In the art area this week we have been exploring contrast, shade and texture. The children used a  variety of resources including glue, paint brushes, materials, toothbrushes, sponges, chalk and charcoal to demonstrate creativity and develop their skills of mark making whilst exploring texture, shade and contrast.

This week in the literacy area we have been exploring early mark making opportunities through a range of sensory experiences. We used a variety of resources to draw in the sand and foam, and some children looked for some of the hidden letters in the sensory bags. We used lots of descriptive language to talk about how the materials felt and smelled.

Some pre-school children have also been choosing to create stories of their own and have been working on writing their names. We have also had lots of lovely drawings from all of the children!

“I found a seven oh no its a Z and a S, S for snake” – DM

“Teacher I see this, look” – LA

“This is something special for your, it’s for your birthday” – IF

“It’s a story about a stolen cat” – AC

“I’m about to find a word. It’s an R, it starts with my name. That’s my mum K’s name” – RG

“I found one”- LP

“See if I can find another one” – HM

“It’s a G” – GM

“I found a Y” – RF

“My name starts with a S” – SL

In our discovery area, children embraced the role of young scientists by exploring the concepts of floating and sinking. They  worked collaboratively, gathering a variety of everyday resources from around the playroom to test in the water tray.

Using their developing observation skills, the children made lots of thoughtful predictions about whether specific items would float or sink. This sparked lots of descriptive language as they handled the objects and debated which felt heaviest or lightest. Some children made the connection that the heavy items sank to the bottom and the lighter ones floated to the top. 

“Look its gone way down down”

“I think it might float and stay at the top”

“I like seeing it sink”

“This one feels heavier”

This week, we have welcomed lots of new children to the family centre. The boys and girls have been participating in early block play and exploring our small world areas and characters. We have been using our bigger blocks and long wooden pieces to build large scale models and obstacle courses, developing problem solving skills, gross motor skills and balance and coordination whilst working with peers.

Some children have taken an interest in the animals in small world area and wanted to build enclosures for them. 

LBG – “Polar bears like the cold weather. Can we make a fence so they don’t escape? There’s a fire now, I need to put it out. My tiger can do it, he’s drinking water from the lake to put the fire out.”

BP – “This will be the zoo. This will be the doors and that’s the roof. That’s for the giraffe to eat, some leaves. If it rains we can just get a wee umbrella. Can you hold this Miss Hughes, it keeps falling over.”

ZK – “Play park, everyone got a space. Play on the swings.”

ZMc – “Superhero machine. It turns everyone into superheroes”

SL – “Animal house. They’re watching TV.”

RF – “I’m building a house.”

LS – “Summerhouse. I’ve got one in my garden.” 

AF – “I’m measuring, it says 47 for the house.”

DF – “It says stop! I’m making a tunnel. That’s me!”

The children have been looking at different kinds of pattern making at the malleable area. Whilst exploring the play dough some of the children used items from the small world area such as people, dinosaurs and animals to make footprints. The children also used different shapes of Lego and bricks to make prints in the play dough. The children also carved patterns in the playdoh using the various playdoh resources. 

The children have been enjoying the mixed weather outside. The rain has made the sand perfect for sandcastles. The children have been creating their own sandcastles. E told us that the castle was ‘missing flags’. As real castles have the flags. This led the children designed their own flags using twigs, leaves, paper straws and paper.

The children have also been experimenting with loose parts in the outdoor area, using resources such as guttering, tyres and tubes to create their own ball run. They worked together to plan, build and test their ideas, making changes when things didn’t work as expected. This experience encouraged teamwork, communication, problem-solving and creativity, while also developing their ability to negotiate, share resources and listen to each other’s ideas. It was wonderful to see the children learning through hands-on exploration and confidently developing their own solutions.

The children have been exploring the vertical and horizontal pulleys in the indoor sand. They have been developing their problem-solving, coordination and teamwork skills and their understanding of forces and movement and cause and effect as they worked cooperatively to successfully make the pulleys move. They helped each other attach their items to the carabiner clip , experimented with different amounts of sand, noticing how the quantity affected the speed and movement of the pulleys.

This week in the water tray we have been exploring different resources. We have been using jugs, funnels and tubes to create different mechanisms for the water to flow through and explore the concept of gravity.