Tag Archives: outdoor learning

Health and Wellbeing, Literacy and English

Teamwork

September 21, 2023 Miss Abernethy Leave a comment

by Mrs Sylvester

In the garden, some of the children have been enjoying a story about a hedgehog who learns the importance of friendship and being helpful. In the story, the hedgehog struggles to remove an apple from his spikes and is helped by a donkey.

To retell the story, we found a toy hedgehog and donkey but we also needed an apple. The children thought we should gather some apples from the apple tree in the nursery garden but unfortunately the apples were out of reach. With little success, the children independently tried to reach the apples using various techniques such as jumping up high, using hula-hoops and even sticks to reach the apples from the branches.

However, when the children shared ideas and worked together they were finally able to reach the apples. Just like in the story, the children learnt the value of friendship and teamwork!

“I can get the apple with the hula-hoop. I tried but I didn’t get it. I can’t reach it!” “I will try with this big stick!”

“I’ll get the crates to stand on. Pass me a stick! I will get it! I got one!”

“We can use the apples for our hedgehog story.”

Sciences, Technologies

Our Potato Harvest

August 23, 2023 Mrs Brown Leave a comment

We harvested some of the potatoes we have been growing in our garden.

We boiled them to make some yummy mashed potato and used the leftovers to make potato scones for snack. So tasty!

Why not try our recipe at home-

450g floury potatoes, peeled and cooked
1/2tsp salt
50g butter
100g flour

1. Mash potatoes,add salt, butter and flour to give a stiff mixture.
2. Turn out onto floured surface, knead gently and roll out to a thickness of 1cm.
3. Cut into triangles and cook on a hot greased griddle for 4-5 minutes on each side.

I wonder what we will make next….

Literacy and English, Sciences

Virtual Nature Schools – Water

February 9, 2023 Miss Abernethy Leave a comment

by Miss Liddell

During our Virtual Nature School journey, we explored the theme of water.

We asked the children to think about places where they might find water. They had lots of great ideas such as in rivers, seas, ponds, “in our taps” and “in bottles.” One child shared:

“When it rains and then I can jump in big puddles!”

The children then decided they wanted to play outside in the puddles and explore the water. However, we had one BIG problem…it wasn’t raining! Somebody suggested:

“We could do a rain dance and make it rain!”

This led to a whole range of creative learning experiences. We watched videos of Native Americans doing a rain dance, we made headdresses and we explored and played musical instruments.

“Where did he get those big feathers? What’s that called?”

The children were disappointed when their rain dance did not work so we discussed the water cycle to understand how rain is made.

We learned lots of new vocabulary such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection.

We also did some fun experiments to see how the water cycle worked.

“Boiling water is hot. It will burn you!”

Numeracy and Mathematics

Nature In Our Play

November 1, 2022 Miss Abernethy Leave a comment

by Mrs Silvester

Collecting Natural Resources.

The children at Glenwood have been visiting Eastwood Park to explore our environment and notice signs of Autumn. We collected sticks, conkers, leaves and fir cones which we used in our play.

Filling, Sorting and Counting.

Our autumn nature collection was placed in a tuff tray and masking tape was used to section it off. Bowls and tongs were provided to explore nature’s treasure, developing the children’s hand eye coordination and their pincer grip . The children enjoyed counting the contents to see who had the most.

Using Tools

The children used the workbench and hand held drill to make a hole in the conker then threaded them together to make a conker number line. Risky play with real tools develops children’s skills including communication, coordination and fine and gross motor development.

Literacy and English, Sciences

Virtual Nature Schools

November 1, 2022 Miss Abernethy Leave a comment

by Miss Chrystal

We have recently introduced the Virtual Nature School program within our centre. This term, we have been using natural resources to develop speech and language skills through a range of activities, all led by the children’s interests.

The children have developed their communication skills through a variety of different water and mud play experiences. This has enabled the children to explore new vocabulary, talk about their ideas and think about how things change within the natural environment.

