Bean there...and now back again!

We had had beans in our sensory tray for a couple of weeks now and I had noticed, over the last few days, interest in the tray had reduced considerably, to the point where it wasn't really being played with.  Occasionally someone might scatter a few on the floor on their way past but that was about it.

My normal course of action would be to replace the beans with another resource, however, having recently read 'Observing, Assessing and Planning for Children in the Early Years by Sandra Smidt I thought I would have a go at implementing one of her suggestions.  She said that when interest declines in a resource rather than looking to replace it completely, try adding or changing an element of the area to regenerate interest.  I must admit I was quite sceptical about this and had doubts as to whether the childrens interest could so easily be re-captured, but thought I would give it a go. 

What I added to the area was another work surface and some scales (ok thats 2 things, but I decided the table wasn't big enough and maybe that was restricting play and strictly speaking, one set of scales had been there all the time at the bottom of the box).
Well she was right.  It was though this was a completely new resource that had been introduced....

....but thinking about it, it wasn't quite like that, because you could see the children building on their existing knowledge of the beans as they incorporated the new resources into play.

J for example knew it was easier to pour the beans into a container with a small opening if she used the funnel and it was best to pour the beans slowly to prevent them scattering.

The extra work surface gave the children plenty of space to play without disturbing each other, while the scales brought new elements to their play, including weight and numbers.

Although I didn't manage to get any photos, we spent a long time trying to work out why one end of the scales was up in the air and how we could get it to go down (apart from the obvious - pushing it with our hands!)

J also noticed the 'letters' on the scales and this led to discussions about how the 'black line' moved around the numbers as we added more beans and why this was.

There were still plenty of opportunites to explore the beans with our hands as they became 'cakes'....

....and I noticed that the children brought their own resources to the area, which they then incorporated into their play.

(I'm not sure whether the animals were being cooked or being fed!)

Links to EYFS:
CLL: Language for Communication (children talking about and discussing what they are doing)
CLL: Reading (showing an interest in print)
CLL: Handwriting (showing control in their use of equipment)
PSRN: Numbers as Labels and for Counting (using number names in play / recognising numbers)
PSRN: Shapes, Spaces and Measures (talking about how heavy things are / how much space is left, can any more be fitted in)

Gravel Play!

As part of a current fishy interest, we visited the fish section in a local garden centre (thought the £30+ to visit Blue Reef was a touch on the expensive side).  Here I spotted fish tank gravel which I thought would be great in our sensory tray.  The children enjoy this type of play and I thought the gravel would bring a slightly different element to play, being considerably heavier than the normal materials we use, such as pasta and rice.
Initially the children explored the gravel with very few resources, giving the opportunity to find out about its properties such as such as mass and texture.

They then added the resources of their choosing from the box.  I purposefully do not pre-select the resources to be used, as I think children learn more effectively what resources and tools work better with different materials if they have the chance to explore and experiment.

It took a while for J to fill up this clear plastic tube.....

......and careful coordinated actions to pour it into the plastic container.

Here the focus of play was transporting the gravel onto the red dish......

...and then play progressed to filling and emptying the containers.

As we played we talked about whether the containers were full or empty, whether there was space for any more, which were the heaviest / lightest etc.  The gravel also helped develop coordination and strengthen muscles in arms and hands.
Links to EYFS:
CLL: Handwriting (showing control of the use of tools and equipment)
PSRN: Shape, Spaces and Measures (discussing weight and related vocabulary)
PD: Using Equipment and Materials

Spaghetti Towers

We have been busy practising our threading skills this week.  All the children I look after enjoyed having a go at this activity, ranging in age from nearly 2, to 9.

Spaghetti, stood upright in playdough make a great frame for our threading.

I then gave the children pasta tubes, cut up straws, buttons and Cheerios to thread. 

The children were keen to join in and spend a long time selecting resources and threading them.

This little boy had fantastic concentration and threading skills considering  his age.

Others were keen to help him out at times, when he found it a bit tricky!

He even managed to simultaneously keep his balance on the stool he insisted on sitting on, whilst threading.  I think thats quite an achievement for a nearly 2 year old!

With the over 3's, to extend their learning, I drew their attention to the
 patterns the older children had made that morning and we worked hard to create our own.  Sometimes we had to say our pattern out loud to
work out what would come next.

And here are some of our creations.  Not sure how well they survived the journey home though!

I found some Pennoni Rigati pasta in Asda this morning which are huge compared to normal pasta tubes.  These, with straws, I thought would make a great version of this activity for even younger children.

 

Just need a bit of food colouring to make them more interesting!

Links to EYFS:

PSED: Making Relationships (working together and helping each other)

CLL: Handwriting (showing good control when positioning the straws / pasta on the spaghetti)
PSRN: Numbers as Labels and for Counting (counting / estimating how many objects have been threaded)

PSRN: Shape, Spaces, Measures ( Attempts at / recognition of patterns, ordering towers by height)

Back from Devon!

Back this week from a lovel break in Devon with my family.  But why is it, I never seem to be able to switch of from my role as a Childminder, evident in the souvenirs I brought back.  Okay, so your thinking, nothing unusual in bringing back souvenirs from a holiday, mmmmm well this is what mine consisted of......

1.   A log from our forest walk which I thought would make......

                                                         .........a fab log for our speckled frogs!

2.     Giant fir cones. 

My husband spotted these (aaah I have trained him well!),  which will be just perfect for the fir cone bird feeders I saw at Irresistible Ideas for Play-based Learning a while back.

3.     Large rocks (there were hundreds honest!) I liked the white and silver colour of these and some even has glittery bits (I'm not conviced its normal to be so excited about a rock).  These I thought would be just perfect in small world play, particularly as they were large and flat enough to stand objects on.

4.    And then there was the visit to Trago Mills (the biggest shop I have ever seen), a childminder's paradise, all those things you spend ages searching for, all there in one place and all very cheap!  I won't go into details but lets just say, it was a job getting everything into the car to go home.

Oh and not forgetting the empty tin cans that I insisted on taking back, as the can opener didn't leave sharp edges.  Yay we can now make the tin can drums I saw last week at Hands on : as we grow!

I did resist the thousands of tiny frogs we stumbled across on another walk, (if you exclude the few that might have accidentally become attached to the bottom of our shoes before we realised the pathway was covered in them)

Back to work now then!