The children wanted to share what they love most about Cart Mill.
Creative Children at Cart Mill
We have had lots of fun this week at nursery. We have been talking part in creative play.
We have also been exploring gross motor skill challenges in our garden this week. We have been walking like a dinosaur. We used a variety of dinosaur footprints to see the difference in size and shape. Some of our creative children tried to match our toy dinosaurs with the footprints.
Our children used their creative skills to create a pirate ship to set sail on an adventure. We used our building skills to make the ship and find loose parts to add to the inside. We used tyres as the steering wheel and tubes for our telescope.
Our children wanted to draw the sea and lava sharks surrounding the ship.
We loved our ship and used it as a cosy place to read stories together.
We enjoyed our pirate adventure so much we made our own pirate treasure imagination adventure. We made a map and had to follow all the directions, using our magic backpack along the way to help us at each stage of our journey.
One of our children made their own treasure map. Well done I wonder what treasure you will find.
To round off our creative week we had a drawing class. We put a you tube drawing tutorial and got our pens and paper ready to follow along.
We made stitch and Spider-Man aswell as some other favourite characters.
We used our concentration and were very impressed with our drawing.
Marching through the month
In the STEAM room this month we have been very busy.
In the block area we have been planning, building, problem solving which has resulted in some great ideas. We have had dens, castles and even a bowling alley.
At the sensory table the favourite activity has been slime . This is great for developing strength in our hands and finger muscles while promoting language “this is stretchy” or cold ,soft, “ look how long it is”. We also had fun with corn starch and water !
As March was world book day the children chose to recreate the Hungry Caterpillar Story. They painted ,glued , decorated and did some mark making which gave us a beautiful wall display.
At the science table we had magnets . The boys and girls discovered what could be lifted by a magnetic force and some items that you were not able to lift “Why”. We also had a look at “magic water” and how it made the pen ink expand we had some lovely rainbows 🌈.
Our art area is always a popular area and the children experience lots of fun learning skills . Fine motor,sensory, design, imagination they enjoy chatting to each other, sharing resources and producing great art works they are very proud of as are we.
Lets spring into April and see some more wonderful creations.
Article – We have the right to play and create our own ideas.
Home Room Highlights
This week in the Home Room we’ve been very busy! The children enjoyed dancing and dressing up, using their imaginations and having lots of fun together. We also did some muffin making and practised our number skills through different activities. It’s been a wonderful week full of creativity, learning and smiles!
in our baking area, the children have been busy making muffins and developing lots of important skills along the way. They have been practising measuring, counting and carefully following a recipe. It has been lovely to see some of the children confidently taking on the role of the adult, helping to guide their friends and supporting them step by step as the work together to follow the recipe.
In our story corner, the children have been confidently using their technology skills to scan QR codes to listen to and watch some of our favourite stories. They have really enjoyed choosing stories independently and using the technology to bring the books to life. It’s been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they explore stories in this exciting way.
We enjoyed playing ‘Spin the Wheel’, where the children practised their subitising skills by quickly recognising how many spots they could see and matching the quantity to the correct number. The children had lots of fun taking turns and building their confidence with numbers through this game.
The children also loved challenging themselves in our ‘Number Hunt’. They searched carefully to find the numbers before the timer ran out, showing great focus and determination. Some of the children even challenged themselves further by reducing the time with each attempt to see if they could beat their previous record!
Finally, the children have loved exploring the dressing up clothes in our home corner. They enjoyed creating imaginative scenarios, pretending to be different characters and showing off their dance moves in their wonderful outfits. It has been lovely to see their creativity and confidence shine as they play together.
Article 31 Children have the right to relax and play
Sensory Fun In The Pond
Recently in the pond the children had a great time bringing laughter, creativity and a little bit of delightful chaos when painting with their feet.
Watching the children step into bright colours and stamp their tiny footprints onto paper, and popping the bubbles in bubble wrap, is not only adorable- it’s also a wonderful way for them to explore art and sensory play.
“ it’s slippy” “ I like it”
All the children enjoyed the cool feeling of paint between their toes, the squishy texture as they step into it, and the slip sliding as they created the colourful prints they left behind it all helps stimulate their senses, it also supports creativity, coordination and confidence.
It didn’t take long before the children asked for paint brushes and the squeals of laughter filled the room as they felt the tickle of the bristles on their feet.
“ it tickles”
They all like the warmth of the soapy water we used to “clean” their feet
The children extended their interest in footprints by making pictures of dinosaur footprints comparing sizes.
