Cart Mill Celebrations – Class of 2023

June 13, 2023 Miss Campbell Leave a comment

It was a very exciting day at Cart Mill today as we celebrated our pre-school tie ceremony.
We have been working hard to learn all our songs. We sang “hello everyone” to welcome everyone who came to watch.
We then sang “ if you are happy and you know it” we gave it a little twist and changed the lyrics to add in a little dance and blow a kiss.

Next we sang two songs using Makaton sign language that we had learned. “I can sing a rainbow” and “here comes the sun”

Next was our show stopper song that all the children love to sing loud and proud “ we are going to a new school” and we finished off with a firm nursery classic “twinkle twinkle”.
Then we were individually presented with our new school tie. As our name was called, we read out what we wanted to be when we were older. We had a few budding scientists and police in our group.
Once the tie ceremony presentation was over we made our way through to the noisy quiet room for treats and juice.
There was pictures of us on the wall from when we started until now to see how we had grown. We had also each drew a self portrait.
It was a lovely day and I for one was very proud of each and every one of our pre-school children.
Here is a small selection of pictures of our day. A huge thank you to every who attended.

We hope school is ready for you all. Well done everyone.

Article 28- You have the right to education.

Outdoor Learning

Butterflies!

June 12, 2023 Mrs Barnes Leave a comment

The children have really loved following the journey of our nursery butterflies. They have now hatched and will soon be ready to be released. Today in the garden we were looking again at the life cycle of the butterfly.

The children are now very familiar with butterflies and wanted to make their own. We decided to use our loose parts for our creations.

We discussed the parts of a butterfly and decided to use the pipe cleaners as the bodies! The children then used all the different materials to design their own butterflies!.

“Both wings need to match!”

”I want my butterfly as a pet!”

”Mine has lots of colours,”

I think you will agree that our finished butterflies are fantastic!

It got so hot in the garden today that we came in to cool down and we watched ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’ story with ice poles!! They were yummy in this heat!

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

Expressive Arts

It’s all clickety clack at Cart Mill 🧶

June 9, 2023 Mrs Johnston 1 Comment

Today we tried a little knitting, we found it a little tricky but we are all going to persevere and practice.

Knitting helps to develop our fine motor muscles which in turn will aid our early mark making skills. It helps our hand to eye co ordination and focus’ our concentration and develops our problem solving skills.

We made a friendship bracelet this week……who knows what we’ll achieve next week!!!

Article 28 You have the right to education

Expressive Arts

Let’s explore loose parts.

June 8, 2023 Miss Campbell Leave a comment

Today in the Discovery Room, we were exploring the loose parts. We set up the loose part area with some natural materials and some familiar objects that might spark some interest in our children’s creativity.

We had objects such as shells, wooden disks, bottle lids, wooden pegs and wooden rings.
Our older children decided to have a loose parts tea party.

They used the loose parts and pretended they were foods such as burgers, pizza and cups of tea. The older children were able to use their imaginative skills to add the loose parts into their role play, making connection with objects, relating them to real life scenarios.
Some of our older children used the loose parts to turn into different objects and shapes.

We recreated shapes such as love hearts and faces.

Our younger children were using the loose parts to stack, line up and using containers to fill and empty with them.

The children were making long bridges with all the different types of loose parts adding each one to make the bridge longer.

The 2-3 year old children were enjoying exploring each of the loose parts seeing what can be done with them. We could balance the wooden disk on the large screw.

We could stack them on top of each other.
We enjoyed looking at the different shape, size and texture of each of the loose part materials.

Our children are all at different stages in their play with loose parts and it is wonderful to see how the creative minds of each of our children works. Each child has their on unique way of using the loose parts.

Article 31 – every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

Literacy

Caring for others at the Cartmill Hospital

June 7, 2023 Miss Keith Leave a comment

In the home room we have been talking about people who help us . “A nurse and a doctor work in a hospital”. We chatted about making our own hospital and what we would need. “It’s a emergency number it’s 999”

We then had a look at some instruments that the doctors and nurses might use. We learnt some new words “stethoscope “ that’s for listening to my heart. This instrument has a light on it then the doctor can see in my ears . We also have bandages in case I hurt my leg.

”You need a x ray to check if you have a broken bone “ . We will get a screen because you get privacy at the hospital”

On arriving at our hospital we would like you to check in and let the nurse know how you are feeling and tell her what is sore. Our doctors and nurses will decide the best treatment for you.

Some of our patients who came to the hospital had bad accidents. “ I went to the zoo and a tiger scratched my leg”. We worked well together, turn taking,co-operating and responding to each other. We discussed how you can only take medicine if the doctor has given it to you. “Mummy gives me the medicine at home”

We have had a busy hospital today and the doctors and nurses have decided that some of our patients will need to stay overnight. Let’s see who comes to our hospital tomorrow “we might need more medicine and bandages”.

