INSECTS & SPIDERS

August 4, 2015 Samart, insects and spiders, light table, ohp, play provocationsLeave a comment

More wintry weather and great fun to create our own insect and spider play provocations indoors! Always a hit with the children and plenty to talk, sing, play and create about!

We’ve been chatting about life cycles and I love these safariology life cycle sets – the children are fascinated by them and love to handle and play with them. Some simple hand painted lady birds to sort and count and loads of books to keep us busy!

Inspecting our little creatures…

And of course some OHP fun playing with light and shadows!

And plenty of creative art!

FUN WINTER ART

June 24, 2015June 25, 2015 Samactivity, art, playschool, winterLeave a comment

As the last few days before holidays have been steadily getting colder we have spent time exploring all things cold and Wintery! It has also provided some fun art opportunities that the children have had great fun making!

WINTER PLAY PROVOCATION

June 22, 2015June 25, 2015 Samindoor winter play, loose parts, play provocations, winterLeave a comment

We are in our last week of term before our mid year holiday – the days are definitely colder and we have had a lot of discussion time around Winter in different parts of the world. For some fun in our last week of term we made a huge winter wonderland that the children can play with – plenty of items to sort, count, re-arrange, play with and discuss!

FUN FATHERS DAY CRAFTS!

June 22, 2015June 25, 2015 Samart, crafts, fathers dayLeave a comment

We had so much fun this father’s day! After a long weekend we had 3 days to get stuck in and make a few things for the special dads in our life! The children were so proud of all their wonderful crafts and were just beaming when Friday came and it was time to take everything home!

What we made: gold nuts and bolts frame, best dad trophy and a special monkey print card. All were super simple achievable crafts that the children really enjoyed making. The only things I really had to complete for them was the gold spray paint to the frames and the detail to the monkeys. (Super cute Monkey card idea was from: http://www.craftymorning.com/fingerprint-monkey-card-idea-love-hangin/ )

FREE INSECT RESOURCES

June 8, 2015June 25, 2015 Samactivity, emergent reading, free download, free resources, insect themeLeave a comment

Insect silhouette black

Insect silhouette colour

Insect emergent reading_01

Insect emergent reading_02

Insect emergent reading_03

Insect emergent reading_04

Insect path finder

ANIMAL PLAY PROVOCATION

June 2, 2015June 25, 2015 Samanimals, creativity, indoor winter play, play provocations, small worldLeave a comment

With the wet weather set in we have been busy at creating various play provocations and small worlds for the children to explore and create. It’s been a good opportunity for us to discuss and learn about some less familiar animals – and great fun! The children have had lots of questions and spent ages playing with the different set ups.

Along with a ton of different puppets, puzzles and animal books to pore over…

Each day we have added a new small world to explore…

Plenty of opportunity to play, sort, discuss and create!

And of course lots of fun with various art forms!

PROJECT – CHALK STONES

May 26, 2015June 25, 2015 Samchalk stones, creativity, fine motor, preschool activityLeave a comment

This was such a simple project and the children have loved getting creative! A twist on story stones that allows the children to create their own pictures or patterns. Also a great fine motor activity that really gets them manipulating their fingers and hands.

Items we used: Stones from the nursery; blackboard paint; chalk

Yes – thats all it took! I used a mixture of flat and irregular shaped stones to create interest. Then just add chalk – white, colour, thick or thin!

INSECT PLAY PROVOCATION

May 19, 2015June 25, 2015 Saminsects and spiders, ohp, play provocations, small worldLeave a comment

With the chilly winter days approaching we have been trying to bring a little of the outdoors in with some enticing play provocations. The children had great fun with our insect and spider small world play.

Each day we would add some more natural elements to build homes and hidey holes for all the insects. On one of the days we put out a basket of different textured wool and threads with some scissors to create spider webs – the children spent hours unwrapping the wool, cutting and winding it.

And of course what could be more fun than creating giant size insect shadows with the OHP?!

FREE RAINFOREST RESOURCES

May 14, 2015June 25, 2015 Samcolouring, emergent reading, free download, free template, printablesLeave a comment

Rainforest colouring01

Rainforest colouring02

Rainforest colouring03

Rainforest colouring04

Rainforest path finder

Rainforest silhouette match black

Rainforest silhouette match colour

Rainforest emergent reading_01

Rainforest emergent reading_02

Rainforest emergent reading_03

Rainforest emergent reading_04

RAINFOREST SMALL WORLD

May 12, 2015June 25, 2015 Samdiscovery, rainforest, small world, sorting, textureLeave a comment

We have been having so much fun learning about the rainforest lately. The children have been fascinated by all the different creatures living there and by what a unique and beautiful environment it is. As our children are still so young one of the best ways for them to expand their understanding and promote discussion is through small world play. So we turned a wall on one side of the playroom into a miniature rainforest they could explore and play with.

We built up our rainforest to include a waterfall, river, mountain, trees, branches and caves. It is filled with different textures, materials and interesting items for the children to discover and handle. Loose parts are scattered all over and little bowls for collecting their findings for further discussion and sorting! Everyday I have added some new little treasures or creatures for the children to discover…