Tag Archives: #grossmotorskills

Expressive Arts, Literacy

Mark making with the Cars

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Today the children were showing an interest in the different cars ,trucks and trains in the Discovery room.  We decided to collect some items to see if there were different to do with the cars.

We collected:

  • “A big, massive piece of paper”
  • Scissors
  • sticky tape
  • Pens

We taped the paper to the floor but the children also wanted to tape the pens to the cars to see what would happen to them.

” The train drawed a line and then a circle”

They realised when they moved the trains and cars on the paper, the pens were leaving a trail behind them.

The children noticed that by using different sized pens that the marks were different sizes.

“It looks like my dads map of Scotland, with all the lines on it”

Mark making is an important step in a child’s journey in learning to write. This allows them to practice holding a pencil and learning to control their marks. This improves their fine motor skills and helps to develop their hand- eye coordination.

Mark making can also encourage creativity by giving the opportunity to communicate through drawing and using their marks to tell a story.

” My truck is going to follow the track to find the other cars”

 

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Creative pendulum painting 🖼

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Today some of the boys and girls decided they would like to try out a different way of painting. They decided that pendulum painting  might be fun.


“I want to make pink paint to swirl” “ I need lots of white and a little red to make pink”


Learning about gravity and the forces of motion and also developing our gross motor skills. We chose some suitable containers that had holes in the bottom to let the paint through. The boys and girls then self selected their own paint.

The children knew quite a lot about colour theory and understood that mixing colours would make different colours.
“I’m making orange paint it’s my favourite colour “ I know that red and yellow makes orange”

The children wanted two different surfaces to paint on a shiny one , We chose tinfoil and paper called news print. Then the fun began,  they poured the paint into the pendulum  and swung it backwards and forwards up and down fast and slow. “ It sounds like rain when it goes onto the tinfoil “ “look the colours are mixing the red and blue are changing green” “I’m making circles “

The children took turns swinging their paints and got very messy but they really enjoyed their learning experience. I think you will agree that their art work looks amazing. The boys and girls thought  that we could make our own pendulums next time using our studio room junk .  Well done everybody!!

Outdoor Learning

Bowling fun in the Garden!

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One of our children was telling us about the amazing fun they had ten pin bowling with their family! They were so excited to have won the game and wanted to share their story! We decided to make our own bowling game for the garden which the children were very excited about! First we put some water in bottles to stop the bottles blowing over in the wind! The children chose different colours of food colouring to make the bottles brighter!

We gave the bottles a good shake to mix the colours!
”They are rainbow bottles!”

The children then set the bottles out like skittles in a bowling alley!

”They are in a triangle!”

We then had great fun throwing different sized balls at the bottles to see how many we could knock down! The children noticed that the bigger balls hit over more skittles!

“It’s a strike to hit them all, I play it on my Nintendo Wii!”
The children showed off their bowling knowledge! Some have been ten pin bowling and others have played it at home!

The children kept a record on the wall using chalk of the number of bottles they knocked over using tally marks. They had so much fun whilst developing their gross motor and numeracy skills! I think Cart Mill has some future bowlers amongst us!

Expressive Arts

Clay exploration

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Today we have been enjoying exploring the clay table.

The children decided to use some natural resources to make different models, we used some mini lollipop sticks, sea shells, sticks, little wooden slices, etc to create them.

The children found it tough to roll the clay out. So i asked them what they think clay is and what they think they could use to roll the clay.

“It’s play dough”

” It’s not Play dough its too hard”

” We could use a rolling pin”

The children used the rolling pin to roll out the clay.

“We can use our hands to roll it in a ball like this”

Clay helps to develop fine  motor skills as the children are using their hand muscles to manipulate the clay as they roll, stretch, squeeze it. They are also  using their gross motor skills as they use their large muscles to press down on the clay as it is tougher than play dough.

“look at the shell it looks like it is on my clay now”

We have been making different patterns too.

