Tag Archives: #socialskills

Creativity

Being Festive with Loose Parts

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In the discovery room the children have been provided with resources to explore some Christmas themed loose parts play.

Using loose parts such as blocks, fabric, or natural materials encourages open-ended exploration and creativity. This unstructured play fosters problem-solving skills, spatial awareness, and enhances fine motor skills. It promotes imaginative thinking, as children can manipulate these parts in countless ways.

Some children showcased their creativity by crafting unique Christmas tree designs using triangles and an assortment of loose parts.

Using large blocks, some children explored concepts of size, sparking discussions as they navigated the process of filling the Christmas tree design on the floor. This hands-on activity prompted them to problem-solve, choosing which bricks to use and determining what would fit seamlessly into their creation.

 

 

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St. Andrews Day at Cartmill 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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It’s been a day full of fun at Cartmill, we have been celebrating St. Andrew’s day through a variety of exciting experiences.

In the home corner we have been reading Scottish books, learning new exciting things about castles, Nessie the Loch Ness  monster and singing our famous songs and rhymes.

In the studio we’ve loved listening to the Scottish music and having a dance with our friends. We even tried some ceilidh dancing which was lots of fun!

In our baking area we have been very busy preparing the potatoes for making potato scones! The children were learning new skills by peeling, chopping and mashing the potatoes. Now they are ready to be cooked on the fire in the garden.

We gathered round the fire pit, keeping a safe distance. We watched the fire being lit and waited to hear the cracking of the fire so we knew it was ready to use.

As it was so cold outside today, we all had a turn of sitting with Val at the firepit to see if we could heat up. We felt the heat from the fire on our hands and our faces, it was nice and cosy!

“It goes pop.”

It was now time to put the fire out safely.


“It’s like a steam train.”
“Wow, it’s going all the way up-to space.”

Article 31- I have the right to relax and play

Article 29 – I have the right to an education which develops my personality, respect for others and the environment.

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Learning emotions through Clay

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Over the last week, the children have been exploring different emotions at the clay area. They have been selecting various loose parts to create their faces and express their thoughts and feelings through their model making.

Learning about emotions helps children become more aware and understand their own and others emotions and also allow them to better regulate their own responses to strong emotions. Helping to support children in recognising and identifying their emotions is an important first step.

”Here is a happy face”

”This face is a sad one, I made it go down like that, the mouth goes down like this”

The children used different techniques such as rolling, cutting and moulding to create their different faces which also develops the fine motor movements in their hands and their fingers.

”I made lots of different faces, they are happy ones, my mummy will be happy when I show her too”

Article 29 – I have the right to an education which develops my personality, respect for others and the environment.

 

Block building, Creativity, Expressive Arts, Literacy, Social Studies

“Let’s make the biggest train track in the world”

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We have been reading lots of stories this week and this has sparked some great ideas for the block area.

“I want to make a big office like that, I will need lots of blocks. My  mum goes to the office”

The children decided to choose their favourite book first and then make something from the book. We made a chart where each child ticked the side of their favourite book.

Fergus’s Scary night was the favourite! They decided on making a dogs bed for ‘Fergus’ to hide when he is scared.

“It’s triangle and square beds, Fergus not scared in here”. The children worked well together to build the dogs beds.


“We are building the biggest train track like Thomas, and a bridge look we can go under too”

Finally, the children built some of the buildings and structures from the story ‘All through the night’. “I’m building  the digger with a snow shovel that can lift snow and rocks, it has a train track under it”.

“This ones mummy’s office”

The children have loved creating things from their favour stories this week, using their imagination and problem solving to fit the pieces together.

Digital Technology, Literacy, Snack

Berry nice smoothies 🍓🫐

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Today in the home room the children decided they wanted to make fruit smoothies.

We used the internet to search for a recipe to make delicious fruit smoothies. We then collected the ingredients we needed from the kitchen to begin making our very nice smoothies.

To begin the children took turns to  scoop a spoonful of frozen berries into the bowl. Next they safely used a knife to cut up a banana to add to the bowl.

“I put strawberries and blueberries in they were stuck together with ice”

Using the measuring jug the children measured out 240ml of milk, they worked as a team to measure one tsp of honey before adding all the ingredients into the blender. We also made a water based fruit smoothie as an alternative.

