Whalsay Early Years Blog 2020\21

At the beginning of the week some children asked if there were more dinosaurs to play with in nursery. There was – a whole box! This has led to lots of focussed play and learning around dinosaurs this week which we would love to share with you.

The box of dinosaurs stimulated a lot of learning through play.

There were many different types of dinosaurs in the box. We knew names for some of these, such as Ampelosaurus, Diploducus, Tyranosaurus, Stegosaurus, Velociraptor, Triceratops… so many different kinds of dinosaur and so many big words to get our tongues around!

Henry, Max, Micah, Lewis, Freddie and Emmie compared some features of the dinosaurs in the box. Having time to discuss our ideas is important for developing our talking and listening skills and helps us to learn new words. Noticing similarities and differences in the dinosaurs helps develop our numeracy skills too as we talk about and compare different sizes, shapes and features.

Emmie said “the tallest een could eat leaves aff the trees becis his neck wis lang.”

Henry thought the strong dinosaurs “broke the wall doon. They hitted into dem.”

They discussed the Stegosaurus spikes. Max said “they wir for poking” and Freddie agreed, “yeah for spiking things.”

We discussed what we already know about dinosaurs. It turns out that we know a lot! Miss Sandison recorded our knowledge into the floorbook so that we can come back to our ideas and explore them deeper.

Having time to play with the dinosaurs together was great for developing our imaginations, our vocabulary and our sharing skills. Bobby and Ross built “dinosaur world” where different sized dinosaurs could hide and move through different block areas.

Ertie and Elsie created a cage where the dangerous dinosaurs got trapped. Sorting and categorising is an important numeracy skill. Ertie explained that “the Stegosaurus is protecting the cage wi his armour and spikes.”

Ross and James made a long “dinosaur path” which led dinosaurs into different “worlds”. When asked how many stones they had needed for the path they estimated “about 100 becis it is a really really lang path.”

Some children joined group times where we could learn more about dinosaurs. We used “Topmarks Dinosaur Discovery” to find out some interesting facts. Group times also helps us to develop our turn taking, waiting, listening, talking and questioning skills.

Maggie wanted to learn more about T-Rex. We discovered that T-Rex had sharp teeth and liked eating meat. Lewis pointed out that “T-Rex ate idder dinosaurs sometimes.”

Sophia chose a tiny dinosaur to learn about. It was called a Yi and it ate insects and plants, she thought it was “very cute.”

James chose to learn about the Stegosaurus tail. We found out that it was very big and very strong. Joanna commented “it could smash through everything, even big bones.”

Having time and space to play alone is important too as it gives us time to explore our ideas, use our imaginations and develop independence. Ali spent some time this week creating volcanoes which dinosaurs had to run away from. Not every dinosaur escaped.

William chose to spend time looking through dinosaur books and stories. He used the pictures to learn more about dinosaurs and asked adults to help him read some pages of the books. Being able to tell the difference between pictures and words is an important literacy skill.

Jackson used his mark making skills and fine motor control to draw around some dinosaurs. He then looked at the skin of the dinosaurs and spent time drawing the patterns into his picture.

Micah and Max moved their dinosaur play outdoors where they could dig different depths of holes to bury different sized dinosaurs. They discussed which dinosaurs were to be buried and how deep to dig each hole. They problem solved together and worked in partnership as Max measured the dinosaurs with his hand and Micah dug the holes to size.

James and Freya also took the dinosaur interest outdoors. They both walked on bucket stilts to be big dinosaurs walking through the swamp. Freya commented that “it is hard to balance when you ir a big dinosaur, I tink it’s better having short legs so that you can run fast.” Using imaginative play in this way helps us to develop concentration and perseverance as well as balance and core strength.

Joanna and Thea were very perceptive and noticed a “peerie dinosaur footprint”. They measured it against their own feet and realised it was about the same size. “Maybe it wis a peerie dinosaur” said Joanna, “maybe it was a baby een” thought Thea. Wondering, asking questions and sharing our thoughts with each other is an important literacy skill.

