OCEAN ADVENTURES!

October 31, 2016October 31, 2016 Samart, playschool, small world, under the sea themeLeave a comment

The weather has been warming up at school and the children have been more and more interested in spending their time outdoors and cooling off with plenty of water play! This has led into a natural progression and interest of all things ocean!

Apart from wet and dry small worlds to explore, we have had plenty of sensory and sorting activities to keep us busy and spark off plenty of discussion…

We have also had fun with art and different processes as well as making some craft art to remind us of our friends under the ocean!

FAIRYTALE AND FANTASY

May 24, 2016 Samfairy tale, light table, loose parts, ohp, play provocations, playschoolLeave a comment

In the wet dark days of winter we’ve decided to create a little magic at play school… Nothing like a little “fairytale” magic to brighten our darker colder days and put a spring in everyones step! We had great fun with indoor and outdoor fairytale small worlds…

We had fun with loose part play, sorting and construction…

We experimented with different art forms and used up lots of our watercolour bits and pieces to remind us of our favourite fairy tales…

Of course nothing better than some sparkles, light and shadows to turn a dreary day into a magical world… The children had a wonderful time finding treasures and experimenting with their shadows…

NURSERY RHYME FUN!

April 22, 2016 Samart, nursery rhymes, play, play provocations, playschoolLeave a comment

We eased into the term with some nursery rhyme fun! The children had so much fun re-enacting their favourite nursery rhymes and learning some new ones! Nursery rhyme sensory tubs, felt boards and activities were great tools to encourage discussion and play…

Of course plenty of art to help us remember our rhymes and teach our friends!

BIRTHDAY MEMORY WALL

March 16, 2016 Samactivity, birthday tradition, playschoolLeave a comment

Since we put up our birthday letters we have had a few birthdays at school…Along with the other spoils and special events on a birthday we have started our memory letters wall. It has proved to be a really special event and the children have been delighted in the whole process…

They have taken such pride and care in their letters – from choosing and mixing their paint to thoughtfully selecting all the special adornments to go on… Their friends love to watch them and it’s been a wonderfully special addition to their birthday day…

EASTER FUN!

March 16, 2016 Samart, easter, loose parts, play provocations, playschool, sensory activity, sorting activitiesLeave a comment

The last few days before term have been filled with Easter fun! The children seem to sense there are holidays ahead and the priority is to fill each morning with as much play time together as possible… We’ve been enjoying the last of the warmer days before term 2 with plenty of outdoor fun and easter anticipation…

We’ve had fun easter play provocations in the classroom…

Lots of loose parts to sort and play, sorting trays to explore, sensory colour baskets and colour sorting…

Great excitement playing with rainbow rice…

And easter art to take home and enjoy!

BIRTHDAY TRADITION

March 3, 2016March 3, 2016 Sambirthday tradition, playschoolLeave a comment

I’m so excited our wooden birthday letters have arrived! This year I’ve decided we need a special birthday tradition that the children will be responsible for creating that will hang permanently in their class space. On their birthday they will have free reign to decorate their special letter and hang it on the wall… I can’t wait to see these take shape during the year…

birthday letters

EXPLORING SUMMER

February 26, 2016March 1, 2016 Samactivity, loose parts, play, play provocations, playschool, sensory activity, summer themeLeave a comment

This week we had fun doing and discussing all things summer…While we still have warm summer mornings there is plenty of time for getting messy outdoors! Discussion ranged from camping to insects to keeping cool and what to wear to our favourite places, picnics and the beach amongst many other things…

Around the class we had summer play provocations which the children had great fun playing with…

Outdoors there was plenty of time to cook with sand and water in the outdoor kitchen…

We constructed a ball slide where the children had a great time collecting all the balls and seeing how fast they could roll them down the slide…

Plenty of free art out to explore and loose parts to create with…

We played with coloured ice balls in water and then for an added sensory element added some shaving foam the next day…The children loved how the colours melted into the foam and swirled around…

Of course summer crafts to take home and remind us of our fun week…

PET LOVE

February 19, 2016 Samactivity, counting, emergent reading, felt board, pets, play, play provocations, playschoolLeave a comment

We’ve had great fun this week talking about pets and how much they mean to us… Chat and discussion about how to look after pets, what we love about pets and what we think having a pet is all about… The children have especially loved dramatic play this week – school has been bustling with the sounds and scampering of every pet under the sun!

A discussion table, felt fish pets and lots of small world and sensory play…

Colour sorting, shape matching and emergent reading…

Of course plenty of open art…

Pet craft activities…

And a class full of gorgeous puppies…

pet puppies

PROJECT – TIPI

February 16, 2016 Samoutdoors, play, playschool, tipiLeave a comment

This was a really fun project! I love the idea of having a quiet spot on a sunny morning for the children to take a book and relax in…

Items used: fabric (mine is a thickish cotton), binding, bamboo poles, sewing machine.

The method was pretty basic & experimental. (There are a ton of different methods on line). I cut 4 panels the same size, cut out the entrance hole (I picked a hole to make it a little more exciting!) and sewed the binding around the entrance. I then pinned the edges and sewed these. Then right side up I sewed the panels together tucked them in on themselves and sewed another seam wide enough for the poles to slot in. The top of my tipi is pretty snug so I haven’t needed to attach strings to tie.

tipi07

I think I will be making a few of these to dot around at quiet time…

RED & OTHER COLOURS

February 12, 2016 Samactivity, art, play, play provocations, playschoolLeave a comment

This week we’ve been getting excited about red…and other colours! Suiting our valentine moods the children have had fun discussing and playing around with colour…

Of course we had to make a rainbow… Endless fun and possibilities…