Water

The children have been exploring the different ways that we can experiment with water and colour change. We made our own clouds and rain using shaving foam and food colouring.

The children became confident at using a range of resources such as pipettes and paintbrushes. They were able to describe the change of state when the ice melted and also describe the colour changes that took place in the water.

We also explored different pictures of water experiences and the children discussed of what they associate each picture with:

“I see water at the park.” “ I go swimming.” “When it is raining, I can jump in puddles.”

Mud

The second element we explored was mud. The children led their own learning within this block with staff observing the children’s play. We were fortunate that it rained so we put on our wellies and waterproofs and went to play in the mud.

“Look, muddy puddles! I am jumping so high to make a huge splash!”

The children were engrossed in their play. They used their imaginations and they were confident to express their ideas and interests. They created their own mud paint as well as using paper to create muddy footprints from their wellies.

The children developed their confidence by talking and exploring a variety of vocabulary when asked to describe the texture of the mud.

“It is squelchy!”

“The rain has made it all gooey and sticky!”

Numeracy and Mathematics

Woodland Adventures – Pattern

September 22, 2022 Miss Abernethy Leave a comment

by Mrs Clark

Our woodland adventures are always full of exploration, and it is a great opportunity for our children to investigate patterns in both their local environment and in nature to develop their awareness.

“My wellies are making diamonds in the mud.”

“This slug has stripey lines on its back.”

Children’s ability to see patterns forms the basis of early mathematical thinking. Encouraging children to become aware of patterns helps them to build up the skill of spotting patterns for themselves.

“The leaves look the same on either side. They’ve got little lines.”

Children also learn to identify and talk about the shapes in patterns.

“I can see circles. They look all spotty.”

“There’s rectangle patterns where the car goes.”

Why not go on a pattern hunt and see what you can find?

Uncategorized

Woodland Adventures

August 26, 2021 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

We are excited to be beginning our Woodland Adventures in Eastwood Park again soon!

We have made changes to how we will be running these this session to better accommodate the varying patterns of attendance of our children. Each room will have a block of four weeks, with sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, and also a Wednesday afternoon.

Our first visits this session will begin during the week beginning 13th September:

Block 1: Meadow Room
Block 2: Orchard Room (from w/b 18th October)
Block 3: Willow Room (from w/b 15th November)

Our Woodland Adventures Handbook will tell you all about them:

Woodland Adventures Handbook

All children will need a completed permission form to participate, including children who were at Glenwood before the summer. Please return forms as soon as possible to enable your child to access Woodland Adventures fully.

Information on additional safety measures that have been put in place due to the current Covid19 situation can be found here:

COVID19 update 2021

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we will be happy to answer them.

- Achievement, Health and Wellbeing

Glenwood Family Centre- Time Capsule

June 25, 2021 User deactivated Leave a comment

We chose to mark the end of our first session in the new building with a Time Capsule, positioned at the front entrance and within the heart of the community in Eastwood Park, signifying our place in the heart of the community. We marked the spot with a toadstool, which came from the garden of the old building from a wooded area known as Toadstool Tales.

This letter was placed inside the Time Capsule-

Glenwood Nursery School opened officially on 4th October, 1976 in a purpose built building on Woodfarm Road, with a capacity of 80 children in the morning and 80 in the afternoon. The first entry in the log book dated 10th November 1976 states, “ the waiting list opened on 13th September, and mothers have been enquiring daily ever since. Even at that numbers are slow to rise. At this moment we have 50 morning and 26 afternoon children. At this date we have one Head Teacher, one Assistant Teacher and five Nursery Nurses.”

The first head teacher was Mrs Elizabeth Anderson (became McDowell). She was succeeded briefly by Mrs Robertson, acting head teacher, in January 1990 before Mrs Karin Gilhooly took on the role on 3rd September, 1990. Mrs Gilhooly retired in June 2013 and I, Lorraine Brown, was appointed permanently in October 2013.

