Tag Archives: Fun

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.

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

 

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/

Jigsaw Creations

Today Erin and I have been busy using our problem solving skills to make our own jigsaws. I thought with the recycling bins not being able to be emptied at the moment it would be a good way to do our bit to help recycle. We used photos we had lying about, birthday cards people have sent us, leaflets that have come through the door, brochures and magazines. With adult supervision children could try cutting out shapes by themselves to practise their cutting. Why not even try making a collage or transient art from pieces you cut out?

Rainbow Nature Hunt

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.

Fun ideas from Mrs Reynolds!

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…