Category Archives: Health and Wellbeing

Literacy

Finger Gym Fun!

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Currently in the writing area, our children have been exploring different ways to develop their fine motor skills.

Children need good fine motor control to hold and use a pencil or crayon correctly. Skills such as drawing pictures and eventually writing letters all rely on fine motor strength and coordination. Take a look at some of the fine motor activities we’ve been enjoying this week.

Tweezers and fidget boards

The children used tweezers to pick up colourful pom-poms and carefully place them into the tiny holes on our fidget boards. While it may look like a simple, this activity is a excellent way to build the fine motor strength needed for early writing skills. 

By using tweezers, children are strengthening the small muscles in their hands and fingers, helping them develop the pincer grip they will later use to hold a pencil correctly. The act of picking up each pom-pom and placing it in the right spot requires hand–eye coordination, concentration, and careful control of their movements.

Many children even took on extra challenges, such as sorting the pom-poms by colour or counting them as they worked. This added opportunities for early maths skills, like counting, sorting, and problem-solving, all within a fun, play-based activity. Most importantly, this task gave the children a sense of achievement as they completed their colourful patterns and designs, building confidence as well as skill.

Letters and pipe cleaners

The children threaded pipe cleaners through letters to develop fine motor skills and hand–eye coordination. We Introducing large plastic letters with holes in them and provided colourful pipe cleaners for threading. This activity not only strengthened the children’s fine motor control but also introduced important early literacy skills in a fun and hands on way. As they worked many children began to recognise letters, with some even threading the letters in their own names! With a little adult support, a few created longer words such as “mummy” and “octopus”. This gave them a real sense of pride and showed how early mark making and letter recognition naturally develop through play.

UNCRC ARTICLES 

Article 28 – A right to education

Article 31 – The right to play and relax

 

Baking, Snack

Sensational Snack Time

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The children are settling back into the nursery for a new term and have been enjoying taking part in the daily activities at snack time.

In Cart Mill our snacks and meals are guided by “Setting the Table” as produced by the Care Inspectorate and we have taken the children’s learning back to basics.


“I’m cutting apple”

Some of the children have been helping to chop and prepare the fruit and vegetables for snack.

The children have been developing their fine motor skills at snack time and spreading butter on crackers.

They also demonstrate their independence by choosing and serving their own snack and pouring their chosen drink of milk or water.

Once  the children are finished eating snack they clear their dishes away, ready to play once again.

The next activity involved preparing overnight oats for tomorrow’s snack.  The ingredients included oats, soya milk and yoghurt, ground cinnamon and frozen berries.  YUMMY!

UNCRC  Article 28 Every child has a right to education.

Baking, Snack, Social Studies, Special Event

Cart Mill Pancake Party

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Today at Cart Mill we have been celebration Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday.  We have been busy baking and tasting pancakes as part of our daily snack.

In the morning, a small group of children worked together to follow a simple gluten and dairy free pancake recipe. Using their numeracy skills, they carefully measured the dry ingredients with scales and poured the wet ingredients into a jug, developing hand eye coordination, number recognition and teamwork skills. 

Once everything was ready, Izumi kindly cooked the pancakes to perfection for everyone to enjoy.

Snack time was extra special as we got to taste our homemade pancakes alongside some fresh, tasty fruit. The children shared their thoughts — take a look at some of their comments:

“It’s Pancake Tuesday today!”

“We are having pancakes because it’s Pancake Day.”

“The pancakes are delicious!”

“I’m going to try them and see if I like it.”

“It tastes good!”

“I love pancakes.”

“I love pancakes with honey.”

What a wonderful way to celebrate the day while building life skills and trying new foods!

Why not have at home using our simple recipe

Ingredients (Makes 12 pancakes)
  • 200 g gluten-free self-raising flour
  • 1.5 tsp gluten-free baking powder
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 300 ml milk (dairy free if necessary)
  • 2 large eggs
  • vegetable oil for frying

 

Article 1 – All children under 18 have rights

Article 7 – The right to have a name an nationality

Article 28 – The right to an education

Literacy, Snack

Mini Master Chefs Soup Edition 👨‍🍳 👩‍🍳

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Following on from our Mini Master Chef classes, the children have been making their own healthy soup for snack using the soup maker that Beth gifted to us.

