The Den: 

Characteristics of effective learning: 

We have been looking at Valentine’s Day this week- exploring the colours/ shapes associated with the day. The children have enjoyed a range of focused activities like pink water with petals and creating pictures with heart stampers. 

Holly created a sensory tray with dried chickpeas and pasta. The children really enjoyed looking at this tray and feeling all the different textures. We spoke about the different colours like ‘pink’ , ‘red’ and ‘white’ and the children were able to repeat back and label these colours when asked. We also spoke about how the materials felt as some were ‘bumpy’ , ‘spikey’ and ‘round’.  Exploring new textures is a really important aspect of development as it helps children understand the world, expand their vocabulary, and enhance fine motor skills. 

We also created art work using recycled kitchen roll tubes. We bent them into heart shapes and encouraged the children to stamp them onto paper to create hearts. Messy play is always a favourite with the children and using different materials to investigate new textures. 

We also engaged in water play this week with metal resources. The children loved the pink water and they spent considerable time fully engaged in filling and emptying the metal objects. One child spoke “ooo” as we poured the water from a height.