In another section of the outdoor space there was a big footprint. “It’s a diploducus becis he has a big footprint.” said Joanna. It could fit at least three children inside it! Comparing and talking about sizes, measure and shape through play and in natural contexts is very important for developing numeracy skills. Thea realised that the dinosaur had stood inside a circle, Joanna noticed it had left spikey bits from the bottom of it’s feet while Alfie listened and wondered what kind of dinosaur it could have been.

In the sand pit there was also evidence of dinosaurs. Long and short scrapes, vertical and horizontal scrapes. “His scratches ir right lang becis he is so big.” thought Freya, “he had really sharp claws. ” added Ertie. Noting, commenting on and noticing, things in our environment is hugely important for us as it develops our sense of wonder, helps us develop questioning skills and makes us aware of the world around us. All important aspects of becoming successful learners.

On Thursday we even played dinosaur games in the play park. Lewis was a very fast and very hungry dinosaur who wanted to eat the other dinosaurs! Everyone had to use their problem solving skills and their muscles to escape!

Freya climbed really high, hoping the dinosaur couldn’t climb…but he could. She then chose the rope ladder to escape “becis dir is holes dat he can fall through!” but the dinosaur held on tight and didn’t fall through the holes.

Jordie and Jackson sneaked away when the dinosaur was distracted and found a hidden safe cave where they could watch out for him. “He canoo get in here, he is too big, so we can bide here and when he is far awa we can go oot” explained Jordie.

At the end of the week many dinosaurs went in the “swamp” where they got their feet sticky and made lots of different marks as they stomped around. Lewis, Micah and Maisie discussed the consistency of the swamp using words such as “gooey, sticky, slimey”. Great adjectives! The dinosaurs got up to a lot of adventures in the swamp, including laying eggs which were counted and compared and getting their heads washed.

Dinosaurs were not the only things to get washed this week. Water play was popular through the week. There was a lot of exploration, discussion and play around funnels and containers with and without holes in them. Alfie, Lucas and Ross explored whether or not it was best to pour into a big or small funnel. They took turns to experiment and took time to listen to each other and take turns.

Jackson and Thea explored how the sponge worked. They let the water soak into it, squeezed the water out through a colander and into a pot to make “soup”. By playing with these different materials we learning about volume, measure and capacity as well as develop turn taking, team work and listening skills.

There was even more water play outdoors which became a science experiment! Ertie, Sophia, Annie and Lottie decided to play in the water from the tap. They figured out that they could stand under it without (mostly) getting wet!! We wondered why this was the case? Ertie said “becis my boots dunoo let the water in and dir under the breeks.” He showed us that he could hold his leg under without it getting wet.

Lottie and Sophia tried another experiment by holding their bodies under the water. They thought the water felt good and sounded loud as it beat gently on their backs. It didn’t matter that the water was cold as we had on our suits and didn’t feel cold!

Once inside it was time to check if our waterproofs had really worked- dry socks, dry legs, dry jumpers, dry sleeves BUT we all had wet hair and wet wooly hats! How could that be? We agreed that maybe we need to do some more science experiments around different materials soon to find out some answers.

It’s been another busy week of learning through play at nursery. We thought you might enjoy a small selection of the highlights!

Our ongoing interest in insects, bugs and nature around us has meant we’ve extended our recent learning about tadpoles/frogs into caterpillars and butterflies this week and have even got some living caterpillars in the nursery. We are learning how to look after them and how they turn into butterflies.

The story “The very hungry caterpillar” has helped us learn about the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly, given us discussion points around healthy food and is helping us learn the days of the week. We have chosen to listen to this book being read after lunch time most days and have asked for the story to be shown on the Smartboard too.

Not only are we learning about life cycles, science and nature, this interest in caterpillars has helped us practice our fine motor skills and develop our hand eye co-ordination.

We tried hard to follow lines when cutting out caterpillars and chose what patterns and marks they would have by selecting different arts/crafts materials to stick and glue on to their bodies.

We continued developing our writing skills this week as we painted vertical and horizontal lines, circles and shapes when creating colourful caterpillars, and shades of green caterpillars.

Our play outdoors has focussed on a different creature and one on a different size scale. The punt has inspired us to make up a lot of shark stories this week!

We used chunky chalk to draw many different sized sharks. We discussed and compared their lengths and the number and sharpness of their teeth.

