We had a lovely morning exploring the joys of spring in nearby Busby Church gardens. The children loved the freedom of the outdoors and they went on a Colour Hunt, finding blossom, daffodils, dandelions, stones, and bugs under logs. They were very excited to discover and study wood lice, slugs, worms, centipedes and bees, and they took great care to look after the nature around them. We also had fun trying out different viewpoints – including lying down and upside down…
“We found bugs and snails.” “Wood louse is brown.”
The children found “pink blossom”, “brown tree stumps”, “a green tree”, “white stones”, “yellow daffodil heads”, “blue sky” and “purple pansies” on their Colour Hunt.
We have also started to look at the life cycles of various creatures, including frogs, and match them to their habitats.
“Worm lives in the ground!” “Bird in the nest.”
Here is a video of some tadpoles that Mrs MacLeod was lucky to see in a small pond last weekend. What other new life have you seen growing this Spring? Let us know!
Category Archives: Community
A Brand New Adventure! 😃
Happy Burns Day!
Remember that Miss Lawson is offering daily fun activities in Google Classrooms if you would like them. Here are today’s for Burns Day:
Today is Burns Day which is a day when we celebrate a famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns. For dinner tonight I will be having veggie haggis, neeps and tatties which is a traditional Scottish meal. Will you be having the same tonight? Enjoy the day!
Literacy – Have you ever read The Gruffalo in Scots? Listen to the story linked and see if you can translate the Scots words into English words. Did you already know some of these words? Have you read any other stories in Scots?
https://youtu.be/Kk9Gq62-de0
Numeracy – If you have any paint at home, try painting your own tartan pattern. In nursery we sometimes dip the wheels of toy cars in paint then run them across the paper vertically and horizontally to make a tartan pattern. If you don’t have any paint, you could try with pens, pencils or chalk and draw lots of straight lines, or stick down wool or strips of paper to design your own tartan. Or outside you could use a stick to draw tartan in snow or frost…
Does your family name have a tartan? I looked up the Lawson tartan and it is green and blue, I like it! If your family name doesn’t have a tartan, look up a few different ones and pick your favourite.
Birds Spotted today (Friday Jan 22nd)
Hi everyone, has anyone seen any birds out on this lovely sunny Friday? Miss Lawson spotted some Mallard Ducks and a Coot at the pond at Queen’s Park today. Here they are:
And in the woods by Greenbank Gardens Mrs Macleod noticed something very unusual – five green parrots in the trees!! Can you believe it?
They are a small kind of parrot, known as parakeets. Normally they live in the jungle and hot countries like Africa and Asia, but they might be pets that have escaped here and are now living happily in the wild. I hope they don’t mind the cold Scottish winter…
Here are the Greenbank Parakeets on video:
Have a Good Weekend and Happy Bird Watching!
*Yoga Bugs and Tongue Drums*
We have been very busy this week exploring many different ways to enhance our health and wellbeing. Let’s have a look at some of the fabulous experiences the Red Group have been doing.
Confidence and self esteem
Dare to be different
Crazy hair and yoga cobra pose!
Yoga can be done anywhere you feel comfortable! Trying out the spider pose …..this strengthens and activates core muscles….also…..helps to refine fine motor skills (e.g writing and dressing) by activating shoulder muscles and many more benefits, as well as being relaxing and lots of fun challenging yourself!
Mindful Walking
On our mindful walk we stopped to focus on our thoughts and sensations in our bodies with our eyes closed……….
Bumble Bee pose – find your happy hum!
Building resilience and self esteem
We are ‘All Kinds of People’ – we had fun mixing paint to match our own different skin tones and making a self portrait.
“My skin’s not that colour, maybe if I mix white and orange”
“I’ve got blonde hair”
“My hair is pink and brown”
Have a look at our resources!
Feeling Groovy 🌞🙏🏼
It is Health and Wellbeing Week! In Pink and Yellow groups we are thinking about our differences & similarities, our feelings, and how to keep ourselves feeling good, relaxed and strong.
Monday is Dare to be Different Day. So we have had cool purple hair, some odd socks and some unusual yet fabulous style choices!
We’ve been talking about the ways we are different and the same.
“I don’t like spiders.” “I like sprouts!” “I have blond hair.” “We all have brains…” “And skeletons.”
Our “Different Together” paper chain:
At Signing- In time each child chose a different patterned strip to write their name on. We all have different favourite colours and patterns, and we joined them together to make a big paper chain.
We have been talking about different types of people and creating our own tiny people with lollipop sticks, pipe cleaners, buttons, felt, lace, wool and other materials.
“I want her to have red hair at the back and the front. She has a lovely smile.” “I’m going to add this for a hat.”
“Let’s play with them…”
Noo-Noo (left) was feeling lonely because of being a bit different, but look how many friends the children have made for Noo-Noo now!
Tuesday is Bounce Back day, all about resilience. At Together Time, the children all thought of things that make them feel happy and put them in a Thank You Jar with a coloured feather.
Here are some of the things we are grateful for:
“Star Wars and ice cream,” “Pink, and birdies in my garden”, “Daddy, Mummy” , “My sisters” ,”Squirrels in my gardens, and cats… and jewels”, “Tigers and Pokémon.” “The colour red” ,”Jingle bells” “Tickly feathers” , “My puppy and my two guinea pigs”, “Music in your heart.”
Afterwards we made some Sunshine sticks:
Keep smiling!
Bookbug’s 10th Birthday
Hello everyone, this week someone we all know is going to be 10! It’s our good friend, Bookbug!
Bookbug has brought a host of fun and valuable learning to thousands of children. To find out more about what is happening for this special birthday, click on the link below to visit the Scottish Book Trust:
https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/reading-and-stories/bookbug/bookbug-is-10
#Golden Moments
Thank you so much for sharing all your family learning news and achievements with us by email, Twitter and phonecalls. If you want to nominate someone in your family and you agree to have the details published in the newsletter, blog and on Twitter, please complete a nomination form using the link form below.
Get Skilled up with Skills Academy!
Hello everyone!
If you are looking for some fun challenges and ways to learn new skills with the nursery staff, then you can take part in our brand new online Skills Academy lessons below.
So far we have 4 handy video lessons in Gardening & Science with Mrs Small, and 2 scroll-down Cooking demonstrations from Mrs MacLeod – try making gingerbread or a quick easy pizza.
To access the lesson just click on the Green text link above each picture.
Have fun, whatever you choose!
Eco Planting with Mrs Small
Community Skills Planting herbs with Mrs Small
Science Skills Academy with Mrs Small
Science Outcome 1
Cooking – Easy Pizza
Baking Gingerbread
Cool with Tools by Mrs Small
Mrs Small noticed that lots of people are out enjoying gardens and green spaces. Click on the links below to watch videos of Mrs Small giving us tips on how to be safe.
Remember to let us know how you are getting on with your community spaces and gardens!
If you need help to identify birdsong click on the link below;