“it’s so noisy”

When the ingredients were all blended together the children poured the smoothie into an jug and shared with their friends for snack.

“It tastes yummy”

“ I can taste banana, I like banana for snack”

 


 

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Creative builders in the block area 🧱👷🏽‍♀️👷🏾‍♂️

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Over the last week in the block area the children have been using their imagination and problem solving skills to represent their ideas in imaginative ways. We have been making ice cream shops, which has been very popular with the children and the staff!

“I need the small ones for the ice cream”

“The big blocks can be for the walls”

The children have been enhancing their Problem solving skills, mathematic skills and communication skills by working alongside their friends to create their ice cream shops. The children were able to discuss bug and small blocks and give reasons for using different ones.

“my house has a pillow for the bed, I sleep up here”

”we’re saving our house from the big bad wolf!”

The children have also shown an interest in creating and designing their own houses both individually and working together with our friends. In block play, children are able to free flow their own ideas and building their constructions brings a feeling of success and allows children to build their self-esteem.

Article 15: I have the right to meet with friends

Article 31: I have the right to play

 

Block building

Block Play & Lose Parts exploration!

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This week in the block area, the children have been investigating various different ways to create models & use their problem solving skills, self expression and imagination to create their own models.

The most popular creation this week has been building bridges of various shapes, sizes, length and height. The children have been developing their social and emotional skills by learning to take turns and share materials with their peers.

Block play helps children to become more confident in social situations and create friendships through communication and taking turns. Some of our children used the blocks and included some of our lose parts to create a ”tea party” where they made ”chicken nuggets” for their friends and shared them out one at a time. Very imaginative!

In the lose parts area, some of the children have showed that they are able to confidently match and sort objects using their own criteria such as colour or shape. The children were able to collect specified groups of objects and are beginning to organise objects.

”All the circles together”

”Orange”

Article 28: You have the right to education

Article 31: You have the right to play

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Home Corner Fun

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This week in the home corner the children have been really busy enjoying role play acting out real world scenarios so far we have been:

Cooking, baking and cleaning in the kitchen

“ I’m the chef”

Putting on the washing before hanging it on the line to dry

“it needs to get dry”

Taking care of the babies

“I made breakfast “

Working from home

Some matching and sorting


“there’s lots of this one”

We even had a handyman in to fix the high chair

What a busy week we have had.

Role play is very popular in the nursery and all of theses activities help to encourage communication and language skills, it also helps to develop self esteem, creativity, social and problem solving skills as they collaborate with their peers.

Literacy

Caring for others at the Cartmill Hospital

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In the home room we have been talking about people who help us . “A nurse and a doctor work in a hospital”. We chatted about making our own hospital and what we would need.  “It’s a emergency number it’s 999”

 

We then had a look at some instruments that the doctors and nurses might use. We learnt some new words “stethoscope “ that’s for listening to my heart. This instrument has a light on it then the doctor can see in my ears . We also have bandages in case I hurt my leg.

”You need a x ray to check if you have a broken bone “ . We will get a screen because you get privacy at the hospital”

On arriving at our hospital we would like you to check in and let the nurse know how you are feeling and tell her what is sore. Our doctors and nurses will decide the best treatment for you.

Some of our patients who came to the hospital had bad accidents. “ I went to the zoo and a tiger scratched my leg”. We worked well together, turn taking,co-operating and responding to each other. We discussed how you can only take medicine if the doctor has given it to you. “Mummy gives me the medicine at home”

We have had a  busy hospital today and the doctors and nurses have decided  that some of our patients will need to stay overnight.  Let’s see who comes to our hospital tomorrow “we might need more medicine and bandages”.

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I climbed aboard the Pirate Ship!

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In the block area today, the children used their problem solving skills throughout imaginative play to build a model pirate ship. The children showed that they were able to think creatively whilst working together to build their ship.

The children discussed possible design criteria and shared ideas about where they think the different parts should go and what they could be.

”These big bits can be the floaty bit to stop the boat from sinking in the water”

”Everyone climb aboard! The ship is setting sail”

The children were able to work together as a team and cooperate within a small group to complete the pirate ship.

And we couldn’t forget the most important thing… our treasure map!

 

Article 31 – I have the right to play

Article 15- I have the right to meet with friends