All posts by Miss Simms

Expressive Arts

Marvellous Models

Leave a comment

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”

 

Expressive Arts

Creative Cloud Dough

2 Comments

Today in our malleable area the children chose to make cloud dough..  There are two different ways to make cloud dough,  so we decided to try both and see which one works the best  We gathered our bowls and began to take turns to add our first ingredient. First of all it was 2 scoops of cornflour and then 3 squirts of shaving foam or conditioner.

The children then used their gross motor skills to mix the ingredients together. During this time the children described the various textures they good feel.

“It’s so sticky”

“Mine is flakey”

”It gooey”

The children then made some predictions of what ingredient they could add more of to make the texture smooth. We continued to mix and experiment with our ingredients  until it became smooth and mouldable.

“Mine is soft like my teddy”

“I love squashing it”

“It’s like snow”

“Fluffy”

The children came to the conclusion that the cloud dough with conditioner was better.

shaving foam

“it crumbles”

” it’s like snow”

conditioner

”it all stays together”

”it’s smooth”

 

The children began to explore with the cloud dough using their hands. They began creating their own ideas using their imaginations and communicating with each other describing what they were creating. They then added some loose parts to help detail their masterpiece

“pirate Ship”

” a face”

”I made a circle”

” I have made sand and shells”

Technologies

Glorious Gloop

Leave a comment

Today at the malleable table the children chose to make gloop . They each had their own tray and took turns to add the ingredients; cornflour and water. The children used their hands  to mix the ingredients together till the gloop was ready.

“Mine is too thick I need some more water”

“Mine is watery so I need more cornflour”

The children then began to explore the gloop  using their hands  and fingers discussing the different the textures they could feel.

“It’s sticky”

“Mine is all gooey”

“I am going to add more water to make it slime”

“Mines is so soft”

“I like the feeling”

“It looks like milk”

“I made a line and it disappeared”

The  longer the children  explored they became intrigued why it was hard to touch but then when running through their fingers it changes textures and turns into liquid when picking it up. The children continued exploring the gloop and talking about the feeling of it.

“It’s hard and then turns to liquid”

“Water makes it loosen”

“Look it’s running through my hands”

“My handprint has just gone”

“Hard and then it’s just runs”

“It’s melting”

Little did the children know, they had performed a science experiment and had produced a non Newtonian fluid. Impressive!

Uncategorized

Pattern playdough with Textures

Leave a comment

Today at the malleable table we had a discussion what we would like to have out. We decided we would like to make playdough and explore a variety of patterns  and textures.

The children then independently followed our new recipe book that they created last week. The children  confidently added each ingredient showing confidence in their measuring and counting skills. They then used  their gross motor skills to mix all he ingredients and then kneaded their playdough until the texture was soft and smooth.

The children then collected a few resources that they thought would  make good patters and textures.  We  then explored patterns and textures . They spoke to each other discussing their findings and describing heir textures and patterns.

rolling pin -“this one is bumpy”

shells- “my playdough looks like a shell”

”my shell is jaggy”


My pine cone is in the playdough and it’s making it all bumpy & bit jaggy”

”my hand”

Uncategorized

Colour mixing fun🏳️‍🌈

Leave a comment

The children have been exploring the colour wheel and discussing their favourite colours and designing their own wheel with various materials.

Today we explored the colour wheel and began to talk about the various colours and if anyone could identify the three primary colours. A couple of the children were able to name these

.”Blue, Red & yellow”

We listened to a story called Mouse Hunt which told us a story about the primary colours and what happens if we mixed certain colours together and what colours they become.  The colours that they are called secondary colours.

We talked about the story and I asked who could identify the primary colours now. Then as a group we took turns to mix the colours, we made predictions on which colour it would create.
“Blue”

”yellow mouse”

”Red mouse”

The children then gathered their own  resources  and began to explore and experiment with the  primary colours. They used  their fine motors skills to mix the primary colours of their choice  together and create the secondary colours. Some of the children chose to do this in their pallets and others chose to mix them on their paper.

Red and blue is purple

I am going to make orange, I need yellow and red

Blue and  yellow

The children continued to experiment with the colours and were able to paint a piece of art work using them.

” I made the mouse”

”mine is beautiful colours, I made”

“ I made this orange myself”

” looks Suzi it’s an eyeball”

” I made a Christmas tree with my colours”

”mine is light green”

Well done children your colour mixing was fab.

What new colours can you create at home ?

Uncategorized

Potion Lab

Leave a comment

Today we searched through the science book together to choose which experiment we would like to explore. We decided on the Potion Lab.

“This one looks fun”

“ It’s the best”

“ I am excited will ours look like that”

We took turns to gather all the materials and set them on the table. Before we started we made some predictions what  do you think will happen if we mix vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. A few of the children made predictions.

“Bubbles
“Sparkles”

“ it fizzes”

“Magic potion”

First of all we added vinegar to make it half full. We then used our fine motor skills and chose between a droplet or a syringe to squeeze in some food colouring. We used our pincer grip to add some glitter and then added a large spoonful of bicarbonate of soda. We then mixed the potion and watched for the reaction of the ingredients mixing together. The children were curious and stayed focused throughout the experiment sharing their thought and ideas.