The sharks got very hungry and gobbled up some adults and children! We drew around each other’s bodies inside the sharks, counted how many people they had eaten and compared the amounts. The sharks could eat more children because children are shorter and smaller than adults.

The longest shark could fit the most people inside but at the end of the story he choked on Jackson’s toorlie so couldn’t eat any more.

The sand pit has also been very popular this week as an area for building many different sized sandcastles and for experimenting with making sandcastles of different shapes, as well as being a spa!

Elsie used a red bucket to build a castle. Alfie loved her castle and asked if she would make him one too. Elsie and Alfie worked together and made five in a row.

Freya, Maggie, Thea and Joanna discussed what kind of castle they would like in the “kingdom”. Freya followed their advice and got to work making it, including decorations, a door and a moat.

Jackson wondered if it would be possible to make a cone sandcastle. He tried different ways of doing this and experimented with sand consistency. At the end of the experiment both him and Freya agreed that it was easier to make the bottom half of the cone in the bucket and then add extra sand on top and shape it to the peak.

After being so busy making a sand kingdom it was time to enjoy some “spa” treatment. Freya used all of her muscles to cover Elsie’s legs with sand. She checked that Elsie was enjoying her “treatment”, asking questions like “Are you relaxing Elsie? Is your legs boiling hot? Are you feeling good here?” The spa was so popular that Freya asked for some help so that her friends didn’t have to wait too long. She had happy customers and was rewarded afterwards with her own “spa treatment”. Great team work and awareness of each other!

Moving back indoors – playdough has been used a lot this week to deepen and enhance imaginary play as well as providing ways for us to develop numeracy and literacy skills.

A lot of children have asked to make playdough this week and have been great at listening, taking turns, counting out scoops, helping each other measure and mixing the ingredients.

Once made the playdough has been rolled, squashed, pushed and prodded. William, James and Lucas made flat cakes and round cakes. William added some features onto his as he wanted his cakes to have happy faces.

Alfie used a plastic fish slice to push down hard so that his playdough had “bumpy bits” on it. We counted the bumps together and found out that there was 9.

The playdough was also sometimes combined with dry pasta. Joanna and Maisie made an interesting soup that required very specific amounts of pasta and playdough pieces in the pot.

Freddie and Jordie also combined pasta with small bits of playdough “to mak it stickier”. They wrote their cafe menu while discussing what they were cooking. The menus included pizzas, hot pasta and bolognaise.

Other recipe’s did not include playdough. Alfie, Lucas and Lottie experimented with how full they could fill their pots and still be able to get them over to the home corner without spilling. They had to walk slowly to balance their pots.

Ross, Bobby and Ali used large pots and resources from the home corner to fit even more pasta inside. They compared the amounts with each other, using mathematical language such as “more, most, add,  equal and less”.

And Micah used pasta to make “chocolate milkshakes” which Sophia added to the menu before they served them in the cafe.

Thank you for checking our highlights of the week. We look forward to sharing more with you next week.

This week we would like to share with you some of the ways the children have been developing their numeracy skills recently. Numeracy is being able to understand and use numbers in a range of situations. Learning numeracy skills happens everywhere, both at home and in the setting, indoors and outdoors. Play is an excellent avenue through which we learn and develop important numeracy skills.

Developing a sense of size and amount is an important numeracy skill.

Maisie and William compared the number of animals they had on their “team” and discussed which animals were strongest, biggest and smallest.

Harry listened to how many scoops of sand it took to fill the blue bucket. It was a big number of scoops – over 10!

Micah, Henry and Max discussed whether they needed long rectangular blocks or shorter ones for their construction. After a bit of discussion, sharing ideas and looking again at what they were building they decided that they needed both sizes but in different areas.

Emmie made some playdough cakes. She used the number cutters and made the same amount of cakes as the number before dishing them up.

A group of children spent time in the sand digging a “very big, huge trench”. They worked together, took turns digging and discussed the depth of trench they wanted as the work progressed.

Being interested in, and having fun with, exploring numbers is a great way to learn more about them. Through play with numbers we learn that they represent quantities and that we can use them to count, create sequences and describe order.

All children have chosen to play games that help number recognition, understanding of quantity, counting and ordering through playing “Topmarks” games. These can be accessed at home too. Just simply google “Topmarks numeracy games”.

