This week’s activities
Robin Bubble
This week the children have been using all of their senses to explore and make sense of the world in
the following ways:
They have explored colours; colours in nature, colours in their environment and how they can create
new colours with paint by mixing them together. They used different tools to paint a large box,
including different sized paint brushes and toothbrushes. Looking at the different effects they
created and using different muscle groups, depending on whether they were doing small marks (fine
motor skills) or big strokes (gross motor skills). They also used marbles to roll the paint across the
surface, looking at the different patterns they could create.
They have used the junk modelling resources in lots of different and creative ways, including using
toilet rolls to press out circles in playdough. The making of playdough offers different experiences to
simply using playdough. They can see what happens when water and oil are poured together (do
they mix?), what happens when they use shampoo in the mixture (what does it feel like, smell like?)
and what happens when they include an essential oil to the finished product, in this case,
peppermint. Have they smelt it before, does it remind them of anything, perhaps something they’ve
eaten, or cleaned their teeth with?
In their stories they have listened to the way we can use our voices to make sound louder and
quieter and how we can adapt our voices to create different characters. One of our ‘Golden Rules’ is
“quiet voices inside and loud voices outside”. By using loud and quiet voices in stories, they can
begin to appreciate the difference and why, when we want to make ourselves heard, we need to do
it in the correct voice according to the space we are in.
As you will know, the weather has been a bit of a challenge this week but the children simply love
it. As long as they are wrapped up warm and with waterproof clothing, they can get outside and
make the most of the seasons. This week they have been listening to the sound the rain makes on
different surfaces, checking and measuring how much rain we have caught in our rain collector,
looking at the river to see how high it has got compared to last week and, of course, exploring
puddles (who doesn’t love splashing in a puddle in their wellies!) It has also been rather windy this
week. The children have been observing the effects of wind on the trees and how the wind flag is
lifted high into the air when the wind is really strong.
We are recording the weather each day so that the children have a record that they can look back on
to see how the weather and seasons change over time.
Wren Bubble
Wren Garden is lucky to have a 5 star bug hotel! It was looking a little tired after the long winter
spell, so the children have given it a face lift ready for the next set of guests to arrive.
They have been exploring playdough and what they can do with it using their hands. Playdough is
great for strengthening muscles in their arms and fingers – all of which are necessary to develop
those important fine motor skills which will eventually be needed when learning to write.
Sticking with the playdough, the children made “marshmallows to toast on the fire” in the
garden. They collected sticks for the fire and to put the marshmallows on so that they could safely
put them into the flames – really fantastic imaginative play. Children often re-enact real life events
in their play. This helps them make sense of their world and to form connections with others who
have had similar experiences, or to engage others in something new.
They have played ball games and ring games to encourage turn-taking and patience, as well as being
good fun and great for physical development. They also chose to play hide and seek. Following the
rules, closing their eyes, counting and finding their friends.
Building on the turn-taking and sharing, they have carried out small group activities, such as sitting in
a circle on the floor, choosing a friend to gently roll the ball to and then that friend chooses another
friend to gently roll the ball to. There are lots of lovely personal, social and emotional skills needed
in this simple game; I have to wait my turn, I have to be patient, I have to include everyone and
make sure everyone has a go, I have to do it carefully and gently so no-one gets hurt, to name but a
few. As they played, they discussed how superheroes are kind and gentle and how they look after
both people and things.
They have explored what happens when mechanical things stop working and what they look like
when you take them apart. They used real screwdrivers to dismantle an old CD player, carefully
unscrewing the small screws (great fine motor skills), seeing what happens when they take them out
and how pieces start to come off the CD player (understanding technology). Sadly, the CD player is
beyond repair, but it will continue to be a useful resource for the children to explore.
We are looking to the coming warmer months and are starting to ‘chit’ some potatoes, as well as
using knives to see what is inside the potato, talking about what the potatoes will need to grow, how
we can peel potatoes and cook them in different ways to make scrummy food.
As always, most of the activities we carry out at Pre-school can be replicated at home, so why not
give some of them a go. They’re great fun!