Ponds

This week, we have followed the Exploring Nature with Children’s suggestion and we have been all about ponds.

We went to Coombes Valley Nature Reserve and did some pond dipping. Despite it being autumn, there was an abundance of wildlife in the pond. We found numerous pond snails, pond skaters, damselfly nymphs and a leech. There were lots of tiny creatures in the water too that we could see moving but were too small to identify. And, much to the children’s excitement, we caught a frog! I made a sheet of things that we might find in a pond and Betty looked through them and identified the ones that we had found to cut out and stick in her nature journal.

 

 

At home, we made our own little ‘pond’ for some small plastic frogs which inspired some imaginative, small-world play. We also used the frogs as props when singing ‘Five Little Speckled Frogs,’ practising our counting skills. I read Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Jeremy Fisher to the children, whilst we were on the subject of frogs.

Whilst looking for books about ponds at the library, I found James Mayhew’s Katie and the Water-lily Pond. This inspired an afternoon of art work. We had a go at copying Monet’s famous Water-Lily Pond painting and experimented with the way that adding lots of water made our painting go all fuzzy.

Finally, we went to the pond in the park to feed the ducks. This prompted more counting songs – Five Little Ducks! We read a story called ‘The Lost Little Duckling’ and, because we had seen lots of people walking their dogs near the pond, we read Smelly Louie, which is all about a dog who jumps in a smelly pond.

EYFS: Reading stories and singing songs supports language and literacy development. Whilst at the nature reserve, we listened to the sounds and tried to identify familiar sounds to develop listening skills. Pond dipping and playing at the park aids physical development and encourages children to risk assess. Counting songs support mathematics. Painting and learning about famous art work aids children’s creativity. Being outside and visiting different environments helps the children to understand the world; this is further developed by creating small world replicas for the children to play with. 

Autumn Leaf Crafts

So, Pinterest is totally awash with crafts that you can do with autumn leaves! Too many to choose from.

After making the obligatory leaf hedgehog, we had a go at making leaf butterflies.

I really enjoyed making a leaf butterfly and I’m particularly proud of my attempt!

We used a hole-puncher to make holes in the leaves, threading wool through them to make autumn leaf necklaces.

We made leaf crowns, but I didn’t get any pictures so here’s a picture from two years ago. Two years!!

I don’t think that we do enough musical activities or singing, so I have tried to rectify that this week by teaching the children an autumn leaves song. I also played Vivaldi’s Autumn and we danced around trying to imitate the movement of falling, swirling leaves.

Sing to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down

All the leaves are falling down, falling down, falling down

All the leaves are falling down,

Because it’s autumn!

Get a rake and rake them up, rake them up, rake them up

Get a rake and rake them up,

Because it’s autumn!

Make a pile and jump in them, jump in them, jump in them,

Make a pile and jump in them,

Because it’s autumn!

There are so many more fun things to do with leaves, and so many cool ideas on Pinterest, but the kids are starting to pull a face every time I get the bag of leaves out now!

EYFS: Teaching the children songs helps them to develop communication and language skills. Dancing and threading supports physical development. Dancing, music and arts and crafts encourage creativity. 

Conkers!

We have had lots of fun collecting conkers – we’ve got loads. We decided that at 2 and 4, Betty and Louie were a bit young to be playing conkers so I had to think of lots of ideas for what to with all of those conkers! Here’s what we did:

We drilled holes in them to make conker necklaces, practising fine motor skills and hand – eye coordination at the same time. To further support physical development, I put a bowl outside and we practised throwing the conkers into the bowl. We discussed the best way to throw the conkers as if we threw them to hard, the conkers bounced back out again. 

 

 

 

  

We made the dinosaurs an autumnal world using leaves, conkers and twigs, using our imaginations.

We made conker shakers and sang a song about Conkers, helping children to develop their communication and language skills and their creativity.

We had lots of fun making a ‘conker run’ using old cardboard and the toilet roll tubes. It’s quite a clumsy attempt compared to the ones we saw on Pinterest but it was fun!

Finally, we used the conkers to help us with some Maths activities. I asked the younger ones to pass me different amounts of conkers to assess their counting abilities and asked them to choose the cup which had the most conkers in it, counting the conkers aloud.

I asked Betty to fill the labelled cups with the corresponding amount of conkers. As her number recognition is getting pretty good, I showed her how to do some adding. She used the conkers to help her to work out what would happen if she added 1 and then the wooden counters with numbers on helped her with her number formation.