We have been continuing to develop the different skills and techniques learned to cut and peel vegetables as well as learning new words to add to our expanding vocabulary and how to keep safe while in the kitchen.

 “I’m using the claw shape to cut the carrots”

“We need to cut the potatoes in to small cubes, it’s called dice”

They put all the vegetables into the soup maker before adding the stock and of course having a little taste of some carrot.

“ The stock adds flavour”


“Will we make  ‘Smooth’ or ‘Chunky’ soup?”

“SMOOOOTH!!”

We have changed the recipe slightly each time we have made soup to let the children taste a variety of different flavours, they explore the different vegetables using their senses.

“It’s very heavy and bumpy”

“Ewww the onion stinks”

“ The carrot looks like a snowman’s nose”


“This soup is Delicious”

Baking, Snack, Special Event

Mini Master Chefs

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This week, we were very lucky to have Beth visit us from East Renfrewshire Council. Beth is rolling out a fantastic new program called Mini Master Chefs, which encourages children to get involved in preparing healthy snacks at nursery using a variety of vegetables. It’s a wonderful initiative to help little ones enjoy an extra portion of veggies in a fun and interactive way!

Take a look at what we’ve been up to so far:

Morning Session

A small group of children had the chance to take part in a sensory “touch and taste” session, exploring a range of different vegetables. The children were introduced to some new veggies they hadn’t seen before, like cauliflower. We discussed their textures, smells, and how they grow.

Next, the children had the opportunity to chop the vegetables. Beth taught us how to use knives safely, showing us two new cutting techniques: the bridge hold and the claw hold.

Taking turns to use our new knife skills Everyone took a turn to chop the vegetables. Once they were chopped, it was time for a taste test! One child said, “I like the mushrooms.” Another shared, “I love tomatoes,” while someone else commented, “The onion is spicy.”

Afternoon Session

In the afternoon, we made some delicious carrot flapjacks. Beth guided us through the preparation, and the children had another sensory experience, exploring the carrot peelings and oats. We discussed how they smelled and felt as part of the activity.

 

One child remarked, “The carrots are like worms,” while another said, “It tickles my fingers.”

Once the flapjacks were ready, the children got to enjoy them as part of their afternoon snack.

It has been such a fantastic experience for the children, and we can’t wait to try out more activities with our Mini Master Chefs later in the week.

article 24 (health and health services)

article 3 (best interests of the child)

article 28 (right to education)

Creativity, Expressive Arts, Literacy

Colourful Mondays in the studio 🥰

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Today in the studio some of the children enjoyed a mark making
sensory activity involving lots of cling film and colourful paint.
The older children took pleasure in writing their names and drawing shapes in the squishy paint they also realised by  mixing the colours together they could make secondary ones.  The younger children made patterns with their fingers and delighted in feeling the squishiness of the paint beneath their hands. Some of the children thought that next time they would like to use their feet to see how that felt.

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Later on a few of the children took part in some alphabet printing and  searching for the first letter of their name. We also did a letter hunt in some play foam.  G found a v for her Mums name .

What a lovely busy day we all had today at Cart Mill . I can’t wait to see what exciting activities we get up to over the rest of the week .

 

Creativity, Imaginative thinking, Literacy, nature, Snack

Super Soup

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As part of celebrating all things autumnal, the children have been experimenting in making soup using seasonal vegetables.

During this activity the children were developing their gross motor skills when peeling and chopping the vegetables.

Firstly, the children peeled the carrots and parsnips.  The children are using their problem solving skills when using the peeler.

“This is white and this orange”

Then they chopped the vegetables into small chunks, so that we could cook them.  The children are developing their confidence when using the knife.

“I did it!”

Once the vegetable mix was chopped and washed, we added it to the soup pot with stock cubes and boiling water to cook.

The children were able to sample the soup at snack time and we discussed the taste, temperature, and texture of the soup.  Children learn with their senses and during this activity, they were able to enhance their communication, language and social skills.


“It’s good”.  “It’s hot”. “Yummy”.  “I don’t like it”

This cooking activity allowed the children to develop a healthy relationship with food and be more adventurous by sampling different tastes.

The children were able to feel competent and were proud of their ability to get involved in preparing the soup mix.  This also benefits the children from a nutrition, growth and development perspective.

