Milngavie Early Years Centre

One of our lovely mums, Susan Williams,  is a very talented baker and has had a great idea for a Valentine Celebration Pack.   To find out more – visit her Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/424150995049468/posts/860072838123946/?d=n

Angela has sent this lovely activity for you to try at home.  Can you say the rhyme that goes with it?  Maybe you can say it along with Angela?

Click the link to see Angela’s video:

https://video.link/w/xE9Nb

Hello Boys and Girls,

I hope you’re all safe and well and spending lots of lovely quality time with your families at home.
This week we are focusing on words that rhyme so I thought it would be nice to practice one of our favourite nursery rhymes Humpty Dumpty. I hope you enjoyed the video and joined in at home too.

Here  are some instructions on how to make your very own Humpty Dumpty

Step 1

You will need
Paper
Pens
Scissors
Glue

Step 2

Draw an egg shape (or get a grown up to draw one for you) then cut it out. Draw 2 eyes, a nose and a happy smile. Then give Humpty Dumpty a nice jacket to keep him warm.

Step 3

Cut 4 strips of paper for arms and legs and 4 circles for hands and feet.

Step 4

Get a grown up to help you concertina the paper by folding it over then turning your strip over and folding it again. This makes fun springy arms and legs. Then stick on your hands and feet. You can add a handle to hold your Humpty Dumpty on the back by cutting the end off a toilet roll and sticking it on.

If you would like to make a wall for Humpty Dumpty cover a box in paper (I used a cereal box) and add rectangle bricks.

You could also have fun building your own wall using bricks, boxes, cushions, or toys. I wonder how high you can make it before it topples down?

Have fun playing with Humpty Dumpty boys and girls. Sending love and hugs and hope to see you all soon

Angela x

Thanks to all the people who returned our On Line survey on Home Learning.  The results we have had back indicate that there is an interest in on line Teams sessions with the children.  Julie and Claire are going to host a session of stories and songs on Friday 12th at 10.30am.

If you are interested in attending, please email  caroline.mcmenemy@eastdunbarton.gov.uk to be sent a link to join in the fun.

Julie is our Nursery’s Family Champion, which means she has received lots of training on parenting issues, and is our nursery’s expert on all things parenting! She also has two boys of her own, so has had hands-on, practical experience of being a parent with all its joys and difficulties.  She is available for advice or even just a reassuring chat on any matter relating to any family issues you might want to talk over.  She can meet with you on Teams or just give you a call, whichever you prefer.  Please just email Caroline at the above email address and she can put you in touch with Julie.

Today’s post from Elaine J is one of my very favourite books!  I love the pictures and I love the rhyming!  I know you are going to enjoy this story too!

Oi Frog by Kes Gray/Jim Field

Here is a great Scottish song to get you in the mood for a Welly Boot Waddle!  A funny song from a very funny Scottish man called Billy Connolly about Welly Boots.  This film was made a long time ago – look at the funny clothes people wore then!   Maybe your gran or grandpa wore flare trousers and outlandish jumpers back then!?    Don’t worry mum’s and dad’s I’ve checked it for sweary words – its OK!!!

https://video.link/w/jgmNb

If you want to learn the words, this wee video will make it a bit easier for you.  The lady has an interesting Scots accent!!  What she lacks in Scottish pronunciation, she makes up for in raw enthusiasm!!!!!

https://video.link/w/kRlNb

Claire has sent us a lovely post today – a really funny story about a dad who is a bit of a food hoover, and the trouble he gets himself into by being greedy!  I’m sure your dad is not at all like this one.  There are lots of rhyming words and you might spot them while Claire is reading.  Are you sitting comfortably?  Click the link for Claire!

https://video.link/w/iq6Nb

I found one of my favourite poems on youtube today and would like to share it with you.  Its called On The Ning Nang Nong! and its written by a funny man called Spike Milligan.  Its a bit crazy – see what you think.  Its got lots of rhyming and is quite easy to learn.

https://video.link/w/1V6Nb

Shona and her wee daughter Mila, aged 3, have been having lots of fun with shaving foam.  They sent us a wee film to show just how much fun you can have with skooshy, slimy, silky shaving foam. Here’s Shona’s post:

Hi boys and girls I hope you’re  all well. We are going to try some foam activities. 

For the shaving foam & food colouring messy play activity this is so simple to set up, all you need is a tray (we used an oven roasting tray), shaving foam, food colouring ( I found the food colouring gels worked best) & a spoon to mix. 

We squirted foaming shave gel onto the tray & Mila played with this for a bit we talked about the texture of the foam what it felt like, we then introduced food colouring. Mila squirted some of each into the tray then we got to mixing using the spoon. We talked about all the colours mixing into each other and colours that represent things such as blue like the sky. The shaving foam will eventually turn a grey colour but you can add more foam & food colouring. We had fun getting our hands messy. 

