This week in the block area, we have been continuing to build small scale model houses. We have also been beginning to explore symmetry using the larger blocks. 

AE “My mummy tells me about symmetry at home with my lego.”

ZB “No jumping in the castle!”

FMcG “Only 4 persons in here!”

Some children have started to show an interest in 3D shapes and are beginning to discuss their properties when exploring the cards and the blocks. 

ML “It has 4 sides too, that’s the same. That one is longer. It’s pointed.”

This week in the discovery area the children have been exploring the five basic senses. They first went on a senses hunt and recorded what they could see, hear, smell, touch, and taste within the playroom and demonstrated excellent observation skills. The children made positive attempts to record their findings through their mark making and were able to use descriptive language to communicate what they had found. From this the children then had to guess what was in the magic bag but without using their sight, relying on their other senses and showed excellent focus and concentration. The children also took the opportunity to share their likes and dislikes when it came to smell and tastes.

SC “It feels rough and smooth at the same time, it could be a circle because I can put my thumb in it” (wooden cup)

MM “Textures means different feels”

CE “ It’s bumpy, not heavy and its making a crumpling noise-I think its a cricket” (tin foil)

AE “I like the smell of diesel”

MK “Our nose helps us smell- I like the smell of cheese”

ML “ It smells like the lavender fields in Amsterdam”

Also this week in the discovery area the children have continued their interest in magnets and using magnet tiles to create their constructions. We introduced metallic loose parts for the children to add additional details to their creations and create some transient art. The children showed excellent creativity and problem solving skills whilst they explored forces through construction.

AS “I’m putting bells on mine- jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle all the way!”

MG “It’s not metal, I know because it doesn’t stick”

SW “I’m putting it on the black bits because that’s the sticky bit”

KN “I’m making a monster with lots of eyes and lots of legs”

In baking this week the children have been looking at traditional Scottish recipes as we celebrate the Scottish poet Robert Burns. The children were tasked to share, take turns and use their measuring skills. The children looked at the ingredients they needed for the shortbread, and they  asked lots of questions around the process.

‘Why does the butter look so fluffy when you add the sugar?’

‘The flour is soft’ – R

‘The flour is fluffy’ – JK

‘The sugar is a bit hard’ – FMc

‘I can smell the butter’ – OC

They experimented with kneading and rolling the mixture and also took responsibility for what hygiene steps to take before they began, for example;  washing their hands and putting aprons on. The children talked about the different shapes of their various shortbreads. One  child recalled their grandparents having shortbread with their cup of tea.

This week in literacy we have been celebrating Rabbie Burns. We have read books about his poems, Scottish history and landmarks to introduce them to people from the past. “Did he live a long long time ago?” Learning Scottish words such as bairn, greetin, tatties, neeps, loon, quine, auld, and heid which has brought great hilarity to the literacy area. We chose to focus on the song 3 craws which introduced the children to more Scottish dialect. “It’s fly not flee”, “I live in Scotland”, “potato is a tattie”, “it’s not greetin for his maw its crying for his mummy”. So watch out for your bairns coming hame to sing about 3 craws and ask for neeps and tatties for their tea!

https://www.google.com/search?q=bookbug+3+craws&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari&safe=active

This week in the malleable area we have been working on developing our fine motor skills. We have been practicing spreading, cutting, using tweezers, spraying and making marks using different tools.