Using all of our senses

This week, we have been exploring nature using all of our senses. First, we talked about what we can see, hear, smell, taste and feel. I asked Betty what we use to see, hear and smell, etc. so that the children could think about the body parts that are used to ‘sense’ the world around them. This led into a song of ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.’ Obviously.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Self-Awareness

Sight

First, we explored the garden using magnifying glasses so that we could look in detail at the things that interested them. Betty took some pictures on my phone of things that she liked the look of and we used our little book of plants to identify some of the plants in the garden. We looked carefully at patterns on leaves and petals and we collected up lots of interesting things, including stones, flowers and a snail shell.

We played ‘I Spy’ using colours – ‘I spy, with my little eye, something green!’  Then we sorted all of the interesting things that we’d found into colours. I labelled some empty plastic containers so that the children could sort them (Literacy - Boom!). They tried to find more things to put in their containers. Finally, we counted the items in each container and discovered that there were more green things in our garden than any other colours.

Physical Development: Moving and Handling

 Mathematics: Numbers

Mathematics: Shape, Space and Measure

Understanding the World: The World

Literacy: Reading

Be warned - Don't leave your favourite pens out after making the labels or the children might use them to do some art and design work! 

Sound

We went into the garden to listen and discuss what we could hear. We could hear an aeroplane so we decided to do some more counting and counted how many aeroplanes we could hear in five minutes. We must live under a flight path because we counted eight.

Next we created our own musical instruments using things we could find in the garden. We formed a band. It sounded terrible.

Here’s some of the ‘musical instruments’ that we made:

• -          tapping stones together,
• -          We put different things into plastic bottles, such as stones, mud and grass to create shakers,
• -          banging sticks together and banging plastic bottles with sticks

Mathematics: Numbers

Communication & Language: Listening and Attention

Expressive Arts & Design: Exploring and Using Media and Materials

Smell

We walked around the garden trying to find things that we liked the smell of. Then, we made some ‘Eau du Jardin’ in the mud kitchen using flowers and herbs from the garden.

Expressive Arts & Design: Exploring and Using Media and Materials

Expressive Arts and Design: Being Imaginative

Mathematics: Shape, Space and Measure

 Taste

We have been fruit picking. I advised the children to ensure that the fruit had been checked and washed before they ate it – advice which they immediately ignored. Aside from copious amounts of strawberries and raspberries, the children tasted tayberries (a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry), gooseberries, red currants, blackcurrants and peas.

We also had a nibble of the herbs in my kitchen which didn’t go down quite as well as the fruit! But, Betty helped me to make a delicious herby soup which we all enjoyed eating. I simply fried some spring onions and peeled, chopped potatoes. Then we added some stock and boiled until the potatoes were soft. We blended up the mixture with a handful of mixed herbs - we used mint, basil, coriander and parsley - and bit of cream.

Physical Development: Moving & Handling

Physical Development: Health & Self-care

Touch

First of all, we talked about different textures that we can find outside. I set a little scavenger hunt asking the children to find something smooth, something prickly, something rough and something soft.

We are really lucky to live near to somewhere that has a barefoot walk but we decided to make our own in the garden! We used empty trays and washing up bowls and filled them with different materials. We used mud, stones and grass. Then we walked on each one barefoot, spending a lot of time talking about and describing how each one felt on our feet.

Language & Communication: Speaking

Language & Communication: Understanding

Expressive Arts & Design: Exploring and Using Media and Materials 

We Love Rainy Days!

We love rainy days! And, yes – we still go out. It’s all about the puddles for us. We get our raincoats on and our wellies and off we go.

Here are some ideas for activities that you can do on a rainy day.

Put up a pop up tent to play in and create a cosy reading area. Listen to the sounds of rain tapping on the canvas and read a book about rain.

Little Cloud by Eric Carle is a lovely story which introduces different types of clouds.

Splish! Splash!: A Book About Rain (Amazing Science: Weather) explains the water cycle in a really simple way.

The Rainy Day by Anna Milbourne is another picture book which explains a little bit about the water cycle.

Rain by Sam Usher has amazing illustrations. It also says, ‘There are good and bad things about the rain.” which is a good discussion point.

Visit the library and see what other books you can find that are about rain or feature a rainy day.

Sing a song about rain. There are lots of nursery rhymes about rain.

Go for a walk and jump in the muddy puddles. This one is definitely a favourite for my children. Take an umbrella. I don’t know why, but my daughter loves to walk holding an umbrella. If you have little ones, put the rain cover on and take them for a walk so that they can listen to the sounds of the rain on the cover and watch the rain drops sliding down. My youngest finds this really relaxing and sometimes falls asleep.

Build a den. Talk about materials that are waterproof and how we will stay dry.

Use the rain to create different sounds. Experiment using different materials to see how the sounds of the rain change.

Measure the rainfall by creating a rain gauge.

Feed the ducks – they don’t mind the rain! Remember that feeding bread to ducks can be harmful. Defrosted frozen peas and torn up bits of lettuce are a better option.

Use sticks to draw in the mud.

Experience the rain using all of your senses. Ask your children how the rain feels on their skin. Does rain have a taste? How does the world smell when it rains? Has the world changed colour in the rain? How does the rain sound?

This one is more of an indoor activity but you can use the rain in your art work. Decorate a piece of paper or card with pens, food colouring or paint. Then put the paper outside in the rain to see what happens to the colours. There are more ideas on Pinterest. Follow me to see more ideas: www.pinterest.co.uk/natchildminder.

A rainy day is a perfect day for hunting for mini-beasts. Look especially for worms and snails.

Get out the magnifying glasses. Look carefully at the rain drops, especially on leaves, flowers and spiders’ webs.

When it’s stopped raining, take advantage of the wet grass to do some mark making. Draw shapes and letters on the grass using your feet. 

Building Dens

Yesterday, it rained. We still wanted to play outside so I suggested that we build a den to keep ourselves and the toys dry. My daughter, Betty, (who’s 3) wasn’t really sure how to start so I helped her to think of ideas. I found a piece of tarpaulin – I think it’s a ground sheet for an old tent – and we set to work thinking about how to create our den. We tried hanging it from the washing line but discovered that it was a little bit too short. We tried using two garden chairs but found that the den wasn’t big enough so we needed to work out how to use the chairs without them ending up inside the den. We found that by using clothes pegs to fix the tarpaulin to the chairs, it stayed in place. Betty then set to work organising and making the den cosy for her and her brother, Louie (who’s 1) to play in. We also put a couple of books in there to create a cosy space to read and escape the drizzly rain.

Today, continuing with the den theme, we had a look through our story books to see if we could find any books about dens. We found Percy the Park Keeper: After the Storm. In the story, an old oak tree has been blown down in a storm and the animals that had made the tree their home were left homeless. Percy helps to build them all a new home in a different tree. After reading this, my daughter decided to build dens for some of her cuddly animals. She spent some time planning out and creating the dens for her creatures, searching for things that were ‘just right’ for the creatures’ homes.

It was interesting to watch both of the children interacting whilst building the dens. Betty, as the oldest, took the lead and then helped Louie to build a den for his animal. He enjoyed finding things and showing them to her for her approval and then watching her as she showed him to use it for the home. Louie spent about twenty minutes on the task and then decided to go and play in the sandpit or potter about with his cars. Betty spent around two hours (yes – two hours!!) playing totally independently, going in and out of the den, talking to her creatures, checking that they and their dens were ok, rebuilding the dens, organising the animals and generally being completely lost in her own imagination.

Den building is such an obvious activity but it's often forgotten. Although most outdoor play and imaginative play should be child led, when children are lacking in confidence, it is useful for the adult to facilitate. By creating a den and helping the children to understand what a den is, this meant that Betty was the instigator of the following day's play when she suggested building dens for animals. I also feel confident that now both of the children have had this experience, they will be more likely to repeat the den building fun. 

Opportunities for Observation and Assessment of EYFS:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Making Relationships

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Self-confidence and Self-Awareness

Communication and Language: Understanding

Communication and Language: Speaking

Physical Development: Moving and Handling

Literacy: Reading

Mathematics: Shape, Space and Measure

Understanding the World: The World

Expressive Arts & Design: Being Imaginative

Schemas: Positioning, Connection and Enclosure.