All posts by Miss Simms

Painting with passion

The children have been thoroughly enjoying exploring lots of vibrant colours in the gross motor art area.

Today the children chose the paint they wanted to use, along with the rollers and brushes. We gathered our resources and decided we would use different textures of paper. We began by talking about the different textures and how they felt.

“This is bumpy”

“This one is shiny and smooth”

“It bumpy”

“It’s rough too”


The children then chose whether they wanted to use the brush or the roller and began exploring with the colours and the textures to make some big art! They used their gross motor skills to make the big movements required to roll and brush on the paper. Working together, they all took turns swapping the resources and colours making sure that everybody got a shot of everything they wanted.


The children then decided to explore their colour mixing skills. As they mixed, they became more confident using their design process, they created new secondary and tertiary colours.
“ look purple”

“I made brown”

“I love orange”.

Our older children really enjoyed using the new paint tools to create vibrant and wonderful patterns, in the style of our featured artist “Steven Brown”. While our younger children enjoyed using their gross motor skills to make marks on the ground using a big space to expand their creative skills.
We used so many skills in our gross motor art area today without even realising because we were having so much fun creating our abstract art.

“I am using my hands”

” I am making lots of lines”

I am making my shapes different colours”

”I am making shapes and mixing the colours together”

Who knows what creations we might make tomorrow in our gross motor art area!

Colourful Creative Coos

In the art area outdoors we have been learning about a Scottish artist called Steven Brown. We have explored some of his Mccoo pictures and a couple of his Mczoo animals.  We talked about how beautiful and colourful they were and that he uses lots of colours.
A few of the children were familiar with the Mccoo and had recognised it.

“ my granny has that in her house”

”I have seen that before”

Today we decided we would design our own Mccoo and work as  a team to make a big, huge one. We gathered our resources and had a discussion on how we were going to begin. Firstly we drew a big circle for its head and then some horns.

We had a variety of resources to choose from including pallet knifes which Steven Brown used for various of his  own pictures. The children used their fine motor skills to create different marks and shapes on the cow, we even managed to mix some of our colours together creating even more beautiful vibrant colours. The children took turns and shared the colours and utensils


“whats it going to be called.”

”can I think of a name”

The children then began rhyming off all there friends names.

Finally it was dry and we could cut our cow out and add some other details  to our own cow.

We were  then back to thinking  about a name .

Then we heard at the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride there had been two calves born. We looked this up and we decided we would call our highland cow Ishbel.

Building Bridges

This week we decided we would use small blocks and loose parts to build our bridges.

The children began exploring the different materials provided  and using their fine motor skill and hand and eye coordination  to connect the pieces together.

“ this is too heavy, it’s going to fall.”

“This is really hard”

“Mine is a bit wobbly”

The children used problem solving skills while exploring a variety of ways to ensure the creations did not fall apart. The children shared their thoughts and ideas with each other.

“ I think the clips are too big and they bend”

“ glue would be good”

”mine are staying together”

”I like the pegs the best”

While building the children were discussing what they were creating and continued to share their thoughts and ideas.  They used mathematical language to describe their creations and had great concentration skills.

“Mine is strong and long”

“I am building a bridge which  is going going to be so long”

“I am going to build a big one for cars”

”mine is for cars too”

We then decided we would check how strong our bridges were. and chose a car or person to put on it.


“ I have 3 cars on”

”I have 3 people”

”I have 3 cars and 8 people”

The children were delighted at how strong their bridges were and that they were able to hold cars, figures or both.

Our Local Landmarks

Last week the children were creating bridges and castles. We looked up the squinty bridge ( Clyde Arc) and Stirling Castle. Quite a few of the children recognised the bridge.


So this week we decided we would go and explore our own local environment.
We had a think about what we needed to do to keep us safe when we are out a walk.

“ we need to hold hand & listen”

”watch the roads”

” walk nice”

” have fun”
First of all we passed the spider park and continued towards the forest where we could hear the water so we went to explore and we found our very own bridge! “can we pick up sticks and watch them go under bridge?”

The children had fun playing Pooh sticks – throwing their sticks and running to the other side to watch for their stick coming. We then walked further along and found an even bigger bridge.

“ it’s so big I can’t see over”

“The cars go over this one”

“I can hear the train”

“My house is up there and there’s another bridge”

It was now getting close to lunch time and it was time to head back the children were using great listening skills and road safety and  we spotted lsome more familiar landmarks Williamwood high school  and  Bonnyton House. They were also intrigued by the black and white cat.

Today the children have been busy using their gross motor skills and imaginations to build bridges similar to those they have seen in our local  environment.  The children shared their thoughts and ideas, and used mathematical language to describe how their towers were going to look. They had great concentration and problem solving skills  to ensure they would stay up and connect.

children working together as a team


“We are making the one we were on yesterday, Lots of people can walk over it .”

”mine is going to be so long”

Some of the children chose to create their own bridge.

“I am going to make a bridge for cars”

”Look how high it is”

“I have 6 cars on mine”

“I will make one for people”

” I am putting signs on my bridge”

Creative Cement Constructions

Today we had a discussion how we could ensure our towers did not fall down.

“Don’t move from it”

”cellotape”

“Glue”

What do you think builders use to keep bricks together.

“Cement”

We deceived to make our own cement so  we got a bowl and added our two ingredients sand and shaving foam. We used our gross motor skills to stir and combine them together.

