Cafe Treats!

One of our treats is to go to a cafe for snack time and sometimes we have baby chinos, even luckier if it's one of those cafes that don't charge for a little bit of warm milk, a ton of tickle froth and chocolate on top of course! Chocolate smiles all around.

Making wobbly fish

I saw these lovely fish on a Facebook post via my WI president, something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l0tT9PVadQ 

so simply had to give it a go. It was actually really simple. The children loved helping to stick the eyes on, watching me snip snip and then we sang fishy songs. It prompted me to get out lots of under the sea jigsaws to think about what other creatures you would find in the sea.

Making a stick house

More Forest school fun: We've been having fun going outside to find sticks. I have really been amazed by how many activities we've been able to do just with the simple stick!

There is so much learning, for example thinking about health and safety (keep your sticks pointed down), making up songs ('Tap your sticks', 'this is the way we drum our sticks'), laying them straight, jumping over them and encouraging role play and imagination such as in this picture where we made a stick house. The children loved this activity and kept on talking about it and were able to tell their parents at pick up time. I think this is a really good example of how Forest School promotes independence, imagination and confidence building.

It's Cold!

We went outside to play in the cold on a beautiful sunny day. We found that everything had frozen, a great opportunity to explore how ice feels. We picked it up, smashed it, watched it melt, counted the pieces and looked at the shapes. Of course it had to be licked as well!

We made a Christmas Tree

In the lead up to Christmas its great fun helping to prepare the little ones for the exciting things they will experience. I saw this idea on a Pinterest site and adapted it so the little ones could help to make the tree and then stick baubles and stars on it. They loved counting them and talking about the colours. It was a great opportunity for learning about taking turns too and then of course lots of celebrating their work afterwards by showing it off to parents and the big children after school too.

I made a wreath

Hear is a classic example of procrastination! I said to myself that I would fill in some of my Forest School portfolio but found myself in the garden foraging for suitable wreath making foliage. I used apple tree twig prunings to bend them into a circle shape, tied together with string and then threaded small pine tree branches and dried sedum flowers onto it. The smell was heavenly and it was then adorned with some wooden ornaments and icicles and stayed on the front door all Christmas. Felt quite proud of it actually! I can use it as part of my Forest School Training as I had to learn how to bend the wood and think about which resources to use so it will go into my reflective journal as a useful learning activity. 

Birthday celebrations

Everyone loves to be made a fuss of when it's their Birthday, especially if it's a 2nd Birthday and the first time you're really old enough to appreciate it! The children helped make the cake and then we played Musical Statues, Musical Bumps and 'Simon Says' and had a little disco! Great fun for all ages!