The soup making allowed the children to explore their curiosity about the vegetables they were preparing (carrots, parsnips, butternut squash) and ask questions.

UNCRC Article 27 children have the right to food.

 

 

Creative movement, Creativity, Digital Technology, Expressive Arts, Literacy, Mindful moments, nature, Outdoor Learning, Social Studies, Special Event

Garden roundup

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It’s been a busy week for us in the garden. We are developing our motor skills in a variety of ways.


This simple but effective experience enabled the children to experiment with colour mixing as well as developing their fine motor and early writing skills as they made marks on the foil using different  tools.

“ The blue got on the yellow and now the yellow looks a bit green”.

“I making fireworks”


The fireworks have really grabbed the children’s attention and been the topic of conversation. Throwing the powder paint on the ground sparked an idea. “The ground is black like the sky at night”

They threw lots of different colours on the ground and used small and large items to move and redirect the paint in different shapes and patterns.


Learning how to move our bodies in different ways to develop our gross motor skills and mark making skills has been so much fun.

We filled some tights with different materials such as sponges, pasta, pom poms and balls and used them to create a piece of art. This allowed the children to explore descriptive language as they figured out how to make marks on the foil.

“The pasta is spikey”

“ This one is really heavy I had to spin round and round to get the paint up there”

“ I want to get it to the top so I have to stretch my legs and stand on my tiptoes and do a big jump”

To end the week we thought it would be a good idea to begin learning about Remembrance Day and why we mark this as a special day. We watched a short child friendly video about the Poppy and decided to create our own.
The children used cut up potatoes and loose parts to make marks on the paper to create a lovely picture.

“ My dad wears a poppy for all the soldiers”

“ We can put purple on it too to remember the Animals”

Baking, Snack

Baking Autumnal Cookies!

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As the days grow shorter, there’s no better time to get creative in the kitchen with your little ones. Pumpkin cookies are not only a delicious treat but also a fantastic way to engage our children in hands-on learning. Baking helps develop fine motor skills, introduces basic math concepts, and encourages sensory exploration.

Using a freshly scooped pumpkin, the children removed the seeds and helped prepare it for roasting in the oven. Once it was perfectly cooked, Derek created a deliciously smooth pumpkin puree, ready to be used in our baking.

The first step of the recipe was measuring out all the ingredients. For early years children, this is a great opportunity to develop important math skills. Weighing and measuring help them understand quantities, recognize numbers, and begin to grasp basic concepts of volume and weight. Plus, they love the hands-on experience of using measuring spoons and scales! “We need 100”   “2 big spoons”

With everything prepped, it was time to mix all the ingredients together, watching as the flour, spices, and pumpkin puree blended into a soft dough. The children took turns mixing and exploring the different textures. We even explored solids becoming liquids by melting the butter.  “It’s like soup” “It’s hot”

Next, we shaped the dough into small balls, rolling them carefully with our hands, and placed them onto the baking tray, ready to bake in the oven. The excitement grew as the cookies began to take shape and the delicious smell of pumpkin filled the room!

 

All ready, look at our fantastic cookies snack 😃

Check out our easy recipe below and enjoy a sweet, memorable autumn activity with your little ones!

110g room temperature butter

(dairy free or regular)

165 g light brown sugar

100 g white sugar

120g pure pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

270g gluten free all purpose baking flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

0.25 teaspoon cinnamon

0.25 teaspoon salt

60 g chocolate chips

 

Article 1
Everyone under 18 has all these rights.

Article 28
You have the right to education.

Baking, Creativity, Snack

Snacktastic!

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Over the last couple of weeks, the children have been settling into the new nursery term and we have welcomed back our term time children as well as welcoming our new children.

At the snack and baking table, we have been refreshing our baking skills when making muffins. The children have been experimenting with different ingredients including bananas, raisins, blueberries and dairy free cheese.


“one”                                                     “two scoops”

The children have been demonstrating their hygiene knowledge by remembering to wash their hands before and after baking and to wear an apron.

The children are developing many skills during this activity including fine motor skills and independence.

“It needs more milk”

The children have been learning to get the muffin mix right by adding more milk or flour, which is developing their science knowledge and how ingredients interact together.

The children are enjoying sampling the muffins during afternoon snack, along with some fruit.

Article 28 – You have the right to education.
Article 24 – you have the right to be healthy