Motorbikes!

Another Dad offered to visit the setting and show us his families motortrail bikes!

 

We would like to thank Mr. Jo Leeming for bringing his trial bikes to the setting to show to the children. 

Although initially some children found them scary...especially when the bigger bike roared to life...the children were all persuaded to sit on first the little bike and then on the bigger bike (both on stands).  It was a long way up!  They then all had fun trying on the safety outfits – the gloves; bodysuit; helmets and glasses too.

 ...Thereafter...this short visit sparked a lot of different activities and learning opportunities.

We talked about

•  EAD/CL – loud and quiet noises....what other noises can you hear

• CL – language development – new words naming other vehicles – tricycles to juggernaut lorries

• M – Sizing vehicles, counting wheels (which has the most/least)

• UW – using ramps to make vehicles roll

• EA – Printing wheels.

SO.....

If YOU have an interesting job; an interest, a hobby, a skill, musical ability, or something YOU think that the children would find interesting and may learn something from, don’t be backward in coming forward – talk to Michele and Dawn without delay.

Your visit need only last 15 minutes.  We would be delighted to have your help!

 

Everyone has something to offer...

you could even come into the setting and read your favourite story!

 

Submariner Visit - 20th June

We regularly ask parents if they would like to come into the setting and talk/show the children something.  One of the setting's Dad's offered his time & took up this challenge last term.  Mr. Mason visited the setting to talk to the children about his job

 

– we grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

 We would like to thank Mr. Mason for his visit.  You were absolutely BRILLIANT!  The children enjoyed themselves immensely.

Mr. Mason talked to the children about his job, explaining that submarines floated under water.  The children sang a sailor went to sea sea sea and saluted to Mr Mason (he was very tall!).  Mr. Mason then helped the children to explore how to make bottles float & sink in a deep water tray.  Lots of learning!

 Thereafter, we arranged lots of different activities –

• EA - drawings of submarines;
• UW - who could make the biggest splosh;
• blowing bubbles and other sea themed under water activities.

SO.....

 

If YOU have an interesting job; an interest, a hobby, a skill, musical ability, or something YOU think that the children would find interesting and may learn something from, don’t be backward in coming forward – talk to Michele and Dawn without delay!

Your visit need only last 15  minutes.  We would be delighted to have your help!

 

 

Everybody has something to offer

....you could even share your favourite story!

Frogs - March 2013.

TWENTY tiny tadpoles touching tails together in the tank on the table-top (alliterative)

We were VERY fortunate that one parent found some tiny tadpoles this year....the weather was so cold that spawn and tadpoles were in short supply - so thank you Evie for catching them and carefully bringing them into the setting

Its truly amazing what you can do with a big plastic box...chicks in it one week, tadpoles the next...and what a viewing tank it makes!

As the weeks past the children watched the tadpoles grow bigger and bigger.  They excitedly spotted the first legs.  Didn't Jessica get a surprise when the little froglet on my finger took a leap toward her!  Didn't we all laugh.

The children thoroughly enjoyed looking after their tadpoles.  Feeding and cleaning them.  We regularly changed their water.  The children using a bucket to collect water from the tap and carrying it back to help fill it up.

It was quite interesting, at first they all tried to outdo each other and fill the bucket too full to manage on their own.  They soon learned that they needed less to do the whole operation independently

Many of these "extra special opportunities" are used as a launch pad for other learning opportunities including


Draw Frog Spawn:
L: Handwriting – Developing hand-eye coordination in using mark-making tools to draw circles.
L: Linking Sounds and Letters – Rhyming Frog (bog, tog, log, dog)

Print Frog Spawn:

Math: Think about what ONE/TWO/FEW/MORE is and represent this number

Make Freddie Frogs:
Math: Shape Space & Measure – Who’s Freddie has the longest tongue?
Phy: Using Equipment and Materials – Cutting out Freddies

Balancing Frogs:
PHY: Movement and Space – Demonstrate the control necessary to hold a shape or fixed position whilst balancing a frog

Giant Tadpoles:
EAD:  Differentiate marks and movements on paper – drawing frogs & writing own name
EAD:  Explore what happens when they mix colours – mixing greys.

