This week’s activity

Exploring the cold weather

The teacher asked the children what the weather was like at the moment. The children all responded that it is cold. This led to discussion around what might happen to the wildlife who live in or near our garden. They decided to go outside and explore. Having wrapped up warm, they visited the areas of our garden set aside for wildlife. We have a large bug hotel, a small ‘pond’ for creatures who live in or near water, such as frogs and an area for feeding birds, alongside a bird bath for drinking and bathing.

The children commented that, as the ground is hard due to the frost/ice, it must be hard for the birds to get food. They also noticed that the bird bath was frozen over, which meant that the birds couldn’t get a drink or have a wash. The teacher asked what they could do. The children had a collective think and decided they could use sticks to break the ice up.

To ensure the birds had something to eat, the children broke some stale bread into pieces and placed it onto the bird table.

Once the children had taken care of the local wildlife, they went on to discuss the weather. They had placed a large outdoor thermometer on top of the shed. After a little while, they took a reading and noted that it was 0 degrees – freezing! They also put out an ice-cube tray with water in to see if anything would happen. They discussed how when water goes below 0 degrees it freezes and becomes ice. Finally, the children noticed that as they breathed out, they could see their breath. The teacher explained that their breath is warmer than the air around it today and that is why you can see it. One child described it as ‘fire breath’ and another as ‘dragon’s breath’.

There are some photos of this activity on our Facebook page.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

The Pre-school Team