Our recent interest in caterpillars and has seen us choose some number caterpillar number games to play. These games have led to a lot of discussion around which numbers are needed to complete the caterpillar and have helped develop our number ordering skill. Playing group number games helps us to share our number knowledge with each other and to learn from each other.

Discussing the numbers on the stones was an important part of this stone wall construction as it was decided that the smaller numbers should be at the bottom of the wall. It took perseverance, problem solving and a lot of discussion around numbers before the wall was built .

Exploring the shape of numbers, having a go writing them or making marks to symbolise numbers and being aware that numbers are different from letters are all important for numeracy development.

Indoor and outdoor number hunts and games are good fun as well as a great way to learn. The girls listened carefully to Ali as he called the number out and then ran to the hoops that had that number inside, they were very pleased to find all the hoops with numbers!

Max and William shook a dice and then found the corresponding number of lids to put in their container. The first person to fill the container was the winner. They double checked after each game by counting and comparing the number of lids each other had “won”.

Being able to count on and back is important as it helps develop understanding of addition and subtraction.

William practiced counting how many pigs he had by starting at one end and counting along the lines. We discussed how many he had when we took the baby pigs away.

Elsie created a caterpillar using sticks for legs. She counted the eyes and the legs on her caterpillar.

Lewis and Sophia spent time counting steps. The counted backwards and forwards as they went up and down the steps. A great way to exercise as well as develop our counting skills!

Playing “5 speckled frogs” has been a good way to develop our addition and subtraction skills. Starting with 5 frogs on a log and ending up with 0. Emmie enjoyed being last frog to leap into the water.

Through play, and real life contexts, we develop awareness of what money is and how it is used. Having opportunities in play to talk about prices, to exchange objects and to use a range of coins helps us develop our understanding of money.

Ertie caught a selection of seafood this week. He took it up to the “peerie hoose cafe” where he sold if for “one hundred million pounds”.

Ross and Jordie created a “police station” recently. Prisoners had to pay different amounts of money to be released.

Coins in the tuff spot recently helped create much discussion around the different numbers on the coins and what that meant. They were used to match amounts, as exchange for the number of lids, as treasure to be collected and much more! They were taken to the home corner and throughout the nursery as part of different types of play.

Experimenting with measure, learning mathematical language such as big, small, short, tall, long, heavy, light, and investigating and comparing sizes and amounts are important numeracy skills.

Ali used the tape measure to see how wide the table was before building on it, he found out that it was a big number!

Maggie measured how much of the tube could fit into the hole. She realised that as she pushed it in the bit she was holding was getting “peerier and peerier” shorter and shorter.

David discovered that the dinosaur was too big and too heavy to fit on the boat and that the boat stayed afloat when smaller objects went aboard.

During construction this site was closed off by two “no entry” cones followed by “safety” cones around the perimeter. The children discussed the site, measured it’s size using their steps, counted the cones and worked together to “make it safe” so that they could focuss on the build.

Micah, Henry and Lewis worked together to collect pieces of wood that were the same size and length fo finish off their “bonfire”. They discussed, compared and shared what they found before putting them into the back of the truck. The wood was then transported across to the building area.

William explored which containers filled up the large jug the fastest and after a bit of investigating opted for the bigger jug with the spout.

An important part of numeracy learning in the early years is being able to enjoy investigating objects and shapes, sorting them, matching, describing them and being creative with them.

James and Jackson worked together to fill a container. By sharing their ideas and investigating different objects for pouring they found that the funnel shape stopped water from pouring over the sides.

James spent a long time building a car this week. He chose a box with “rectangle sides that are long” and then hammered in wooden circles for wheels.

Jackson used a lot of small cubes to make one large “rubix cube”.

Ali used large and small hollow blocks to make a house. He lay the base blocks horizontally and the side blocks vertically and then investigated adding other shapes on top to make an interesting design.

Lewis, James and Freya created a “skateboard ramp” by using the shapes of the blocks to create a steep angle which they could slide down.

Lottie, Ertie, William and Ali sorted both living and non living insects at the table. They discussed the insects features with each other and drew pictures of what they had found.