In 2015 Glenwood Nursery School became Glenwood Family Centre and we began operating throughout the year. Soon after, Scottish Government plans were announced for every child to receive 1140 hours of early learning and childcare by 2020 and so, to meet the increased demand, a new centre was planned due to open in August 2020. The new building was to be sited close to the old building. This was a much more prominent site, in the heart of Eastwood Park.

Unfortunately the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in 2020 resulted in the country going into lockdown and the opening of the building was delayed. The new building finally opened during a second lockdown at the start of 2021. We welcomed the first of our children on 1st February 2021, opening only to children whose parents were key workers or vulnerable children who were attending the Hub provision. The first children to step through our doors were Lewis and Cameron Wilkinson. On 22nd February 2021 we fully opened for all children. Our role at February 2021 was 141 children, with a head teacher, a principal teacher, a teacher, a depute head of centre, a senior child development officer, 16 child development officers (including 4 part time), 5 part time early years play workers, 2 business support assistants and 2 janitor/ cleaners.

The new centre has a capacity of 180 children at any one time, with children attending various patterns across the week to meet the needs of the families. Our opening hours are 8am-6pm every week day except public holidays and in-service days.

We hope that upon opening this Time Capsule, you will experience some of the thrill of learning about the past and the history of Glenwood. We have had an eventful journey recently due to coronavirus however the spirit of Glenwood is strong and we hope this continues long into the future.

Love and Best Wishes

Mrs Lorraine Brown

Head Teacher

25th June, 2021

- Pupils, Health and Wellbeing

Children’s Voice

June 21, 2021 User deactivated Leave a comment

Listening to children’s voices.

At the end of April, after every bubble had spent three weeks in each playroom every child was invited to share their thoughts. We used photographs of the playrooms to help us to talk about our likes and dislikes.

The children said they enjoyed moving around all the rooms and shared their ideas to make each room better. Some children felt that the garden in Playzone 2 was too small.

“I don’t like the garden”

“I didn’t like this because it wasn’t too big.”

We were able to begin using the side garden from Playzone 1 and expand the outdoor area for Playzone 2.

Some children missed the tyre swing from the old building so we added one to Playzone 1.

“I miss the tyre swing.”

“We should put some swings in the back yard.”

In Playzone 3 we added dolls to the home corner.

“Can we have babies in this room?”

“I would like to play with babies here.”

To help us look at some of the areas more closely we used Tuff Cams to share our thoughts.

“This art area is not so good. We need more things for sticky pictures.”

“People need to put things away in the right place, we need signs to tell them”.

The children suggested new resources and helped to organise and label them.

This has led to lots of new opportunities for leading their own learning.

As we continue to settle into our new building we can’t wait to hear more of the children’s ideas and suggestions to develop our learning environment.

Health and Wellbeing

Risky Play

June 11, 2021 User deactivated Leave a comment

What is Risky Play and Why is it Important?

Children need to be kept safe from potential harm and hazards at all times, but they also need to explore and take risks. Risky play is exciting, challenging, fun, it pushes limits and there is every chance of physical injury. We don’t want children’s lives to be in danger, or any serious injury to be likely. That’s why with any new piece of equipment we carry out a risk assessment. This allows us to assess whether the risk of a resource or activity outweighs the benefit. Is something guaranteed to be seriously dangerous? Well, then it’s probably not ok. But if there is a low chance of bumps, grazes, or cuts? Maybe that’s alright.

The Experience of risky play is an important part of children’s learning. It develops the child’s self-confidence, resilience, promotes problem solving and trust in their own judgements as adults. Children have the right to make decisions and take risks through their play. In having these opportunities, children will be able to maximise their enjoyment of the environment whilst removing obvious risk. The ‘United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child’ states in article 31: ‘All Children have the right to relax and play and to join in a wide range of activities.’

In our Centre we encourage children to manage their own risk in everyday play situations both indoors and out.

Climbing a high tree

Rope swinging

Whittling wood

Balancing

Using tools at the woodwork bench, saws, hammer and drills
Playing in the stream to build a dam
Building fires
Running fast, chasing each other.

