Blackbird has shiny black feathers. He has a bright yellow beak and a yellow ring round each eye. He is about 25cm long (try looking for number 25 on a ruler). He likes to eat worms, insects and berries. Mrs Blackbird is not black… She is brown all over and so are young blackbirds.
Blackbirds have 3,4 or 5 babies which hatch from blue speckled eggs. Mum and Dad feed them together:
Mrs MacLeod once had a pet blackbird called Blackie who started coming to her doorstep every morning and evening for raisins. He loved raisins!
The Beatles wrote a lovely song called “Blackbird”. You can listen to it here. See if you can clap or tap along. https://youtu.be/Man4Xw8Xypo
Hello everyone, we hope you have been enjoying some of the sunny weather outdoors! Maybe you spotted a few birds. Mrs Toman was birdwatching in her garden this Saturday. Take a look…
Each day this week we are giving you a few titbits and challenges linked to a different bird, in the run up to the RSPB Big Garden Watch:
Monday’s Bird is Clever Crow:
– Crow is black all over and quite big – about 50cm long.
– Crows are one of the cleverest birds in the world. Did you know that they can recognise shapes and colours? They can also recognise human faces and they have a good memory.
– Crows are also cool with tools: they can use simple tools like a stick to poke around for food.
At Busby School & Nursery, we often see Crows in our playground and on the rooftops. They like to fly down for crumbs the children drop at playtime… Crows are not fussy eaters.
There are other types of bird in the Crow Family. Some of the ones we see most often in Scotland are Crow, Raven and Magpie. (The hooded crow usually lives in the Highlands.)
In Scottish, we sometimes call crows “craws”. We often sing the song “Three Craws” in nursery, especially today, which is Burns Day. Why not sing along today with the Singing Kettle, and don’t forget the actions… Click on this link to join in: https://youtu.be/Io6ZXgSbyW8
You could even make some Craw puppets to use whilst you sing, perhaps using cardboard from an old cereal box. Just cut a big circle, draw on some eyes and a beak and stick on some wings made from black paper. Here are some other ideas for crow crafts: Have fun, and look out for Clever Crow outside!
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”
This week the Yellow and Pink groups have been taking part in a range of different Literacyexperiences.
They loved their Bookbug session with Mrs McInnes, where they were reading Shark in the Park on a Windy Dayand practising rhyme together through song and puppets.
Later they gathered around the Story Boxto 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.
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: ”Carrots and potatoes grow in the ground.” “Apples and pears on trees.” “That’s wheat… it gets made into Weetabix!”
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.
David Hockney’s autumn woods
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 Parkfor 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 Numeracywe 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 Farmer’s in his Den). Have fun!
Autumn time is here, autumn time is here, It’s getting very chilly now, ‘cos 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.
Hello everyone,
Here is our Weekly Share Sheet from Miss Lawson to let you know the latest news and offer more ideas of learning you can do at home (to see it bigger, click on the green title).
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Mrs Blackbird is not black… She is brown all over and so are young blackbirds.
