…an interesting article about encouraging creativity in children.
Pooh sticks!
Yesterday, Sunday 3rd June, saw Oxfordshire play host to the ‘World Pooh Sticks Championships’.
As all Winnie the Pooh fans will know, Pooh Sticks is the game of dropping twigs into a stream from the bridge above and seeing whose stick emerges first from the other side.
Here at Aston Childcare we love an impromptu game of pooh sticks! The children’s excitement of watching their floating twig arrive safely at the other side of the bridge never fails to amuse.
It’s a game we probably all remember fondly from our own childhoods. There really is nothing simpler than throwing a stick in the water that the children love so much! No childhood is complete without a game of PoohSticks!
Ooh arr!
The children all enjoyed some pirate themed arts and crafts last week.
They all enjoyed colouring in their own pirate ships, using some fun Pirate foam stickers and perhaps their favourite of all, decorating their very own Pirate swords!
The children (aged 2.5-4 years old) had great fun extending their vocabulary and learning lots of new words such as treasure, sails, mast and plank whilst the eldest of the group (aged 5) was able to teach them new phrases such as “x marks the spot”!
Superheroes!
The kids loved these Superhero stickers this week. The youngest (aged 2) enjoyed the act of peeling the back of each sticker off which is great for their fine motor skills and the eldest (aged 5) loved telling the younger ones all about Superheroes and their superpowers and reading each of the words out aloud.
Areas of Learning Covered: Literacy, Physical Development (Fine Motor Skills), Personal, Social and Emotional Development and Communication & Language.
Mandala Colour in Flower Decorations
The children loved colouring in these Mandala Flower Colour-in decorations by Baker Ross after school today. Its another activity that is great whatever the child’s age. The older children can enjoy very intricate colouring in if they wish and the younger ones can simply just enjoy making marks. Aren’t they lovely?!
Spring school runs
Rain, rain, go away! You wouldn’t know it today with the rain hammering down outside but the start of Spring was promising with bright blue skies, birds singing, the village sheep baa-ing, bright yellow daffodils in full bloom and the kids and I spotting our shadows as we enjoyed our walks to and from school…apparently its due to brighten up tomorrow!
Tissue paper sunflowers
The children enjoyed making these bright and colourful tissue paper sunflowers this morning and they certainly cheered us up on a cold, miserable Monday morning!
At pick up, one of the Mummys told me that they had just planted some sunflower seeds in their garden at home which reminds me I must plant ours if we are to see ours in bloom by the Summer!
Cardboard Wreaths
The children have been busy making these lovely cardboard wreaths. It was a great activity they could all enjoy – toddlers, pre-schoolers and school aged children. I laid out a selection of craft items for them to pick and choose and they were then able to work at their own pace to create their own wreath. It was a great activity for practising their fine motor skills, handling small craft items like sequins and pom poms helps them practise and develop their pincer grip.
They particularly loved seeing their finished wreaths hanging up on the wall and proudly took them home to show their Mums and Dads! Aren’t they great?!
Toys: This weeks most played with
Our toy baby dollies and pushchair have been a big hit here recently with the children but this week the children’s attention turned to our Happyland collection particularly these new additions.
I tend to buy all-plastic toys second hand, change out the batteries and wipe down with anti- bacterial wipes or spray and they are good to go.
This Happyland Safari plane complete with animals, pilot and ranger characters have been a big hit as have these construction builders vehicles and characters.
All great for little hands and inspiring imaginative play.
Toddler Handprints
Lovely handprints of two 2.5 year old toddlers I look after…
astonchildcare 