As more people are self-isolating and schools and childcare settings across the world are closing, we thought we would contribute to easing the burden by providing another place you can direct parent’s /carers to for support. We are part of a wonderful, international community of Early Years practitioners who have a wealth of knowledge and a HUGE bank of ideas and activities. So, let’s gather together and share them! As a starting point I am going to use my blog to share activities that can fairly easily be done at home. I’ll gather a collection of ideas each week and post them on the website – with links from social media. If you would like to contribute please email me … Read More
Texture Kitchens – Berry Paint
To encourage children to explore some different painting techniques in your outdoor space, there is nothing more engaging than being able to make your own paint. That can be as simple as mud paint (more of that tomorrow) or you can try making berry paint. Berries are in abundance at this time of the year and obviously not all of them are safe for children to work with. So, you would always check the berries you are using and have the conversation with the children about how some berries can be dangerous. I stuck to using familiar berries like raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. You need to be able to extract the juice from the berries (the fun bit), so you … Read More
Texture Kitchen – Clay Station
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
Texture Kitchen – Transient Art
It is important that children have opportunities for art, design and creativity outdoors as well as indoors. Ideally in your indoor space you will have provision for children to make, model and paint. If you put one of your easels outside with some pots of paint and a couple of aprons then you are just recreating the same indoor opportunities without the ceiling. Although some children might really enjoy painting outside, a key question for me is ‘what unique creative experience can outdoors offer them?’ There will be more about outdoor painting later in the week! We want children to be able to transfer their indoor skills and apply them to different resources and experiences that are strongly linked to … Read More