Category Archives: Loose Parts

A Warm Welcome


We hope you all had happy holidays and enjoyed the good summer weather we’ve had.  A very warm welcome to all new children starting at Busby Nursery and their families. And a big welcome back to all our returning children too. ☀️

You will notice a few differences! You might be exploring new areas of the building and outdoors, plus you will all be offered a delicious two-course hot lunch, which is freshly prepared in our nursery kitchen each day. Morning fruit snack will also still be provided as usual
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Dining out at Busby: pasta with garlic bread and vegetables today!

Fresh omelette with  diced potato and tossed salad

You can view the daily lunch menu on our new website. This website also provides lots of other useful information, including photos and links to learning ideas you can try at home. You can access it through the school website or through this link:
Busby Nursery Website https://sites.google.com/er.glow.scot/busbynursery/home

The children have been having great fun exploring, investigating and meeting up with friends, old and new:

One Potato, Two Potato….
After the summer holidays, we found that some vegetables we had planted in our garden had grown. Our tomatoes are still green but the potatoes were ready to dig up.


We washed them all….
then cooked some and tried them at Snack Time.  Mmmm….

 

 

 

 

 

Cardboard Capers

 Cardboard Capers!………. Have a look at our ‘teleporter’.   We have been using our imaginations to create structures from cardboard boxes, using various materials.

“It’s got holes in it so fresh air can get in.”

“It also has a button you press to get on board.”

“There’s an X there that’s the exit-it tells you not to sit there.”

If you have some cardboard boxes or junk material at home maybe you could create an amazing structure too! Please let us know how you get on! 📦

‘The Teleporter’

Look at our innovative inventors!

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We really need a bed for the children!”  Amazing innovation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Super maths with green and blue

Over the past few weeks the children in the Green and Blue group have enjoyed learning all about shape and numbers.  Have a look at all the fun experiences we took part in while developing our early numeracy skills.

The children  sorted and identified shapes whilst taking part in “tap tap” and transient art activities, they then used these shapes to make objects.

They have also used a variety of media to make  shapes, including paint printing and mark making in shaving foam.

Blue and Green group took part in number activities and displayed confidence when counting out and matching corresponding numbers with picture cards.

 

 

Purple Group Adventures

The Purple Group have settled back into Nursery life really well.  We have been establishing old and new friendships, following routines and learning lots of exciting things.

We have been spending a  lot of time outdoors, accessing all aspects of the curriculum.

We love getting our wet suits on and exploring in the rain.

We have been exploring symmetry through a variety of different experiences.  The children  created butterflies and used transient art to develop their awareness of symmetry in their local environment.

Making tea in the water tray stimulated our senses. We have enjoyed taking part in a lot of different sensory activities across the playroom and outdoors.

 

 

The Latest Action with the Reds! 💥☄️

The Red Group have been having plenty of Outdoor Action recently, experimenting with herbs in their Mud Kitchen, and practicing their throwing, catching, balancing and other physical skills.



Using a rope and recycled bottles of water, the Reds investigated forces, weights and volume. They tested their problem-solving skills as they used a pulley to hoist up the water.

“This is the Machine Maker.”
Watch the children creating a conveyer belt process with the tubes and bark pieces, using teamwork and imagination.

Indoors the children have been exploring Numeracy using autumnal natural objects, and in Literacy they have been really enjoying the story of The Disgusting Sandwich, using Hanen techniques and exploring the meaning of descriptive words.


Technology
We have been exploring technology using the Beebots, sending them in different directions.
We have also used the App pictured below on our iPads to work out how to say words and phrases in different languages.


Kitchen Creation

By using kitchen resources I created a filling and pouring station for Erin. There is no need to have a tuff tray to do this as this can be done on a smaller scale on an oven tray, inside a cardboard box, a plastic box from under the bed…anything really that will contain the mess. I collected various items from the kitchen rice, cous cous, tea leaves out of teabags, cornflakes, cheerios, spices, herbs, oats, a crushed up biscuit, spaghetti…the list is endless. You only need a small quantity of each to enable pouring and scooping between containers so don’t worry about using up lots of food. Then add to the tray any utensils and bowls to aid scooping and pouring; different sized spoons, measuring cups and spoons, sieves, pots and pans…make sure nothing sharp is placed in the tray that could pose a hazard. Filling, scooping and pouring activities help develop fine motor skills in under 5s as well as using concepts such as less and more. Adding scales to your pouring and filling tub can also introduce the concept of weight. These tasks help children coordinate their hand movements with what they are seeing and feeling.

Threading Technique

Today we have been dipping in and out of threading. It’s amazing what resources you will already have in your house. We used spaghetti held up by blue tac with cheerios and cut up straws, different sized curtain hoops and chiffon scarves, a colander to thread spaghetti through, pasta and string, a bridge from a train set and ribbons, a chain strap on a handbag and the rubber anti slip mat from under a rug with shoe laces. Do you have anything different in your house you can thread with? How about spare buttons and thread for an extra challenge of threading? I have attached a link that explains in more depth all the benefits of threading (specifically beads but any threading counts ) for all ages, so everybody in the house can get involved.

http://blog.sensoryedge.com/threading-beads-benefits-children-seniors/

Heart Bakers

Our master bakers have been busy mixing, kneading, rolling, cutting, scooping and squeezing to make their Heart Biscuits on Valentine’s Day.

“I’ve never used a spatula before!” “A heart means you love your family.”

“I’m going to make 3 love hearts from the one dough.”
“Its a bit runny.”

 

“Can you do pink around it? Its like painting.”

Squeezing Icing helps Early Writing!

“A heart means you love your family.”

ADVENTURES WITH HEARTS
– sharing, comparing, naming the colours, counting, feeling, describing, what are they made of?

“I pick this one with the silver curls. I like the swirls and curls and lines and the dots.”
“Who wants this one? Its beautiful.” “Feel this one. It feels like a teddy.”
“This is number ten.”
“I love all the colours – yellow, blue, red, pink, green and purple.”

“This one’s made out of paper and this one’s made out of wool.”
”These are the same kind. Is this pink glitter?”
“I like this one. What is it made out of?… That’s wood, and that’s paper.”
”There’s a heart inside you – that’s the one you’re talking about…”