Category Archives: Expressive Arts

Making Glasses

The children had so much fun making glasses today. They enjoyed hearing about the Dinosaur who Lost his Specs and decided what their glasses would enable them to see. Some glasses made everything invisible, or a particular colour, and some even made everything fly or even gave the children super powers!

Shoes!

Today the children enjoyed listening to the story of ‘The Elves and The Shoe Maker’. Last week in library time we read ‘Don’t Chew the Royal Shoe’, which was really funny.

So after some discussion about different kinds of footwear the children had a go at  making their own using various materials.

The children worked in pairs and had to help each other complete the task of having a pair of shoes each. They did really well and we spoke about co-operation and helping each other.

They were so chuffed to wear them when they were finished and we now have a bit of a shoe shop developing in the classroom.

Spinning Stem

The children listened to the story of Rumplestiltskin and then they all had a go at Drawing Club in little groups.

The children learned a little bit about forces and we focused on the spinning motion of objects which they have loved investigating.

They then made their own penny spinners and designed them so they would look really cool when they were spun around.

Busy Bodies

Through role play the children have learned a lot about how to look after their bodies and what it would be like to be  a patient or a nurse/doctor in a hospital.

The children learned about their bones and loved having Bob the Skeleton in the classroom for a visit.

They created wonderful skeleton pictures using art straws and had to think carefully about where there were joints.

They also had a torso in which had removable organs. It was like a puzzle to get everything to fit in and a great way to learn about some of the different parts inside their bodies.

They learned a little bit about their heart and lungs and completed some exercise challenges to see how this effected the different parts of their bodies.

The children worked in groups to create these amazing posters spending time learning about the different things they need to do to look after their bodies.

There are so many aspects of their school day which lend themselves to the Busy Body topic this term. working in the Polycrub, growing their own food, snacktime and lunchtime are also perfect opportunities to discuss healthy food and a balanced diet and outdoor play really provides lots of exercise and fresh air.

 

Buddying

The Primary 1’s look forward to meeting up with their buddies every week. The p7’s plan a variety of fantastic fun activities to do together and recently completed this collage based on the Hungry Caterpillar story.

Strom Beach

We are so lucky to have wonderful places to walk to from our school.

There is always plenty to chat about, investigate and be curious about on our walks.

Once we got to the beach it was time for snack! It is always quite exciting having food outdoors with friends.

the sun came out for us and there was plenty of interesting finds on the beach.

The longer we stayed the more curious and creative the children became. Some of the children began re-routing the water flowing across the beach and building dams and new channels.

Learning Out in the Snow

Opportunities for using loose part to create dens. Great for developing problem solving and teamwork skills.

Collecting the melting snow from icicles dripping from the roof. Great science and STEM opportunities outdoors.

Some of the melting ice was collected in a different way!

 

 

Deciding which containers are best for different purposes. Evie’s snowman needed three different sized containers.

Opportunities to develop creativity, confidence and take risks- so many skills being developed.

Collaboration, choice and commitment in play develops so many social skills and friendships. It can also be exhausting!

 

Testing to see which snowball goes fastest- big or small? Does lifting the guttering higher or lower? So many opportunities for conversation, developing vocabulary and communication skills outdoors.

 

 

Checking out footprints and the different patterns boots make in the snow.

 

 

 

 

World Book Day

The children all looked amazing today and had great fun listening to and reading stories.

Several of the staff joined in as characters from the book The Day the Crayons Quit.

The children loved sharing their books and explaining who their characters were.

Ellis dressed as Greg from Diary of A Wimpy Kid and Mrs Moncrieff was the white crayon to colour him in.

In the afternoon the children became authors and publishers and wrote their own books! They were so enthusiastic and the independent writing was amazing.

Viking Warriors

The children love learning about the Vikings and have been enjoying role play opportunities in the classroom. It is great to see them all getting on so well together using what they have been learning in their play. Below is a snapshot of Wednesday afternoon’s adventures.

The galley is now finished and they have been taking turns and sailing around the world discovering new places to settle.

Sometimes,  just their imaginations are enough. They set out chairs and rowed their longship – even before it was built.

Once in their new lands the children have been learning how Vikings trade items to get what they need. Their are jewels, gems, furs, food and  jewellery to swap, using the scales and balances to work out different amounts.

They would also need to cook over an open fire in the middle of the longhouse using foods available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These viking warriors are getting ready for another attack.

 

The children are enjoying using the Viking longships in the water tray to set battle scenes and talk about their topic.

 

 

NGUHA

The children were already for their visit from the Nesting and Girlsta Jarl Squad.

In class they made axes, shields and helmets with Viking runes and designs on them.

The children all designed individual shields and they voted for the best one which was enlarged and put on the Jarl Squad’s galley. Esme won this and her shield looked amazing.

