Celebrating world book day we went on a literacy adventure to Busby library

March 6, 2023 Miss Mitchell Leave a comment

Today at Cart Mill family centre, we took an exciting trip to Busby library. It was quite a long walk but the children really enjoyed talking about the sights we saw along the way. We noticed some signs of spring, snow drops and the beginnings of daffodils starting to poke through the soil. We also spotted a boat a cat and we waved at a lady who was sat at her window. When we got to the library, we met Peter the librarian who very kindly let us choose some interesting books to explore together. We also got to select some books to take back for our friends at nursery. Peter read us a special story called Oi Goat especially for world book day with lots of laugh out loud rhymes which we loved! We remembered that we have a sister book Oi Frog back at the nursery.

On the way home, we stopped on the bridge to look for the ducks but unfortunately they weren’t there this time . We got back to Cart Mill just in time for our lunch which was just as well as all that walking had made us extra hungry! Later, we handed the books from the library out to our friends to have a look at. What a busy fun day we had today at nursery. Maybe you could visit a different library over the weekend and let us know what it was like.

Expressive Arts

Froebelian Fun with block play

March 6, 2023 Miss Campbell Leave a comment

We have been continuing our exploration of our seven stages of block play in our Discovery room this month. This week, we have been looking at stage 5, “patterns and symmetry”. Some of our children have been observed creating wonderful block builds using this stage without any adult intervention. This stage of block play encourages the children to use more blocks, incorporating balance and pattern as they become more intentional in their selection of the kinds of blocks they want to use.

The children are so pleased with the creations they built. This was was a “zoo”.

We were able to make symmetrical builds and describe how they were the same. We were able to pick from our vast selection of wooden blocks which shape we required.

We all worked together today with our stage 5 builds. We created a “city centre.” We had fun discussing with each other what type of buildings we need as part of the city centre.
To further develop our stages of block play, we introduced the Froebel gifts. These were developed by a pioneer of early years from the 1840s named Friedrich Froebel. Today in many nursery/schools we still follow the principles outlined in the Froebelian Approach. His theory is still highly regarded in education.
We looked at gift 5 which was a selection of small wooden cubes and 3D triangles.

We were very curious about the shapes and sizes of the blocks. We discovered we could put two of the triangle blocks together to create a cube.

Our stages of block play were evident here as some of our children were using stage 2 “stacking” with the blocks.

We have seen more spontaneous stage 5 builds. “Patterns and symmetry”.

As the children were showing high levels of engagement in this learning experience, we introduced another one of the Froebel gifts.

The children were able to use their own creative thinking to use each of the different sizes of coloured wooden sticks to make something. We made patterns, fireworks, shapes, aliens, and even 3D houses.

We even used our imagination to create “chopsticks”.

We really enjoyed exploring the Froebel gifts. We will continue to explore our stages of block play and introduce more of the Froebel gifts into our play.

Article 31 – “you have the right to play and relax by doing things such as sports, music and drama”.

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Let’s get creative 🛠

February 28, 2023 User deactivated Leave a comment

Today at the tinker table the children have been super busy, we have had so much fun creating using the tools, loose parts and blocks of wood.

To begin with the children were investigating and experimenting with the different tools to see which would work best.

“I’m going to need the saw and hammer.”

After choosing all the resources needed we then got started!

First the children wanted to measure out their fabric, so we used our measuring tapes.

“I’ll draw a line to help measure.”
“I’m going up to number 4.”

The children then carefully hammered the nails into the blocks of wood, joining the pieces together.

“I use the hammer with my dad to fix things in the house”

Next the children used the saw to cut the wood into smaller pieces and carefully sanded down the sharp edges, using our sandpaper tool that the children previously made themselves.

“It’s sharp we need to make it soft.”

”You need to saw very carefully, like this.”

Here is the children’s fantastic pieces of work! Great job everyone 👍🏻

“My giraffe has a very long neck, his name is Max.”

”My airplane goes all the way into the sky.”

”I have made a cheetah.”

The children demonstrated brilliant independence skills as they made their own choices and decisions. The children were encouraged to use the majority of the tools and resources independently while being supervised.

Literacy, Outdoor Learning

Gardening fun in the Greenhouse!

February 27, 2023 Mrs Barnes Leave a comment

The children at Cart Mill are very excited that we have entered the Pocket Garden Design Competition. They have been busy last week planting seeds and learning how to look after them. The children have remembered that, for the seeds to grow, they need watered regularly, especially after the weekend!

”The seeds are getting a drink of water!”

We were so delighted to see that some of our seeds had started to sprout already. “Look! I can see some green leaves!”

After watering our seeds we talked about the life cycle of plants again and I was super impressed with how much the children remembered. We also looked at a chart showing us some of the seeds and bulbs that will flower in Spring!

The children decided they wanted to plant more seeds which will hopefully grow in our nursery greenhouse. They looked at the chart and chose to plant some dwarf daffodil bulbs instead of seeds.

”I like them because they are pretty and yellow!”

As we opened the packet, we guessed what we thought they would look like!

”I think they will be rectangle!”

