Did you know today was Pancake Friday? Well it was at Cart Mill! We thought it was so nice outside we should have snack out in the garden, but what could we have? Pancakes was the request. So, we decided to get to work mixing the flour, sugar, milk and an egg to make our pancake batter. Once we were all sitting down, we spoke about keeping safe around the fire.
Then it was time to light the fire
We put some butter in the frying pan so the pancake mix wouldn’t stick but we noticed very quickly that the butter had melted in the pan before it had even got near the fire. That made us wonder, what made it melt? After a lot of thought, we realised that the sun had been so hot in the sky, it had melted the butter!
We put the pan on the fire and added our runny pancake mix and we sat and waited. What did we begin to notice? Bubbles! There were little bubbles appearing on top of our pancake mix. We learned that this happens because the heat is cooking the pancake mixture.
Once there were a lot of bubbles it was time to flip our pancakes. Because we were outside at the fire pit, we decided that flipping them in the air might be a bit dangerous so we used a spatula to turn them over. When the first one turned over it was different shades of brown.
“it looks like the world!”
Soon all the pancakes were ready to eat, we put some butter on them and enjoyed them round the fire pit.
Cart Mill’s Pancake Friday was a hit!
All posts by Val MacLean
Science is Magical
As it is Science Week, we decided to get some help from the experts! We invited Miss Mortimer and Deanna over from the Science department at Williamwood High School. They brought lots of equipment with them so that we could become scientists for the day!
We heard that sometimes scientists had to wear white coats and goggles to protect themselves when doing experiments but we were not going to be using any dangerous equipment so we didn’t need to.
The first experiment we were shown was how to make marbling on water. Miss Mortimer explained that sometimes materials were ‘attracted’ to each other and sometimes they were not and they ‘repelled’. We had found this out when we had been looking at magnets and how they worked so the children said they knew that magnets liked things that were metal but didn’t like plastic cars!
We each picked a piece of black card, and Deanna put a basin of water in front of us. She then got a ‘pipette’ which Miss Mortimer explained was what scientists use to get small droplets of liquid. Deanna used the pipette to suck up some clear nail varnish and drop it on the water.
The nail varnish didn’t mix into the water, instead it sat on the top and made a sheen on the surface of the water! The children all got a turn to place their black card onto the nail varnish sheen and gently press the card into the water. When we lifted the card out, it was all shiny. We enjoyed doing this and all said we wanted to do it again using different colours of nail varnish.
The second experiment was AMAZING! Miss Mortimer explained that liquids moved about and that they fitted the shape of a container but she said that a solid didn’t, she told us our table was a solid. She then said there are things called gases and sometimes we have gas in our tummy that needs to escape!
Miss Mortimer and Deanna got a beaker of water and added food colouring. We chose blue. Then, we added some oil to the beaker. The oil did not mix into the water, instead it rose up to the top of the beaker and sat on top of the water.
Deanna then added a magic tablet (alka seltzer!) and we started to see some bubbles, the bubbles were the gases trying to escape! We could see the blue water bubbling up through the oil just like magic. We all took a turn of squeezing the pipette into the liquid to make our own bubbles. It was great fun.
We had the best morning being scientists. We loved our visit from Williamwood High School and can’t wait for them to come again. Why don’t you try creating these fun experiments at home, and if you know of any others then please let us know!
Keeping fit and having fun!
Today on our walk, the children noticed a number 6 on a car in the car park so we asked them if they could see any more numbers – this seems to be a particular favourite with the children! Making walks fun are a fantastic way to get children out walking. There are so many benefits for children going out on walks.
Walking is very sociable! As we walked, we talked about the numbers we could see and why they were there. The children talked amongst themselves as well as talking to the adults and of course to Blue.
Walking is fun and interesting. The children are discovering new areas in their local community.
Walking makes them feel good. Being out in the outdoors is a great way to relax and escape from the hustle and bustle of a busy learning environment. We were listening out for cars and one child said, all I hear is birds!
Walking promotes independence and choice. When children are walking, they can stop and look at things that interest them, unlike in a car where things fly past unnoticed.
Children can choose when to stop and what to look at. We are all enjoying the benefits of our walks, looking for numbers was just an extra treat!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
The centre will close today at 1.00pm and will reopen on Wednesday 5 January 2022 to all children. The staff would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a healthy and happy new year.
See you all in 2022.
Last Call for Christmas Concerts
Please remember that the access link to the Christmas Concerts will be removed tomorrow at 1pm so this is your last chance to view them! Thank you again for coming and joining in, we are still singing the songs in over and over in our heads!
Blue days are good days!
We are so lucky at Cart Mill to have Blue as part of our team. Blue has visited the centre since she was a tiny puppy and the children love to see her when she visits. It has been such a pleasure to watch her grow and to give children the opportunity to care for her.
The children benefit so much from having contact with animals. Caring for pets is an enriching experience for children which offers opportunities to experience nurture, relationships and nature. Froebel noted that ‘The child who has cared for another living thing… is more easily led to care for his own life’ (Froebel in Lilley, 1967:128).
The children benefit from outdoor exercise as they accompany her on her walks and understand there are responsibilities from owning a pet.
We love having Blue days in our centre!
Lovely Lunches!
This week has been very exciting at Cart Mill, we are all getting delicious hot lunches served in nursery. We have tried lots of different food including tomato pasta, lentil soup, fish fingers and pizza! Our family room is now set up like a real dining room where we can all sit together round the table and eat our lunch.
We have been learning to use our cutlery properly as well as pour our drinks and help serve our vegetables.
It has been so nice to see the children try all the new tastes, we are already looking forward to next week’s menu!
Merry Christmas to all
There were some very excited children in the centre today. As it was cold and frosty we thought it would be a good idea to light the fire and sing some Christmas songs around it, while drinking delicious hot chocolate.
We hope all the Cart Mill family have a wonderful and safe festive period.
Merry Christmas, and a very happy New Year from us all.
Thank you to all for the most generous gifts you have handed in for the staff, it is very much appreciated.
Get to Know the Cart Mill Team
Hi everyone. Val here. Hope you are all keeping busy. As part of our Blog we thought it would be nice to run a getting to know the Cart Mill team. So, today it is my turn.
During lockdown, I have been working from home and planting lots of vegetables in my garden but what else can I tell you about me?
I moved to Netherlee when I was a baby
I went to Williamwood High School so haven’t really travelled very far! I have 3 children, 2 sons and a daughter who all go/went to Williamwood too!
I don’t really watch tv but I do quite like keeping up with news and current affairs programmes like Question Time.
You all know I love being outdoors as much as possible, I speak French and my favourite colour is blue but what might you not know about me… well, I climb, hill walk and ski.
I used to horse ride and competed in 3 day eventing and won lots of rosettes.
I absolutely love watching football and have a season ticket for my favourite football team and I also play classical piano.
Something I’m sure you all know is, I am missing you all very much and can’t wait to see you all as soon as possible.
Stay safe and take care xx
