Author: Stephanie MacRitchie

Today in nursery we decided to have a fun Friday and we built a den!!

We used lots of different things to build it, scarves, furniture, blankets and a coat stand. So many different fun things. The children were problem solving, trying to figure out how to get the den to stay up. There was also lots of communication and team work.

Here are some pictures of us building it.

 

Could you build a den in your home? What would you need to do this?

Here is a few pictures which may give you some ideas!

Happy den building 🙂

 

Hi Everyone

Hope you all enjoyed listening to the Gruffalo in Scots.

I know that you all love the Gruffalo and that you have been loving learning some Makaton signs so I thought I would let you see the story read with Makaton signs.

I have also made a few videos of me signing some of the animals that appear in the story.

Can you sign some of these animals too?

Please upload some videos onto seesaw so we can see them all.

Hope you enjoy 🙂

Mouse

Fox

Owl

Snake

Gruffalo

 

Hello everyone, can you believe it we have snow again. Lets use this time to try these activities again.

Sledging 

Have you got a your sledge ready? You can enjoy sledging around your garden with some help from mum and dad or you could go to your local park and enjoy sledging down some hills.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a sledge an old baking tin works a treat 🙂 let’s see what other things you can find that can be used in the snow.

Do You Want To Build A Snowman?

You could go into your garden and build your own Olaf!

What do you need to build a snowman?

Snow Painting

Lets add some colour to the snow.

If you have some paint then add a little bit into either a plastic sports bottle with some water or a spray bottle and shake it until its all mixed.

If you don’t have some paint at home then add some food colouring to a bottle of water and create your masterpiece using that.

Take It Indoors

If you’re getting too cold out there then why not bring some snow indoors. Get a large bowl or a tray, fill it with snow and continue to enjoy exploring it…how long will it last inside before it melts? Why does that happen?

You can also use your paint or food colouring mixture inside, but brushes dipped in to the mixture may work better indoors (and be a bit less messy).

Please enjoy the snow, enjoy playing with your family and siblings and creating amazing things with it.

Please add photos of your experiences onto seesaw so we can see what fun you have gotten up to today.

 

 

At nursery you all enjoy  running around the garden, jumping off of the reels and climbing on the palettes ….. you have so much fun.

Exercise is so good for you, It keeps your body healthy and makes your brain smart.

Why not try some of these fun activities to keep you active today.

 

 

 

Remember last week when we were learning Makaton using singing hands?

You all did a great job at copying the signs and singing along!

Here is the playlist of songs that we were signing for you to practice at home, Can’t wait to see the signs you have learned when we get back to nursery.

Please post some videos of you signing these songs on to seesaw.

 

Morning Everyone, it is the outdoor people again.

We all know that you all like to run around, climb, jump and dance when outdoors. We know that physical exercise is good for you and keeps you fit and your body healthy.

We know It is not so easy to get outside that at this time. So here’s a few psychical exercises to get you moving and grooving and get your wiggles out!!

Spell out your name and do all the exercises for each letter!! Good luck if you have a long name!!!

Here’s a Link for jump start Jonny – his free energiser videos will get your blood pumping!! The one rule with jump start Jonny is that you have to get everyone involved! Including mum and dad!!!

https://www.jumpstartjonny.co.uk/free-stuff

Here is a link to get set Tokyo – This is a programmed created by the British Olympics and Paralympics to get people moving! The link has multiple activities online where you can log and track your activities!

https://www.getset.co.uk/travel-tokyo

Please send us a picture or leave a comment if you take part in any of these exercises and tell us what one was your favourite!

Also let us know if there’s any other exercises that you have been taking part in that you have been loving!!

Hi everyone, a little message from your outdoor ladies …

We were thinking about all of the wonderful learning that was taking place in our garden over the past few months. The messy maths area was used lots and you all showed a lot of interest and knowledge whilst using this area.

A note for parents

Numeracy is everywhere if you look at the world through the eyes of a child…it is so much more than just counting and adding!

Loose parts can at first appear to be a pile of rubbish however it can be a wonderful resource to use with children. It captures their imagination and is like treasure that they can explore on their own and create their own learning.

Loose parts can be anything – lids, stones, bark, shells, kitchen roll tubes, ring pull, sticks, flowers anything you can think of.

Now back to the children!

