All posts by Miss Simms

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Pattern playdough with Textures

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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”

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Colour mixing fun🏳️‍🌈

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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 ?

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Potion Lab

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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

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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

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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

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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.

 

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Super sewing in the studio😍

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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 😁

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My Christmas Tree 🎄

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Today the children were talking about the Christmas trees throughout the nursery. We talked about the different sizes of trees and decorations.

“I have one in my house

“Granny has one”

“Mine is so big”

“ we have lights that change colours”

“I helped to put the baubles on”

During our discussion we decided we would like to make our own Christmas trees, so we  looked a few ideas up on  the Promethean   board.

We talked about what we could  use  to decorate our trees and went on the hunt to find a variety of materials e.g. buttons, sequence, wool, thread and pipe cleaners.

The children began by painting their trees using their fine motor skills and talking about decorations they were going to put on theirs.

”it will be so colourful”

”I put a star on mine”

” mine will look pretty in my bedroom”

They then waited patiently for their trees to dry and finally it was time  to decorate their trees. The were all picked the different materials.

Here is a selection of the children’s fabulous works of art!

Expressive Arts

Nessie

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Today the children were ready to get to work at the Tinker Table . We read our new safety rule book which we all helped to create last week. This is to ensure we are keeping ourselves and others safe.

“ I can get the goggles on myself”

”Safety First”

” I helped make this book”

The children took turns and selected different types of wood in all shapes and sizes. They discussed what they were going to do  and as we had been reading No Such Things as Nessie for Scotland book week all the children were excited to create their own Loch Ness Monster . We then  looked out the nails and hammer. They held the hammer firmly and using their hand and eye co-ordination to gentle hit the nail several times.

“I am making Nessie”

”It’s a nice monster”

When the wood was nailed together the children then chose a variety of materials e.g.   buttons, corks, ribbon and sequence they could add to their creations.

“ the buttons are  it’s eyes”

”This its tail”

”I am going to make a funny one”

The children followed the safety rules well and had great concentration skills.

They then proudly sat them on the display table

Expressive Arts

Hammer Time

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Today at the tinker table we investigated a few of the tools including the hammer, screwdriver and saw. The children named each one and decided they would like to explore the hammer first.

“Hammer nail”

“hammer things in wood”

“My daddy uses a hammer”

I demonstrated to the children how to hold the hammer correctly.

Hold the hammer at the end of the handle to allow the weight at the head to help it drop down

Gently tap the  hammer on the top of the nail.

Always make sure you look at what you are doing.

The children all took turns holding the hammer

“It’s heavy”

“It’s small”

We talked about how to keep ourselves  and others while using tools. We thought it was a great idea to make a rule book or oyster so our friends know how to stay safe.

What will we put in  our book

Only with an adult

Safe try goggles

Not 2 people

Keep hands away from tools

Always look at what you are doing

We then each took a turn of hammering a nail into the wood  following all our safety procedures.