With warmer weather this week, we have made the most of our garden area. Bug hunting continues to be a popular activity, with snails being the bug of choice this week! The children found lots of snails hidden around the garden, which we then compared to our resident pet snail, ‘Sammy’ – a giant African land snail. We discussed the different sizes, and looked at the spiral shape of the shell. We discussed where a snail may live, and how we could make bug houses using yoghurt pots, leaves and twigs. We plan to revisit their interest in snails next week and see where else this may take us!
Water play has been popular this week; we have had a tuff-spot filled with a variety of jugs, spoons and pipettes, and have enjoyed scooping, mixing, pouring, splashing and squirting the water. Often we change activities daily, but this has been so popular – it’s been repeated all week!
With spring having finally arrived, we enjoyed some spring inspired craft. On Friday we used toilet roll tubes and yellow and orange paper and paint to make spring chicks. This proved a popular activity, with lots of children wanting to have-a-go; it enabled hand-eye coordination as we rolled the tubes in paper, cutting practice as we cut feet and beaks, and plenty of imagination as we decorated our chicks. We then read a spring poem, and had a carpet-time discussion about how we know it’s spring-time; bluebells at the Country Park, blossom on the trees, birds tweeting, frogspawn in the pond, and hunting for Easter eggs!
Other popular activities this week have included the dressing up, especially our new mermaid outfit, the mud kitchen, playdough and ball games in the garden. We look forward to seeing what ideas the children inspire next week!
Ideas to continue this week’s fun at home: Why not enjoy a local walk and see what signs of spring you can see? Maybe you could take pictures or draw what you find? Feel free to bring in your signs of spring to share at carpet-time.