All posts by Mrs Hannah

Outdoor Learning

Brilliant Balancing

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We have had lots of fun in our garden this week exploring body movement in creative and imaginative ways.

Using various loose parts, we created our own Muddy Movers obstacle course. This gave us the opportunity to demonstrate we could use apparatus safely, take turns, and share space and equipment safely.  Through lots of discussion and problem solving, we decided to use the crates and a plank of wood to create a beam to walk along.  To challenge ourselves further, we chose to add in some steps and a second longer beam. It was a wee bit tricky to hold our balance, but with practice and perseverance we did it!


“I can go really fast now”

”It’s a bit wobbly”

Some of us have been chatting about gymnastics classes we go to when we are not at Cart Mill. It was lots of fun to share our knowledge and expertise of different gymnastic movements and balances we have learned with our friends. We are able to create different shapes with our bodies, control our movements by holding our balances and teach new techniques to our friends!

“Look at me, I can put my leg up”

”I  can balance on one hand “

Our very own Cart Mill gymnastics class was so much fun!


“This is called a table”

”Look I can  do one arm and one leg”

”I can touch my head with my feet!”

”You put your hands on the ground and your leg in the air, like this”

At Cart Mill we love to take part in lots of different kind of energetic activities and challenge our friends to a competition! The egg  and spoon race is a firm favourite. We found our spoons, but after much discussion, decided it might be best not to use real eggs as it might be a bit messy! Putting our thinking caps on, we decided to use some of our smaller balls instead. It was time to begin our race. Ready, steady, go!

It was a bit tricky to walk and balance our “eggs” at the same time! With encouragement from our friends, some of us were able to walk really fast, while some of us took it slow and steady.

Balancing has been so much fun.  We’re sure you’ll agree we really are brilliant balancers!

Article 13 sharing thoughts freely

Article 31 right to play

 

 

 

Outdoor Learning

Our Outdoor Classroom

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It’s outdoor classroom day today! To celebrate, we thought we would share what we were learning in our Forest “classroom” today!

Our new skill today was whittling sticks. Whittling is a fun and creative way to introduce knife skills and is done by using a sharp object such as a knife, or in our case a peeler,  to carve wood. Using our knowledge, understanding and experience we have gained from our woodwork bench, we were able to transfer and apply these skills to our Forest classroom! We demonstrated this by listening carefully to safety instructions for using our “peelers”. It was very important to remember not to touch the “shiny metal bit” so that “we don’t cut our fingers”, and to hold the peeler “by the handle at the bottom”.


It was important to remember to keep a safe distance round us which we called our blood bubble! We decided it would be safer to take the peeler along the stick away from us “so we don’t cut our fingers”. Lots of wood came off and we could see “the stick change colour”.

While we were having snack under our shelter, we decided that we could use our sticks to “cook marshmallows on the fire” for our last week of Forest School next week.

During our time in our Forest “classroom”,  we have learned so many new skills. Each week we have grown in confidence and developed our gross and fine motor skills through a wide range of activities. It has been so much fun to make new friends and to work as a group and support each other’s learning.

By exploring different outdoor environments and engaging in energetic physical play, we have developed our movement and co-ordination skills and can now climb and balance on trees with confidence!


It was so much fun in our Forest classroom today and we can’t wait to see what we will learn next week!

“The best classroom and the richest cupboard is roofed only by the sky” (McMillan, 1925)

Article 15 you have the right to be with friends. Article 28 you have the right to an education.

 

Outdoor Learning

Fun at Forest School!

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We were so excited at Cart Mill today as it was our first day back at Forest School! It was time for us to put on our special Forest School suits and wellies and head off on our adventure!
It was so important to listen to Val and Fiona and we knew to “stop, listen and look for cars” before we crossed the road.

As we walked along the path, we could see and hear the river! Val told us it goes all the way past our Forest School and that it’s called the River Cart, “same as Cart Mill!”.

There are lots of hazards we need to look out for when we are at the Forest. We learned that hazards might be “dangerous if we touch them”. We spotted nettles, barred wire, an old fire pit and some glass, so we made sure we were very careful!

It was so “so exciting” to arrive at our site.  There was a huge mountain, so we decided to challenge ourselves to see if we could “race up to the top”. It was “a wee bit tricky”, but we were soon expert “mountain climbers!” The river looked so far away from the top and it was “so fun” to “run really fast” and “roly poly” back down.

Being a mountain climber is such hard work, so it was time for us to “have a wee rest” and a snack!

There was just enough time to explore the river before we headed back to Cart Mill for lunch!

It was difficult to decide what our favourite part of Forest School was today..

”I liked climbing the mountain”, “I like throwing stones in the river”, we ran really fast down the hill, it was fun”, “I liked everything”.

Phew, what a busy, fun, exciting first day in the Forest, “when can we come back!”

“The best classroom and the richest cupboard is roofed only by the sky” . (McMillan, 1925).

Article 31 – Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of activities.

