Ice Cube (Body) Painting

Okay so here was one activity that definitely did not go to plan!  As we finally had some hot weather yesterday I thought we could have a go at  ice cube painting.  So out came the frozen ice cube painst and paper, simple enough?  Well, lets just say we didn't need much of the paper! 

'Look' I said to J, 'we can use the ice cubes to draw on the paper'.  J, however had other ideas! Completely ignoring me, had already discovered that ice cube paints were just perfect for body painting.

Why use paper when you could paint on yourself, and who wouldn't want to cool off with ice cube paint on a hot day!

That lovely combination of paint and cold!

We did eventually get round to using the paper - very briefly.

J experimented, using all the paints at the same time.

Then decided to make a rainbow.

She then discovered that the paints were getting quite crumbly as they began to melt and were much easier to paint with.

Much easier for body painting!



Role-play Vets

Last week the children began their own role-play game which started with a 'tiger loose in the front room!'  To enhance their play I provided them with; a toy tiger (raided my son's room!), a storage crate (cage) and a net to catch the tiger. 

Well this kept them entertained all after noon.  I watched as their game gradually evolved from 'capturing a dangerous tiger and returning it to the zoo (repeatedly)' to 'caring for the tiger, who wasn't scary anymore'. This week I thought the children might like a role-play vets providing them with the opportunity to 'care' for a range of animals. I raided the local Pet City for leaflets and designed some simple forms for the children to incorporate into their play. 

I also used cardboard boxes to make cages, by cutting out strips from one side of the box and made a medine cabinet out of another box.

We then rounded up all the furry 'pet' animals we could find and ended up with; dogs, guinea pigs, piglet,  parrot, and a turtle family (it's times like this that my daughter's obsession with cuddly toys comes in handy!).  I set up a waiting room and reception area and the vets surgery.  I also had the added advantage of the older children being off of school, who I knew would want to join in (I am under strict instructions that I am not allowed to put their photos on the web, incase their friends should see) and through their involvement would help the younger ones to understand the various roles within the play.
Well the waiting room has been busy all week!

We've registered our pets, phoned up for emergency appointments, gone out on emergency call-outs......

...explained what is wrong with our pet...

.... had to have our animals stay at the vets overnight for operations.....

....swapped roles...

and wrapped and bandaged ....and wrapped and bandaged!

And now they've pinched the chairs and made a school in the hallway!

Links to EYFS:
PSED: Making Relationships (interacting with other children and negotating roles)
CLL: Language for Communication (communicating during play)
CLL: Language for Thinking (using language to explain what will happen next in the game)
CLL: Writing (using pens to fill in the forms, make appointments etc)
CLL: Handwriting (using pens to fill in forms, make appoinments etc)
PSRN: Numbers as Labels and for Counting (suggesting appointment times, providing / writing down telephone numbers, billing customers for treatment)
KUW: ICT (using telephones, mobiles during their play)
KUW: Time (talking about when the animals needed to be collected / return to the vet, when an appointment would be available)
PD: Using Equipment and Materials (using pens etc)
CD: Developing Imagination and Imaginative  Play (taking on a role within the game, acting out that role, using props to support their play, suggesting a story-line)

Gloop - but not as we know it....

As you can see from my previous blog, the children have been engaged in exploring gloop this week.  However this activity then took a slightly different direction from normal and provided a fantastic example of child-initiated play and the evidence of children's knowledge that can emerge when something really catches their interest.
I had also provided this activity at the Childminding Group and as I struggled to get the tray back into the garden, I caught the attention of the children.  'What are you doing?' they enquired.  As I explained that it was just the gloop from the group, their next question was 'Can we play with it?'   As I put the tray on the ground, the gloop that had dried out (I had been very lazy and left it in the car since we got back from the group the previous day), broke into lots of pieces, resembling a jigsaw puzzle. 

I commented on this to the children, but it wasn't the jigsaw puzzle aspect that caught their interest.  They found that dried out gloop was very easy to break into smaller pieces and equally easy to crumble between your fingers. 

Well this discovery had them totally hooked.  Every piece has to be broken and crumbled!  I did wonder whether it was the fact that they could break something without being told off that they found engaging! or whether this was just an experience they hadn't come across before.  Thinking about it, we had never done an activity that could be explored in this way.

What I particularly found amazing about this activity was the language that accompanied their play.  In my less experienced years, noticing children engaged in an activity I hadn't planned for, I would have been temped to run inside to get my EYFS, to see how I could direct their play to meet the developmental matters.  However now being much more relaxed and having a better understanding of child initiated play, I was happy to go with the flow!  And the children didn't need any direction.  They happily chatted about the shapes of the gloop as they broke pieces off.  They used both mathematical terms such as 'square and triangle' and compared the triangles to pyramids.
As the gloop was gradually transformed  into smaller and smaller pieces, the children described it as 'cake mixture' and 'snow'.  They tried to build with it, telling me they had made a 'sandwich' and a 'sausage roll'.

They then decided that they were going to make a bridge.

This led to discussions about who might be living under the bridge (the troll) and who might need to go over the bridge (billy goats).  The children also made up tunes as they played which described their actions.  Well then they decided that they wanted to do it all again!  I explained that we needed to add water and then we would have to leave it to dry out again and most importantly, they wouldn't be able to play with it until tomorrow.  They were happy to do this and helped to add the water.

All ready for tomorrow!

Only we forgot to tell my six year old daughter when she came home from school, and she dug her hands straight into the gloop, much to the annoyance of the other children!  A bit more water and it would be fine!

The children's play and exploration has given me some ideas for futher uses of gloop in this form, for example in winter small world play with the bonus of melting snow by adding water!
Links to EYFS: