Easter Activities

The Wheel of the Year is turning so quickly, Easter is upon us and off we go.
The Farmyard is showing lots of signs of life including the chickens and birds who keep on laying eggs. We try to keep the focus of the week away from the chocolate and onto the real eggs all around us.

Communication Language and Literacy: Our Focus books
Owl by DK
See how I grow: Chick DK  In years gone by we have had actually Eggs hatching and Chicks growing in our Playroom. Lots of interest and excitement ( as well as risk assessments!) But ths year we will just enjoy or own Pixies Den Chickens in the yard.
If I were the Easter Bunny by  Louise Gardner
and the Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter all because of this

PSRN:
Easter Counting Cards from here 
Colour sorting eggs as here
and a set of  home made number eggs, cut from card and Number added for number sequencing and matching activities.
Also a nice ICT activity here

CD:
Felt eggs with sticky shapes on them to take home.

Retire, Review and Re-group

So much has happened since our last post. A review of so many things and a decision of if, and how, to go forward.

Time spent being kind to myself and to my loved ones, a taste of just how fallible I am and can be.

Back in control and present in mind as well as body. Acceptance of my own limits and my reaction to the needs and wants of others.

A blissful time in Argyll, being loved and cared for and learning how to do both again in return.

Acknowledging  at last my own limits, truly understanding my current image of me and emerging at last as the phoenix I once knew myself to be.

Thank you my family for your love, support and patience.
Onward and upward.

A New Year and a new beginning.

So much has happened in our learning in the last few weeks. It seems crass to try and summarise but I will say we were not happy, and had really lost the joy of learning. So retreat, re-group and re-design have been the watch words of the season.

And the new tag if one can be added is Montessori. We followed so much of Maria Montessoris ideas when the children were young, then we discovered the outdoors and fell into a Waldorf way of living and learning  and now it feels like a natural transition to return to this scheme and model for our more formal learning. I shall miss the Gnomes and the tales but am so very excited to be moving forward again.

Watch this space.

Until then I have to recommend a link to an excellent site that has helped me understand and  prepare. There is so much here for Kindergarten and beyond.
Oh and at the moment there is an awesome giveaway too. Go check out the link.

http://blog.montessoriprintshop.com/2011/01/07/2-deluxe-cd-roms---new-year-giveaway.aspx

The 'Textures' and 'Smells' of Christmas

For me this time of year has a lot to do with textures and our senses. The smell of Christmas, although undefinable, is something that evokes thoughts/ideas/memories in anyone you say the phrase to. The 'Christmas smells' of Cinnamon, Oranges and spice that, for me, bring back allsorts of happy thoughts.
Cinnamon and Ginger can be added to home made Playdough as a welcome alert to the senses. Glitter to could be added as long as you were sure that you did not have anyone who would try to eat it. ( I will list a great playdough recipe to add it to later in the day)

The texture of ice and snow that is etched on our own memories from childhood, always erases the sight and feel of the ice and snow that makes it difficult for us to get out of the farmyard at all. Although it makes life difficult for us now it still seems to bring joy and excitement.  The children relish in the experience of getting out there in it -snugged up in scarves and coats and gloves.

So much can be achieved in basic terms of Self-esteem, and personal development for each child, as well as experiences for the EYFS.

• The planning and act of making a snow or ice shape and then seeing it dissolve as the weather changes is an experience that provides evidence for EYFS CD, PSED and PSRN.
• Measuring and monitoring Temperatures outside introduce routine and rhythm to our days, and also helps introduce negative numbers (PSRN and beyond) They also help the children note daily changes and give them a value.
• Comparison to an online temperature measurement system like this one from the Antarctic  gives us a real grasp of just how cold things can get. Early math comparisons and graphs can be made here if you feel confident to do so. If wanting  to keep it simpler than that a pair of wall displays showing a temperature scale here with the childrens' photos as the marker against a temperature gauge for the Antarctic with a Penguin as its marker.
• Montessori ideas of clothes sorting and folding can be used really well at this time of year. If you provide a selection of cold weather clothes and a few warm weather ones (like a swim costume and shorts) the children can be encouraged to sort and fold them into the right laundry baskets. Back this up with a story of an animal or child living in a cold place needing to have their laundry back and great discussions can follow.

My favourite use for textures and the senses however is the introduction to play of silks, velvets and fur ( fake of course!) Over the years I have collected a selection of pieces of material in all sizes, I use some of them for my seasonal display tables but also for dressing up and play. The velvets are always popular at this time of year; they make cloaks for the travelling princess caught in the snow, or wraps for an animal in need of warmth. They can be hidden under, wrapped around and generally made into anything the mind decides. 

White silk used at this time of year can be used as snow on the ground for rhyme, song and story time. It can provide a puppet apron for the wintry finger puppet stories told, and best of all thrown or blown into the air to fall to the ground as snow ( this can keep us giggling and puffing away for an age)

And at the end of it all to calm us all down sitting on the cushions draped  by fake fur ( material shop bargain bin £1.50!) as we tell stories of bears and badgers caught in the snow with the little pixie fingers lovingly stroking the cover and imagining it to be whatever anumal we are talking about.

Happy, snowy  days.

An Advent Blessing

Time goes quickly when it snows.
Its already the second week of Advent and there were so many things I wanted to add here, but then it snowed...lots!

Our Advent Blessing I would like to share though.

Winter is dark
Every spark
lights the way
to Christmas Day.

Books for Snow

Lets face it the act of walking and playing and watching snow in itself meets the EYFS experience requirements all across the board but just in case you are flagging for the CLL unit I thought I might list a few of our favourite Snow Books.

Snowflake Bentley is our all time favourite book for snowy days with hot chocolate in front of the fire.

The Old Mans Mitten is a beautiful inspiring traditional tale with repeated phrases that draw the children in.

Snow Bears is a cute cuddle up book.

The Snow Speaks, and First Snow are also pulled out to entertain us at this time of year.
Whatever you are reading I hope you are warm and snug.

p.s. thank you Sarah x

Countdown to Christmas Resources From Childcareland.com

Good Morning

A lovely countdown to Christmas activity for Children that does not involve Chocolate and is free and accessible to all.

http://www.earlylearningactivities.com/PDF/ctcm.pdf