During lock down we have all had some extra time to study and research, we feel that this quote best describes children being creative and how natural it can become to them.

“There is no sense in teaching children what we think they ought to know. There is a sense in helping children to learn (teaching) what they naturally find interesting.”    (Bruce, 2012:158)

Let’s get creative and recycle using things that you may have around the home.

Children have a good knowledge of the importance of recycling, lets build on this and encourage them to use their imaginations to build and create.

Here is an idea of something you could make…

We will all have some cardboard in our houses at the minute, but if you do not you can use paper and experiment and see what will work.

Lets make some cardboard tube snakes…

Here is what you will need to make these cardboard snakes.

• cardboard tubes cut in half as many as you would like to make remember this will give opportunities of numeracy and estimations of length.
• paint or coloured pens/crayons
• hole punch
• string, ribbon, wool
• scissors
• small piece of red material or paper
• glue
• cellotape

Watch this link to see how to put it all together.

Penguins are off-limits when it comes to pets, but this DIY recycled bottle activity allows your child to create the impossible. All you need are a few basic art supplies paired with cotton balls and a recycled bottle. You can use different sized bottles and discuss sizes and how much cotton wool would be needed for each and what size needs more.

Junk modelling and being creative is a huge part of children’s active learning. They use their imaginations, problem solving skills  while developing their design skills and creativity. They develop their self-confidence as they are enabled to explore materials and how to use them.

You can then give each Penguin a name and age, possibly make up a story about your new family Penguin.

Why not research where he/she would be from?

 

Then why not dance to the Penguin song with your very own penguin pet.

 

Please share your creations with us. We can’t wait to see them all.

We are all missing you so much and wanted to share a video message with you. We hope you like it!

Can you see your lady?

Hope you all have a wee dance along with the music.

Stay safe 😊

Today we have posted some activities for the week ahead, rather than posting every day.

Please choose to visit the blog as and when it suits you during the week. You are able to scroll down to view previous post and revisit any favourites or perhaps discover some activities you may have missed.

We are very aware that everyone can have many different things to deal with at present, so our message is ………..Just do what you can!

We are missing you all…………………take care and keep safe!

 

 

Did you know it was Twiggle’s birthday the other day?! Here’s a little story all about his special day…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Twiggle! We miss you and all your friends very much!

How old do you think Twiggle is? Is he older or younger than you?

What did Twiggle get for his birthday? What is your most wanted present?

Can you remember the names of Twiggle’s friends? What are your friends called?

Can you design a birthday cake for Twiggle? What would it taste and look like? Do you think he would like this one?

 

And here is something for your mummies and daddies..

This is a link to PAThS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) blog with lots of strategies and ideas to use with your children. It provides a lot of valuable information about Social and Emotional Learning – especially important in these difficult times:

http://www.pathseducation.co.uk/pdfs/public/Pre-school_Blog_1st_May_2020.pdf

Let us know in the comments! 🙂

Following on from the story about “The Crocodile who didn’t like water” we thought it would be a good idea to do some fun counting! This will help us practice to recognize numbers and counting, too! You can choose to count up to 5 or up to 10!

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/underwater-counting

Did you like this game?

Were you able to count the sea creatures all by yourself?

What number can you count up to?

Can you count back from 10?

Let us know in the comments, we can’t wait to hear how you got on! 🙂

Following on from the well liked story about a certain crocodile who didn’t like water we decided to take a trip to the Underwater World! WOW – what can you spot down there?!

Let us know if you’d like to swim deep into the ocean to discover what’s hiding there! How do you think we could get there? And what would we see?

And here is a couple of different stories about the ocean’s creatures…

 

It is without a doubt that drawing pictures with chalk on pavements is one of the favourite activities for children! It promotes creativity, hand-eye coordination, gross motor skills, balance and interactions with others! So many benefits! And all we need is a pavement and chalk – instant canvas for our wee ones! Here are some ideas:

1. Shape jumps! Draw lots of different shapes on the pavement and ask somebody to shout out the names of them in no particular order – see if you can hope from one to another!

2. Follow the line! Draw a line – long, short, straight, wavy – use your imagination! See if you can follow the line… Where does it lead to? Does it have swirls, bends? Is it longer or shorter than you?

3. Long jump! Draw a few parallel to each other lines (just like on the picture) and number them on the side. Then draw a start line at the very bottom. Standing on the start line, use all of your energy to jump! What number did you land on?

4. Pavement obstacle course! You can ask your family to help you draw lots of shapes and write different instructions. You can tip-toe on little circles, go round and round on a circle, go backwards on a line… The possibilities are endless!

5. Hop-Scotch! We all love a little bit of hop-scotch! Can you hop on one foot? It takes a lot of balancing!

You could also draw lots of beautiful pictures, too! We wonder… Does it feel different using chalk on dry pavement to drawing on wet pavement? Let’s experiment and find out!

We would love to hear from you – do you like drawing pictures using chalk? Do you know any other games? Please, let us know in the comments! 🙂 

Just to let you know that this is our last post on the blog for this week.

Staff have in-service days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday is a holiday, so we will post again next Monday.

Some of our staff are out supporting in the hubs so they will not be having a holiday this week – a huge ‘Thank You’ to them!

Have a great week everyone and keep in touch by leaving a comment for staff – we love to hear from you all. Take care everyone!

Here’s a story by Gemma Merino for you to enjoy… It has a rather surprising ending!

Have a listen and ask if an adult can help you with the challenge at the end!

 

We hope you enjoyed the story!

Can you think of 2 animals who live on land?

Can you think of 2 animals who live in water?

Can you think of 2 animals who can fly?

We’d love to hear from you in the comments, about the the animals you can think of.

Perhaps you’d like to spend a short time learning about a new animal, using the internet to find out more…

Let us know how you get on!

 

 

 

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.