This week the Yellow and Pink groups have been taking part in a range of different Literacy experiences.
They loved their Bookbug session with Mrs McInnes, where they were reading Shark in the Park on a Windy Day and practising rhyme together through song and puppets.
Later they gathered around the Story Box to take part in reading the seasonal classic “Room on the Broom” with plenty of props.
“We need to add some red fire for the dragon!”
“WHOOSH! They were gone!”
The children have been focusing on the initial letters of their name, identifying them and tracing them using Transient Art objects like green pasta, play dough, beads.
“That’s my letter. It’s a D.”
“We both start with A!”
They also experimented with different forms of mark-making, using a range of utensils.
The children are using Name Stones to identify their names when they arrive each morning.
Category Archives: Group Yellow
Creative Minds at Work
The Red Group put on a Show đ
After reading The Gruffaloâs Child together, the Red group children were excited to create their own puppets and put on shows using characters from the story, and characters of their own. They experimented with torches to create lighting effects in their cardboard box theatre.
The Reds have also been very creative at building houses with peas and cocktail sticks.
At the Junk Modelling table the Yellow and Pink group children came up with all sorts of innovative ideas, creating “a flag”, “a drum”, “a butterfly”, “a robot”, âa Dino Detector”, âR2D2â, “a bubble palace for tiny wee invisible people” and “a hamster run“. It’s amazing how many ideas emerge from a bit of rubbish, some tape and string…
A flag created at the junk table was tested out and flown in the wind outside.
Creative ideas with Rice:
“We made a cake with candles. Shh, itâs  a surprise!”
Creative Cookery: making banana smoothies. They were “yum!”
September Days with the Yellows and Pinks đđđ
As Summer turns to Autumn the children have been learning about what is growing and changing with the seasons. The Yellow and Pink groups have been exploring Autumn through song and role play, making leaf prints, counting conkers and acorns, and chopping apples and plums from the trees to find their seeds. We have been talking about harvesting and where different foods come from:
âCarrots and potatoes grow in the ground.â âApples and pears on trees.â
âThatâs wheat… it gets made into Weetabix!â
Autumn role play corner in the Katrine Room.
The children painted an autumn frieze after looking at art by David Hockney, Gustav Klimt and Andy Goldsworthy. They wanted to make bats and fairies to add to the forest and glued on real leaves.
They later designed Autumn fairies using wooden pegs and leaves.
Chopping apples and plums, using hammer & nails to create squash hedgehogs, and designing leaf people.
Using leaves to copy a repeating pattern and create designs.
This week the children wanted to make a Safari Park for wild animals. They were fascinated to read the brochure from Blair Drummond Safari Park and tried drawing their own maps of it.
They also modelled a cave for the bears using Mod Roc with balloons, powder paint and water.
In Numeracy we have been learning about pattern. At Together Time the children identified, described and matched different animal patterns.  They practised their aim and number identification with this Beanbag number game. Watch them in action!
If you would like to sing our Autumn Song with your child, here are the words (the tune is The Farmerâs in his Den).  Have fun!
Autumn time is here, autumn time is here,
Itâs getting very chilly now, âcos autumn time is here.
The leaves are falling down, the leaves are falling down,
Yellow, red and gold and brown, the leaves are falling down.
The animals gather food, the animals gather food,
Nuts and seeds and juicy fruits, the animals gather food.
The farmers gather crops, the farmers gather crops,
Peas and beans and broccoli, and we can eat them up.
Fishy Things going on… đ
Nature is fascinating!
 In Arran Building, the Pink and Yellow group children have been showing great curiosity about sea creatures, so weâve been learning more about Ocean Worlds in various ways :
“Can we read this big book about shells?â
“What is this fish called?â
Weâve been reading fishy stories & books of facts to discover about different types of fish, like lion fish & deep sea angler.
We made our own Sea World, then designed fish and fishing rods using magnets and paper clips. Watch us trying to catch them!
“We need to make some seaweed for it.â
“Thatâs a whale shark. Itâs the biggest fish.â
“Look, Iâve caught two anchovies.â
âI caught a number 3.â
The children explored with their senses as they felt the scales of a real mackerel and described what they observed:
âItâs cold and slippery…â
â…green and blue, shiny, feels soft…â
âTail helps it swim. Thatâs the bit that the eggs come out… thatâs the fin.â
Rock Pool role play and nature investigations with bladderwrack seaweeds and shells. “It feels slimy” (seaweed)
“I’m being a whale shark… This is a baby stingray.”
“I can hear something in the shell….I found a limpet!”
Expressive Arts:Â
The children have also been expanding their creative skills by trying out different art techniques including collage, printing, and paper marbling with inks and oil. They used mashers to print turtles and clay to model starfish and other creatures.
We practiced numeracy skills through some fishy games.
“I counted 8 shrimps!”
Sink or Float: In Science experiments, we made jellyfish with balloons and string. When filled with air alone they floated too high. One of the children suggested it would sink more if we added water inside, so we did… We also tried adding a little oil and sand.
âI saw jellyfish floating in the water on my holiday.â
âThey’re soft, yellow and redâ âThey have tentaclesâ âThis one’s a babyâ
âLook what it’s doing. It’s making a current….a whirlpool.”
More Science experiments: trying out salt to melt the frozen icebergs, and making ocean slime.
Back in the Swing of it! âď¸đđŚ
It has been wonderful to see all the smiling young faces back at Busby ELCC and to welcome all our new children into the ELCC family.
In these early weeks the children have settled in very well, enjoying one anotherâs company and trying out all that is on offer.
In Arran building the Pink and Yellow groups are currently based in the Katrine playroom. Here many of them have shown a strong interest in dinosaurs, so we have been reading lots of dinosaur books and facts, making fossils in moulds and salt dough bones, and creating a dinosaur landscape with a working volcano….
Making Fossils
Painting our Dinosaur Landscape
Making an eruption (with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda)
The children have also been enjoying lots of sensory experiences with ice shapes, sand, shaving foam, herbs, petals and water.
Making play dough for the day
The children love their regular sessions outdoors and in the MUGA , developing and showing off their physical and creative skills.
Rainy days not a problem…
Exploring the Gruffalo story sack (Literacy) and experimenting with Shapes (our current Numeracy focus)
At Snack time we wash our hands, then choose our snack if weâd like one and chat with our friends.
At group times we have been playing Spin the Bottle and talking about our feelings using stories, character puppets from Inside Out, and by placing our names on our  Feelings Board.
COMING SOON….
News of the Red, Blue, Purple & Green groups coming soon – Â so keep your eye on the blog!
