This week’s activities
Robin Bubble
This week the children have explored the concept of money. In this technological world, children do not often see ‘real’ money. The majority of transactions that occur in shops or online are digital. Children are therefore missing out on the exchange of money for goods and the value that the money represents and what can be bought with certain amounts. In their role play they have used calculators, tills and play money. They have also used Lego blocks to represent money; so that a small Lego block represents £1.00 and a large one represents £10.00. They have talked about what is expensive and how you would need to use your £10.00 to buy some things but only £1.00 to buy others. Children’s imagination means they are not limited to buying the things that look ‘real’. A pinecone and a ball became ‘icecream’. Yum, yum (maybe a bit too cold for some!)
There has been lots of music. Music from the CD player (which teaches them about how things work, eg how electricity is used to power the CD player, how sound can be recorded). Playing musical instruments – mainly percussion. Great for learning beat and tempo. Clapping hands to different songs. Again, great for rhythm, fast, slow, loud, quiet concepts. As well as the usual songs and rhymes. Children are natural musicians. Instilling a love of music from a young age has lots of benefits for developing brains.
In their construction they have explored lots of different ways to build according to the resources they use, such as the Mobilo, Lego and the large wooden blocks in the garden. Every time they build they are learning new concepts or reinforcing ones they have already learnt. For example, if I put one brick on top of another, I can build a single tower, but if I join more bricks together in the foundation layer, I can make the tower wider and stronger.
In their arts and crafts they have continued to use junk modelling to create all sorts of items, including a rocket, These creations have involved lots of problem solving; should I use glue or cellotape to make it stick? What size toilet roll do I need for the nose cone? They have also found different resources from around the room to make prints. It could be the footprints of a dinosaur or the Lego from construction. Each item has it’s own characteristics, creating an individual pattern and a unique piece of artwork.
Continuing with the re-purposing of resources that we would otherwise throw away, they have used the shredded paper from the office shredder in their sensory play and have helped with the preparation work for the repairs to some of the large electrical cable reels that we have in the garden, by washing them down and helping to sand them for a smooth finish, ready for painting.
Debbie has made a bird feeder for the garden using the resources in the Pre-school, including the wooden lolly sticks from the craft area. Now it is ready, the children are helping to feed the birds on a regular basis and see which species are attracted to the garden. The children are learning what the birds like to eat and how it can be hard for them to find food at this time of year. Lots of lovely development around caring for the natural world and the beginnings of those empathetic feelings.
As always, the children have been noticing the weather and recording it in their weather log and talking about the days of the week.
Wren Bubble
This week the children have continued to be inspired by the resources in the book corner to act out their own stories, drawing on what they see in the books, what they hear when they are read to and using this to let their imagination take them on magical adventures of their own creation.
They have shown lots of creative ideas in their arts and crafts. They have tried out different items to make marks with the paint, including rollers, stamps, sticks, looking at the different marks the items make and the effects that can be created by combining them. They have also used the larger items from the junk modelling to create large scale sculptures. Learning through trial and error what works and what doesn’t work. Showing perseverance when things don’t work out the first time but not giving up at the first hurdle. One of the children even made some ‘weights’ to build up his muscles. Lying on the floor and raising the weights above his head – obviously something he has seen in his home life!
They have continued to be interested in each others’ height; using the tape measure against the wall to see how tall they are and checking to see if anyone has grown from last time they were measured. It is interesting to note that children often relate size to age. They assume that a taller child is older or a smaller child is younger. The teacher’s role is to guide them about how each person grows at a different rate and that age is not the same as size.
They have come up with ingenious obstacle courses involving the welly shelf, a table and a small tunnel. By working co-operatively, they managed to navigate their way through the tunnel, helping each other out and taking turns. In a similar vein, they also used the wooden planks to create ramps and race tracks for the push along cars.
The cold weather at the start of the week led to much curiosity about the properties of ice. Why had the water frozen? What could they do with the ice? – they used it in construction and the mud kitchen – very creative. They also talked about how cold it is at the moment and how we can warm our bodies in different ways. For example, they talked about and carried out lots of physical exercise; talking about the effect the exercise has on how warm they feel. They then thought about how wearing more layers of clothing can help us to keep warm, even when it is really cold outside. Once they were nice and toasty, they then started to think about how they could cool down when it’s hot. Suggestions ranged from having an ice-lolly, to a cold drink, to sitting in the shade. Lots of lovely understanding of the world and their physical wellbeing.
As always, this is just a snapshot of some of the things the children have been doing over the week. Many of the activities can be carried out at home. You really don’t need lots of specialist equipment, work sheets or computers for your child to be learning through play. Play is vital for children’s wellbeing and development but most importantly, learning should be fun!