We have also enjoyed exploring musical instruments this week. Children were able to explore the music box and ‘have a go’ with various instruments. We then played a game where the instruments were played behind a screen and children had to focus on their listening skills to identify which instrument was being played. We then enjoyed an adult-led music session where we explored concepts such as loud / quiet and fast / slow. With musical instruments being so popular, we decided to revisit them in the garden on Friday, with children free to explore the instruments as they wished and discover the different sounds they could make.
Playdough remains a favourite for many of our children. We were fortunate to receive new cutters this week; giving children new resources to explore – numbers, letters and different shapes, as well as a large play-mat to help inspire new ideas. We also had a range of colours available, which has enabled children to mix the colours and watch as these have changed.
Colour mixing was a theme explored at the craft table too. Children were encouraged to add the paint powder and then mix with water and observe what happened. We started with red, mixed in white to make pink, and then added blue and turned it into a purple colour. Simple tasks such as mixing powder paints is a wonderful opportunity for children to explore a range of ideas such as textures, colours and early science ideas such as how materials can change.
We also enjoyed exploring gloop on Friday. Gloop is a mix of cornflour and water; it acts as both a solid and a liquid depending on whether pressure is applied – it can therefore be squeezed into a solid shape, and then left to ‘melt’ back into a liquid. The children were fascinated by this strange material and spent a messy morning exploring it and using lots of lovely descriptive words such as ‘soft’ ‘sticky’ and ‘melting’.
Ideas to continue this week’s fun at home:
We have lots of fun ideas such as playdough and gloop on our website, why not have a go at some of these activities at home and see what fun you can have? http://www.squirrelspreschool.com/fun-activities.html