All posts by Mrs MacRae

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Magnet ice play

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In our science area we have been exploring magnet ice play. The children started their exploration thought freezing different objects in the ice. First we used plastic, glass beads, magnet tiles and screws and used the magnet wands to see which one we were able to move or pick up. The ice melted very fast and we discussed why it was melting.

”it’s melting because of the sun”

We discussed how the sun melts ice and snow because it’s hot but it’s not the sun today. The nursery is warm and our hands are warm and that is what is melting the ice.

    

Yesterday some of the children helped to freeze some magnet balls in some ice cubes to explore today.

 

 

“It’s freezing on my hands”

”I’m watching it drip on my hands”

Magnet ice play is a very hands-on experience! There were lots of attempts to see how many ice cubes we could pick up at the one time.
The record was 7 ice cubes

“I got 7!”

We discovered we could make them spin around very fast by waving the wand in a circular motion above the ice cube.

Some children enjoyed trying to stack the cubes to build a tower. It was a bit tricky.

We lifted the tray up onto blocks and explored the ice cubes further by waving the wands under the tray and watching the ice cubes dance around.

It’s fair to say that the children had fun exploring the ice and it was just a shame it melted so fast.

Article 31  You have the right to play and rest

Digital Technology

Time⏳⏱

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This week in the discovery room we have been exploring time through the use of the sand timers and the digital stopwatch on the iPads.

“Mine is at 14 min now”

”mine is the fasted”


“These two are the same 3 minute”

The children have been enjoying watching the sand run though the sand timers. We have been discussing which one we think is fastest and slowest.  We all had a turns using the digital timers to measure how long our sand timers took to stop.

We discovered the sand timer had a 1min timer, 2min timer, 3min and 5 min timer.

At nursery we always do 2 minutes of tooth brushing to keep our teeth healthy and use the timers to time 2 min of brushing.

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The children were then set the challenge to see if they could do star jumps for 1 min. We then used the timers to time 1 min. It was hard work to keep going but we did it!

 

One minute of star jumps wasn’t enough to tire our Cart Mill boys and girls, we set a further challenge of jumping for 3min. The children assured me they could do it and they didn’t disappoint. Well done everyone.

After all that exercise we decided to use our 5min timer to do a 5 minute cool down of walking around the table.

The children have enjoyed exploring the timers in different ways and it has helped keep us all warm on such a cold morning.

Baking, Snack

Spiced apple cake for snack🍎

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The children at Cart Mill love to bake. For our afternoon snack we have been introducing some homemade baking.

Today we have been busy making some spiced apple cake. Baking helps to develop the children independence skills. The children are able to following instructions, carrying out small tasks independently.

First we chopped our apple into small pieces. Our children know how to keep ourself safe while using the knifes.

“We need to sit on the chair”

“We are need to be careful, we don’t  want to chop our fingers”

Chopping the apple not only promotes independence but help develop fine motor skills and co ordination.

Next we use the measuring spoons to measure out the ingredients helping develop our numeracy skills.

1..2 scoops of flour

1 scoop of sugar…

       

Once we added all our ingredients and gave it a big stir. It was hard work, we had to use lots of muscles.

“It’s all sticky”

”It’s going to taste yummy”

Here are all our children enjoy sharing the snack with their friends.

 

Article 27 – You have the right to food, clothing a safe place to live and to have your basic needs met.

 

 

 

 

 

Outdoor Learning

Muddy movers for everyone.

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Today we have had lots of fun exploring our balancing skills.

To do this we set up our muddy movers obstacle course using the loose parts in the garden.

Today we started with lying the planks of wood on the floor to allow our younger children time to practice and develop their confidence in walking along the plank without falling off.

After a few times around the course we made great progress and became more confident in ourselves.

As more of our older children joined the obstacle course we needed to make it a bit more challenging. The children helped choose a different layout to help further develop their balancing skills. We found a plank that was flat on one side and round on the top, which made it a bit tricky to walk along. We had to stretch our arms out wide to help us gain our balance. It was very tricky but with lots of practice and a little help from our friends we did it!

To challenge our balance skills even further, we added two planks of wood onto the tyres. This supported the planks but gave it a bit of movement and made it bouncy.

“Its a bit wobbly”

The obstacle course is a great way to challenge gross motor skills and to demonstrate how to use the equipment safely, share space and take turns.

Article 29 – Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.

 

Article 31 – you have the right to play and rest.

 

Expressive Arts

Will the glove fit🧤🪡🧵

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In the studio this week one of our children drew around her hands onto paper, then she cut them out and decorated them. This sparked an idea “I want to make some gloves”

Using her problem solving skills she decided the paper would just rip if we tried to put it on her hands but she could use her paper hands to draw around and use some material. All of a sudden, she had a template!