It’s easy to say things like: “Be Careful,” and if you listen to yourself on how many times a day you say it with your child you will be amazed. What we are actually doing is telling children to stop and it’s for our benefit because we don’t want our children to get hurt. If instead we ask: –

Do you feel safe?
Can you see anything that could hurt you or be in the way?
What can I do to help you to be safe?
Where can you put your hand next?

This helps the child to focus on the environment around them. With time and Space, the child will revisit this experience, remember what they did before and build on that knowledge.

Sciences

Runner Beans

April 26, 2021 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

The children have been very interested to learn about planting and growing runner bean seeds for our new family centre. By placing a runner bean seed in a zip lock bag with some wet cotton wool and sticking this on to the window, the children were able to observe the seeds germinate as the roots and shoots started to grow.

“I can see the roots going down and the shoots going up.”

“They are going to be so tall.”

“The roots are getting really long now.”

After about 10 days the children filled some small plant pots with soil and carefully planted a seedling in each one and then watered them all.

“I will give them some water. They need water so they can grow.”

The children took responsibility for checking that the soil in the pots was not too dry and made sure each plant had enough water to help it grow.

“The beans need a little drink of water. I touched the soil with my finger and it felt dry.”

To prepare for planting the runner beans outdoors a handheld drill was used to drill drainage holes in planters, the planters were filled with soil and canes were added to provide support.

“I’m turning the handle round and round. I can see little bits of plastic at the bottom.”

To help carefully remove the plant from the pot without damaging it, the children learned about gently rolling and squeezing the pot with their fingers and hands. They were very interested to see how the roots had grown inside the pot.

“Look at all the roots. There are so many.”

When the children had finished planting all the runner bean plants they chose a sunny spot to put them in the garden and gave them a big drink of water.

“The beans are really tall. They have lots of leaves.”

Further information about growing runner beans can be found on the following website: https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-grow-runner-beans/

Uncategorized

Remote Leaning: Looking after the birds

January 27, 2021 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Responsible Robbie likes to help look after the environment and wildlife.

Have you tried the recipe for bird cake in your home learning booklet?

Why not try to make your own bird feeder from recycled materials you have in the house. Here are some ideas…

Remember to throw any wire away after the birds have eaten the cereal.

The CBeebies website has some more ideas on how to make bird feeders for your garden. Why not take a look… Make a bird feeder – CBeebies – BBC

Why not join in with the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch which is happening from the 29th to 31st January and you can sign up for free. There are lots of other things to do on their website too, including stories to read and games to play.

I wonder which birds you will have visiting your garden?

Why not let us know on Google Classroom or Twitter?

@GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Uncategorized

Remote Learning: Fresh Air and Exercise

January 13, 2021 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Just because it’s winter and the days are short doesn’t mean going outside is not fun!

In fact, fresh air really is good for you! It can:

help you feel more energised
help you sleep better
help decongest you if you have a cold
restore your mood

Here are some ideas of things that you can do with your families outdoors at this time of year…

Play in the Snow – Why not build a snowman, go sledging or throw some snowballs? Just going for a walk in the snow is exciting – everything looks and sounds different! Can you see different footprints? Who do you think made them? Which way did they go?

Ice and Frost – Go exploring – look for different patterns of frost and different places to find ice. You might slide on it, smash it or pick it up and look through it.

Try blowing bubbles when it’s cold – if you are lucky they will freeze.

Have a go at making ice decorations click here to find out how.Go on a Bear Hunt – Use all your senses as you squelch through mud, scrunch over frosty grass and splash through puddles! You might need to climb through branches or scramble up a hill… will you find the bear’s den?

Puddle Jumping – It’s always fun to jump and splash in puddles! Who can make the biggest splash? Which puddle is deepest? Can you splash all the water out of the puddle?

Fun with Sticks – You could try a game of Pooh Sticks if you are near a bridge over a stream or take some sticks home and make a Stickman using what you have in your house.

