Category Archives: Outdoor Learning

Outdoor Learning, Technologies

Splish Splash šŸ’¦

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Today we have been using what nature gives us for our outdoor play, we have been splashing in muddy puddles.

The children wanted to measure how high they could jump so we decided to bring some digital learning into our outdoor play to facilitate this. We used a slow motion video and then watched them back on the big screen so we could measure the size of the splashes.


ā€œMy splash is bigger then me!ā€

We paused the video when the splash was at its highest then the children took turns of standing next to the board to discover if it was bigger or smaller than them. The first one we looked at was bigger than all the children and came all the way up to my shoulders.

Another one was the same height as one of the boys on his top toes.

This experience has allowed us to use lots of comparative language, to measure using non standard units and best of all to have fun in the rain. Thereā€™s no such thing as bad weather at Cart Mill šŸŒ§šŸ˜„

UNCRC Article 29- education must develop every childā€™s personality, talents and abilities to the full.

Creativity, Expressive Arts, Outdoor Learning

Natures Canvas

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Today in our gross motor art area, we used the translucent board to paint on. Ā Before we started we got some powder paint mixed with water. We chose colours that represented nature. Green for the grass and trees, blue for the sky and orange for the sunsets.
We decided to use large pots today to make it a little different learning experience than indoor art. We wanted to extend our gross motor art and take our skills we learned in our studio painting area into a larger creative environment outdoors.

Inside our pots we had a selection of gross motor art utensils to select from. We had mops, rollers and large paint bushes.

When we were making our creations we talked about what we could see in the outdoor environment and what was the inspiration for our art.

We each took a turn of painting and sometimes we worked along side our peers to create collaborative art.

We used our gross motor skills as we had to bend and stretch to dip the large brushes/rollers into the tubs and use our arms/hands Ā to help us control where we put the paint while using the large brushes.

Once we had got the hang of our gross motor art painting we decided we wanted an even bigger space, so we used the nursery garden as our ā€œnatures canvasā€. It looked nice and bright with all the colours we used.

This is a great experience for our children to let there creativity take over with a large space and freedom to design. It is a learning experience that can be easily adapted to differentiate the learning between our 2-3 year olds and our 3-5year olds while simultaneously having fun along side each other with our older children role modelling for our younger ones.

I wonder where our creative gross motor art journey will take us tomorrow. Feel free to have a look at our floor book next time you are in to see what we have been learning in our outdoor art area.

Article 29 – ā€œyou have the right to education which tries to develop your personality and abilities as much as possible and encourages you to respect other peoples rights and values and to respect the environment.ā€ Ā (UNCRC)

Outdoor Learning

Grow grow let our trees grow šŸŒ³šŸŒ³šŸŒ³

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What a busy day weā€™ve had today, planting some baby seedling trees with the hope that they will grow and grow into big trees that we all can enjoy for many yearsā€¦

We were planting a variety of different trees dogwood rose, blackthorns and elders. We could have a look at the seedlings, touch and smell the soil.

We made a hole in the ground for the seeds then the children patted it down to embed the trees into the soil.

We could share the learning that we already had on how the trees grow, they need sun, water, fresh air and love just like us and this will help the trees to grow big and strong just like us.

Isn’t it amazing to think that the children Ā today could visit these trees as dads and grandads and show them off Ā and be proud of them, providing a lifelong love of nature.

Article 29 Education must develop every childā€™s personality, talents and abilities to the full.

Creative movement, Creativity, Outdoor Learning

Gross motor fun

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This week in the garden we have revisited the balance and coordination skills we have been practicing but also now introducingĀ games to develop our hand/feet/eye coordination.

The children set up their own obstacle course using tyres and crates after talking about the football class they attended at the weekend.

ā€œI was at football and made an obstacle course like nursery but we kicked a ballā€

ā€œLetā€™s get a ball and add X marks the spotā€

They made a starting point by adding ā€˜Xā€™ and drew a trail round the obstacles with chalk. They began by rolling the ball round with their hands. ā€œItā€™s tricky to kickā€

Then when they felt confident they began practicing kicking the ball round the objects developing their concentration as they tried to stick to the line keeping the ball under control.

ā€œDont go too fast or the ball will go far awayā€

They marked another ā€˜Xā€™ at the end of the course so they knew where to stop and added a tyre ā€œ 3 Large steps away ā€œIā€™m going to throw the ball in to the tyreā€.

The younger children enjoyed kicking the ball about the garden ā€œfootballā€ so set up their goals and practiced kicking the ball.

Today we had to Improvise because of the change in weather so the children suggested we make an obstacle course inside. We practiced our balance and coordination on the balance beam, Hand/feet eye coordination by dribbling the ball and a throwing the ball in the baskets and using our large muscles to jump over obstacles.

ā€œThat was so easy, we need to make it harder next timeā€. The children are setting their own challenges and making new goals and targets for their learning. The next job is to sit together and make a plan on how we will make it more challenging.

Outdoor Learning, Special Event

The Big Bird Watch

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Throughout the week in Cart Mill, the children eagerly engaged in preparations for the upcoming RSPB Big Bird Garden Watch. A small group of children enthusiastically participated in a hands-on activity, crafting bird feeders. Using provided materials, they mixed bird seed with natural fat, carefully scooping the mixture into cases to let it harden. The process not only provided a fun activity but also served as a perfect opportunity to explore cause and effect, observing the fascinating transformation of the fat from a liquid to a solid state.



