Author: Erin MacLean

The children have been developing their numeracy skills using the loose parts to form the shapes of numbers. They then used the iPad to take a photo of their number, which was later printed and used as signage in the garden!

The numbers made by the children now label the pots and pans on our music wall. The children have been using a variety of items like sticks and spoons to create their own music 🎶 The items are numbered, so the children have been returning them to the matching number on the hook once they’re finished playing.

The children have also been using some of the loose parts gathered from the ‘Autumn Treasure’ bags to make their own musical instruments. They used their fine motor skills to thread bells and pine cones onto sticks using wool, and practiced winding and tying knots too!

The rhyme of the fortnight is “Humpty Dumpty”, the children have been learning this at group time and also been taking part in different activities linking with this.  We have been looking at numbers and matching the dots.  We will be looking at makaton and rhyming words over the next couple of weeks.

 

This week in the stem area, we have been developing our numeracy skills as we learned about the quantities of the numbers 1-10 using the abacus and numeracy stacker toy.

In the Stem area this week, we have been using the money matching keys and padlocks to explore the value of money. We were able to match the written amount to the matching coin.

We have been exploring measuring this week in the stem area using the scales and stones. We have explored which is heavier and lighter.

This week the children have been developing their numeracy skills. They have created their own clothing items and together we put numbers 1-10 on them.  The children have worked together and some on their own, have put the clothing in to the correct number order.  This has also supported the children’s counting skills and their number recognition.

This week we have been exploring everybody’s findings from their Autumn treasure bags. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed, I hope all of you had lots of fun searching for treasures.

In the Studio this week we have been exploring transient art, transient art by definition  is non-permanent and allows the children to manipulate, explore, and experiment with patterns and shapes in a completely process-oriented way. We have explored making self portraits using loose parts, the children then discussed how their faces were feeling and why they felt like this.

This week in the Studio the children have been developing their fine motor skills and their knowledge of shapes as they traced the shapes using paint and pom poms on pegs.

In the studio this week, we have been exploring our findings from our Autumn treasure bags. We developed our creative and fine motor skills as we used these items to mark make using paint.

We have been exploring the loose part resources we have in the garden. Pipes, bricks, wood, pallets, tyres, crates etc. are all available for the children to use anytime outdoors.

Using the pipes to explore ‘forces of nature’, how water travels, what happens when you dam it and where the water may come from. We used our problem solving skills to fix breakages in the pipes and how to catch leaks.

The construction of a ‘house’ has also been taking place, using the wooden crates, bricks and pipes. We decided to paint it a lovely green colour, although the next day the children discussed changing it into a pirate ship, adding a plank and changing the colour to blue. It seems as though this will be a small ongoing project.

We would be grateful for any loose part donations from your homes!

In the malleable area we have been exploring the story ‘Rapunzel.’ While developing the children’s literacy skills by reading the story, we have been developing our fine motor skills by creating creations with pasta, clay, cereal and play dough which links to the story.

This week in the Acorn room the children have enjoyed developing their number skills through our Small world area which had the dinosaurs, focusing on numbers 0-5.

In the Art Area we have looked at different ways we can mark make using chunky chalk, pencils and paint.

Out in the Courtyard the children have been continuing to build friendships with their peers playing chasing games, turn taking on the see saw and exploring pasta in our water tray.

Have a lovely weekend 🙂

🤩 Our Discovery area had a little bit of a transformation on Monday when we created a dressing up zone! So many different costumes to choose from. I wonder who we could be today??🤔😍

A Police Officer ? A Lollypop Person ? A Fire Fighter ? Or maybe a Superhero ?!

The children have fully embraced these role play experiences!🙌🙌It has been a joy to see them creating their own little adventures and using their imaginations!😍

This week in the construction area we introduced some more new and advanced tools! 🔨🥽👏

Whilst using the saw It is a strict 1:1 ratio.

Before constructing any woodwork if the children wished to participate we must conduct a risk assessment.

We spoke for a short time and I quizzed the children on the rules to see if they fully understood them. Once completed the children signed their own signature to say they fully understood the rules of woodwork !

The children that participated had lots of fun creating their own masterpieces and were so proud of the accomplishments! I can’t wait to see what else they create in the future!

Here are a few of the children’s work !👏😁👍🔨

Christmas tree

Shark

Jack hammer

Our little Acorn room have had a very busy week. A few children showed an interest in our mud kitchen. A.M said “making cakes”. So we provided some wooden cakes to allow the children to begin to participate in role play.
OM.R told her Early Years Workers (EYW’S) “mummy loves cake”, this sparked our baking experience. The children have been showing enjoyment in group time, with lots of giggles as they followed the actions to familiar nursery rhymes. This has allowed the children to begin to develop early friendships. C.M asked for the fish game and some children chose to develop their fine motor skills, as they caught the fish. G.M has been showing an interest in our water tray so we have been setting up inviting provocations to allow our little learners to develop their curiosity and explore through their senses.

In the discovery area the children were interested in the puppets and story spoons this week. We matched them to the book, “room on the broom” and “Three little pigs”.

Carrying on from last week’s discussions around colours and numbers, we used the farm animals to print footprints in different colours and compare the sizes.