Expressive Arts

Patchwork houses

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Thank you so much for all the kind donations of boxes and cardboard  for our junk modelling area. We decided to have a look in our Cardboard Creations book for some inspiration!   We loved the patchwork houses in our book and decided we would make some of our own!

We discussed what resources we would need and decided on:

“glue to stick things on”

“cardboard or boxes to make the house”

”scissors to cut things”.

”pens to draw windows and a door to get in”

”material, coloured paper and buttons to stick on”

We worked together to collect our resources and shared our thoughts on why we had chosen them.

”I’m choosing pink, it’s my favourite colour”.

”My favourite is red”.

”my favourite is red too”.

It was a bit tricky to cut the cardboard so we decided it would be safer if an adult used bigger scissors to cut it for us.  Using our smaller scissors helped us develop our fine motor skills, through cutting our paper, ribbon and wool.

Next it was time to design our house! We demonstrated excellent mark making and writing skills by adding our own features to our houses.

“I’m drawing windows. We need them up at the top, and at the bottom”.

”I’m drawing a door so we can get in and out”.

”I need a chimney, it goes on the top on the roof”.

”I’m writing number 23, that’s the same as my house”.

It was lots of fun choosing different materials to glue onto our houses. We used our knowledge to describe our materials and explain why we had chosen them.

“I like this one, it looks like a picnic blanket!”

”I like the pink one. It’s shiny and smooth”.

”The green one is like a tree, it’s fluffy”.

”The ribbon looks like a tractor wheel”.

”This one is black and white and it has flowers on it”.

”I love the blue one, it’s bumpy and has sparkles on it”.

”I’m putting buttons on. I like the colours”.

The glue on our houses was still a bit wet, so we decided to put them up to dry. When we put all our houses together, we decided it looked like “a wee village!”

It was so much fun making our houses and we can’t wait to see what else we can create!

 

 

 

 

Expressive Arts

Rangoli Patterns

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Today in the Discovery Room we have been talking about Diwali, in particular Rangoli patterns.

We learned that Rangoli patterns are traditionally made using coloured rice or dry flour which was mixed with turmeric and other natural colours. They can be created using different geometric shapes in the form of flowers, petals, stars or lanterns.

Families celebrating Diwali create beautiful Rangoli patterns and place them near the entrance of their homes to welcome Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, in the hope this will bring them good luck and prosperity.

We decided we would use our fabulous knowledge of shapes, patterns and positioning to create our very own Rangoli patterns.  We had a look to find some Rangoli patterns to give us some inspiration!

It was lots of fun choosing which loose parts we would use to create our patterns.  Of course we had to make sure we  chose lots of different colours and the shiny shapes and coloured gems were definitely our favourites!

Using the patterns as a guide, we carefully chose which loose part would fit best and carefully positioned them on our patterns.


“I’m using the gem. It’s a circle.”

”I like the shiny shapes. That’s one’s a diamond.”

”I put the button in the middle. It’s a big circle.”

“I like the buttons the best.”

”I found a shiny one.”

It was a bit tricky to fit some of the loose parts in as they were the shape! Working together, we were able to solve the problem and use some of our triangles to make a diamond!

Don’t our Rangoli patterns look beautiful.  Next time we are going to draw and create our own!

 

 

Expressive Arts

Patterns and Positioning

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This week in the Discovery Room we have continued to explore our interest in shapes and loose parts.

We have selected from a wide range of loose parts to create our beautiful pieces of transient art. This sparked lots of interesting conversations where we shared our views on which loose parts are our favourites! Most of us decided we like buttons the best!

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”I made a cat. The lollipop sticks are the whiskers. The triangle blocks are the ears.”

”I made a T for my name”

”I made a wee mouse.”

To add a little challenge and further extend our shape knowledge, we decided to use loose parts to see if we could continue a simple pattern, and create our own.

“Cork, circle, cork, circle”.

”cork, button, cork, button”. “The cork and the button look the same shape. They are circles.”

A number of us are demonstrating an interest in the schema of positioning.  We have demonstrated this through arranging objects, lining up items and sorting items into different boxes.  This helps us develop our concentration, be able to recognise differences and similarities in objects and to explore patterns and problem solving.


“Look I used a shell, then a cork, shell, cork, shell, cork, shell, cork. I putted a button on the top. Blue, green, blue, green. I putted a cork on top of the corks. It’s so high.”

Loose parts are a great way to developer creative, problem solving and numeracy skills.  Why not have a look and see what loose parts you can find at home.  We would love to see your wonderful creations!

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Mouse Shapes!

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In preparation for Maths Week Scotland next week, we have been busy in the Discovery Room exploring and developing our knowledge of  shapes!

Through use of our shape mats, we have investigated shapes we are familiar with and have been asking lots of questions about shapes we haven’t seen before.

Utilising our  colour recognition and problem solving skills as well as our shape knowledge, we were able to carefully place the correct shape on the corresponding place on our mats!

“The blue square goes here”

”This is the triangle. It’s green”

“I don’t know what this one is”

”Do you like my butterfly?”

Creating an invitation to explore our Mouse Shape book, provided the opportunity for us to further develop our shape knowledge.