Despite the challenging weather conditions this week, preventing the children from venturing into the garden for bird watching, a collaborative decision was made. The children decided to set up a bird feeding station just outside the window, offering them the chance to enjoy bird watching from the warmth and comfort of the indoors. Positioning themselves strategically and armed with signs, they eagerly awaited the little visitors to the Cart Mill garden.

For those interested in joining the excitement of the Big Garden Birdwatch scheduled for the upcoming weekend, a link is provided for more information.Ā RSPB Link Ā This initiative encourages participants to connect with nature and contribute to bird conservation.

UNCRC ARTICLES

Article 28: Education

Outdoor Learning

Keeping warm in the cold šŸ„¶šŸ„¶šŸ„¶

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Today it was very cold in the garden but the children were excited to discover the changes in our garden due to the weather! We wrapped up in our jackets, hats and gloves and ventured out. We only stayed moving about for 20 mins then we came in again to get warm!

We stompedā€¦.

We tiptoedā€¦.

We used ribbons to dance withā€¦..

We ran very carefully!

We star jumped ā˜ƒļø

By keeping moving we kept ourselves toasty warm and fighting fitšŸ‘

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

 

 

Creativity, Outdoor Learning, Special Event

Who will live in my nest šŸŖ¹?

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This week in the garden the children have noticed how cold it is. We spotted some birds flying into the garden ā€œmaybe they are looking for food and somewhere to keep warm”.

We found a book that showed us lots of different types of nests for garden birds and other animals. ā€œLetā€™s make nestsā€

Our children had a look round the nursery to find materials that would help our animals stay warm. We used little pots to make our nests in to keep our birds and animals dry. ā€œ A mouse will live in mineā€ Ā ā€œ I want a bunny rabbit to stay in my nestā€ and ā€œan eagle šŸ¦… will stay in my nest.

We also learnt that it is very important that these small animals have access to clean water for drinking and bathing so we filled a dish with water and left it outside . We shall need to check this each day to make sure itā€™s not frozen. We had a little look in our bird box to check it was safe and clean for the birds to visit.
Our animal and bird houses are looking great. Nice and cosy. The children have chosen to take their own nests home to see what birds or animals might use them. Good luck and letā€™s us know if you have any visitors !

We are also looking forward to taking part In the Big Garden Birdwatch between 26th and 28th January. We shall encourage the children to take notice of the types of birds that visit their garden and look forward to making some bird feeders to encourage any visitors.

 

Outdoor Learning

Icetastic time in the garden šŸ§Š

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Happy New Year everyonešŸ˜€

What a lovely icey cold morning for the children to get wrapped up and go out to explore the ice.

The children discovered large pieces of ice inside the tyres.

” Wow its so big”

“Its cold on my hands, its so heavy”

They collected all the big chunks of ice they could find and added it to our water tray. We discussed how water turns to ice and what conditions there has to be for this to happen.

 

“It needs to be so cold”

” But there is salt on the ground, that melts the ice”

We discussed why there was salt on the ground and what other ways the ice would melt .

” My mum said theĀ  big gritter went by my house and put grit all over the place to melt the ice”

“The sun melts the ice and turns it into water, like a snowman when the snow goes away”

The children decided the wanted to fill some things up with water to see if they could make more ice.

They put some animals, pine cones, shells etc in the water trough and filled up some cupcake cases with water and blue food colouring.

We left it over night and came back to the garden in the morning to see what had happened.

ā€œITS FROZEN, YAYā€

The children added some more water to the tray to see what would happen to the ice. ā€œIt melting a little bit but itā€™s still so coldā€

They have had so much fun exploring, digging the ice to break the animals out and leaving more water in the garden to see if it freezes again tomorrow.

 

 

Block building, Creativity, Digital Technology, emotional literacy, Outdoor Learning

Welcome back everyone šŸ„°

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Itā€™s lovely to see everyone and get settled well back into our nursery routine. Today weĀ have enjoyed a variety of interesting learning experiences. We have made play dough, following an adult’s instructions to measure, mix,Ā knead and roll. We then used it to make 3D shapes and discuss the properties of the different shapes. We got straight back to building wonderful creations including big towers so we could count how many bricks we had added. We investigated technologies and used our fine motor skills to make different drawings.

We also spent time problem solving to complete a pirate jigsaw and to build a new garage, which allowed us lots of imaginative play for our toy cars.

With everything being frozen, we decided it was a perfect time to role play with the artic animals.

And this is just the start of our first full week! Who knows what else we will do in Cart Mill this January?

Baking, Expressive Arts, Outdoor Learning

Welcome to the Cart Mill kitchen šŸ˜€šŸ„¤šŸŽ‚

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Today in the mud kitchen the children were pretending to work at Cartmill Cafe. They discussed with each other what they going to make.
ā€ I Ā love tomato soupā€ ā€œI like the colour of it, Red is my favourite colour ā€œ

ā€I am making a birthday cake, a chocolate flavoured oneā€

ā€œHot chocolate, but you need to be careful itā€™s not too hot when you drink it, I like it with marshmallows ā€œ

ā€spaghetti bolognaise, with wiggly spaghetti ā€œ

The children then wrote their ideas on the menu

The children gathered their utensils and began filling and pouring their ingredients. They used gross motor skills to mix and stir added natural resources such as leaves, stick, stones and pine cones to their recipes.

ā€œIt needs to cook in the oven for 10minutesā€

ā€I need more water in the soupā€

ā€Itā€™s still too hot, it needs a little water to cool it downā€

We then showed each other our creations and Ā had a little pretend nibble.

ā€œ Hereā€™s a drink with a strawā€

ā€My birthday cake has lots of candlesā€

ā€ I have the bestest chocolate cakeā€