This week’s activities

Traffic light game

Children should be engaging in physical exercise everyday. They should be getting out of breath and it is part of our role to facilitate this and talk to children about keeping physically healthy. They are told that it is ok for them to feel their heart beating faster and for their breathing to be harder. We always help children to learn through play. This week, some of the children went over to the large school field to play a ‘traffic light’ game. A visual prompt was used to let the children know when they should run (green) and stop (red). As well as learning about physical development, they needed to be able to listen carefully, follow instructions, recognise colours and concentrate.

Exploring an apple

At this time of year there is an abundance of apples. The children often eat apples at snack, but we thought it would be interesting for them to explore the inside of an apple before they ate it. First of all the children used our safety knives to cut the apple into pieces, retaining the core. They enjoyed the apple at snack and we talked about how fruit is good for our bodies and gives us nutrients and vitamins. They then returned to exploring the left over parts of the apple that we usually put in our compost bin. Hidden inside the core, they discovered the seeds (pips). The teacher asked if they knew where apples come from. A lot of the children replied ‘the shops’. This led to discussion around where apples come from before they get to the shops. Having learnt about the lifecycle of an apple tree, the children wanted to plant the seeds to see if they could grow their very own apple trees! They chose a pot, added compost and put the tiny seed in the soil. They thought about what the seed would need to grow. They chose a sunny spot in the garden and then gave them some water. Whilst it is unlikely that the seeds will germinate, this in itself leads to further discussion and learning.

Exploring pumpkins

At this time of year, there are a lot of pumpkins around – either in the supermarket, on farms, in local shops. Whilst we do not celebrate Halloween, we still take the opportunity to explore the things that children experience in their lives and many children will have seen or talked about pumpkins. The children were given the opportunity to explore the pumpkins, thinking about their shape, colour, their texture; discovering that they are hard and heavy on the outside. As you know, pumpkins are not easy to cut, so the top was taken off by the teacher. The children then discovered that the inside of the pumpkin is very different to the outside. The flesh is soft and squidgy and there are a lot of seeds hidden in the flesh. The children spent a long time exploring the pumpkin, using all of their senses and learning new words to describe what they were experiencing. We have saved the seeds, which are currently drying out. Once we return after half term, we will re-visit them and ask the children for ideas about what we can do with them next.

Science experiment – volcanoes!

Children love getting messy and seeing how things react with each other. A simple experiment that you can replicate at home (it can be messy, so bear that in mind), is making ‘erupting volcanoes’. You only need a few household items. These are lemon juice, baking powder and white vinegar. If you really want to go all out, you can add food colouring! Each child was given a plastic cup into which they each poured a squeeze of lemon juice. Next they added the food colouring using a pipet. Pipets are great for fine motor skills, as they promote the pincer grip used in writing. They followed this with a spoonful of baking powder before adding the final ingredient, white vinegar. To catch the ‘lava’, the children put their cups in one of our large tough trays – you could use a domestic tray at home or any easily cleanable surface. They discussed what had happened, thinking about how the ingredients worked together to create a chemical reaction. Lovely!

There are some great photos on our website, www.anthonyroperpreschool.co.uk, and our Facebook page. Please have a look and leave a comment. We appreciate your feedback.

Don’t forget today is our last day for children before half term – tomorrow is a staff INSET day. We will be undertaking whole team training in Makaton.

We hope you have a lovely half term and look forward to seeing you from week beginning Monday 31st October.

The Pre-school Team