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Sinking and floating, wind and waves 🤔

May 29, 2024 Mrs Johnston Leave a comment

Today we started with a scavenger hunt looking for items around the nursery that sunk or floated. We looked in all the rooms to see what we could find….

We tested the chosen items to check what category they fell into…

and recorded the results.

When we knew what items floated, we introduced some straws to create some wind and waves to see who’s item floated to the other side the quickest. We also had lots of fun making bubbles in the water and investigating cause and effect.

Article 28 You have the right to education.

Creativity, Expressive Arts, Imaginative thinking

Colourful Creative Coos

May 28, 2024 Miss Simms Leave a comment

In the art area outdoors we have been learning about a Scottish artist called Steven Brown. We have explored some of his Mccoo pictures and a couple of his Mczoo animals. We talked about how beautiful and colourful they were and that he uses lots of colours.
A few of the children were familiar with the Mccoo and had recognised it.

“ my granny has that in her house”

”I have seen that before”

Today we decided we would design our own Mccoo and work as a team to make a big, huge one. We gathered our resources and had a discussion on how we were going to begin. Firstly we drew a big circle for its head and then some horns.

We had a variety of resources to choose from including pallet knifes which Steven Brown used for various of his own pictures. The children used their fine motor skills to create different marks and shapes on the cow, we even managed to mix some of our colours together creating even more beautiful vibrant colours. The children took turns and shared the colours and utensils

“whats it going to be called.”

”can I think of a name”

The children then began rhyming off all there friends names.

Finally it was dry and we could cut our cow out and add some other details to our own cow.

We were then back to thinking about a name .

Then we heard at the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride there had been two calves born. We looked this up and we decided we would call our highland cow Ishbel.

Froebel, nature, Outdoor Learning

Farewell to our forest!

May 22, 2024 Mrs Hannah Leave a comment

We can’t quite believe that our forest school sessions have come to an end for this term!

Here’s a wee summary of our fun filled 4 weeks!
Week 1: we were introduced to our forest site where we explored how to keep ourselves safe through setting boundaries and learning how to identify hazards and assess risks. It was super muddy so we squelched in the mud and even lost our wellies! It was lots of fun to look for trees we might want to climb and to learn about plants that grow in our forest.

Week 2: As we were now experienced explorers, we recognised familiar landmarks to navigate our way to our forest and were able to remind each other of our rules and boundaries. Our bug hunt helped us discover insects and animals that might live in our forest and we learned more about what they need to survive. And who could forget that this was the week Harry Potter came to the forest with us!

Week 3: This week saw us swinging through the trees on our very own rope swing! Our confidence has grown in leaps and bounds and we led our own learning by revisiting who lives in our forest through searching for bugs and reminding each other of how we should respect the environment and look after our forest.

Week 4: cook out week – a firm favourite! We listened very carefully to our safety instructions! It was very important that we stayed outside the “green square” to make sure we “stay away from the fire so we don’t burn ourselves”. In our fire safety kit Fiona had special gloves to protect her hands, a fire blanket and lots of water in case she needed to put the fire out very quickly. We also learned that only adults should light the fire in a safe place away from “trees and houses”. The potato scones Fiona toasted on the fire were so tasty! There was a pond at our site today and we discovered it had tadpoles in it! We were very careful around the pond to keep ourselves safe and to ensure we didn’t “frighten the tadpoles”.

There was lots of time left for us to have fun and play some games! Hide and seek was a firm favourite, along with a game of football, rolling the ball to our friends, pole climbing and of course a wee impromptu dance on the stage!

As always, our last sessions are a time to come together, have some fun, reflect on our favourite moments and most importantly, celebrate the new friendships we have made.

“I liked playing hide and seek”. “I liked snack the best”. “I climbed the tree”. “I was on the rope swing”. During our time in the forest we have grown in confidence and self esteem, become independent, are able to use our problem solving skills and have learned how to care for our environment, all while creating some wonderful memories!

Article 29 – the right to an education which develops my personality, respects each other’s rights and the environment.

life cycles, Literacy, nature

Cart Mill Caterpillar Centre 🐛🦋

May 20, 2024 Mrs Miles Leave a comment

Each year at Cart Mill we like to learn about the lifecycle of butterflies and what better way than a hands on experience. We ordered caterpillars and they arrived on the 10th of May, we have been recording their growth each day since. They can grow up to ten times their size before forming a chrysalis. Look at how they changed each day..

