Irresistible Ideas for play based learning » Science & Technology

::: mini beasts and mini webs

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:01:13 +0000

As the children seem to be quite interested in mini beasts at the moment, we read a great book together about bugs and beetles and other creepy crawlies.

It was a great opportunity to discuss the differences between insects and spiders and our old favourite topic, metamorphosis.

The children wanted to create their own mini beasts so we popped out egg cartons and lots of other bits and pieces…

and let the children go for it.

They came up with some very wild …

and wonderful creatures.

We love the way the children were referring back to the book checking out details like the number of legs their mini beast needed.

We particularly love this mosquito!

After having made the big woollen webs the day before …

the children had a great time playing in them with their new mini beasts …

and just playing in them!

Some children were keen to make their own webs for their mini beasts to go into.

We had a big pile of sticks which Donna had brought in (as you do) and these were perfect for the children to use for mini webs as well as lots and lots of wool scraps left over from the day before.

Some used the sticks crossed …

while others chose to use just one stick.

Both designs were very effective!

The mini beasts had found new homes …

all totally irresistible!

::: marble run fun

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:01:19 +0000

We have found with the cold, wet weather that the children are not interested in the water wall – we don’t blame them!

We seem to have marbles on our minds at the moment with different activities we have been doing and thought that perhaps we could utilise the water wall in a different way.

It needed a bit of snazzing up as it was looking a bit neglected, so with the children’s help we added a few more bottles and some hoses as well.

Talk about giving the old girl new life!

The children love it and are having lots of fun manipulating the different components …

to make a variety of paths for their marbles.

The beauty of the wall is that come summer the bottles and hoses will be suitable for both marbles and water play!

As you can imagine the children are having a ball playing with their new look wall.

A mar-ball that is!

We are a part of the ”Childhood 101 – We Play Link“

::: cd spinners

admin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:01:21 +0000

We’ve used CD’s as garden art before but are always on the look out for new ways to use them.

After reading our post on spinning tops one of our followers, Monica, mentioned another activity she saw in “FamilyFun magazine“ using CD’s to make spinners (another ‘spin’ on our spinning tops!).

The children took a CD, a ball of Blu Tak and a marble. They placed the Blu Tak over the hole in the CD and pushed the marble into it which in turn pushed a blob of the Blu Tak through to the other side.

On the other side they pressed a small bottle cap into the bulging Blu Tak.

They decorated the CD’s with textas or cut out paper …

then popped them onto a flat surface and spun them.

They were really easy for the children to spin as the bottle cap was a good size for their fingers to get a good grip on …

and the CD ‘s were so nicely balanced.

They looked beautiful when they spun, not only because of the children’s decorations, but also the way the light caught the CD’s, producing almost holographic rainbow colours.