It’s been a very chilly week of weather but that hasn’t stopped us getting outdoors this week. On Tuesday some of us wanted to go to the playpark. We spoke about what kind of clothes we would need to wear on such a cold day. We dressed in warm winter suits, wooly hats and boots. Talking about the weather, noticing the weather and choosing appropriate clothes helps us develop awareness of the changing seasons and how different materials are used for different purposes.
We went on many adventures in the playpark including a very bumpy boat ride on the SeeSaw! “It’s a right coorse day!” “I’m sitting in near the window. I can see the sea, big waves!” We also went on calm ferry journeys, taking turns to be the skipper.
The playpark provided us with lots of opportunities to make big body movements through climbing, swinging and running up and down the hills. Big movements like these are essential for our whole body development, balance, spatial awareness and core strength all of which are needed for more formal learning later on. Playing on the different resources in the playpark is a great way for us to develop our mathematical understanding as we explore speed, direction, force and height and develop our mathematical language using words such as “push, pull, up, down, fast, slower.”
We found ice at the playpark. It was very cold on our hands. We explored how it melted as we held it. “It’s going.” “It’s turning peerie.” We discussed how the ice melts and turns back into water when it warms up. We noticed areas in the playpark where the sun had melted the ice. Learning about scientific principles through real life experiences helps us to understand our world and link learning to life.
As we ran around we noticed our breaths were steaming! “I’m breathing smoke!”, “Look at my breathing!” We wondered why this was happening and learned that our breath is warm and wet and it was cold and dry outside which meant we could see our breath. Being curious, wondering about how things work and asking questions are essential components of learning.
During the week it also snowed. Experiencing the snow falling was a great way for us to develop our vocabulary as we described how it felt, what it looked like, how it moved and we sang songs about it, “It’s cold.” “It’s white!”. “Whar’s it gone? It landed on my glove and noo it’s gone.”, “flakes and puckles.” “It’s coming doon slow fae the sky!” Some of us were very interested in how Laurence kept the paths clear. We learned more about the seasons and the months of the year through our songs, discussions and outdoor play.
We had some windy days too! A group of us were keen to see how things blew around the playground so we made some “kites” and attached them to string. Flying our kites helped us learn about wind direction and gusts. We developed a deeper understanding of different weather and scientific and mathematical concepts such as force, direction and speed.
We sing a lot in nursery, not just about the weather! A very popular songs this week was “Five speckled frogs”. Singing number songs helps us develop mathematical understanding and awareness of rhyme. We made logs out of blocks and listened carefully for our name to be sung before we jumped into the pond. We also learned that we needed to adapt the way we jumped depending on which log we were on as some of them were not supported by a wall behind. Being able to assess risks is an important life skill for us to develop.
Our boat play also continued throughout the week both indoors and out. We continued to go fishing, finding shoals of fish and other sea creatures such as crabs and scallops. As our play develops we are beginning to learn more about these creatures and where we can find them, “go deeper to get the fish”, “dir is a crab under d steen!”. After fishing many of us wanted to clean the boat. “It’s tied up at the pier so get wir brushes”. Cleaning the boat is a great way for us to develop our mark making skills as we use big shoulder movements and follow lines and shapes with the rollers and brushes.
Indoors we built the Zephyr and Research using a variety of big and small blocks. Our vocabulary continues to develop and our building becomes more refined as we re-visit this interest. This week we used words such as “crane”, “bow” and “hull”, “lower deck” and used a variety of tools to fix engines, leaks steering problems.
We also used tools as part of our play outdoors. There was a lot of vehicles getting “bugged in” in the sand pit this week. We worked together to create alternative routes for the vehicles and digging them out. We experimented with the depth of sand each wheel could turn/not turn in and how the sand consistency affected the grip.
Vehicles incidents continued indoors as well as cars and trucks slid off the road due to ice and snow. An important aspect of early years learning is for our outdoor and indoor experiences to flow as one “classroom”. The environment and spaces that we have available for us to use indoors and outdoors enables this to happen.
Other blocks that were used a lot this week were our Duplo ones. We created long and short trains, counted how many carriages we had and discussed where the train was going. We built towers and houses with doors in the roof. We named people from our families that were in the houses and made up stories as we built. Building together developed our literacy skills as we were encouraged us to share space and resources, be aware of each other and to listen to each other’s ideas.
Other big block building involved making a school. The school was a fantastic place for us to develop our mark making, listening and talking skills and our creativity as we made up scenarios, took on roles and co-operated as part of our play.
It wasn’t just in “the school” that we developed our mark making. We developed these skills throughout the setting in a variety of ways, using glue sticks, moving our hands and fingers in glitter gel, creating signs and pictures as part of our play and chopping, rolling and squeezing playdough.
We look forward to sharing more of our learning with you next week!
