preschool playtime

Using Cupcake cases

2012-03-12T11:18:00.000-07:00

Buried treasure

2012-03-11T11:09:00.001-07:00

We managed to acquire an extra bag of stone chipping samples from the builders yard that the girls enjoyed hiding in their sand pit.

Cellophane

2012-03-10T11:10:00.001-08:00

I never throw anything out without thinking of a use for it . This cellophane had some lovely patterns on it which , under supervision, was great fun to look through.

Photos of completed construction-before destruction

2012-03-09T11:13:00.002-08:00

To save any up set when it's time to tidy up I take photos of the finished pieces so we have a memory of our afternoons hard work !

Aeroplane stools

2012-03-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

Creepy crawly

2012-03-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

For one of the girls birthdays they were given a big jar of craft items . Any left over bits from other kits are put in here when we are finished . We used some of the left over pipe cleaner cuttings and pom poms from the jar to create some spiders .

Stencil fun

2012-03-06T13:51:00.000-08:00

I have a huge box of cookie cutters and they have so many great creative uses.

Pot and pans go bang bang

2012-03-05T13:34:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a good old fashioned drumming session , when your ears can take it !
Simple and great fun

Pop bottle Penguin.

2012-03-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

As I have confessed before, I am not the only one with a creative mind.

After finishing a drink of branded milkshake, My eldest daughter was fascinated with the shape of the bottle which looked like a penguin . After removing the label and realising it was white we set out to decorate it .
After a bit of scavanging, and raiding Grandma's sewing box we managed to come up with a fantastic home made penguin.

Potato prints

2012-03-04T05:53:00.000-08:00

No explanation needed!

Pizza

2012-03-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

Lovely sticky dough, what fun especially when it's followed by yummy pizza.
I used a packet mix that you add water to.

Sneaky bit of finger licking!

Banana Muffins

2012-02-04T07:53:00.001-08:00

It's snowing outside . We've been out and got wet and cold so now its time for some comfort food!

Banana Muffins

1 banana
40g soft brown sugar
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 egg
65ml milk
100g self raising flower

Mix everything together adding the flour last

190 0c/375 0F/ Gas mark 5 for 15 minutes

Enjoy with a cup of tea!

Shadow jumping

2012-01-20T05:37:00.000-08:00

If only I could guarantee the sun would come out . The girls enjoyed jumping on different parts of my body .On rainy days if you look closely you might find some slugs and snails on the ground instead.

More face paints

2012-01-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

I know I did face paints before but this picture just says it all!

Other Websites with educational activity ideas.

2012-01-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

This is taken from the Pencombe Under Fives website. A fabulous small rural playgroup in Herefordshire .

http://www.pencombeunderfives.co.uk/fun-with-you-children

Learning Fun

2012-01-13T23:49:00.000-08:00

I have found a lovely interactive educational website for pre school children. It uses repetition and simple games to aid their sound and reading knowledge. We have only used the lessons section and the library but for older children there is the opportunity to collect points,eggs, and trade them in for other games and other items.
You get a free 2 week trial for every email address.Unfortunately then you need to pay a subscription ,I am yet to do this but think it might be worth it .

Happy learning x

www.readingeggs.com

Advent Calendar

2011-12-22T06:53:00.000-08:00

I can not take any credit for this idea. I gave the girls some odd post it notes to play with and they invented their own advent calendar. They numbered some, drew a surprise picture on the back and then stuck them on the wall to be taken off everyday on the count down to christmas .

Great work girls !

Good Mummy vs Bad Mummy

2011-12-22T06:39:00.000-08:00

Good Mummy, hand bakes the most perfectly formed shortbread stars using her traditional family recipe. Mixes the perfect amount of food colouring and icing sugar to make a Christmas tree colour. Then using natural flavoured and coloured sweets helps the children assemble and decorate a beautiful shortbread Christmas tree. Topping it off with a homemade sugar crafted Father Christmas and present!

VOILA!

Bad Mummy buys it ready made for £1 fro m ASDA , Leaves the kids to it and then lets them eat all the sweets and icing off it

Snow!

2011-12-22T06:25:00.000-08:00

Oh what fun it is to play in the snow. To save the freezing wet hands after 10 minutes te girls used bucket and spades and a dustpan tp scoop up the snow into a pile ready to make snowman .

As you can see we were quite limited for snow, but with the right tools and determination we managed to produce a snowman all be it "bijou".

Super snowballs!

2011-12-22T06:12:00.000-08:00

Using a soup ladle we made some excellent snowballs. The best technique was to drag it towards yourself, which molded the shape nicely. We must of had the right type of snow as they were easy to do.

Christmas chocolate coins

2011-11-29T08:04:00.000-08:00

A very simple activity where the kids literally just stuck the chocolate coin wrappers onto some paper. You could use them as train wheels or... to represent some other circular things that I can't think of at this present moment . My two decided to give it to their Grandad as a get well soon card .

Vets role play

2011-11-27T13:52:00.001-08:00

I "caught" the girls feeding and putting the animals to bed. I didn't interact with them on this one I just cast an eye from the kitchen. It was great to see them playing together. At school we used to do themed bags with dress up and role play items for the chlidren choose an activity from them .The more conventional ones such as doctors, kitchen , vets, nursery work well with younger ones. As they get older travel agents, construction sites or safari might make a change.

Sunday Munch

2011-11-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

I have recently mentioned veg preparation. The girls really got into peeling the leeks which ended up in a casserole rather than part of the Sunday lunch .They did quite well at keeping it on the chopping boards untl the end . And please don't ask why they are wearing "sunsuits" as I can't honestly remember myself- I guess it's just because they're kids!

Candle lit dinner

2011-11-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

Candle lit dinner for 2? A great themed night tea. I've done a buffet and party style tea before . Helps keep their mind off their hunger and tiredness. If the foods no too messy you could all dress up for dinner .

Vegetable delights

2011-11-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

Kid's love helping with food preparation and it always gives then an interest in eating it. It's a great time of year to pick vegetables if you haven't grown your own ask friends, family or neighbours.We saw some maize being harvested at the end of the lane.The farmer let us have some- but be warned this is animal feed for a reason . Luckily I had some shop bought corn on the cob so we swapped and cooked that, much tastier! Peppers are a good one for little ones as theycan pop them open, de-seed them and then rip them up into a bowl, ideal for adding to bolognase sauces.Mushrooms are also easily "cut" with a blunt child's knife .