Making Harvest Bags (Weeks 7 & 8)

The bairns used vegetables to print harvest bags.  The bags were used to deliver vegetables to the sheltered housing residents next to nursery.  The bairns chose paint colours that matched the vegetables.

Mini Greenhouses (Monday)

When the bairns were making their beetroot chutney last week, they kept the apple seeds.  They used sandwich bags, cotton wool, water and the seeds to make mini greenhouses.  We pegged the bags to the kitchen blind so that the sunlight can reach them.  Watch this space!

Sheltered Housing Delivery

Once all the harvest bags were decorated and dry, it was time to fill them with vegetables.  The bairns created an assembly line to pick up their veg – they put in tatties, onions, kale and neeps.  The bairns grew the tatties at the Salvation Army polycrub and were keen to share their produce.  The kale came from the nursery polycrub.  We added a label that the bairns drew to let our neighbours know what had been delivered.

On delivery day, the bairns took turns to take a bag to the door, knock and wait.  If someone wasn’t home, they placed their bag inside the door and then joined the line again.  We wished the residents that were home a Happy Harvest on our way round.  We also delivered a bag to Janis in the office and Kay in the school as it was her last day before retirement.

Making Ice Cream, Beetroot Chutney Tomato, Apple Chutney and Carrot Relish (Weeks 6 & 7)

The bairns were discussing what to do with the food in the polycrub so that it didn’t go rotten.   They agreed that preserving it with sugar and vinegar was a great idea.  The bairns chopped up the ingredients  and Mrs Malcolmson brought in her food processor to help grate some too.

Games in the Multicourt (Thursday)

The bairns had been asking about going to the multicourt to play games.  We warmed up with a game of beans – the bairns had to stop moving and copy bean poses when Mrs Drakeford called out BEANS!  They were magic beans, baked beans, runner beans, broad beans and jelly beans.  Then, the bairns lined up and each person got a ball to practice their ball skills.  They threw the balls up and caught them, kicked them, played football and bounced them.

Treasure (Thursday)

Following on from the bairns’ interest in digging for treasure in the sand pit, we made fossils containing gems and small dinosaurs.  The bairns spent an extended period using small hammers to crack open their fossils.  “We have to hammer dem.”  “Look, I found a gem!”

Play and Learning (Monday-Friday)

Here is a selection of our play and learning from the week.  The bairns have created lots of masterpieces, worked collaboratively to paint a boat, made roads for their cars, made jigsaws on the interactive board, served up soup and stew in the mud kitchen, built towers with their eyes closed, watched a pilot flying a plane with a view of the cockpit, looked after slugs, washed babies, raced cars on  strings, had a dance party and made magic wands.  What a busy week, even with a clear calendar!

 

Tesco (Tuesday)

To prepare for our delivery to the sheltered houses next week, a small group of bairns went to Tesco to buy vegetables for our harvest bags.  On the way they spotted environmental print and commented on the numbers in the price of a pizza.  They used the self-service scanner, found the barcodes and added their items to the trolley.  The bairns had a quick look at all the toys.  At checkout, they bagged up their shopping, ready to head back on the bus to nursery.

Exploring Forces – Wind (Weeks 6 and 7)

The bairns have been exploring the force of the wind during the last couple of weeks.  They used plastic bags and string to make kites.  They went around the garden, flying their kites and noticed the wind direction so that their kite could keep flying.  They moved the string low and high to see what would happen to their kite.  We went to the playpark for a larger space and less shelter.  The bairns were able to make their kites fly even higher.

Family Portraits (Tuesday-Wednesday)

Following on from the bairns’ interest in large drawings and family trees, they began to draw their family portraits for our wall at nursery.  They proudly drew the people and pets who live with them, adding in details like beards for the dads and jewellery for the mams.

Police (Wednesday)

Our local Police Officer, Liam Brannan, visited the nursery this week.  The bairns learned that catching bad guys is only a small part of being a police officer.  He spoke to the bairns about what police officers do – paperwork, keeping people safe and making sure everyone follows the law.  He showed the bairns the devices on his vest, including a radio, handcuffs, baton, printer and camera.  The bairns asked lots of questions and we found out that there are no police cats, the police help keep people off the road during Up Helly Aa, police dogs are used to find dangerous things using their sense of smell, police use special tools to measure the speed of cars, the police cars go nee naw to let other vehicles know they are going to an emergency.  We all headed outside to take a closer look at the police van.  PC Brannan showed us the front where there were lots of coloured buttons and another radio.  At the back of the van, the bairns sat in the cage and noticed that it wasn’t very big.  They tried on some of the police uniform – a female officer’s hat, a cap and a vest.  After a group photo, PC Brannan offered lots of high fives and the bairns thanked him for coming to nursery.

Kittens (Wednesday)

One of our nursery parents brought in their kittens.  The bairns used gentle hands to hold them and learned about their sharp claws.