“ it’s working

“Wow it’s fizzing”

“It’s nearly at the top”

“Bubbles”

“Let’s do it again.

“ bath foam like my bath”

“It’s going to explode”

“Look at this potion”

“ The colours are mixing together and changing colour.

“ it’s so cool”

.The children were fascinated by the reactions and they continued to try out their own experiment  using a variety of small and big jars and adding different amounts of ingredients and watching their own eruptions. Lots of fun and laughter was had


We came to the conclusion the best and foamiest experiment was adding fairy liquid to it.
“ can we do this one everyday?”

Snack

Fragrant Fruits

Leave a comment

The children have continued to use their favourite fruits chart and have been taking turns asking their friends what fruit tastes the best.

We had a discussion about what our five senses are and what body part you use for each one.

Taste “- your mouth”, tongue”, “ I lick my lips and taste”
Touch –  “with your hands”
Smell – “My nose”
See – “eyes”
Hear –  “Ears”

We decided we could use another one of our senses to gather information using our chart. The children chose their sense of smell to try and guess what fruit was in the cup.
We prepared the fruit and put them in our paper cups and covered it with a paper towel sealed on with an elastic band.

Everyone gathered their cups and charts and went to ask their friends to smell the fruit and say what their favourite smell and what they thought it was, before making a mark on the chart to record their answer. The children all had different favourites but were very good at identifying the correct fruit just from its smell.

We then all came back to the table and counted up all the marks we had gathered to see which one was the most popular.

“Apple has 9 it is the favourite”

” Orange has the most on my chart”

“ watermelon had none but I like watermelon”

We discussed our favourite smells before making a plan to use a different sense for our next fruit identification, what sense do you think we chose?

Literacy, Snack

Our Favourite Fruits

Leave a comment

Today we were having a discussion about our favourite fruits. We decided to go and see what fruits we have in nursery and took pictures of the various fruits we could find.

We wanted to find out everyone’s favourite fruit  so we decided the best way was to create a chart of “our favourite fruits”. We cut out our pictures and glued them on paper and made squiggly lines to separate the fruits. We laminated these so we can use them everyday.

We then went round our playrooms asking our friends what their favourite fruits are.  We put a tick next to the fruit they chose.

“It’s yummy”

“Watermelon tastes the best”

The children then counted how many ticks at each fruit to see which was the most popular.

“The  watermelon Is most popular.” “ it has 10”

“The  pepper only has one “

We decided to have the four different fruits for our snack today so .we washed our hands and gathered our chopping boards & knives and began preparing the fruits . We talked about the different sizes of fruit  and the best way to cut them.

“ Watermelon is the hardest”

“Bananas are easy”

Finally it was snack time and it looked delicious!

We decided next time we could find out what our favourite smells are.
Continue reading Our Favourite Fruits →

Expressive Arts, Outdoor Learning, Trips and Outings

Framing Winter

Leave a comment

As our weather is crisp and cold we have been looking and discovering more about winter in the world around us and how we keep ourself warm during this chilly time. We asked the children what they knew about winter weather and got some lovely responses;

“It’s Cold” “

“I wear snow boots”

“My fingers go red”

“Frost makes beautiful patterns”


We decided together that we would enjoy exploring our local environment to see what effect the colder weather had on our world around us.

First we dressed appropriately for our walk, we put our warm jackets, hats, boots and some of us had cosy gloves to keep us extra warm .

We looked at how the trees looked a bit sad and cold as their beautiful big leaves have left them bare, some of the leaves were lying on the ground.

During our walk we collected some of the leaves, some sticks, twigs and stones to take back to Cart Mill

“Leaves are wet”

“ I have found the biggest stick”

On our travels we also spotted a deer and its family through the bare trees. We walked a little further and saw lots of sheep.
“Are there any baby ones?”
We discussed that baby lambs can be seen in the spring and that’s the next season after winter, so not long to wait now.

When we arrived back at the nursery we decided to create our own winter pictures using the resources we found. The children were very creative designing their own trees and snowflakes. A lovely way for us to show our fun winter walk time.

 

Uncategorized

Super sewing in the studio😍

Leave a comment

Today in the sewing area we had a discussion about why we sew?

“ it makes stitches”

“”It’s fun”

“My mum sews”

We looked to see if anyone had buttons on their clothes

“I have a button on my jeans”

“My cardigan has buttons”

“My jacket has buttons”

We looked at the seam on our clothes and could see the stitches that had been made.

“ I can see lots on my leggings”

“They’re on my sleeve”

”look at my shoes”

We talked about sewing is a process of using a needle and thread to connect pieces of fabric or attach something like a button to a fabric surface. It’s a practical skill used to make or repair.

It was then our turn to have a go, some of the children chose and attached the buttons to the fabric.

“That was very hard”

“The little needle is very jaggy”

“ the eye of the needle is so small”

“I done it, it’s together”

A few of the other children chose to sew bits of material together we made holes with the punch and then used the needle and thread to attach the fabrics together using our hand and  eye coordination and lots of concentration.

“Look at mine is so colourful”

“Mine is together”

That’s so cool”

“Can we make some clothes for the puppet?”

The children had great listening and communication skills took turns  and were able to follow my instructions. Good job everyone 😁