“I want to sew my gloves for school, will I have a enough time before I go?

Once she selected and measured her material she had to make sure it was big enough for the size of her hand.
Mastering fine motor skills and the hand grip required to hold  and thread the needle, she got to work sewing. Well done!

We found a pair of gloves to help us problem solve how we were going to create our gloves. We discovered that the hands that we drew around didn’t match. They have to be symmetrical to be able to make the glove. We began sewing the glove onto the other material to cut around it after.

With a a little of help holding the fabric our super glove designer was able to sew all the way around the fingers. After a lot of hard work and concentration we tried the glove on to see if the glove fits.
The glove fits 🤩 Amazing Work!

“I need to make another glove because 2 gloves make a pair”

Sewing helps children understand the creative process, develop fine motor skills, improve their concentration, and learn how to work with their hands. This can help them become more independent and self-motivated.

Article 29 – You have the right to education which tries to develop your personality and abilities as much as possible and encourages you to respect other peoples rights and values and to respect the environment.

Expressive Arts, Outdoor Learning

🌻 Sunflowers 🌻

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Our sunflowers have grown so tall in our garden. We have planted then from a tiny seed and have been nurturing them. After discussing how tall they have grown we calculated how many days it took for our sunflowers to flower.

It took 111 days for them to grow this tall.

”That’s a lot of days”

“They are taller than me”

Taking some inspiration from the beautiful sunflowers. We decided to paint some in the studio. We selected the colours of the sunflowers and have be busy painting some fabulous sunflower pictures this morning.

Here’s just a few of our amazing paintings. Look out for some coming home to brighten up your walls. 😃

Article 28 – You have the right to education

Expressive Arts

Let’s get painting 🎨

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In the studio today we have enjoyed exploring the paint using different utensils.

We have enjoyed stamping  the potato mashers, forks and fish slice’s in the paint and splatting them onto the paper to create different shapes and pattern. As we continued painting we discovered different ways to use the utensil to get different effects with the paint.

The children are gaining confidence in exploring and experimenting with different resources using the tools to develop increased control of fine hand movements.

The children take ownership of their painting by writing their name on their pictures.

Here is some of the art we created

Article 13 – You have the right to find out things and say what you think, through making art, speaking and writing unless it breaks the rights of others

Expressive Arts

Creative painting 🎨🖌

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This week in the studio we have been exploring different  paint techniques. We have been using the wire racks to create our pictures. As we explored painting thought the wire racks we noticed the strips and squares in our paintings and some of the children begin to explore some simple pattern in their painting


“I’m using yellow”

“I’m doing long strips”

”There is lots of squares”

“A face”

“My pattern is red blue red blue”

While painting their master pieces the children have been developing their fine motor skill, specially awareness, mathematical language and exploring the different process and outcome as they explore the paint.

Uncategorized

Sand play

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The children have been exploring edible sand made from ground cheerios. We have made edible sand to allow some of our children to explore the feeling of the sand in a safe way.

Sand play is a rich sensory experience, it can be very calming. It also give our children a way to explore and express their feelings.

Playing in the sand is terrific for developing fine motor skills, building hand eye coordination and strengthen muscles. As the children make movements such as digging, scooping, pouring, pushing and lifting they are developing all these key pre writing skills.

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Sand play can give the children the opportunity to develop useful social skills while playing alongside their peers and help to spark creativity.


“A little strawberry on the top”

“I’m popping a lid on it”

And most of  all sand allows the children to play and have fun with their friends.

Outdoor Learning

Exploring in the garden☘️🌱🌼

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Today we had lots of little helpers in the garden. The children have been helping to pull up some of the weeds in our planting area. There were some jaggy nettles growing in our garden. We quickly identify these and let the grown-ups get those ones, so they didn’t hurt our fingers.

“I’ve been stung by a nettle before it hurt.”

Using the gardening tools, we used our gross motor skills for digging, carrying and lifting the weeds.  We had to dig deep into the soil to get the roots of the weeds or the weeds would just start to grow back.

We discussed how the roots soak up all the water from the soil and that helps the plants to grow.

“A bit like you having a big drink of water.”

“Look at the size of this root, it’s been growing a long time”.

As we were digging, we came across some insects that live in the soil and mud, so we made sure that we were extra careful.

“Look! lots of spiders.”

“I’ve found a worm.”

We made up some rules to look after our worms.

  • We do not hurt the worms.
  • We pick them up very carefully.
  • We put them back into a safe place in the garden.

We love to spend time in the garden exploring and learning about our environment.

Article 29

You have the right to education which tries to develop your personality and abilities as much as possible and encourage you to respect other people’s rights and values and to respect the environment.