We next made some foam paint, using shaving foam and food colouring again. You will need some paint brushes, paper and some paint pots (we used empty baked beans tubs- empty yogurt pots are good too) We added shaving foam into the five tubs, and then popped some food colouring in. We mixed in the colour and then painted some pictures. Mila decided she wanted to paint some flowers, and I painted a house, It was lots of fun, we spent ages painting lots of other pictures too.  Maybe you could try some of these activities with shaving foam! 

https://youtu.be/-ecUcDAWm4I

Elaine C’s post is another creative one – but this one involves numbers.  It looks like a lot of fun too.

URGENT GARDEN REPAIRS REQUIRED!!   WELLY WADDLE FUND RAISER PLANNED!

Our garden has really suffered this winter.  We have one retaining wall made of wooden stakes, which has completely rotted away.

Two years ago we were given a grant by Tesco which allowed us to replace the worst wood rot in the garden.  We got £1000 of materials from Kelvin Timber and our wonderful gardening group made up of parents and teachers from Milngavie Primary and Nursery, built raised beds, and replaced a big retaining wall.

Eric Avenier, our nursery superhero helped build this wall from sleepers and then inventively created railings from wooden pallets.  He is a skilled woodworker and during the summer created a new pond, a stage area and tamed our out of control willow tunnel, as well as clearing the garden and sourcing two deliveries of free bark.  All with the help of his wee son Emile, aged 5.   Eric is willing to build us a new wall, we just have to find the money to buy the materials.

Eric asked me to post this message:

“We are looking for any large sleepers 200x100x2400mm or any smaller  leftover cuttings, fence posts H2400xW100mm (only need 4), timber,  sleeper screws, cement, builder sand, gravel, ready mix sand or cement mortar/ fence post mix. Should you have any of these materials in your garage/shed that you don’t need anymore, we would be delighted to take them off your hands and put them to a good cause.”
      
At the moment, because of lockdown, we can’t fund raise in any of our usual ways.  We are asking families if they would like to take part in a sponsored “Welly Waddle” to help us raise money.  The format for this is completely up to you – you will know how far your wee one could walk in their wellies.  When you do it also is up to you!  The one compulsory part of the waddle is that wellies must get dirty or wet during the walk and that you upload a photo of the experience to show us!  I realise that collecting sponsorship might be tricky in these days when we can’t visit our grannies, grandpas, aunties etc- but we would welcome any donations you could raise.  Each railway sleeper costs £15 and we also need a lot of cement and screws.  Its a costly, but very necessary venture!

Please let us know if you have any materials you can contribute and we will arrange their uplift.

Many thanks again for your support.  We are very keen to maintain our amazing outdoor space and get it ready for the return of our little ones, which we are hoping won’t be far away.

We fully appreciate that in the current climate, not all families will be in a position to donate money.  We are hoping it won’t deter you from joining in the Welly Waddling fun.  Don’t forget to send us the muddy puddle photos!!!

When I was 8 , a very long time ago something very exciting happened.  In America, a rocket was launched with three very brave astronauts inside it.  It took them to the moon.  Two of the astronauts got into a little space craft and actually went down to the moon’s surface.  The other one stayed in the rocket and flew round and round the moon, looking after the rocket which would take them back down to earth again.  When something goes round and round a planet or a moon, it is called orbiting.  Here is a real film of the rocket, which was called Apollo 11 being launched.

https://video.link/w/hJTLb

The two astronauts who went to the moon and were the very first to walk on its surface were called Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.  Michael Collins had the job of looking after the rocket.  Can you think of another astronaut, in a film about toys, who was called Buzz?

Here is a photo of these brave men.    Millions of people round the world thought that they were real heroes, because they did something no one had ever done before, and because it was incredibly dangerous and they risked their lives to do it.

Neil and Buzz took bits of moon rock and moon dust home with them so scientists could see what the moon was made of.  It certainly wasn’t made of cheese!  The astronauts had to wear big pressurised suits and carry a tank of oxygen to breathe, because the moon has no air.  On the moon, because the force of gravity, which keeps us on the ground, is much less – the astronauts could jump really, really high and bounce about.  I think that could be good fun!  You could try a bit of moon walking and bouncing yourself.  You need to move really slowly and take big giant steps!

When the astronauts came back to the earth, their space rocket had no brakes or landing gear – they had to pull a lever and big parachutes came out to slow it down.  It then crashed down into the sea.  Boats came out and the astronauts were lifted out of the space capsule to safety.

The space capsule looks so tiny, compared to the huge rocket they flew off in.  This is because a lot of the rocket was actually for keeping the fuel to fly in, a bit like the petrol tank in your car.  When the fuel was all used up the fuel tanks just fell off the rocket.  The little capsule that came back to earth was part of the big rocket’s nose cone.

People have not been back to the moon for a very long time.  There are astronauts who go to space though.  High up above the earth, in space, a space station is orbiting.  Astronauts go up to stay there and do experiments to find out more about the earth and also about space.  I think that some of you might become astronauts and travel into space to explore other planets – maybe by the time you grow up, you might be able to live on Mars.  It is lovely to think you might go off and have your very own space adventure.  You could practice for this by making a big rocket out of a box and setting off for the moon, like the bear in this story:

https://video.link/w/9QTLb

Whatever Next by Jill Murphy