The Jarl Squad came in singing and cheering. The Jarl enjoyed his quiz which the children helped prepare and then everyone enjoyed a Boston Two Step with the jarl Squads’ band.

 

Dancing

There have been a few sessions of traditional dance this term. The class have been learning the Grand Old Duke of York. The Circassian Circle, The Grand March and the Boston Two Step.

Lots of great listening to follow instructions and keep time to the music.

They also had a session dancing with their Buddies. The Primary 2’s got P6 buddies for the dances. It was so much fun.

Then we had a whole school dance which included the Early Years children and school staff.

Our Big Dino Build

The children started by selecting suitable boxes/junk to make their model dinosaur. They worked in pairs so there was a lot of discussion and collaboration to find the parts and join them together.

We spoke about how to make their model strong by creating different types of joins in using PVA and sellotape.

The next stage was seriously messy. They used papier mache to cover the dinosaur, focusing on the joins and making sure the newspaper strips went from one part of the model onto an adjoining part.

Once the models had two coats of papier mache it was time to choose colours for their dinosaur.

Once the paint was dry the children thought about the detail they wanted to add- eyes, teeth, claws etc.

The primary 2’s have been working on adjectives in their literacy work so this was a great opportunity to apply that learning to describing their dinosaur.

The writing was read out in class for the others to guess which model the description matched.

Their is now a little Dinosaur Exhibition set up in the school for the other classes and staff to visit to see the models and the writing.

Buddying

Every week the Primary 1’s meet up with their buddies in Primary 7. This is always exciting and the bairns really look forward to it. They do lots of fun things together inside and outside during this time. Below are just some of the things they have been enjoying doing together.

Parachute games

Robots with Rectangles

Plasticine Creations and Presentations

Puppets and Puppet Shows

Name Collages

Cards for the Community

All the children in the school made Christmas cards for the over 80’s who live in the community. The primary 1/2 class uses tatties to print penguins then put on details with cut paper and pens. They looked fantastic. I am sure the recipients were delighted with these precious cards.

Our Christmas Concert

We only managed a few rehearsals in school before the snow came and we had to close. The children were so good at listening and following instructions. They made their own props and practised songs as often as possible.

The children did so well remembering their lines and singing their songs on the big stage. It was a great experience for them performing in front of such a big audience.

Symmetry

The children have just begun a topic on symmetry and have really enjoyed the first few activities. They had fun looking at reflections and using mirrors to make pictures complete.

They worked with a partner to create a giant symmetrical design using classroom objects.

They made symmetrical body shapes with their partner.

They had great fun investigating symmetry with the little mirrors.

The children had a go at painting symmetry butterflies. They make a very colourful corner in the classroom.

They then had a go at creating their own symmetry paintings for their gallery.

Halloween Fun

The bairns have had so much fun being back at school with a Halloween theme in the classroom. They have been enjoying dressing up, reading stories, making potions and spells,  hocking out pumpkins and finding spooky creatures in some very disgusting blue goo amongst other things.

After reading the story Funnybones the children had a go at drawing skeletons. They loved learning about the different bones and feeling for them inside their own bodies. The drawing were excellent.

 

The children helped Grizelda the Witch with her spell. They put in lots of gruesome, unusual and scary things.

 

There was great excitement as the mixture began to bubble up and the children said their magic words.

The mixture bubbled over and the children thought of wonderful things their spell could do……..

The children completed some writing using their favourite ingredients for the cauldron. These are from Primary 1’s.

They loved the opportunity to scrape the seeds out of the pumpkins and get them ready for carving. This created lots of discussion, fun and mess.

 

 

 

p1/2 Assembly

The P1/2 class presented their IDL learning in a whole school assembly on Friday. They shared drawings of themselves with things they like and are good at. They had lovely drawings of their families, including some writing done on the computers.

 

 

They dressed up as what they would like to be when they grow up and showed their paintings to the rest of the school staff and children.

 

 

The paintings are on display in the classroom now.

Number formations in p1

The children have been practising the correct formations of numbers. They listen to stories, play outdoor and indoor games and practise writing them in sand and on whiteboards.

The children worked in groups of 2 to go out and collect lots of threes  of things. They worked really well with their partners and created lovely displays of their findings.

They are practising their counting by playing games and through lots of play and everyday activities.

They have been doing ‘speedy skills’ as part of their morning routine which is a great way to get in a little bit  more practise of how to write those numbers correctly.

last week they created Feathery Four who is the peacock in the story which is all about 4. He looks fabulous and the children were great at following instructions for making his tail feathers.

The children made jumps out of lego for Frisky 5 the kangaroo character to jump over.

The children made a swamp for Snappy Six which had 6 trees, 6 ducks, 6 rocks etc. This was great fun and  super exercise for those little fingers.