Freya sorted and matched orange circles and black circles to make a picture of a caterpillar in a thunder storm.

Maisie made soup using only the red and green vegetables.

And finally we had a few birthdays this week but Jordie’s birthday fell on a day that he was in nursery which meant we could celebrate with cakes! Even a birthday is an opportunity for numeracy learning! Getting another year older, talking about the date and month, and celebrating the day helps children realise that routines and events in their world link with times, months and seasons. It was also a great way to practice our counting skills as we counted the total number of cakes to make sure there was enough for everyone and counted how many candles Jordie got to blow out 🙂

As we progress through the final term of nursery a lot of thought and discussion centres around the transition into Primary one. Here are some ways that we prepare children for this transition throughout their time at nursery and during the final term.

By the time children are going into primary one they have already experienced many transitions in their lives as part of their development and part of life. One major transition was of course starting nursery!

At nursery children learn to follow the rules and routines of the setting, such as saying goodbye to their adult, hanging their coats up, washing their hands and signing in on arrival. These are four important transitions that soon feel normal and part of routine.

Throughout the day all children experience transitions, through daily routines such as hand washing, snack times and through natural play between areas and between groups of peers. Managing these everyday transitions build confidence, self-esteem and resilience and gives children skills that they can use when experiencing larger transitions in life, such as the move to primary school.

In the Whalsay setting the children benefit hugely from sharing their time at nursery with peers who will also transition into the same primary one class. They have time to develop meaningful friendships with each other and can share the excitement of experiencing the next step into primary school together.

Having the nursery located beside the primary school, which all children will transition into, is another huge advantage which helps makes the transition to primary school smooth. The children are already in a familiar environment, are aware of what their school looks like, where their classroom will be and have familiar faces already attending the primary setting.

Of course, Covid restrictions mean that transition arrangements are different from normal but during the last term of nursery children have weekly opportunities to walk around the outside of the primary building, locate their classroom and discuss their thoughts, feelings and ideas about primary one.

Staff are very responsive to children’s questions about the move to primary and use these moments to discuss what primary one will be like. Books about starting primary school are freely available for children to explore and discuss.

Weekly play with the teacher times are a valuable way for children to develop a positive relationship with their new teacher and provides them with a familiar friendly face when starting school after summer. Having time to play and have fun with the teacher is something that is recognised as being one of the most important aspects of a smooth transition.

And on a final note, the way in which the Scottish curriculum emphasises the importance of, and supports the development of, play based learning from 3yrs to 7+yrs means that the Primary one environment and the approach to learningin Primary one will be familiar for all children as they make the next step in their learning journey.

Messy play is one of the best ways to learn. Messy play is not always messy. Some children don’t like to get wet or sticky and don’t like some textures on their hands so messy play uses dry resources too. Messy play can happen indoors and outdoors. Our outdoor area is still a work in progress so please bear with us as we develop a messy area near the mud kitchen with the intention of having a cleaner play area/grass area around the path and the Peerie Hoose. 

Here are some important things that children learn through taking part in messy play activities.

It Fosters Curiosity, Imagination and Exploration

Exploring and playing with materials such as sand, dry rice or pasta, water, chalk, paint, play dough or gloop type textures, helps develop our imaginations. When playing with sensory textures we make discoveries about the world around us and our curiosity is stimulated. Having freedom to explore and to problem solve alone, and with friends, develops self confidence, thinking skills, imagination and language skills which are all vital for learning.

It Encourages Communication and Language Development

Messy play helps develop communication and language skills and encourages speech. Describing and talking about sensations and textures helps build vocabulary as we learn new words and phrases. Taking part in messy play gives us lots of opportunities to develop questioning skills which are important for literacy. We ask questions such as “I wonder what happens when I do this? I wonder if the feeling of this will change if I add something to it?” By sharing messy play with others we learn how to make friends and have opportunities to test and discuss our thoughts and ideas.

It Practices Good Concentration and Nurtures Future Skills

High concentration levels are needed while engaging in messy play. When we explore objects and textures we engage all of our senses to thinking through our discoveries and trying to communicate them. Being able to focus and concentrate are essential learning skills.

