After the excitement of the snow last week, we decided to use a range of white paint, foil and glitter to make our own snow inspired pictures! We found that using forks and cotton wool buds gave some beautiful ‘snowy’ effects on our paper, before then exploring other resources from our craft cupboard and coming up with new ideas!
We’ve also been focusing on Mothers’ Day this week – children have been invited to make a card either for Mum or another special person in their lives (some insisted on making cards for Dads and Grandparents too)… this has offered a lovely opportunity to talk about special people in our lives and about how we can say thank you for all that they do.
Over the last few weeks we’ve been focusing on fine motor skills through various threading activities. We tried lacing cards, but many found this tricky. So we simplified the task and tried threading pasta instead, which the children really enjoyed. This week, to practice this skill in a different way, we’ve been using cotton reels to thread – which, again, has proved very popular. It’s important for our children that we find different ways to focus on the same skill to enable them to practice and become secure in a skill.
Following our visit from Phonics Stars last week, we’ve been using some of these ideas during circle time to help us focus on sounds. This week we played ‘silly soup’ – trying to identify items beginning with an ‘S’ sound to go into our soup. Being aware of sounds is an important first step, helping children to be ready for when they are taught phonics during their reception year at school.
We had planned some colour based craft last week in readiness for the Hindu festival of Holi. Unfortunately the snow had other ideas! So we explored it this week instead! We searched for a range of different colours and textures on or craft trolley and used these to decorate one of our favourite book characters, Elmer. We also enjoyed sharing an Elmer book, exploring lots of colours such as the setting red sun and the lush green jungle! It is an important aspect of early years to ensure children explore a range of faiths and festivals; helping them to develop an understanding of the diverse community in which we live. We would always welcome our families to join us to share any festivals they celebrate.
Ideas to continue this week’s fun at home:
Could you explore threading at home too? Maybe you could thread penne pasta onto strands of spaghetti? Or maybe you could use larger resources and thread toilet roll tubes? These activities will help to develop both fine motor skills, as well as hand-eye coordination.
We’ve also been focusing on Mothers’ Day this week – children have been invited to make a card either for Mum or another special person in their lives (some insisted on making cards for Dads and Grandparents too)… this has offered a lovely opportunity to talk about special people in our lives and about how we can say thank you for all that they do.
Over the last few weeks we’ve been focusing on fine motor skills through various threading activities. We tried lacing cards, but many found this tricky. So we simplified the task and tried threading pasta instead, which the children really enjoyed. This week, to practice this skill in a different way, we’ve been using cotton reels to thread – which, again, has proved very popular. It’s important for our children that we find different ways to focus on the same skill to enable them to practice and become secure in a skill.
Following our visit from Phonics Stars last week, we’ve been using some of these ideas during circle time to help us focus on sounds. This week we played ‘silly soup’ – trying to identify items beginning with an ‘S’ sound to go into our soup. Being aware of sounds is an important first step, helping children to be ready for when they are taught phonics during their reception year at school.
We had planned some colour based craft last week in readiness for the Hindu festival of Holi. Unfortunately the snow had other ideas! So we explored it this week instead! We searched for a range of different colours and textures on or craft trolley and used these to decorate one of our favourite book characters, Elmer. We also enjoyed sharing an Elmer book, exploring lots of colours such as the setting red sun and the lush green jungle! It is an important aspect of early years to ensure children explore a range of faiths and festivals; helping them to develop an understanding of the diverse community in which we live. We would always welcome our families to join us to share any festivals they celebrate.
Ideas to continue this week’s fun at home:
Could you explore threading at home too? Maybe you could thread penne pasta onto strands of spaghetti? Or maybe you could use larger resources and thread toilet roll tubes? These activities will help to develop both fine motor skills, as well as hand-eye coordination.
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