We hope that you have a lovely long weekend. We will be open again from Tuesday 28th September.
Volcano o’clock
Some of the children in the home room today were asking questions about the “volcano on the TV” which has sadly been on the news. We talked about what a volcano is and what happens when it erupts! We decided to experiment and make our very own exploding volcano using a mixture of household objects to see what would happen!! We used clay, vinegar and bicarbonate of Soda with a water bottle. Ready… steady… blast off!! “The flames are very red like on the TV!” We also used a range of media such as the iPad to research different volcanos from all around the world and see what the flames looked like. Maybe the children could look for some books at home about volcanos? Or other natural disasters? It could make for some interesting discussions! Let us know what you find. Good luck everyone 🙂
Cars and ramps
Today the children have been super busy making ramps for their cars using the blocks. They decided to make their own ramps. The toddlers self selected their own paint colours and then dipped their cars into the paint and set them off down the ramp. The children noticed that some of the cars went further than others, some went down fast, some slow and that the tyres all made different marks. They added some textured balls to see what different marks they left. “ That’s left a bumpy mark” They learned some new concepts including stop, go, up, down, fast, slow developing their language skills and learning about cause and effect.
When asked what they would like to do next with the cars L said “ make a garage “ So they set about creating one. H said “we should use these boxes”. L said “ I’m painting it green, it needs to have a tunnel and space for the fire engine”. The children demonstrated great team work when planning together to create their garage. They were proud of their finished result and had great fun playing together.
It’s Autumn !!!
The children in the studio are noticing the change in the weather. “There are lots of leaves on the ground”. We decided to look at some leaves and see if we could find them on our leaf ID Dial. The children pointed out the different sizes, colours and shapes of the leaves. This helps us discover the name of the tree that the leaf came from. We then read a story about autumn time and the change this makes to our trees. “We like to kick the leaves in the park”
We then had some fun drawing and tracing the leaves some of the leaves were “bumpy” to draw over. The children chose autumn colours of pencils and crayons to make their 🍁 look real. The children decided to hang the leaves from the white board so they could copy and draw round the shape of the leaf.
We have enjoyed learning about leaves today and, if you are out and about during autumn, we would welcome any leaves, pine cones and conkers that you find so we can use them for art work in our studio. Thank you.
Playdough Experts!
In the home room the children have been particularly enjoying using the playdough in different ways.
They have been following our playdough recipe and are now very confident at making it themselves.
Once the children had made the playdough they used their imagination and turned the playdough into space rockets.
”3..2..1.. blast off”
“My rocket is going to the sky”
What else could we do with our playdough? Well some of the children even decided to open their own sweet shop and sell the best chocolates!
“ Here’s your chocolate, that’s five pounds please “
Lovely Lunches!
This week has been very exciting at Cart Mill, we are all getting delicious hot lunches served in nursery. We have tried lots of different food including tomato pasta, lentil soup, fish fingers and pizza! Our family room is now set up like a real dining room where we can all sit together round the table and eat our lunch.
We have been learning to use our cutlery properly as well as pour our drinks and help serve our vegetables.
It has been so nice to see the children try all the new tastes, we are already looking forward to next week’s menu!
Colourful Fingers
The children in the Toddler Room are always very expressive and creative so when we found some very colourful finger paints in one of the cupboards in the playroom they were keen to try them out.
At first they were very careful, using only one finger, testing out each colour.
They experimented with different colours, making swirls on their paper.
Very quickly they started to use their whole hands, feeling the paint between their fingers.
Small swirls with one finger became huge swirls and mark making with a whole hand.
All the children had loads of fun painting with their fingers and hands and were very excited to see their finished artwork hanging up drying ready to take home.
Painting with Magnets
Today in the studio we decided to paint using magnets. We moved metal objects around the paper and over the paint to make patterns. The children chose the colours of paint they would like to use and practised their pouring skills to fill the paint trays.
The children were creative and used the magnets to draw paper clips and screws across the paint and make some lovely designs. This then expanded to making paint patterns on the spoons which were very effective. The children combined different colours to make different shades “This looks like a river” and “I have a pond for ducks”. The children also enjoyed discussing there techniques which improves their language and social skills.
We are looking forward to exploring lots of different methods of using paint in the new term.
Let’s get Creative!
At Cart Mill we love to explore our creativity in many ways.
We explored with paints on the ground and logs creating different patterns and pictures.
Then we mixed the paint to create our own colours and painted our hands!
Rainbow puddles! Using chalk and water we made lovely rainbows 🌈
When we finished painting we got the hose and scrubbing brushes to clean up the logs and the rain helped wash the rest away.
During this the children learned different ways to be creative, explored making their own colours and becoming more confident in their mark making skills.
How do you be creative?
Some of Marvellous Monday’s toddler learning experiences 🥰
Today some of the toddlers decided to explore mark making and colour. They used their fingers to push the paint around and make patterns. “I made orange with red and yellow” “This is squashy and squishy” “I can make purple with blue and red”
We also engaged our five senses playing in our very own orange sensory water scooping, pouring, mixing stirring filling and emptying. The toddlers were able to answer my open ended questions exposing them to new vocabulary. “The flesh feels soft, but the skin is bumpy” ”Orange juice, I like it” They were all able to take turns and play cooperatively.