Go exploring with a torch – Why not go for an adventure after dark? Take a torch with you and explore the woods or just have a turn in the play park! You might choose to watch the sun go down while you are out as well.

Have a campfire – Some of you might be lucky enough to be able to have a fire in your garden. Why not try cooking some tasty treats on it, such as foil wrapped bananas or marshmallows?

Remember to wrap up warm – Several thin layers are better than one very thick one – then if you get too warm you can take one off! Adults please remember that children will not feel the cold as much as you do BUT they also may not realise when they get too cold – especially when hands and feet get wet.

Whatever you do outdoors – have fun and please share your adventures on Google Classroom or on Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Uncategorized

Exploring Mark Making

September 18, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Over the past few weeks at nursery, the children have been exploring different ways of mark making both indoors and outside.

Here are just a few photographs of what we have been doing…

…working together on a large piece of paper.

Whiteboards are a favourite…

Writing in salt…

Gloop is always popular!

Mixing our own colours of paint…

We love painting on a large scale (although it can get messy!)

Making paint from things we find outdoors…

Crayon rubbings and chalk outside too.

How do you like to make marks, draw and write? Why not share with us on Twitter @GlenwoodFC or in your Google Classroom.

Expressive Arts, Sciences, Uncategorized

Remote Learning- Sunflowers and other plants

June 9, 2020 Mrs Brown Leave a comment

Mrs Brown writes-
I have been keeping a close watch on my sunflowers since I planted my seeds and I am delighted with how much they are growing. I had to replant them into bigger plant pots and I have now planted them in a sunny part of my garden near a wall for protection from the wind. Every few weeks I measure their height. In the beginning I used a ruler to measure their height but now they have grown a bit taller I need to use a measuring tape. I record their height on a growth chart.
Perhaps you have been measuring the height of your sunflowers. Are they taller than Mrs Brown’s? We would love to see how tall they have grown.
While in my garden I got a bit annoyed because I spotted some weeds growing. Then I remembered weeds are just wild flowers growing in the wrong place and I recalled the fun I had as a child with wild flowers …..

Buttercups As a child I loved picking buttercups and holding them under the chin of friends and families. If you could see yellow under their chin it meant they liked butter. Why not try it to see if your family like butter.

Daisies Everyone loves making daisy chains. Not only are they very pretty, making daisy chains is great for hand eye co-ordination and fine motor skills.

Dandelions Although dandelions make me a bit cross when they grow on my lawn, they really are fascinating. You can see their life cycle over a short period of time as they change from yellow flowers to dandelion clocks with their fairy-like seeds. As a child I liked to pick the yellow flowers and flick their heads off, saying, “Mary, Queen of Scots, got her head chopped off!” (although we all know what they say about picking dandelions…) I also recall counting “one o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock…..“ as I blew the seeds into the air and watched them fly away in the wind, ready to find a new place to grow.

I love this transient art idea ‘borrowed’ from Carlibar nursery, for making a dande lion picture. Why not try making a picture with items you find in your garden.

Uncategorized

Remote Learning – Minibeasts

May 19, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Children love exploring what they can find hidden under or in objects. Why not involve them in a minibeast hunt in the garden? This supports their curiosity by inviting them to look under stones or plant pots, to dig in the garden or to search other garden areas to discover minibeasts and where they can be found.

Finding the best places to search for minibeasts provides children with a problem solving experience as well as risk assessing the areas to keep safe. For example, care will need to be taken with possible hazards such as overhanging branches, uneven ground or slippery surfaces.

Some children love to pick up minibeasts, holding them in their hands. Providing a container or small spade may allow some children the opportunity to scoop up a minibeast to have a closer look if they prefer not to touch them. Using a magnifying glass is also a great way to look at them in close detail. Your child might enjoy drawing or painting a picture of the minibeasts they find, or perhaps like to take some photographs or make a model.