”it looks crunchy”

”it looks sticky”

”it looks like real cement”

We then began making our creations using a variety of tools to spread the cement on the blocks. The children used their fine motor skills and hand and eye coordinating  to help secure the blocks together. The children had great  imaginations and communication skills sharing their thoughts, ideas and creations.The children used mathematical language.while building their structures

“Mine is so high”

“ it have lots of bricks

“mine is big an getting bigger and bigger”

”mine is going to be very tall”

” I have made a castle”

“Look at my bridge, the troll lives under it”

” I have made a big tower”

” I have made a big house”

Safety First at Cart Mill construction site!

Today in our construction area we had a discussion on Health and Safety and why we wear protective clothing along with some important signs we may see in our local environment.

The children took turns within the conversations with their peers and  listened to each others ideas. Then they took turns trying on the protective clothing. Good sharing everyone!

Why do we wear helmets?

”they might fall”

”too keep there head good”

“something might fall on your head”

”you might bash into a pole”

“we also wear helmets on our bicycle”

Why do we wear high vis jackets?

”So everyone can see you”

“It’s bright”

”Keeps you safe”

”We wear them when we go out walks at nursery”

Why do we wear goggles?

”It stops something going in your eye”

”It looks after your eyes”

”Something might fly in it”

We then looked at a few signs and the children were very good at identifying each of them and talking about what they mean.

They were then keen to create their own poster to put up in our construction area to make sure all our friends know how to be safe.

We talked about what safety rules we could have in our Cart Mill construction site. These will keep us safe when building with the blocks.

”Share with your friends”

”Not too high”

”Carry them carefully”

”Help my friends”

Article 28 – I have the right to an education 

Article 32 – I should not be made to do dangerous work

 

 

Pop a little Pancake

Today we were talking about Pancake Tuesday and decided we could make our own pancakes with the playdough. We got our bowls and measured each ingredient  and used our gross motor skills to stir all the ingredients together. We added some vanilla essence  to make them smell yummy too.

“My mum makes pancakes”

“ I have pancakes in my house”

We then began creating our own pancakes  using the rolling pins and cutters  of our choice.

“ mine is going to be round”

”I am using the circle one”

 

When  we were ready we popped them into the frying pan some of the children like using the cooker  to bake them. The children then flipped their pancakes . While we didt this we sang pop a little pancake into the pan.

We then used a variety of resources sequins, pom poms to decorate our pancakes pretending they were various toppings.

“Nutella”

”Jam”

“Bananas”

“Strawberry”

Look at our delicious pancakes.

Ready…Steady…Go

The children have shown lots of interest in cars and have started exploring how they move on the car mat and in the garage. They have all used their imagination to create a variety of scenarios. Some of the children then decided to created their own garage, bridges and roads using the wooden blocks. It was like the Cart Mill city!


Afterwards, we decided to make ramps which we angled so that we could measure how far each of our cars could go. The children waited patiently for their turn and made predictions of how far they though their car would go. We experimented with different ways to measure. We used a variety of different tools such as a measuring tapes and pine cones to measure how far our cars went.


We had lots of fun taking turns racing each other to see which car went the furthest. We had a group discussion of whose was the furthest, developing our awareness of distance as well as some negotiation techniques!


“mine went the furthest”

” I won”

” look how far mine went”
” mine was super speedy”

We were also able to recognise some familiar numbers on the measuring tape and use these numbers to determine whose car ACTUALLY went the furthest.

We were able to use our mathematical language in discussions about distance such as length, distance and measure. “My car went to the 2 and the 3”

“7 pine cones”                                                                   2 and 3

This was a fun measuring experience for all children, regardless of age, which developed an awareness of measurement using non – standards of measurement as well as introducing standard measurement during play.

Welcome to the Cart Mill kitchen 😀🥤🎂

Today in the mud kitchen the children were pretending to work at Cartmill Cafe. They discussed with each other what they going to make.
” I  love tomato soup” “I like the colour of it, Red is my favourite colour “

”I am making a birthday cake, a chocolate flavoured one”

“Hot chocolate, but you need to be careful it’s not too hot when you drink it, I like it with marshmallows “

”spaghetti bolognaise, with wiggly spaghetti “

The children then wrote their ideas on the menu

The children gathered their utensils and began filling and pouring their ingredients. They used gross motor skills to mix and stir added natural resources such as leaves, stick, stones and pine cones to their recipes.

“It needs to cook in the oven for 10minutes”

”I need more water in the soup”

”It’s still too hot, it needs a little water to cool it down”

We then showed each other our creations and  had a little pretend nibble.

“ Here’s a drink with a straw”

”My birthday cake has lots of candles”

” I have the bestest chocolate cake”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marvellous Models

Today in the studio the children have chosen a variety of the junk modelling materials or paper to create their own pictures and models.  They talked about the different sizes and shapes they were choosing discussing with one another what their ideas were and their Imagination’s were running wild.

“I have 2 rectangle boxes”

I have a circle”

“Mine is going to be a big castle”

” I need a small box and a circle for mine.

The children then got to work using their fine motor skills and hand and eye co-ordination.while cutting various materials they could add to their creations.

“I am cutting a big bit”

“Tiny one”

“I am doing big and small bits”

The children then began to use the glue, masking tape and cellotape to add various mareials to their creations.

“ I like the cellotape”

“ it just falls off with the glue”

”” “my flag is going to be big”

They used some problem solving skills as they decided the best way for it to stick together.

The children had great concentration skills and fabulous imaginations and were very proud of their own pictures and models.

“Jewellery box”

“My big castle”

“Picture for mum”

“Look at my telescope”