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

Stover Egg Hunt on 23rd March 2013.

Hi Everyone,

It says something about the English weather, when we count our blessings when we have a relatively dry yet very cold day for our Egg Hunt (at least it didn’t rain...wasn’t the winter wet this year?).  Everyone came wrapped up well and had a lovely walk around Stover Lake

The children taking part in the treasure hunt found all the carved animals and were awarded an Easter egg each; we had a great bar-be-que; guess the number of eggs competition; weight of the cake; face painting and more.

Thank you everyone for coming.  It’s always great to have time to meet you all outside of preschool, and your support makes all the effort of those arranging these events worthwhile.

We made around £200 this year - thank you for your support!

Michele

 

Snowy days

Snow and icy conditions are expected over the next few days. During these times Kennford Playbox will endeavour to stay open. Please consider if it is safe to travel. In the event of snowy days, check on this blogger site or phone kennford playbox for updates.
Stay safe and warm x

NEW CLIMBING GALLEON

veranda view

Our Galleon has arrived!

Over the past 3-4 years, successive committees have been fundraising.

Last year, we did lots of research to find the best climbing frame that we could for our setting, and, just by chance I spotted a local company "Playways" www.playways.co.uk who made bespoke children’s wooden playground equipment, made to fit available spaces. Martin (Playways, Devon) sold me on a galleon design to replace our ageing climbing frame.

Wow – doesn’t describe what we’ve now achieved! 

The children really enjoy  the challenges  that the galleon gives them...the different heights....spying interests from the port holes....the slide & ramp.

Not only does it challenge children's climbing prowess, but, how they perceive the world. Children delight in looking down at you from above; peering out from the bubble window; or out of the portholes. It gives children a whole new perspective....they really can be taller.



bubble window

The children enjoy finding new ways of going places...down the steps, or the slide, or the ramp, or the ladder. Going up, through, under and over!

Even the children who were a bit cautious of being so high, have become braver over these first few weeks.

Children have an amazing ability to include different aspects of the setting into their creative play.  The galleon has already been a fire-engine and a spaceship (as well as a pirate ship).  I wonder what other future fantasies will be role-played!

Crocodiles (WHERE?)

The children really enjoyed a story from a story-sack about a crocodile (The Selfish Crocodile) so, we decided to have a crocodile week.

Some of the learning intentions that we met included:

·         Lifecycles of a crocodile – crocs come out of eggs too! (UW)

·         Counting crocodiles – (math)

·         Crocodile Teeth - cleaning our teeth (Phy)

·         C is for Crocodile/A is for Alligator – (lit)

·         Going on a Crocodile Hung (Creative Arts)

·         Crocodile Game (pushing down teeth until it goes SNAP!) PSE

·         Crawling Crocodiles (Phy)

·         Snappy music – using castanets – (Creative Arts)

·         The Swamp – Small World Play – (KUW)

·         Thumbs up/Thumbs down – does this animal come out of an egg or not? (ICT)

·         Drawing circles (scales) and lines (teeth)

AND LOTS MORE

A couple of crocodile songs and rhymes –

emergent writing!

Snap, Snap went the little green crocodile

Snap, Snap went the little green crocodile

Snap, Snap went the little green crocodile

Snap-snap-snap-snap

BUT, we know crocodiles go swishy swishy swish

Swishy swishy swish, swishy swishy swish

But, we know crocodiles go swishy swishy swish

Not snap, snap, snap, snap

and,

...and then it went SNAP!

Crocodile, crocodile, turn around.
Crocodile, crocodile, touch the ground.
Crocodile, crocodile, dance on your toes.
Crocodile, crocodile, touch your nose.
Crocodile, crocodile, jump up now.
Crocodile, crocodile, take a bow.
Crocodile, crocodile, stomp your feet.
Crocodile, crocodile, take a seat.

 

 



Amazing – we found caterpillars in our garden!

The children (old and new) are beginning to settle into our routines once again.  It’s amazing how quickly our garden has grown.  Our beans are so tall now...We need new bean-sticks to support the weight of all the beans – they make quite a tunnel!

Our wild garden has flourished.  I don’t know where the nasturtiums came from (probably reseeded from last year) but, they seem to be popular food stuff for lots of caterpillars.  It’s been very exciting watching them grow.

The first topic of the term was based on the caterpillars that we found (our first interest).  Some of the learning intentions that we included:

·         Lifecycles of butterflies (UW)

·         Counting caterpillars (Math)

Caterpillars Galore are Munchin' in our Wild Garden

·         Matching butterfly wings (math – symmetry)

·         Sucking nectar (using straws) - Phy

·         Books (fiction & non-fiction) Literature

·         Caterpillar collages (Creative Arts)

·         Butterfly printing (Creative Arts

·         Lifecycle movement (physical)

·         IWB butterflies (understanding of the world -ICT)

·         Talking about butterflies – where do you find them etc. (Communication & Language)

·         Minibeast games (taking turns) PSE.

·         Story sack (various)

·         Butterfly and caterpillar drawings (Lit)