The cold weather this week has led to some fun times outside. When we went outside on Tuesday morning, the ground was covered in a thick frost and everything was frozen solid. The children loved driving toy cars through the frost to see tyre tracks and lying down on the ground to make Snow Angels.

Many of the children were fascinated with the huge ice cube that had formed in the Mud Kitchen and were desperately trying to break it or melt it. Some of them suggested hitting it with garden trowels to smash it up but we didn’t get very far with that idea! Then Steven suggested trying to melt the ice with hot water. We managed to release the giant ice cube from the bowl using hot water and the children tried to stamp on it to break it. They loved watching it melt and chipping away at it!

Finlay had the great idea of using grit to make the ice in the plant pot melt, the same way the lorries throw grit on the roads when it’s icy.  We used salt from the kitchen as our grit. The ice quickly  began to melt and made a funny crackling noise as it did.

When the garden was considered a little too slippery to play in, we decided to go over to the football pitch and practise our ball skills.  It was great fun and exciting to go somewhere new in the school.

Loose Parts

The children are encouraged to use Loose Parts in many different areas of the nursery.  It encourages creativity and allows the children to take ownership of the materials they have.  Here is an example of some transient art the children created using loose parts.