As children play and investigate the world around them you may hear them developing their numeracy skills as they count the number of legs on the minibeasts or the number of each minibeast they find. They will be excited to share news of their discoveries and recognise colours while talking about the characteristics of each minibeast.

Searching for minibeasts in the natural outdoor environment also provides a great opportunity for children to learn about habitats and what creatures need to survive. It also provides an opportunity to ask open-ended questions to encourage children to chat and further investigate minibeasts:

‘Where do you think that beetle might live?’

‘I wonder why we found these woodlice hiding under the piece of wood.’

‘Why do you think this spider is climbing on the cane?’

‘I don’t recognise this minibeast. How are we going to find out what it is called?’

Using a minibeast chart can be a fun way to identify and tick off the ones you find. You could make your own chart or here’s one you could use:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/04/minibeast-hunt/

Use the minibeasts you find to make comparisons and predictions:

‘Which is the longest/shortest worm?’

‘Which minibeast has the most/least legs?’

‘Which snail do you think will move fastest?’

Another fun way of finding minibeasts in your garden is to make a pitfall trap. Minibeasts that are moving on the ground nearby will fall in and you can check the next day to see what has been trapped. Further information and instructions about pitfall traps can be found by clicking on this link.

Remember that minibeasts are very small and need to be handled carefully. If you do pick them up, always put them back where you found them. Don’t forget to wash your hands when you are finished.

Hope you have had fun trying out these minibeast ideas. Please remember to share your child’s learning by tweeting @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Health and Wellbeing

Remote Learning- The Great Outdoors

March 30, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Being outdoors has many benefits to children’s wellbeing and development. It has a positive impact on mental health as the body increases production of the feel-good hormone serotonin and reduces production of the stress hormone cortisol. Being outdoors provides lots of opportunities for physical activity, which increases muscle strength, stamina and bone density as well as reducing obesity. The NHS recommends that children under 5 years have at least 3 hours of physical activity daily. One final benefit is that spending time outdoors can lead to improved sleep.

At the moment children do not have the option of visiting their local playpark so here are just a few ideas of what you might do together outdoors…

Scavenger Hunts turn any walk into an adventure! Look for signs of spring, shapes, things that are one chosen colour, numbers (in order), make up your own list or download one from online….

Explore nature in the garden Go on a minibeast hunt – look under stones, pots, logs, under plants for creepy crawlies. Use an old plastic container such as a yoghurt pot to put them in if you don’t have a bug box.

Some other ideas can be found on these websites.

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/looking-after-yourself-and-nature

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/03/kids-nature-activities-self-isolation/

Gardening Even if you have no seeds to plant, it’s great exercise to help tidy up the garden by weeding and digging over the soil. You might find some minibeasts to investigate as you work.

Don’t forget to plant the sunflower seeds from your Family Learning Bag. You might try growing new plants from fruit and vegetables that you have been eating – apples, potatoes and peppers are good ones to try.

Family Sports Day Everyone likes a bit of competition!

Try some novelty races – ‘egg’ and spoon, balancing a beanbag (or rolled up pair of socks) on your head, penguin waddle (hold a ball between your knees), crab walking, wheelbarrow race, dressing up, shoe box slide (put empty shoe boxes on your feet)…

Make you own assault course – go under, over, along, up, down. Use whatever you have available – garden chairs, tables, slides, planks of wood, old sheets, skipping ropes. Time how long it takes for each person to complete.

Target games – who can get closest to the target? You could use a bucket as a target or make one on the ground. Throw balls, rolled up socks, wellies… Just make sure there is nothing breakable in the way.

Or you could make some skittles using tin cans or plastic bottles.

We hope you are inspired to have fun in the outdoors and don’t forget to share with us on Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Sciences, Technologies

Water, water everywhere

February 17, 2020 Mrs Brown Leave a comment

After a stormy weekend, we have been using the water from puddles as we play and learn outdoors. We are transporting using lots of different containers, exploring the flow of water using the gutters, pouring and catching the water and having lots of fun splashing in the puddles!