There is no end to the variety of ‘textures’ that you can explore in your texture kitchen. Whilst we are all probably very used to adding mud and sand, other materials like dough and clay can really extend the learning possibilities. If you created an outdoor dough making station, then children can not only experiment with creating the ‘ideal’ consistency for their dough, they can also add lots of ‘stuff’ to it – like grass, petals and stones etc. Outdoor Ice cream dough making station Children can also use their dough for pattern making on and around natural resources. Grove Street Primary Another enhancement that also offers lots of potential is clay. By its very composition, clay will add more … Read More
Self Service Dough Area!
Every Tuesday on my Instagram account (abcdoes) I invite an Early Years Practitioner or setting to take over my page for #TakeOverTuesday. I have had takeovers from all over the World that have shown a huge range of Early Years provision. Pop over any Tuesday and have a look for a bit of interest and inspiration! This week on #TakeOverTuesday, it was the turn of Laura and her team from Yarm School in the North East of England. As part of her takeover she posted some photos of their self service dough station, which she had made after reading one of my blog post. Her takeover photos got a lot of likes and interest, so I thought I would share … Read More
Good Level of Development – A National Picture.
This week I launched a project that I am doing in the North West of England in conjunction with our Ofsted Big Conversation steering committee. The idea for the project came about after Ofsted released their findings in relation to the number of children who achieve a Good Level of Development (GLD) at the end of the Reception year. This is their Good Level of Development by Local Authority map for 2017/18. You can find it here The North West region, where I live and worked for my entire teaching career, has a high number of Local Authorities where the attainment of GLD is in the lowest National band. The idea of the project is to provide some really cost … Read More
Blowing Activity to Support Speech Development (at least, that’s how it started!).
Increasingly in the settings that I work with, there are more children who are showing some signs of speech delay. This can be for a number of reasons and we should always seek professional advice if we have any concerns. There are some activities that you can do with all children, that are not only fun, but give them the opportunity to explore a range of skills and experiences that also link to the physical development that can support successful speaking. With this in mind I popped into my local packaway pre school – The Ark – (find them on Facebook here), where Sally, Nigel and Janice kindly gave up one of their Tuff Trays. The activity that I wanted … Read More