Exploring weight

You can use loose parts to explore weight, seeing what items weigh more or less, how many of item (A) weighs the same as item (B). This encourages the children to use mathematical language such as heavy/heavier, light/lighter, more, less etc.

Sorting items

Sorting items is a great way for children to explore loose parts. They can sort items into different categories – by colour, by type of item by size or even counting out a specific number of items.

Exploring Patterns 

Patterns are everywhere, on the road, driveways, on cereal boxes, everywhere. Loose parts allow children to explore patterns and create their own. Here are some examples.

Symmetry 

Loose parts can be a great way to explore and learn about symmetry. It allows children to create their own image and pattern and begin to explore how to create the symmetrical image. Here are some examples.

Alison used natural items she collected from her daily walk to create an image that she wanted to copy symmetrically.

Creating images

Encouraging children to use their imagination and giving them the opportunity and freedom to be creative allowing them them to make and create works of art. Allowing your child to explore loose parts independently helps them to build confidence, use their imagination and promotes a sense of pride in their achievements. Here are some examples…

Please leave a comment and share what you have created at home.

Hi everyone, we are missing seeing you all and hope that you are getting on well at home!

The weather has been fantastic hasn’t it?

Our nursery plants are growing so big and tall at home with Stephanie. Hopefully by the time we are back at nursery there will be some yummy home grown vegetables to eat.

The seeds that were planted needed to live by a window so the heat came through to help them grow.  However, because we planted so many amazing seeds I had no room for them on my windowsill so I bought a special greenhouse to help the plants grow.

Our Peppers and Avocado have grown so much!

You can even see the radish growing and our cucumbers now have lots of leaves!

When I was at the shops, I noticed that there were lots of seeds and decided to buy some more and plant them for nursery! I thought I’d share this process with you guys, so that you could plant and grow your own food at home!

As most of you know, you need to start off by putting some soil into a plant pot.  Then add your seeds, then cover them up with some more soil on top! Remember to write on your pot what you have planted.

Once you have planted your seeds, make sure to water them and leave them in a sunny, warm place for them to grow. Remember to water them every few days.

Don’t worry if you don’t have any plant pots in your house, You can recycle some of your rubbish and use them as planters – Here’s some ideas!

I used an empty orange juice carton, an empty milk carton, an egg case and the bottom of a plastic bottle!

Remember you don’t always need seeds to grow your own food.  You can use food to grow more food! HOW AMAZING!

Here’s some links to videos as an example of using food to regrow more food.

Be sure to leave us a comment and let us know if you planted your own seeds or used some of the hacks in these videos!

 

Over the weekend I thought I would try a cool science experiment, It was AMAZING so I thought I would share it with you all.

You will need one egg, a clear jar or glass and some vinegar.

Next step is to add the vinegar into your jar and then gently add the egg (you want the vinegar to cover the egg)

Once you have added your egg, you will start to see bubbles appear on your egg, this is a chemical reaction between the vinegar which is an acid and the egg shell which contains calcium. The vinegar causes the egg to release carbon dioxide which creates the bubbles.

The egg has to stay in the vinegar for 48 hours- two whole days!!

The next morning your egg should have lots of bubbles on it and you will start to see the shell disappearing

The second day your egg will have very little shell left on it.

Once your 72 hours is over, gently take the egg out of the vinegar and run it under some water. gently rub the egg to get the rest of the brown shell off.

Once all of the shell is off you can see what the vinegar has done to the egg shell.

The vinegar has caused all of the calcium to float out of the shell (through the bubbles) causing the shell to become squishy.

You have to be very careful with your egg as it is very easily popped!!

Once the egg has popped you can see the shell is still there, if you rub the empty shell you can see little pieces of the egg on your fingers! HOW COOL IS THAT?

Leave us a comment and let us know if you try this experiment and how you got on. We cannot wait to hear from you.

Hello everyone. We hope you are all getting on well and enjoying some time at home with your family. We are missing you all and cannot wait to see your happy faces again.

Yesterday I had a lovely delivery to my front door. One of my lovely neighbours had made fruit kebabs and was giving them to people who are stuck at home to keep them healthy!

My neighbour, who is 6 years old, selected strawberries, mango, pineapple, apple and bananas to create her kebabs.

Could you create your own fruit kebabs at home as a yummy snack?

If you make these at home please leave a wee comment and let us know what fruit you decided to use. We can’t wait to hear.