Investigation Hub and Discovery Hub at Deckham
This week we have had lots of learning and fun outdoors. The children have been using our new sweeping brushes and wheelbarrows to collect up the many leaves that have fallen in our outdoor area. The brushes and wheelbarrows are a fantastic way for the children to develop strength and skill in their gross motor movements (which are large movements of the body). When using both types of equipment, the children also had to be aware of what else was around them and avoid any objects or other children in their path. Some of the children also enjoyed throwing the leaves up into the air, and the experience of them falling back down onto them. One child described it as “a leaf tornado”!
The children have continued to enjoy hunting for minibeasts outdoors and we discovered that we were able to find lots of worms on rainy days. The children made a home together for the worms, adding natural materials to a box and camouflaging the outside with leaves.
Some of the children enjoyed making “perfume” this week using flower petals and water. They crushed the petals and added them to water spray bottles. They sprayed the perfume onto each other and had a little smell! Using the spray bottles is a super way to strengthen hand muscles.
Characteristics of effective learning – Active learning
We have begun to explore using the balancing scales with pinecones and other objects. As the children discussed the sides of the scales going up and down, adults modelled using language relating to weight such as “heavy”, “heavier”, “light” and “lighter” and the children began to use some of this vocabulary in their investigations:
“It’s going down now. It’s heavier”.
“The can is really heavy!”
The children have also explored autumnal natural objects in the water tray. Using spoons, jugs and bowls to scoop, lift, pour and stir.
Story of the week: Autumn
Song of the week: Autumn leaves
Parents as partners
The children have enjoyed using instruments in different ways this week:
- Creating loud and quiet sounds
- Playing slowly and quickly
- Tapping out a simple repeated rhythm on a drum or tin can
- Counting actions e.g. can you bang the drum 3 times?
Many of the ‘instruments’ that the children have used have been everyday objects e.g. using an empty powdered milk can and tapping it with a lollipop stick.
If you have any items you could use for music-making at home, you might like to encourage your child to explore using them in some of the ways mentioned above.
We hope you have a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing everyone next week.