“I think they are soft and a circle shape!”

The children knew exactly what to do and set about planting the bulbs. First they filled the tray with some compost. Some of the children liked to use a trowel but some preferred to get stuck in with their hands!

One child remembered that we use our finger to make a hole in the soil to put the bulb in! They showed the rest how to do it! Then the bulbs got covered with compost and patted down with our hands!

We collected some water in our watering cans to give our new bulbs a drink.

We then put our new tray on the shelf in the greenhouse, beside all our other planters.

Finally we had to write on a lollipop stick so we could remember what bulbs we had planted in our tray!

We stuck the lollipop stick in and covered the new tray of buLbs!

”The cover will keep them warm at night!”

We are excited to keep watering all our seeds and bulbs and can’t wait to see them grow. Once they have grown enough we will be planting them in our own pocket garden, designed by the children.

Article 28
You have the right to education

Digital Technology

Bee-Bots & Colours

February 24, 2023 Mrs MacRae Leave a comment

This week we have been exploring the bee bots in our technology area. We began with learning how to program the bee bots to go forward.

Our bee bots have very good memories, they remember every button we press. We had to learn how to clear the bee bots memory, so we could program them to do what we want.

We then introduced a colour line and were challenged to direct the beebot to a given colour. This helped us to practise our knowledge of colours as well as practising our beebot skills.

“I got yellow.”

“Can you find something in the room that is yellow?”

”The bee.”

“”Can you count how many squares to the yellow square?”

“1,2.”

“Ok we need to program the bee bot to move forward 2 spaces. Press the button 2 times”

“My top is green”

“How many times do you need to press the forward button to get to green?”

“5.”

Once we were able to program the bee bots ourselves, we added further challenge by learning how to direct the beebot left and right to land on the given coloured square.

Article 28

You have the right to education

Expressive Arts

Nature painting 🌹🌷🌸

February 23, 2023 Mrs Johnston Leave a comment

Yesterday in the studio we were talking about our gardens, today the children thought about what we had in the garden that we could use inside…

We had a look around the garden to discover things we could use as ‘nature’s paintbrushes’

We recycled our vegetables at snack and used our celery, cabbage and carrots to create patterns.

We chose the paint we wanted to use, making our own decisions and gaining confidence and ownership.

We recycled some old wallpaper and put it to great use giving us space to explore and create. Everyone came up with their own patterns and designs.

What different resources do you have at home. Why don’t you excitement and find things to create wonderful designs and patterns?

Article 31 You have the right to play and relax by doing things like sport, music and drama.

Snack

From farms to our tables 🥕🥔

February 22, 2023 Miss Brown Leave a comment

This week we set up our farm in the small world area. The children brushed the floor and made it all clean and tidy to start. They added artificial grass and blocks round it to make the fence so the animals couldn’t escape onto the road. We added some wooden people to act as the farmer and the families who live and work on the farm.

Then the animals came out to play.

We had a chat about what we already know about farms.

“What do you know about farms?”

“They have animals like cows and sheep, that eat grass”

“My horse eats carrots”

“Farms have vegetables”

“My daddy bought carrots from the shop I had them for dinner”

We explored the different vegetables, feeling and smelling them and peeled and chopped them.

“Big potato, small potato”

I asked the children if they knew how the vegetables get from the farm to the shop.

They seemed unsure so we watched a video called farm to fork.

After we watched the process of growing vegetables on the farm, then being transported to the shops before getting to our tables. The children used the vegetables they had peeled and chopped and “planted” them in the soil. They are very keen to grow their own vegetables in the garden when the weather is a little warmer so we can use them for snack.

The children used the carrots, celery, and cabbage to chop up for a lovely snack, they also added melon, blueberries and orange.

“snack is very yummy today”

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Pancake Tuesday Celebrations!

February 21, 2023 Mr Edwards Leave a comment

Today at Cart Mill we took part in all the pancake fun and made our own pancakes. In true Cart Mill style we decided to cook them a little differently….using our camp fire!

First we needed to make the pancake batter. In a small group we looked for a recipe using technology. Then we gathered our ingredients.

We needed:
1 and a half cups of gluten free flour

1 egg

1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

1 cup coconut milk

Take a look at the pictures below. We even had help from one of our mums who was in for stay and play.

We measured out the ingredients following our recipe and made our delicious pancake batter ready to cook.

Next step was cooking them with Val on our fire pit. In small groups we followed our campfire rules to keep ourselves and others safe. We took a seat on the logs around the campfire and got ready to watch.

First we watched Val light the fire 🔥

Next Val started to cook our delicious pancake batter. We watched closely for when we could see bubbles on the top. That’s when you know they are ready to turn over.

Yum yum! Look at these delicious pancakes. We thought they were very tasty and ate them all up. 😃

Article 28
You have the right to education.

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Let’s get painting!

February 20, 2023 Mr Edwards Leave a comment

Today in the studio a group of our children selected materials to paint. They choose rollers and a selection of different coloured paints. They displayed good understanding of the rules in the studio and put on aprons before they began to make their creations.