We demonstrated our excellent shape and colour knowledge by correctly matching our shapes to the corresponding picture and to the pictures in our book. Some of us were able to name the shapes and some of us matched them by using our colour recognition.

We decided to add some additional resources such as pens, paper and additional shapes.  This allowed us to practice our mark making skills to draw our own shapes and copy the names. We decided to use different shapes to create our own mouse and cat!

“I used triangles for the teeth, circles for the eyes and the white ones for ears”

To challenge ourselves further, we introduced blocks into our learning. We were able to transfer our shape knowledge and problem solving skills to choose the correct shaped blocks to create our own mouse and cat! We are so creative and learned that a cylinder is a 3d shape that looks just like a circle.

“I’m making the mouse. I’m using the rectangle to make it stand up”

”Let’s make the mouse. The big triangles are the teeth.  The circles are the nose. The big one’s are the hair”

 

 

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Welcome to our Cart Mill Cafe

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Welcome to our Cart Mill Cafe where we just love our Marvellous Meals made by our cook Stephanie.

We have 3 sittings in our Cafe for our 3-5 year olds. 11.45 for our Stretch A am , 12.30 for our Stretch B  and finally 1.15 for our Stretch A pm and term timers.

We listen carefully for our names, go to the toilet,  wash our hands, then it’s time to wait for the Cart Mill train to take us to the Cafe!

“I’m so hungry!”.

Using our special tongs, we demonstrate fabulous fine motor skills through choosing our own vegetables from our crudité  platter. Pouring our own water helps us to practise our measuring and pouring skills.

“I like cucumber. I don’t like carrot”.

We just love sitting round our table together and it gives us the ideal opportunity to chat and get to know each other better.

After we have finished our tasty lunch we clear away our plates, cutlery and glasses. We just love helping to clean the tables and demonstrate excellent team work, working together to set the table for our friends. We are so good at counting how many chairs, knives and forks we need.

“I’ll do the fork and you do the knife”.
“I’ll do the plates”.
“We need one more fork and two glasses”.

We are very confident in sharing our likes and dislikes after we have finished our lunch. It was a definite 👍🏻 for the pastry today!

“I loved the pastry!”

”I didn’t like the potatoes”.

Our Cart Mill Cafe daily menu can be found below.

https://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/nursery-men

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expressive Arts, Outdoor Learning

Amazing Architecture in Cart Mill City

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Over the last few weeks, we have spent lots of time in our construction and block play area. We are so lucky to have a large selection of block play and construction materials to choose from here at Cart Mill. This gives us the opportunity to explore our creativity through designing and building our own models.

Using one of our house plans as a guide, we chose various sizes of wooden blocks to recreate our own houses! Using our knowledge of shapes, positional language and by working together, we created a living room, dining room, kitchen and bedroom!  By adding loose parts, we were able to add some extra special features!

“There’s a kitchen. This is the living room. We’re going to make a dining room”.
“The kitchen is next to the living room.  The bathroom is behind the kitchen.”
“It’s got 2 toilets”.
“These are the statues. My mummy has statues in the bathroom”.
“It has a chimney. Steam comes out of it and the bad guys can’t come in!”  “This is my bedroom.  I’m putting a cushion in to lie on”.

Using smaller blocks gives us the opportunity to develop both our fine motor and problem solving skills by discovering how to connect the blocks together to build our models.

We all love playing with our stickle bricks and Lego.  Sometimes it can be really tricky to fit the blocks together. With a bit of patience, perseverance and using our fantastic imaginations, we have created some fantastic models!

“It’s a birthday cake with candles on it”.
”It’s a T”.

“I made a play park.  It has a climbing frame, a slide and a swimming pool”.

Working together and sharing our ideas, we were able to create our very own Cart Mill Lego city! Isn’t it fabulous! We think we would have lots of fun living there!  Can you recognise the special people who live there?

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“The swimming pool looks like so much fun. It has a bit to jump off into the water and you go up the stairs and through the door to get to the slide.  It’s got a cafe if we are hungry!”.

To challenge ourselves further, we decided to take our block building  outside! It was so much fun! Working together, we placed the blocks carefully in front and behind each other to create a path all round the Cart  Mill garden! It was sooooo big and meant we were able to walk all round the garden without our feet touching the ground (the floor is lava after all!).

 

 

 

 

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Feeling hot hot hot!

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The weather has been so hot today that we decided we needed to do  something a wee bit different to keep us nice and cool!

We blew up our red balloons and off we set on our adventure!

First of all we landed somewhere red and hot (just like Cart Mill!) it was the planet Mars! We can’t walk on Mars because it’s too hot, so Our balloons and the gravity made us float!

Next we landed on planet upside down! It was such a funny place! We heard some music, so had to do some upside down dancing! You even have to ride your bike upside down here!

Finally, we landed on planet relaxation.

We had a lovely lie down and practised our breathing.

Planet relaxation was definitely our favourite place of all and was just what we needed on such a hot day!
Let’s hope it’s a wee bit cooler tomorrow!