Tag Archives: patterns

Expressive Arts, Outdoor Learning

Today we had fun painting in the style of Kandinsky😁

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Kandinsky was a pioneer of abstract art he is known for his inventive use of of colour and one of his most well-known images was a colour study with concentric circles. The children decided to recreate this famous piece of art work putting their own unique spin on it. First
We went on a circle hunt around the nursery to find objects we could use for our outdoor Kandinsky painting. “There’s lots of different shapes in here look here are two circles we can use” “ Look this would make a good circle shape it could also be for a robots eye” “I have shapes we could use to paint circles on my tower” “ cardboard tubes would make good circles”

We had great fun using the objects we found to make our circle designs developing our gross motor skills. The children were very creative making their painting. “ I want to use the plunger” “ I think the cardboard tube makes the best circles” “


“Im using the blue paint and the tube to make a big circle then I’m putting a smaller one inside it” “Circles, everywhere big ones small ones and tiny ones too”


The children were excited about their finished art work and we all think it looks amazing. Well done everyone great team work 🤩

Expressive Arts

Patterns and Positioning

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This week in the Discovery Room we have continued to explore our interest in shapes and loose parts.

We have selected from a wide range of loose parts to create our beautiful pieces of transient art. This sparked lots of interesting conversations where we shared our views on which loose parts are our favourites! Most of us decided we like buttons the best!

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”I made a cat. The lollipop sticks are the whiskers. The triangle blocks are the ears.”

”I made a T for my name”

”I made a wee mouse.”

To add a little challenge and further extend our shape knowledge, we decided to use loose parts to see if we could continue a simple pattern, and create our own.

“Cork, circle, cork, circle”.

”cork, button, cork, button”. “The cork and the button look the same shape. They are circles.”

A number of us are demonstrating an interest in the schema of positioning.  We have demonstrated this through arranging objects, lining up items and sorting items into different boxes.  This helps us develop our concentration, be able to recognise differences and similarities in objects and to explore patterns and problem solving.


“Look I used a shell, then a cork, shell, cork, shell, cork, shell, cork. I putted a button on the top. Blue, green, blue, green. I putted a cork on top of the corks. It’s so high.”

Loose parts are a great way to developer creative, problem solving and numeracy skills.  Why not have a look and see what loose parts you can find at home.  We would love to see your wonderful creations!

Outdoor Learning

Welcome to maths week!

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It’s Maths Week! Today in our garden we have been super busy taking part in lots of fun experiences.

Some of the children were working hard as a team to build their very own ‘castle’. They were using their problem solving skills to estimate and measure the blocks and materials  to see which one fits best.


“This one needs to go at the top”

”It’s taller than me”

The children also had lots of fun creating and following patterns in the sand

“This goes up and down”
“this one looks like M”

We went on a shape hunt in our garden which was filled with lots of different shapes.


“I’ve found a circle”

“I can see a square”

Welcome to our cafe,  the children made up a menu with a selection of prices and the served up some delicious ice cream.

”I’ll have the strawberry please”

”That will be 20p”

The children were creating and copying shapes, using loose parts.

”I made a circle”

 

Expressive Arts, Outdoor Learning

Snail trail

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This morning one of the boys brought in a snail from his garden to show all his friends. We built him a little home with grass, pine cones, shells, a log to climb on and also gave him some cucumber to eat.


“I give him shells.”

One of the boys decided to build him an extra home using the 3D modelling materials from the studio.

“There’s a space at the top for the big snails and a secret bit at the bottom for the baby snails.”

We investigated the snail’s shell and noticed there were lots of spirals on it.

We created our own spirals using loose parts and drawing on the mirrors.


“It goes round and round and round.”

Look out for snails in your garden and you could have some super slimy fun too!

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”

 

Digital Technology, Expressive Arts, Technologies

Developing our fine motor skills

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Today the children have been developing their fine motor skills in a variety of ways.

Fine motor skills is the coordination of small muscles in movement with the eyes, hands and fingers.


We played a game called ‘Pickle Pop’ where the children had to use their hand muscles by moving the pickle with their finger to pop the bubbles.

“ I have to move it over there to catch the bubble”


We put shaving foam on the light board and used our hands and  fingers to draw shapes and make patterns. This provides children with the opportunity to strengthen their hand muscles and hand eye coordination.

“ The thread goes  up and down ”

“ I made a line through it”

 

We spent some time at the mark making table where the children drew pictures, copied and continued shape and number patterns.

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.

Special Event

Celebrating Robert Burns 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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Today the children celebrated Burns’ Day with a variety of different experiences throughout the centre.

Out in the garden the children made Scotch pancakes cooked on our fire. They enjoyed measuring and mixing the ingredients and watched whilst Fiona cooked them on the fire pit. They demonstrated good listening skills whilst being told about how to keep safe around the fire.

Continuing the Scottish theme, some of the children used their creative skills to design their own tartan using paint and cars. They rolled their car in the paint then onto their paper.

In the Home Room the children asked to make flapjacks. They measured each of the ingredients, developing both numeracy and literacy skills. After mixing them together they used the clock to time how long they took to cook in the oven. They even assisted with cleaning up.

The children in the Discovery Room read a story by Rebecca Colby and Kate McLelland about a wee lassie who swallowed a midgie! They watched a short story on the life of Robert Burns and enjoyed some highland dancing.

The children love to sing at Cartmill and today was no exception. In the Studio they learned some Scottish songs; Coulter’s Candy, 3 Craws sat upon a Wa’ and Pop a little pancake into a pan. They even joined in, playing musical instruments.

All the children enjoyed tasting some haggis, neeps and tatties for snack and tasted some of their flapjacks.

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.

Outdoor Learning

Patterns in the sand

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This morning we have been creating patterns in the sand trays. The children have used the pattern stones to print a pattern and have also been using sticks or their fingers to trace the pattern. Some of the children even started creating their own. We have enjoyed discussing the different shapes within the patterns and what we think they look like.


“They’re squares.”


“It’s a 1, 1, 1, 1.”


“It’s my name.”


“I think it’s curly.”


“I’ve got stripes. “