It Promotes Physical Development

Activities such as pouring, shovelling, digging and drawing on large surfaces or in the sand and mud helps to build strength in the large muscle groups at the top of the arms. These large muscles help to stabilise our shoulder blades and help the smaller muscles in our hands and fingers to make precise and controlled movements. All of this is essential for sitting and for writing.

Through messy play we develop our fine motor skills often using tweezers, sponges, brushes and scissors. Fine motor skills are needed to develop our hand and finger muscles ready for writing.

Thank you for having a look at our messy play blog.

In nursery we are given lots of opportunities to practise and apply our literacy skills through play. Literacy is about learning to read and write accurately, being able to listen carefully and talk clearly about ideas.

Showing an interest in different kinds of books and choosing books to look at, and stories to listen to, helps us learn that books are enjoyable, that they provide us with information and that words and pictures mean something.

Sophia and Thea shared a story together that they both liked, they spoke about what they could see in the pictures and told each other parts of the story.

Jackson, Sophia and William explored “Jack and the beanstalk” and “The three billy goats gruff” by ordering pictures and using wooden characters to re-tell parts of the plot.

Ross and Jackson compared their stories, checking with each other which part of the plot they were “reading”. Talking to each other, helping each other to tell parts of the story and discussing main characters are all very important skills needed for reading.

Learning that signs, books and texts provide us with information is important as it makes reading meaningful. Using stories and information from books helps us to plan, make choices and learn new things. Freddie, Max and Jackson chose a selection of Mr Men books this week. They compared characters and got ideas from the stories that they then used in their play. “Look at what Mr Greedy wis eating” said Freddie, “We could easy make yun in the peerie kitchen” said Jackson.

Before we can read it is important that we can hear patterns and sounds of language, such as initial sounds of words and endings of words, rhyme, and where words stop and start.

Joanna clapped out syllables when she was being Freya’s teacher.

Joanna and Lottie had a great time singing different nursery rhymes while bouncing on the See-Saw.

And a trapped spider lead to a lot of singing about Incy Wincy! David built the spider a spout to climb up using blocks.

Exploring events and characters in stories and other texts and sharing our thoughts in different ways are skills that we need in order to become formal readers.

Ertie used wooden characters to make up his own hybrid story about a goat that climbed Jack’s beanstalk.

Freya re-visited “Robot Rumpus” and then made a toast making robot who delivered delicious slices of toast with a selection of toppings.

Joanna, Maisie, Henry, Emmie and Freya built a house together and then created their own story plots around their building.

Through exploring sounds, letters and words in our environments, through play and through looking at books and listening to stories we also develop early writing skills.

Freya and Maggie decided to “practise wir letters” when they were playing schools in the peerie house. Knowing that letters go together to make words and that writing means something, is important so that we can write meaningfully and in ways that are understood later on.

More examples of early writing below.

A large part of learning to write is about having lots of opportunities to play with different mark making implements and to enjoy exploring how to make marks in different ways.

Maisie used pens and paper to “write the shopping list” for her friends.

William drew himself waiting for his turn on the See Saw using chalk. He said “This is me feeling a bit angry because I’m waiting”. Writing is a great way to help us share our feelings!

Ertie and Annie explored mixing green and white and blue and yellow to make different shades of green to create their robots using large paint strokes. Painting on large bits of paper, boxes and surfaces is an enjoyable way to make marks and also develops our writing muscles which helps us to be motivated writers in the future.

Small muscles and tendons in our hands and fingers also need to be strong before we can write. This week some children chose to make spider webs using painted string. Using tongs to pick up the string is a great way to strengthen our hands ready for writing.

Shared mark making gives children time to talk about their ideas and to share their thoughts and feelings. Ross, Bobby and Jackson discussed the different patterns they could see on the frogs and what those might mean. “The yellow stripes are fire”, “the gold bits ir magic dots”.

Lewis shared his knowledge about frogs as he painted, “Dis is his lang red tongue and he has hoppy legs”.

Making marks during imaginary play helps children to link the importance of writing with real life. In the “school” (peerie house) children took turns being the teacher, sharing writing time, comparing marks they had made and asking each other questions. Writing through play allows us to share information and ideas in ways we understand.

If you would like any more information about how to develop literacy skills through play and why play is important for this please get in touch.