Exploring with natural materials Part 1

One day last week it was pouring with rain...a small group of children wanted to go outside but still wanted to carry on playing with the natural materials...
So we put out our trusty tuff spot, some chalk and little tubs of natural materials. One child had the idea to use the chalk to create a face, then fill it with 'natural' features. Lots of conversation ensued. See below for some of their examples of work :-)
We loved the way that the chalk showed up better because the tuff spot was so wet!

Making Circles!!

We moved the small natural materials from the inside construction area to the outside area this week. 

 These 3 children spent half an hour working together, talking about which layer should go next and who was going to do what.

The wooden 'spikes' were then added as hair for this extra-terrestrial character!!! :-D I love children's imaginations!

New school year, new class layout :-D

Sorry for the long break in posting - the first week back at school was great but very busy!!! I have worked really hard on trying to make my classroom more colour neutral (no more primary colours adorning the walls!) with lots of interesting areas to explore and am really pleased with how much calmer the class feels.

 The light/colour exploration corner. I have access to a fab concierge who helped me to put up this curtain for the OHP to reflect onto. I used an old IKEA shower curtain that we had lying around and stapled it to a length of wood, which was then hung from the ceiling.

I found an old mirror (acrylic) in the basement which I placed behind the light box - the children love watching what they are doing whilst they are playing and the reflections of the colours are beautiful.

 Our nature area - we are encouraging the children to bring in natural objects they find during their weekend to add to this area. I love the mats which my colleague found at a charity shop for very little money :-)

 I couldn't get away from the primary colours in the furniture but I am pleased with what we have been able to do with the area - it used to be enclosed but we have opened it out and taken away the boundaries which seems to be working really well. It has encouraged the children to share their play with children in other areas. I love sitting chatting to a child in the book corner and being offered an 'ice-cream' or slice of 'cake' that they have just baked.

Writing corner/mark making area - my fab assistant sewed the pocket at the back to hold all the felt tips in their colours. So far, so good! Lids back on pens and back in the right places!

After being inspired by several blog posts I have read recently, I decided to have a go at making my own sensory bags using Ziplock bags and gaffa tape. The blue one is just regular poster paint. The middle one was originally squishy with shaving foam and lentils...but...the next day we came in to find a rock hard square!! Logically I guess, all the shaving foam got soaked up by the lentils - sadly it was the day before the children came back but I might repeat it again to see their reaction the following day!! The left one is hand gel, a little water and loads of glitter :-)

 Blocks area and natural materials - pine cones, shells, sticks, corks etc

Mirror and stones/seed pods

Getting ready for September - Back to school!

It's the holidays and you are enjoying walking along a shopping street or through a mall, relaxing and making the most of being out and about during the day...then something catches your eye and you see the perfect item....for an area of your classroom or that you know the children will just love... Know the feeling?! It's the time of the year where I actually have the most time to really reflect and so is often when I am able to come up with some of my more creative ideas and I would not swap it for the world. Today I was in a cute kitchen/garden store with lots of natural wooden products and came across this little stash - am very pleased! The gorgeous toadstools (cork stoppers for wine!) are just right to go with the waldorf playmats I blogged about a few weeks back. I am especially pleased with the scoops to complement our pincers that we already have - great for promoting fine motor skills in a playful way :-) And the best bit was that they didn't cost the bank :-D Will follow up with another post showing them in use once school is underway!

Exploring Michael Rosen's We're going on a bear hunt!!

One of my favourite books is We’re going on a bear hunt by Michael Rosen.
We set up the sand to represent the scenes in the story and the children have had a ball exploring the small world setting and re-telling the story - admittedly it didn't look like this for very long but I am taking that as a sign that it was a good idea!! And on day 2, the children took the dinosaurs from an activity on the carpet and started telling the story - we’re going on a dinosaur hunt :-D

After listening to the story several times, the children were able to retell the story themselves. We laid out a selection of different materials and encouraged the children to think about the parts in the story. We then made a story map of the story We’re going on a bear hunt….all the ideas came from the children and they did all the work :-) 

I think it looks fab and we have had lots of fun playing with it - we took it outside in the end and it was lovely that so many boys were acting out the story once it was no longer indoors!

Inspiring small world play environments

We love making small world environments for the children to explore. The children love them even more, adding and changing them throughout the day (often coming up with much better ideas than us lol!)  :-D Here are a few individual ones we have made, all to fit in with our current topic, Under the sea!

Fairy Chairs

One Inch World - Fairy Chairs

These gorgeous chairs were made by One Inch World

Aren’t they fantastic? I want to have a go….next stop, forest! :-)

I put out this invitation to play this morning and the children have been actively exploring and telling stories all day with it. Lots of building has been going on, stacking the tiny bark pieces on top of the larger wooden blocks - quite a difficult feat it turns out to be!!

What are your favourite invitations to play this week?

Mirror Exploration - using a mirror table

Using a mirror table…

I love having a mirror table in the classroom and seemingly so do my class!! The first few weeks after we got it, I was unsure how to use it to best effect so we had a brainstorming session and the children came up with some fabulous ideas. That was several years ago and now there isn’t a day that goes past when it isn’t in use….and usually the ideas are all completely different. Here a just a few:

• Lenses and mirrors on the surface for exploration of reflections, light and colour
• Use of blocks, recycled and natural materials on the surface to make patterns and pictures, often resulting in teamwork and/or high levels of concentration and involvement - in the picture with the spiral, the child was inspired by the African land snails that we had as class pets at the time
• Shaving foam (or paint, gloop or other tactile material) - lots of pre-writing skills developed, creating shapes and patterns
• Using the mirrors outside, creating lots of natural reflections and inspiration for imaginative play

When I started teaching nearly 9 years ago, I did not realise the path I was embarking on, where it would take me and how much I was about to learn! Now, 3 countries later, I am happy but with still much to learn and I cannot see that changing any time soon. I have developed a love for natural objects within the classroom setting and am amazed by the ideas our children come up with, how they manipulate and combine objects to make new and exciting discoveries and constructions. I enjoyed visiting the town of Reggio Emilia in Italy and their work continues to inspire me, as well as following the children’s own interests and ideas - life is never boring!