“Stomp, stomp,stomp”
Great messy fun was had by all
The Big Clean Up
Today was the turn of Clarkston to take part in the Big Clean Up and Cart Mill were very keen to take part. We all popped our hi-vis vests on and went out with litter pickers and bin bags to clear up round Cart Mill. We were really sad to see so much litter spoiling our lovely area so we got very busy picking it up. After a morning of litter picking we had filled two bin bags!
Article 24: I have the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
SIMOA safe in our garden
We loved watching the diggers and the landscaping team create our new garden space. It’s fabulous having more space to play. We have a big sandpit we can go in and play with and we love it. We can’t wait to plant and grow in our wonderful planters see all the beautiful flowers.
One day we noticed the cold weather had made our garden a bit slippy. We went out to check if our garden was safe to play in.
This sparked an idea. Let’s make our own risk assessment to incorporate our new garden areas. So we went around the garden looking for possible risks.
Our children were very safety conscious and could tell me what is safe and what’s not safe. We took photos of our areas and with a little IT help we made our own safety garden risk assessment.
Before we go out to play our responsible helpers get their clip boards and pens to check our garden. Some of the areas we check are:
our gates,
Our sand,
our tyres,
our stepping logs,
And our doors,
Once we give it all a safety tick, it’s time to come out and play. We have also been learning about risk and staying safe on our obstacle course. How to build it safely aswell as staying safe while completing the course.
We do love risky play, even more now we know how to do it safely.
Some times we do forget, so Emma came up with a catchy wee tune to remind us how to stay “SIMOA Safe”.
We will be learning this song over the next few weeks. (You might recognise the tune from our Christmas concert. ) Watch this space for a video of our children singing it.
Come dine with us at Cart Mill!
This week at Cart Mill we have enjoyed having some of the parents and grandparents in for lunch with the children.
The children were able to show off their independence skills by serving their own lunches and were super helpers clearing up all the plates and dishes for their loved one.
Having lunch with your child at nursery can have lots of benefits:
- Emotional security and confidence – Seeing their parent/carer in the nursery can provide your child with security, value and make them feel safe.
- Stronger relationships – Shared mealtimes strengthen the parent-child bond in a familiar learning environment
- Positive role modelling – Children observe healthy eating habits, table manners and social interaction
UNCRC Article 24 : I have the right to good food and clean water
Weekly round up- Home Room
Welcome back and a happy new year to everyone!
We have started the new year with some new dressing up clothes in the home corner and the children are loving it! There is so much imaginative play and children co-ordinating who will play which role with each other, creating a wonderful language rich environment.
We have been developing our writing skills at the literacy table by tracing letters on the trays. With Helen’s encouragement, our pre-schoolers are encouraged to recognise and copy the letter cards on the table and our younger learners can engage in pre-writing skills by making circular patterns.
The baking area has transformed into the cooking corner and Gail has been making soup with the children. Just what you need in this weather! The children have been learning how to keep themselves safe while using reals tools and are also learning about measuring and new language specific to cooking.
In the story corner, Eilidh and the children have been re-telling familiar stories. The children have enjoyed using the puppets and taking ownership of the story so much that we created a puppet theatre for them to share the stories to an audience. The favourite stories this week have been The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Goldilocks, The Smartest Giant in Town and Jack and the Beanstalk.
Article 29 (goals of education)- Education must develop every child’s
personality, talents and abilities to the full.
Line Patterns
This week in our mark making area we have been exploring pre-writing line patterns. Pre-writing line patterns are simple lines, shapes and strokes that children learn to draw before they start writing actual letters or numbers. These patterns help develop the fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and muscle control needed for letter formation.
This week was Diwali and we celebrated in our mark making area by creating our own mehndi hand patterns.
We loved rolling the dice and copying the line patterns to make some crazy hair!
We used our chalk pens to draw some line patterns on foil and on our chalkboard.
We were then able to incorporate the line patterns into our drawings.
Article 28 I have the right to an education.
Outdoor Classroom Day
Today we took part in Outdoor Classroom Day. Learning in an outdoor environment helps to ensure positive intellectual, emotional, and social development whilst building the foundations for a lifelong connection with nature and our planet.
We have developed our throwing, counting and turn taking skills while playing the bean bag toss…
We have developed our literacy, drama and cooperation skills while re-telling the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff…
We have learned about the seasons and that we need to help feed the animals during the cold months while making bird feeders…
And we have learned how to keep the bugs safe in our garden by making a bug hotel..
We even found our first guest for the hotel- a baby slug…
Article 31- we have the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of activities.