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Our beautiful butterflies 🦋

June 7, 2023 User deactivated Leave a comment

What a wonderful surprise we got today walking into nursery to see our butterflies had emerged from their chrysalises.

The children were super excited “we can now feed the butterflies”. We had a discussion about what the butterflies can eat.

“We need to feed the butterflies so they grow.”
“Then we can let them out to fly away.”

“The butterflies need sugar water.”
“Can we give them fruit.”

We read the guidance instructions and it was suggested that we feed the butterflies slices of citrus fruit and sugar water. So the children cut up pieces of oranges and filled cup lids with sugar water. Next we gently placed the fruit and water into the butterflies net and watched to see what happened.

“We need to be so careful so we don’t scare them.”

“They are going to eat all the oranges.

“That one is going over to the water.”

We will continue to look after our butterflies until they are ready to be released into our garden. The children have enjoyed watching every step as they grow. 🦋

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I climbed aboard the Pirate Ship!

June 6, 2023 Miss Mitchell Leave a comment

In the block area today, the children used their problem solving skills throughout imaginative play to build a model pirate ship. The children showed that they were able to think creatively whilst working together to build their ship.

The children discussed possible design criteria and shared ideas about where they think the different parts should go and what they could be.

”These big bits can be the floaty bit to stop the boat from sinking in the water”

”Everyone climb aboard! The ship is setting sail”

The children were able to work together as a team and cooperate within a small group to complete the pirate ship.

And we couldn’t forget the most important thing… our treasure map!

Article 31 – I have the right to play

Article 15- I have the right to meet with friends

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Sand play

June 2, 2023 Mrs MacRae Leave a comment

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.

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

Brilliant Balancing

June 1, 2023 Mrs Hannah Leave a comment

We have had lots of fun in our garden this week exploring body movement in creative and imaginative ways.

Using various loose parts, we created our own Muddy Movers obstacle course. This gave us the opportunity to demonstrate we could use apparatus safely, take turns, and share space and equipment safely. Through lots of discussion and problem solving, we decided to use the crates and a plank of wood to create a beam to walk along. To challenge ourselves further, we chose to add in some steps and a second longer beam. It was a wee bit tricky to hold our balance, but with practice and perseverance we did it!

“I can go really fast now”

”It’s a bit wobbly”

Some of us have been chatting about gymnastics classes we go to when we are not at Cart Mill. It was lots of fun to share our knowledge and expertise of different gymnastic movements and balances we have learned with our friends. We are able to create different shapes with our bodies, control our movements by holding our balances and teach new techniques to our friends!

“Look at me, I can put my leg up”

”I can balance on one hand “

Our very own Cart Mill gymnastics class was so much fun!

“This is called a table”

”Look I can do one arm and one leg”

”I can touch my head with my feet!”

”You put your hands on the ground and your leg in the air, like this”

At Cart Mill we love to take part in lots of different kind of energetic activities and challenge our friends to a competition! The egg and spoon race is a firm favourite. We found our spoons, but after much discussion, decided it might be best not to use real eggs as it might be a bit messy! Putting our thinking caps on, we decided to use some of our smaller balls instead. It was time to begin our race. Ready, steady, go!

It was a bit tricky to walk and balance our “eggs” at the same time! With encouragement from our friends, some of us were able to walk really fast, while some of us took it slow and steady.

Balancing has been so much fun. We’re sure you’ll agree we really are brilliant balancers!

Article 13 sharing thoughts freely

Article 31 right to play

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Busy at the workbench!

May 31, 2023 Mr Edwards Leave a comment

Today at the woodwork bench we have been creating new furniture for our dolls house. In a small group we talked about the different rooms we have in our homes. We discussed different kinds of houses, what makes them different and introduced The UN convention on the rights of the child (UNCRC) article 27 ‘I have the right to a home’.

We used the computer and magazines to look at different rooms and furniture and decided we would start to create some bedroom furniture. We talked about what we have in our bedrooms at home.

“I have a bed in my room with pillows”

“I have a cupboard that mummy keeps my clothes in”

“I have a little table next to my bed”

Once we had decided what we were going to make we set about selecting our wood and tools for the job.

First one of the children decided they would like to make a bed. He looked in the wood bag and decided to use 3 pieces to make his bed. He used “one big bit and 2 little bits”. Next he decided he was going to use “nails to stick it together”. He put on his safety glasses “to keep safe” and set about using the hammer to make his creation. He then selected 4 screws to use as the feet. “I need 4” pointing to all for corners. Using the screwdriver with support he attached the screws. Then using sandpaper he made sure it was nice and smooth ready to finish his design by decorating it with pens.

The second visitor at the workbench today decided to make “the cupboard for my clothes” He selected 3 pieces of wood. One for the cupboard and 2 more to use “for the bottom. He placed on his safety goggles to “stop the dust getting in my eyes”. Next he used the hammer and “2 nails” to attach the feet and added “a screw for the handle” The final step was to use sandpaper to sand it down so it was smooth ready to use pens to draw on the door.