Tag Archives: curiosity

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Science Citrus explosions

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Today some of the children in the discovery room wanted to make an explosion. We decided to try and make one using lemons and tangerines. We placed the orange and tangerine onto a plate and then took the tops off and squished the insides of the fruit to bring out some of the juice. We then squeezed some washing up liquid into the juice and added some food colouring and a teaspoonful of baking soda. After we did this, we watched as the fruits exploded with colourful bubbles! It was so exciting!!
We talked about the science and how the experiment worked. Citrus fruit contains citric acid which has a chemical reaction when it mixes with the baking soda due to form carbon dioxide, which is a gas. Once the citric acid and the baking soda have neutralised each other the reaction stops and no more gas is made. The children had so many things to say about the experiment including:
“ I think the lemon has more citrus acid in it than the tangerine because the lemon has bigger bubbles”

“I want my explosion to be rainbow colours”” Look the blue and red has turned black”
“I need more baking powder I want a big explosion “ “ It feels slimy if you touch it” “The lemon smells nice”


We really enjoyed participating in this fun science activity.

Outdoor Learning

Exploring and developing our garden!

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Today in our garden we have been super busy! The children have worked hard as team to create a fairy garden! Firstly they painted the wooden logs their favourite colour, we then explored the garden to see what other resources we could use then got started, creating it all by themselves using a variety of natural loose parts, Well done!






The children then decided they’d like to make a potion made from a mixture of water, mud, acorns , grass and leaves.  They had lots of fun!

The mud kitchen is a very popular area in our garden. It is an exciting, messy and creative area to play in. The children experience sensory and imaginative play as well as developing skills in numeracy, science, interaction and communication. I wonder what they will make next time! 

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Sensory Play

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Today the children found a packet of marshmallows and were keen to explore and investigate them.

 

Using an iPad they researched what things they could make. We found a recipe for marshmallow playdough so we chose that.

The children measured out the marshmallows and poured some vegetable oil into a bowl.

The recipe asked for the marshmallows to be melted and the children asked how they would do this. They talked about it and used the microwave in the staff room to do this.

After 30 secs the microwave pinged and they were excited to see what the marshmallows looked like. They noticed that they had all melted but looked hot.

They brought the bowl back to the playroom and added some cornflour to the mix. Using their super muscles they took turns at mixing it.

It’s very soft
It’s sticky

The children enjoyed exploring the texture of this new play dough and by adding dried oranges and lemons added to their sensory experience.

Social Studies

Volcano o’clock

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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 🙂

Special Event

Olympic Fever

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Olympic fever has arrived at Cartmill.

Yesterday the children enjoyed their own mini games which started them talking about various sports that they all take part in. Running races, jumping, bike racing, tennis, basketball, gymnastics, swimming, football, golf to name a few.

This led to talk about the Olympics being held over the next couple of weeks in Tokyo, Japan. Some children asked what the Olympics were. Through discussions with staff, they learned that the Olympics were held every 4 years with people from countries all over the world taking part in lots of different sports to win medals for their country.

The children watched some of the Opening Ceremony from London 2012 with great interest and tried to guess the countries from their flags, as well as watching the ceremony where the medals are awarded.

1st, 2nd and 3rd place
J said it goes round her neck
She looked very happy

After their mini games some of the children asked if they could make their own little medals. They found some gold, silver and a bronze coloured shiny paper and some ribbon. They glued the shiny paper onto some card, cut out a circle and attached some ribbon.

S’s medal goes over her head like the one on the screen.

C shows her silver medal off with pride.

Who knows we may have a future olympian here at Cartmill.

Taking part in sports helps to keep our bodies fit and healthy and improves our general health and wellbeing.