This Blustery Day

We are back into the  term and we started on this cold and blustery day. The weather was mild but cold to begin with but has grown wilder and wilder as the day progressed.

I am not here to write about the weather althoguh weather, in my experience, can profoundly effect children and behaviour.

With the season changing quickly to autumn, I have made some changes to accomodate the colder weather, with this little group. 

The childen arrived with bounce . Some were a little cautious after the break. I has set up a gluing activity to start and really hoped that they would set to"work". 

I have been doing a whole lot of reading around sensory intergration with children of all ages. Some very interesting ideas have taken root in my thinking.

Children who struggle with sensory intergration issues can either seek out sensory input like spinning on a swing or avaoid it . 

One of the things we have been using at home with our son is the idea of a weighted something that can be used , by him, when he feels he might need it. he might place it on his lap, tummy , shoulder and even head. He does this all the time at home. I sewed all the boys a large bean bag filled with rice and these have been their ' happy huggers' . 

Try it esepcially if your little one or older one struggles with sensorry intergration .

The Out of Sync Child and The out of sync Child has fun  - both by Carol Stock Kranowitz are great books explaining the issues around sensory input and helping with very pracicle ideas on helping the child cope with a very busy, noisey world.

For our sensory tray we had all while lot of autumn things like leaves and bark and cones - thinks children could feel and incorporate into their imaginary play.

We had yellow dough and we hade a surprise tray with beans, rice and other sparkling things. - A sort of things to find tray.

We had a good bean bag movement time with the children balancing the bean bags a little on different body parts. 

We ended our programme with the delightful story called ..

We're going on a Bear Hunt by  Helen Oxenbury.  If you have never read this book then please try and get hold of it. All good book stores should have it and it is a Library must.

Can you feel it?

The squelch and the swirl 

 

Today we had a fantastically, messy sensory play time at The Studio.

Firstly there was sticky, blue play dough with tubs of flour ; then we had some shaving cream smeared all over the windows ; along side this we had small little trays with 'just flour' in them for tiny finger play; water with bubbles and straws and damp sand. all this was topped with some seed and rice pouring.

 Flour and Dough wonder!!

 This is Nursery School Paint. It is delightful paint to use with small kiddies. Bright colours and non-toxic  produce wonderful paintings.

Painting at an easel is fun and allows the child the opportunity to engage with his painting at his own pace. he can go towards it and leave it when he has had enough. The process of spreading two or three colours of paint onto the page is a wonderful exploring. This little man has even begun to feel the thick, goop of paint. 

We had a glories time together. The children had fun with the milk bottle scoops and newspaper balls; bean bags and some singing too.

We ended our time together with Eric Carle's great book " Brown Bear what do you see?"

If you are happy and you know it....

 I like to think that Kids@The Studio offers a morning of stimulation and good ideas for moms and their little ones but mostly a place to chat and have a good time.

 Today it started to rain as everyone was arriving. Keeping 7 little ones busy and dry on a rainy day is quite a thing:)

 Hats , hats and more hats. This little man is holding part of a milk bottle. The ither part to this is a newspaper ball used for catching and throwing.

 A few weeks ago we did box stacking and this has remained a firm favourite.

 Time to cook. We made pizza today with the moms and grannies and helpers all getting stuck in. Yum!!

 Printing is a fun painting activity . it is a real skill to push the printing object down and then pick it up and a real temptation to paint with it instead:) This little man painted his face too.

 This little man was a real little chef. His mom cooks with him a lot and so he could help grate some cheese.

 For the sensory tray ( in the rainy , damp outside area) we have jelly of all sorts of colours. Yum!

 Play dough birthday cake is always a hit. Play dough is a wonderful and relaxing thing for children to roll and pat and squish. A simple recipe is as follows......

Play dough recipe that works

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

2 cups water

food colouring

2 table spoons for cooking oil.

4 teaspoon cream of tartar

cook over a low heat until all the dough sticks together in a ball in the middle of the pot. Take it out ( be careful. It is hot). Roll it and knead it until it is wonderful and elastic. Keep in a sealed container in the fridge.

 Here are the children's finished pizzas. All ready to be eaten and enjoyed. The pizza recipe is one I took of the internet and I made the dough in my bread maker. The recipe is really simple and we use tomato paste and then cheddar cheese for the topping. A firm fav with my own children and we often make these at parties.

Pizza Dough Recipe - for a bread maker

1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/4 salt

2 table spoons olive oil

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsps yeast

 We also made some giant body shape pictures. These are really wonderful.

I have an architect friend who keeps me all her old plans which are on large paper. Thanks Georgie!!

'I am tired now and really want to go home but I will sit and relax with my pizza.'

Boxes Galore

 I love cardboard of any kind and especially the kind that has been fashioned into a box. A box to put things into or stand on top of. A box to climb into or to fill with sand or other finds. A box that is so tiny and another that is bigger than I am. I love boxes!!!

 I like to  use waste in this group and in fact in most of the things I do with kids. I like to make things from waste and let children experience the fun we can have from making something from nothing.

 Here are the creepy crawly fantasy logs. The bugs get to crawl on the tree and down onto the tree stumps.

 This week I put some boxes into the sand play area .

 Water play included the sea creature theme and some nets for fishing them out :)

 Water in a bucket and an old paint brush  will provide a lot of fun for little people.

 The blue monkey and some bean bags make for a fun toss and aim game. Look mom I can throw.

The scribble stage is so clearly shown in this chalk art of this little 2 year old:)

Kids@The Studio have fun

 Today was week 2 of Kids @ The Studio and we had a lot of garden fun.  Here are the boxes I introduced in a together 'ring' time last week and I was interested to see what the children did with them in the garden.

 Here is the block table for today - built by my very handy hubby!! :)

 We pour and stir and drink real tea:)

 This is puzzle time

 mmm - tea is yummy!!

 Here is what two delightful little chaps got up to with the boxes. What a win!! So get collecting and make your own empty box towers at home.

 Sandpit fun.

 I have lots of different things in the garden for the children to play with. Hobby horses, sandpit play, water play, blocks and boxes, bikes and books. The children spend a very busy morning playing and learning as they play.

Rosie's Walk - by Pat Hutchins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93g0zVaUlOc

Rosie the Hen went for a walk..... around the pond.... past the mill.... over the haycock.... through the fence... and got back in time for dinner.

 http://babyccinoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/rosies-walk-cover.jpg


Today we heard this story. Check out the YouTube link and your local library for a fabulous read

From small beginnings

 This is a tree stump which serves as a great , little home for all sorts of fantasy play creatures. Here is the green and yellow frog and he has many other little friends that tag along with him.

 Boxes, boxes and more boxes. I love empty box play for children. There are some many things one can do with an empty box. These I taped shut and some I painted which is not necessary. We used the boxes to build a tall tower and then to knock it down. Most of the things we do as a group I will set up as a free play game, outside or on the mat.  It will be interesting to observe what the children do with the boxes on their own!!

 These were some of the free painting that happened on Tuesday. Notice the scribble stage.