This morning we arrived at nursery to discover many of the caterpillars had formed their chrysalides over the weekend. One of them was forming theirs at the exact moment we checked on them, it was amazing to watch! So we thought we best start learning about the next stages of the lifecycle. We looked through the information handbook and we also read the story of The Hungry Caterpillar.

“A butterfly.”

“Butterflies come from caterpillars.”

We also watched the short video of The Hungry Caterpillar as a treat. Afterwards, I asked the children what they could tell me about caterpillars and butterflies..

”They live on trees and eat leaves.”

”They make a raccoon.”

”He turns green.”

”Butterflies need to flap their wings.”

The metamorphosis process takes 7-10 days so we could see some butterflies before the holiday weekend 🤞🦋

UNCRC Article 28- every child has the right to an education.

UNCRC Article 29- education must encourage the child’s respect for the environment.

Creative movement, Creativity, Expressive Arts, Imaginative thinking

Paint -Let’s Explore !!

May 16, 2024 Miss Keith Leave a comment

Today we decided to explore and have some fun with the paint through colour mixing and sensory experiences. We had a look at the colour charts and chose our colours and filled our pots.

We began to mix our colours together and were excited to see them change right before our eyes. “ Look you made pink”. The children created peach, lime green, sky blue , yucky brown!

The children always enjoy some hand painting. Engaging with different colours, textures and materials stimulates the child’s senses, promoting integration and cognitive development.

We can even paint our nails and blow them dry like mummy does!

Some of the older children began to try different ways to use the cotton buds “Look I can roll mine and it makes a bigger mark and it feels nice in my fingers “. This helps develop the fine motor skills and enhancing hand eye coordination.

Producing their own artwork gives all our children a sense of accomplishment and pride, boosting their confidence and self-esteem. Plus it was just great fun!!

Article – 13 You have the right to play and learn through new experiences.

Outdoor Learning

Who lives in our Forest?

May 15, 2024 Mrs Hannah Leave a comment

We can’t believe it’s week 3 of our forest school experience already! Each week we have grown in confidence leading us to be independent and lead our own learning!

Today was a wet and damp day in our forest. As we came together to do our sticky toes, we immediately noticed a number of “friends” had joined us! Can you guess who they might be?

“Look what I found, it’s a baby snail”

”Look at that one up there. It’s massive”. “How did it get up there?”

There were lots of snails, we counted at least 20 of all different sizes. Using our magnifying glasses we spotted some tiny baby snails hiding on a leaf and some bigger more adventurous snails higher up in the tree! This sparked much discussion of where snails live, how they move around and how they managed to climb up trees!

It was lots of fun exploring our forest floor to see who else might live there! Looking carefully under logs and gently moving leaves we discovered a “family” of woodlouse, “a wee black beetle” and a spider who was making a web “just like Spider-Man”. Just like last week we could also hear “birdies singing in the trees”. We have been learning how to look after our forest and the wildlife who live there. With this in mind, we decided to carefully return our friends to their homes and be super careful “not to stand on them and squash them”.

Before we left there was just enough time to squeeze in a wee turn of our rope swing where we demonstrated we could assess our own risk by deciding where to place our swing, identify the rock nearby was a hazard and warn our friends to “stand back so you don’t get hurt”.

It was another action packed, fun filled forest school where we demonstrated we truly are responsible citizens!

Article 29 – the right to an education which develops my personality, respects each other’s rights and the environment

Creative movement, Creativity, Expressive Arts, Imaginative thinking, Literacy

Pikachu clay models

May 13, 2024 Miss Brown Leave a comment

The children wanted to make something different with the clay, but they were unsure of what. So last week we sat down together and discussed some ideas, I asked the children questions to get them to really think about their interests and how we could incorporate these in to our clay area.

Pokémon seemed to be a common theme so we used the iPad to search the internet for some Pokémon ideas. We came across a clay Pokémon figure, it was perfect! The children helped pick out some other clay model pictures including unicorns, garden gnomes, and even Elsa from Frozen . I printed these out and laminated them, leaving them on the table to inspire some ideas.

The children began to make their own models, squeezing, rolling, and manipulating the clay to their desired shape. They soon realised looking at the pictures that our clay was grey and the pictures used coloured clay, how would they make their own models colourful? They worked together using their problem solving skills to come up with some ideas. “I know, we could get paint!” “and paintbrushes and paint them and that’s how they will be colours”.

