The Great Outdoors!

The early years curriculum emphasises the importance of outdoor environments in learning opportunities and there is nothing we like more than being outdoors. This week has been so nice we have spent the majority of the week in various outdoor environments and thought we would share some of the fun we have had. 

We made full use of the local parks to enjoy activities ranging from water play through to studying flowers and leaves as well as going on bug hunts. 

We have also spent a lot of time in the garden in the paddling pool, chasing bubbles and even reading books in the tee-pee!

Shaving Foam

Today I gave the children a tray of shaving foam and some wooden building bricks to see what they could create! Initially several towers were constructed by the children using the shaving foam to stick the bricks together. 

They soon decided it was far more fun to get covered in foam though. The boys were slightly reluctant to get their hands dirty but everyone was keen when squelching the foam with feet was initiated by our eldest. 

Even the youngest began to experiment with mark making, using a paint brush to move the foam around.  This also proved to be a self-cleansing activity - when the children had finished I simply filled the pool with water and they not only cleaned themselves, but also washed the wooden bricks and put them in the sun to dry!

Porridge

After yesterday's fantastic weather we are finding some indoor activities today due to the torrential rain! A winner with children of all ages is always sensory play so I decided to try porridge oats as a sensory material. I added some of the shells we collected from the beach together with animals and, of course, some tubs and spoons. 

The children excitedly came to investigate and immediately got stuck in. Our youngest watched for a while to see what the others were up to but was fascinated by trying to use the colourful spoons with the oats. After moving the animals through the 'sand' the boys used the oats to feed the animals their dinner, loving spooning the oats into the provided pots.  

It was then time to get their hands dirty, much fun was had feeling the texture of the oats, although our youngest was not so keen, and subsequently dropping the oats while pretending it was raining, probably inspired by the weather out of the window!

Fantastic morning at Wembury Beach

Having planned to go to the beach today without really paying much attention to the weather forecast, I was delighted when it turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day in Devon.

After starting with the boys favourite activity of choosing stones to throw into the water, giggling at the resulting splash, they decided it would be a good idea to practice drawing in the sand. Results ranged from attempting to write their names through to drawing pirate ships and rainbows!

No trip to the beach is complete without running into and then out of the sea and the boys loved chasing the waves on the sand.

 Finally the boys discovered that if they dug a hole near the sea then it would fill with water, they took great delight at attempting to fling the water out before it filled up again. While one of the boys was happy to sit in the cool water, the other was not so sure!

Young Imaginations

Today I was reminded of the value to children's learning and creativity through taking a step back and simply following their lead. 

Over breakfast this morning the older children (aged two, four and six) all started talking about an imaginary creature called a 'Bom-be-eye'. Throughout the day they spent much time talking and laughing together about this creature, trying to describe what they thought it looked like and even looking for one out in the garden. 

In the afternoon I asked the children if they would like to draw a picture of their creature. They thought this was a great idea and set to work. The results were lovely and demonstrated the vast amounts of natural creativity and imagination that children possess. 

Fathers Day

This week we have been busy preparing a little something for all the dads. We started off with our cards that involved lots of fun stamping on our poem cards. We then decided to try and please the dads with an edible gift - homemade gingerbread men. 

The children had a lovely time helping to weigh and measure out the ingredients as well as pouring and mixing (with a tiny bit of help from the blender at several intervals!). Even our youngest joined in by mixing a bit of flour in a saucepan and then generally banging the pan to make music for everyone!

When our dough was chilled the children got very excited about cutting out their men, continuously asking if they could eat them yet! After baking we used glitter gel to decorate the gingerbread men, some of the resulting designs being pretty creative!

We wish all the dad's a lovely fathers day and hope that they like their sweet treats!