Category Archives: Outdoor Learning

Community, Gardening, Health & Wellbeing, Learning at home, Natural World, Outdoor Learning

Cool with Tools by Mrs Small

May 12, 2020 Mrs Toman Leave a comment

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.

Cool with Tools Part 1

Cool with Tools Part 2

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;

Identify Bird Song

Community, Eco Learning, Health & Wellbeing, Learning at home, Natural World, Outdoor Learning

Random Acts of Wildness

May 8, 2020 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Hello everyone,
We hope you are all well and finding some fun things to do. The good weather has meant we are able enjoy the outdoors even more than usual and there has been so much to see at this time of year with all the new life that is growing.

Mrs MacLeod saw this Peacock butterfly in her garden, and Mrs Small has a blue tit that sits right outside her bedroom window.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust is inviting everyone to join in 30 Days Wild, doing one different Wild Thing each day, and this is something the children have enjoyed doing in nursery in the past. You can sign up to join in 30 Days Wild for free, and receive a digital set of cards with simple and easy Wild things to do each day. The children have the fun of choosing a different card each day. Some examples are below:

You can find great ideas for other wild things to do and make at home at this link:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/30-days-wild-homeschooling

Why not send us any photos of Wild things you have seen or done to our Twitter account?

Have Fun being a Wildlife Explorer!

Community, Creative Arts, Imaginary Play, Learning at home, Mark Making, Natural World, Outdoor Learning

Fairy Doors and Stone Painting

April 30, 2020 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Are there any fairies living in woods near you?
Mrs MacLeod has noticed a few fairy doors in the woods near her house.
You could paint your own designs on stones or an old roof slate if you have any.
Mrs Hampton has been painting different insects and birds on stones at home too.

Who do you think lives behind these doors?

Here are Mrs Hampton’s lovely painted stones. What birds and insects can you see and paint?

If you go down to the woods today… look out for bluebells as well as fairies. They are starting to grow…

Eco Learning, Learning at home, Natural World, Numeracy & Mathematics, Outdoor Learning

Rainbow Nature Hunt

April 28, 2020 Mrs Reynolds Leave a comment

Hi everybody, Mrs Reynolds here, I hope you are all keeping well and staying safe. I was reading Mrs MacLeod’s post about going on a rainbow nature hunt and I knew my little girl Erin would love to do that, so I thought I would share what we did. I made Erin a grid from string and cardboard and placed different colours onto it for her to find on our walk. For older children you could add different numbers to each colour of how many items to collect for a numeracy experience and write the colour names on it to promote literacy. Erin really enjoyed collecting the items and placing them under the string to take them home with her. Maybe some of you could try this on your next walk and send us a photo of what you managed to collect. Keep an eye on the blog to see more of what Erin and I are up to and please keep sharing your ideas with us as well.

Community, Creative Arts, Eco Learning, Family, Fine motor skills, Health & Wellbeing, Imaginary Play, Learning at home, Mark Making, Music and Dance, Natural World, Numeracy & Mathematics, Outdoor Learning

Daily Walk Challenges (just in case you’re bored…)

April 26, 2020 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Hello everyone,
We hope you have all been keeping well and enjoying some new experiences. If you have started to go out for a Daily Walk in the good weather, perhaps you might like a few new mini-challenges to take on your way. Or you could take part in a Design challenge with your family… Here are a few ideas:

Creative Arts, Imaginary Play, Learning at home, Literacy, Outdoor Learning

Fun ideas from Mrs Reynolds!

April 20, 2020 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

Hello everyone,
Hope you are finding lots of ways to have fun at home and in this lovely sunshine! Mrs Reynolds has shared some photos of great ideas she has been using with Erin at home:
TRANSIENT ART
An old cutlery tray filled with interesting objects like stones and cones and an old picture frame can be used outside to create many different patterns and pictures.

Below are some examples of outdoor Transient Art by the British environmental artist Andy Goldworthy. You might get some ideas from him…

DIFFERENT WAYS WITH A PADDLING POOL
1) Use it as a Wee Den to draw and read in

2) Erin’s Daddy’s birthday balloons were collected to make a place for dolls and teddies to have a party

3) RHYME FISHING:
Another idea is Rhyme Fishing in a paddling pool, an old baby bath or a washing up bowl. Fill it with water and throw in some rhyming objects (e.g. cork -fork; key-pea; petal-metal), then challenge your child to fish out the objects that rhyme using a ladle or other utensil. For an extra challenge you could work on a way to make your own fishing net…

Eco Learning, Learning at home, Literacy, Natural World, Outdoor Learning

Rhyme of the Week

March 25, 2020 Ms Small 2 Comments

We were looking for minibeasts in our bug hotel.

We found a tiny spider and called it Incy Wincy!

When you are out a walk with your adult or in the garden, see if you could spot any minibeasts!

Lift up a log, stone or plant pot and see what might be hiding underneath.

Community, Creative Arts, Family, Imaginary Play, Mark Making, Natural World, Outdoor Learning, Performance, Technology & Construction

Welcome Spring !

March 18, 2020 Mrs Toman Leave a comment

Below is a selection of the Spring banners our children created to decorate the hall for our Daffodil Tea. They practised their Spring songs to sing to parents and visitors and thus helped raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Well done to all the children and a big thank you to all who supported the event!!

Community, Mark Making, Natural World, Outdoor Learning, Science, Sensory Play

Super Science

March 17, 2020 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

The children have been busy investigating and discovering through lots of exciting Science Experiments during STEM fortnight. They have been testing, describing, asking questions and observing results.
“I’m wondering what would happen if…”

Adding the vinegar…	….and bicarbonate of soda to make a gas to blow up the balloon.
Magnet experiments: “You can make it move from under the table!”	Our new BUG HOTEL. Who will visit….?

Making Bird Food with raisins, maize, mealworms and lard.	Studying the different bird species.
Adding the thread for hanging the feeders.	The children loved watching Professor Eco

Wandering Water and Colour Mixing Experiments	“I am wondering what would happen if we mix blue and red…” “It makes purple.” “We need the paper to test it.”
“What happens if we do it like this?”	Using droppers to create patterns with the colours we mixed.

Health & Wellbeing, Music and Dance, Outdoor Learning

Check Out Our Moves

February 26, 2020 Mrs MacLeod Leave a comment

The children have been very busy and active in gym, working their hearts, muscles and imaginations in Creative Movement. They have been moving it to Jazz music, Swing, Salsa and Techno!


Make your move and copy your friends	Fly like a superhero

They also like to move it outdoors and in the MUGA, where they have been developing their core strength, jumping, balancing and ball skills.

Hello everyone, We hope you are all well and finding some fun things to do. The good weather has meant we are able enjoy the outdoors even more than usual and there has been so much to see at this time of year with all the new life that is growing.