings under 3 as they will be able to grip the handle better!
● Chalking outdoors.
● Painting on large areas such as sheets or A3 paper will encourage children to use their bigger muscles in their shoulders and arms.
Painting and creating with your child, not only helps their creative development but it also stimulates their brain. They can also learn about colour mixing and colour recognition through art activities. Painting doesn’t always have to be sitting at the table with a paintbrush and paint, the opportunities are limitless; be creative and offer it to your child in a variety of ways, like large-scale painting, cling film on windows, window paints, and stone painting (to name a few!) Painting opportunities are great for developing your child’s social skills and their communication as they learn new terms, words and phrases and talk aloud about their thoughts and processes. We would love to see some Tweets of the art activities your child has taken part in at home.
The children in the Orchard Bubble have been having a great time in the nursery with our obstacle course equipment. We have been learning to work together as a team and use everyone’s ideas to create the courses. We have also been learning about how to risk assess for ourselves.
The children decided to add to the obstacle course and make one where they have to use their gross motor skills to hop and jump.
We need to jump over the ropes.We could hop at the end.
Then the children wanted to use the big blocks inside to create a big obstacle course together.
Together we are strong.Look how high I can jump!We could use this as a slide.
When we create and use obstacle courses we are not just developing our gross motor skills but also learning to share, take turns and cooperate with each other.
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