The Big Fish (and other stories)
CL: Reading – Enjoy an increasing range of stories
L:  F is for Frog (and others)
CL: Linking Sounds and letters – Hear and say the initial sound in words and know which letters represent some sounds

...and of course lots more!!!!

Chicks - March 2013.

Hi Everyone

We have to thank anonymous parents’ who sponsored the 2013 living egg experience for the setting, without their support we wouldn’t have been able to afford the scheme this year.

 At the end of February the eggs arrived.  How eagerly the children kept watch!  Over the next few days one by one nearly all the eggs hatched.  We had 12 baby chicks this year in total.  7 girls (hens) and 5 boys (cockerels)....we could tell because girls were brown and boys were yellow.

 Only one of the chicks hatched out during the daytime this year.  All the children present eagerly kept watch as little by little the baby chick chipped its way out of its shell and fell out onto the tray in the incubator.

 It’s truly miraculous that such a scruffy, scrawny thing becomes a fluffy chick an hour later.  Most of the children looked on in awe with lots of “it’s so cute” each time we transferred a chick from the incubator into the brooder

 We often spotted children watching the chicks through the viewing window, commenting on what the chicks were doing.  In the first day or two, the chicks were often sleepy...and bundled together like a heap of cotton wool balls, with legs and wings stuck out here there and everywhere.  After a day or two, they were much more active and inquisitive and made us laugh at some of their antics.

 It’s amazing how quickly chicks grow!  Two days and we could see some of their flight feathers on their wings start to develop.  The chicks became much more robust and just a few days after they were born the children were able to hold them in their hands.

 What a surprise the children had when the chicks launched themselves in their first attempts to fly on Day 6.  How disgusted we were at the mess they soon made of their bedding...we had to clean them out every day!

 Although the weather was VERY COLD this year, we did take the chicks outside to enjoy some winter sunshine.  The children enjoyed using our big blocks to make a pen for them.  We had lots of giggles when the chicks started walking through the hollow blocks and hopping over the top and needed catching and returning.

 

The “living egg” experience is such an amazing starting point for children’s learning. 

-       talk about other animals that start life in an egg...insects; dinosaurs; lizards; snakes and more.

-       egg math – matching pairs; patterned eggs; number lines; sizing etc

-       Easter

PSE: The children showed their interest in the items that arrived.
PSE: The children were polite and well –behaved, responding to adults asking them to stand back whilst they watched.
CL: The children are learning new words.
CL: The children asked lots of questions
L: – ascribe meaning to the marks that they see – this time the sign saying “DO NOT TOUCH”
Math The children counted the eggs in the incubator – 17 eggs in total
UW: - The children had to wait patiently for the eggs to hatch
UW: The children learnt about an incubator
• UW: The children learnt about other animals that came out of eggs, including: snakes; lizards; crocodiles; swans; owls; ducks; spiders; butterflies; snails; fish etc. They drew an animal in an egg

PSE: the children didn’t touch the controls of the incubator. They were careful not to knock it or touch. They showed awareness of the rules and followed them.
• CL: The children recalled what was said the day before in their language use.
• CL The children were quiet for a period whilst we all listened to see if we could hear chicks peeping inside their shells.
• LL: We tried to think of other words that rhymed with chick: tick: Mick: Dick: lick: flick. We thought of some alliteration strings – Charlie’s Chicks Cheep Cheerily
• Math: The children estimated the number of chicks that might hatch overnight
• UW: Showing interest in the world in which we live.
• EAD: The children painted pictures of what they thought that their chicks might look like

 

Even parents snuck into the setting to sneak a peak....one or two commenting that they hadn’t ever seen a chick hatch from an egg either.

 It is a truly amazing opportunity for children to partake in – thank you everyone for making it achievable once again this year.

 

PS – The 2013 chicks went home to Michele’s farm. As they grew up, Michele took pictures to show the children.  There are 9 little red hens (There were 10, but one may have been caught by a fox!) 

The pullets (young hens) laid their first small eggs at the end of June.



Michele