 

“I made some pretty biscuits, have one with your tea”

The children have been using their imagination to come up with different things to make with the clay.

Expressive Arts, Literacy, Outdoor Learning

Nature walk between showers!!

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Today we had a very interesting nature walk! Our mission was to collect leaves and acorns of all different shapes and sizes.
However,  the first thing we spotted on our walk was was two little ducks! We thought this was very exciting as they were running around so close to our nursery!

The children noticed the ducks were different colours and spotted a duck pond for them! (A very large puddle!!)

“They are shouting quack, quack!”    “They are so cute!”
“I love the ducks!”     “They came to our nursery!”

We continued on our walk and the children managed to find lots of leaves and pine cones.  They found both green leaves and brown leaves. They climbed small hills to reach the leaves they wanted.

When we were walking back to nursery  the children spotted a big muddy puddle which, of course, they just had to jump in!! They had so much fun seeing how high they could jump and how big a splash they could make!

”I made a great big splash!”      “The water feels so cold on me!”

Once we got back to nursery we did some printing with our leaves using different coloured paint. The children noticed that the different leaves made different patterns on the paper! We also dipped our pine cones in paint and rolled them across the paper to create some nice patterns.

Whilst making some amazing pictures with the materials we gathered, the children were developing their gross motor skills and had great conversations about their outing! What a fun morning we had!

Digital Technology

Imaginative Block play in the Discovery Room 😀

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The children were discussing dens and how to build them. They had lots of ideas about what they could do inside their own den. The children had a look around the room at what they could use to make a den and how they could make it cosy. They decided that blocks would make the best den, but they thought they should research it a little first, before planning it out.

Using digital technology, the children started looking at different types of dens. After their initial research, the children decided they should draw a plan of what they wanted their den to be like.

“ I want it big enough to have a tea party in”


“ I want my den to have a roof, so we don’t get wet”

The children then put their problem solving skills to work and worked collaboratively to build their den.

They shared resources and made suggestions to each other to make sure the den they built was the best den ever!


“ How will we make the roof stay up”
The children searched the room for resources and showed their skills as future engineers and architects.  
“ I think that wall is tall enough now”
“We need the cardboard tube to keep the roof up high”


“ We need to be careful not to knock the walls down when we are inside”

When their den was finished the children made it a home from home by adding comfy cushions and a table, they then invited some special guests to join them for afternoon tea complete with cakes and sandwiches, cheese of course!

Outdoor Learning

Lots of fun in the garden!

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Today the children had great fun in the garden. They set up the guttering on our new stands and loved rolling balls of different sizes down the slopes. The aim was to catch the balls in the basket at the bottom!

The children showed great problem solving skills whilst developing their gross motor skills stretching, reaching and chasing the balls. They were very excited when the balls landed in the basket.

Before home time the children enjoyed having  fun out on the bikes. They loved zooming around the garden and were very excited that it was getting dark! This further develops their gross motor skills, balance and coordination.

Lots of fun and fresh air today and the children showed great teamwork and amazing turn taking in the garden!

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St. Andrews Day

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Today in the toddler room we have been learning all about St. Andrews day and how it’s celebrated, we decided to create our very own tartan, the children did this by using cars and rollers and dipping them in different colours of paint. Here are some of the children’s great work.

We watched a lovely story on the the laptop about St. Andrews day, the children found out that St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland.

We finished the day off listening to some Scottish music and doing ceilidh dancing, we had lots of fun and used up lots of energy!


Special Event

Happy Diwali🪔

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Today in the toddler room we have been learning all about Diwali and how it’s celebrated, we watched a lovely story on the smart board and the children picked out their favourite patterns.

We then decided to create our own Diwali patterns with coloured rice, here are some of the children’s great work. We used different mark making utensils and our fingers to create these lovely Diwali inspired patterns.

We finished the day off listening to some Diwali music and dancing with our rainbow ribbons.