Mathematics while we play….

I set up two activities this week:

  One involving a small toy car, a block for a bridge, a wooden house and another block for a tunnel. In small groups, the children listened to instructions of what to do. ie. put the car in the tunnel, on top of the bridge, inside the house, behind the house, under the block, etc.

   The other activity had a spider, an egg box and a few other resources to make it fun. Again, instructions were given and children had fun working out 'where to put the objects'. We had fun learning positional language. After this activity, the children independently used the language while they build bridges, tunnels and houses using the large scale bricks and blocks during free play. 

 Links to the EYFS http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2012/03/Development-Matters-FINAL-PRINT-AMENDED.pdf
Learning- Mathematics- Shapes, space and Measure- Using positional language in everyday play (40-60Months)

Making a familiar story “come to life’’

A matter of taste......

We read 'Maisy makes Lemonade'….. 

(extract from story)… ‘it’s a hot day, and Maisy is having a nice cold drink. Eddie is hot, too, but it takes a lot of lemonade to satisfy this thirsty friend. Not to worry – Maisy goes out to the garden and  picks some fresh lemons. Together they stir in some water and sugar, and there! A pitcher of refreshing lemonade…’ 

On the current theme of healthy eating, we discussed ways of making healthy drinks and shakes. In the story, ‘Maisy’ adds sugar and water to the lemons. Some of the children thought that lemons were sweet and wanted to know if it was okay to add sugar? I assured them that lemons were not sweet on their own. I decided to make the story come alive by sharing real lemons with them for snack the next day and came prepared with real lemons.We read the story again, and examined, touched, smelled AND tasted the lemons.  Lots of giggles were produced using a mirror and some very silly faces! as we 'tasted the bitter lemons'. 

Many of the children commented on the texture of the lemons. We extended the hands-on, tactile experience by adding yellow to our plain play dough whilst forming ‘oval shapes’ to represent the shape of lemons and made ‘dimples’ in them with the tip of pencil.

During the taste test, some children put their tongue on the edge of the lemon and discarded it straight away while others tried eating it. Only one child kept it in their mouth, assuring me that they 'loved lemons on their own'. After the exercise, the children agreed that 'lemons do need sugar!'.

Soon, I am repeating this fun activity using spices.

                                

Links to the EYFS - EYFS http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2012/03/Development-Matters-FINAL-PRINT-AMENDED.pdf

Learning: Expressive Arts and Design- Beginning to be interested in and describe the texture of things. (30-50 months)

Listening to children. Observing them and following their interests as we learn....                                                        One of the children asked me' what does that sign say?' I answered, 'it says: ‘can you make a den?'. That child said, 'oh wow. I want to make a pirate's den'. At group time we decided to split into two groups, led by the children. The adults put blankets and fabrics over 2 tables and removed all chairs. I asked the children, ‘how would you make a den?'. They scratched their heads and thought for a while and one of them said, excitedly, 'I know. we can throw the blankets over the table and crawl under!!'. The children had fun making their pirate dens, and added animals, cars and other resources. Some of them wore the pirate’s hats from dressing up. We made treasure maps which we stuck to the bottom of the tables so that we could read them 'upside down'. We had a busy morning, and later went out in the garden. One of the girls helped me 'look for fairies that live in dark places' while the other children explored other ways of being pirates in the garden. Can't wait for next week when we continue having fun!

X marks the spot......

map showing where the treasure (and fairies!) are.

Exploring creepy crawlies outdoors...

Later this month, we are having a visitor who is bringing mini beasts along for the children to learn about. I put together an activity for the young ones to explore our own bugs, in the garden..and also in sand and rice play for indoors. Lots to examine and investigate with magnifiers! and also extending vocabulary for those with English as a second language. Can't wait to see their little faces and hear what they have to say....

Another job done!

Sewing and lamination out of the way and song bags ready.

and meanwhile....: Last Month...

Poem writing...

The children took turns with me to write their own special poem. It is called 'my first poem'. Children share their favourite things in the poem, creating a lovely snapshot of them at this stage as well as giving them pride and satisfaction in their achievement. We will be sending our entries in soon, and wait to hear the outcome! It is very exciting! We could win the prize of £1000 and last year our entries were published in a book, which made us really proud!

also....
The children enjoyed another Spanish class today and listened well. We were able to recall words and sounds that we have heard before and recognise some familiar tunes. The children are getting good at counting in Spanish. We do greetings and know how to say please and thank you in Spanish. Thank you, R, our teacher,  for another fun session.

and...

The children loved exploring our new musical instruments. The experimented with 'making noise' and took turns guessing what the sounds 'sound' like. They enjoyed hitting tins and tubs with wooden spoons to the tune of 'Humpty Dumpty'. We had a lot of fun in the garden today.

Song bags for next week...

I am busy sewing song bags to use next week. Good, old fashioned songs that we sang as kids..recycled! and yes.. I can sing..but only for children!...

Esther's Little Learners: In March 2015...

In March 2015...

In March...a visit to M's farm

I had a group time in which the children engaged in conversation about visiting a farm or any other farm. We looked at photo's of cows and calves, pigs and piglets and sheep and lambs. The children recalled how we met little chicks and that they would be on a farm too, growing bigger as they ran around in the fresh air and ate seeds and chicken food. We spoke about washing hands to keep ourselves from getting 'poorly' and how important hand washing was on a farm. The children are looking forward to farms this summer.

On another day...
The group of boys coudn't wait to leave the early morning group time to play at the tray filled with exciting small bricks, cars and other items. They hurriedly set about making 'things to play with'.
One boy declared that ' I am making a hill for my car'. Another boy was happily working on his' amazing flying car with a rocket engine' while ? creation was a 'crocodiles house, of course!'. ? watched and listened and declared, 'I am making a ostrich' and laughed and laughed. We have so many giggles every day!

Song time...
At group time today, we sang some familiar songs doing the actions. Our songs had counting and clapping to the beat. We did stretching, and used our arms and legs. Some songs were not so familiar and we need more practice singing them to get to know then better. We had fun singing and doing the actions though.