Wednesday 27 January 2016

Painting Ice


We have been talking a lot about the winter weather but have been experiencing more rain than ice this year so the children and I decided to make some ice. The children helped fill the ice cube bags with water and then placed them in the freezer as we talked about how the cold would turn the water to ice. 

The next day the children bounded in asking if their ice had frozen so we looked and it had! The children used their fingers to move the ice around, talking about the feel of the ice and the cracking sound it made as it moved. We decided to combine science and creativity by painting our ice. Using liquid watercolours the children painted their ice cubes, watching the paint become absorbed into the ice. The children commented on the size of the ice cubes and counted how many they were painting. 


When the children were satisfied with their creations we decided to add some salt. The children noticed the effect that the salt had on the ice, causing it to begin to break down and melt. We talked about how people use salt on the roads in winter to prevent them being slippy. 

I was amazed that though such a fun and simple activity we had covered all areas of learning and development:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: working together to fill the ice bags
Physical Development: holding the bags and the paintbrushes
Communication: talking to each other about what they were doing and seeing
Literacy: Practising holding writing materials through use of paintbrushes as well as identifying the sounds of the ice.
Numeracy: discussing the shape and number of ice cubes
Understanding the World: Talking about the change from liquids to solids and relating the activity to the gritters on the roads.
Expressive Art: creating colourful patterns within the ice

Thursday 14 January 2016

Melted Snowmen

Due to the sudden cold spell of weather that we have been having and the snow in many areas of the country we decided to make some snowman pictures.


I believe in enabling the children to take complete control over their own art work so simply provided them with some white paint mixed with glitter glue and some eyes, scarves, arms and noses for their snowmen.


The children that created these pictures ranged from one to four years in age and I love how different they all are!

Tuesday 12 January 2016

Winter Numeracy

The children are currently of mixed abilities in terms of counting and number recognition so to include everyone I created this fun game to embrace our cold winter weather!


The children loved the fact that the cotton wool balls represented snow and were immediately keen to come and play. Some spot the number cards that were placed on the board immediately and started trying to place some of the numbers.



I encouraged each of the children to take turns in piling up the correct number of snowballs behind the relevant number card. In addition to promoting counting and number recognition this activity enhanced social skills through turn taking and helping each other as well as an understanding of the world through talking about the snowballs and wintery weather.