Once their models were finished we left them to dry out over the weekend, ready for painting this morning.

There was lots of great ideas.

“A bowl of soup with spoon”

“Pikachu”

“I made a snail”

They put their finished models on the shelf to let the paint dry, we can’t wait to see the end result.

Snack

Homemade Cart Mill Crumble!

May 10, 2024 Mr Edwards Leave a comment

In the bustling kitchen of Cart Mill, our young chefs have been busy making their very own apple crumble from scratch. Working together they have transformed simple ingredients into a mouth watering dessert. Let’s dive into what they did today.

Ingredients:

Fresh, crisp apples
Gluten-free flour
Butter (Homemade of course)

Cooking Steps:

Peeling and Chopping Apples: With careful guidance and a trusty peeler, the children skilfully removed the apple skins supported by an adult to ensure every apple was perfectly peeled. Once peeled the apples were diced into tiny pieces ready to be cooked till nice and soft.

Making Homemade Butter: The kitchen was full of excitement as the children embarked on a butter-making adventure. Filling a container with double cream, and a few marbles they were ready to begin. Woking together they shook the contents for a very very long time, but their persistence paid off. When we opened the container what did we find….BUTTER!

“It takes a very very long time”

“look its butter”

“Butter comes from cows”

“You make butter with milk”

Creating the Crumbly Crumble: With homemade butter in hand and flour at the ready, the children blended the two ingredients together. Displaying excellent fine motor skills they rubbed until a crumbly concoction emerged. It will be a perfect topping!

Layering and Topping: As the final step, the children layered the cooked apples into a dish. Adding generous sprinkles of the crumble mixture on top they were complete and smelling delicious!

Now, with their apple crumbles assembled they are ready to take home for baking until golden and bubbling. We wrote our names on the lid so we could identify them at home time. Well done team!

At Cart Mill, cooking is all about fun and teamwork! Making apple crumble together not only filled their tummies but also explored new skills. Cheers to their cooking adventure!

………………………………………………………………………………

Article 1
Everyone under 18 has all these rights

Article 28
You have the right to education

Article 29
You have the right to education which tries to
develop your personality and abilities as much as
possible and encourages you to respect other
people’s rights and values and to respect the
environment

Literacy, Makaton

Dear Zoo with makaton

May 9, 2024 Mrs Miles Leave a comment

The story of Dear Zoo is an absolutely favourite within Cart Mill. The younger children in particular enjoy this story. To add more challenge for the older children, today we learned the Makaton signs for all the animals while reading the story.

The boys and girls were great at copying the signs! The monkey and the lion were definitely the favourites!

Due to the simple language and repetition, children of all age and stage can join in and it gives them the confidence to be the ‘reader’ too. Many children with minimal language due to their age or having English as an additional language will know the names of animals and/or can join in with the repeating line of ‘I sent him back.’ This is great for developing their social skills and allowing them to be part of a group.

We read the story three times altogether then one of the girls asked if she could read it to her friends. The other children happily joined in with the actions and putting the animal puppets back in the zoo.

The boys and girls then took turns of reading the book and continued to play with the puppets to create their own stories.

If you would like to learn how to read Dear Zoo using makaton you can follow this link and join in with Singing Hands.

Froebel, Imaginative thinking, Outdoor Learning

Forest fun

May 9, 2024 Mrs Hannah Leave a comment

It’s been a fun filled couple of weeks for our Wednesday forest schoolers!

As we are so experienced and have demonstrated we can play safely in our forest, we decided we would like to build our own rope swing! Luckily Val was on hand to find a nice strong tree and put our swing up for us. We had so much fun taking turns to see how far we could swing!

“look at me I’m going so high!”

Climbing trees has been our favourite thing to do. After a wee bit of help and some practice, we are now able to assess our own risk and climb to a safe height by ourselves!

“Look at me, I’m swinging like a monkey”

”I’m split man because I can do the splits!”

Our imaginative thinking has shone through in our forest. With sticks as our inspiration we have built campfires to go camping, been doctors helping look after our friends, been old people using a walking stick, and have created our own X marks the spot and an equals sign!

Our Forest truly is a magical place! We wished “we could live here” “can we go camping”. We can’t wait to come back next week!

Article 12 – (respect for the views of the child)

Article 28 – (right to education)

Article 29 – (goals of education)

Article 31 – (leisure, play and culture)