DIY Sensory Tree

Here's a nice little addition to your sensory area/ activities - a sensory tree with scents that you can change or refresh easily and as needed.

What you'll need:

*A twig/ small branch - it needs to have some off shoots to hang the scent pouches from (think mini tree!)*

*Some permeable material, bags or pouches to hold your smelly items. I used these cute little organza bags.* 

*A pot or jar to hold your tree.*

*An interesting variety of different smells (some ideas below).*

**Tissue paper, glitter, sequins, felt tip pens, ribbons and anything else you like to decorate.*

What to do:

1. Go for a walk, enjoy the great outdoors and find a suitable stick
   
2. Make sure it's nice and dry and then decorate if desired. You could paint it, wrap it with coloured yarn, glue tissue paper onto it... whatever the little ones want!
3. More decorating! Now it's time to make your pot or jar looks beautiful! Felt pens were used here but they have a habit of rubbing off onto everything around. I've heard that hairspray can help it set, but it's probably easier to paint the jar or collage onto it!
   
4. Fill your pot or jar with soil/ tissue paper/ bubble wrap or anything that will hold the stick fairly firmly
5. Find some interesting smelling items, you could use: fresh herbs, fresh fruit (citrus ones work really well), tea bags, smelly soaps, cotton wool soaked in coffee/ perfume etc and fill the bags 
   

 6. Hang the bags onto the tree and you're done! Allow the children to explore the different smells and maybe help them to think of and add their own.

Have an awesome summer everyone!

Lovely Lightboxes

Good evening everyone! I thought that today I would devote a post to a fantastic, sometimes a little under-appreciated resource - the Lightbox!

If you don't already have a lightbox (sometimes known as a light table) - don't panic! You can make your own quite easily by putting a lamp or some fairy lights into a large plastic container.
A nice simple tutorial can be found here.

Ok, first things first; in order to use your lightbox effectively you must put some thought into where  you'll put it and how you'll present it - hopefully making it into an exciting invitation to play!
My favourite way to set it out is to have the lightbox on a low table, or even set on the floor, so that it is easily accessible and at child height, and place it against a mirror, or better yet - surround it with a 3 sided mirror! 
There are some lovely examples of how to set out your light boxes on pinterest.

Now that your lightbox area is set up, you can start thinking about the skills that you want the children to be developing, and the resources that you can add to promote these skills!

Here are just a few ideas:

As well as these general ideas, there are many other ways to involve your lightbox in your learning, for example: if you are learning about the body and people who help us - you could add X-rays. If you are learning about Autumn, you could add discovery bottles with pine cones, conkers, leaves! You see? The possibilities are endless!

I find that the lightbox is a great way to encourage children to look at items in detail. It can also help children to concentrate and focus. I hope I have inspired you to have another look at your lightbox!

Here are some more fantastic lightbox ideas to inspire tou from blogs around the web:

Ice on the lightbox by Garden Gate Child Development Centre

A beautiful glittery light table by Fairy Dust Teaching

A huge selection of 'everyday' ways to use your lightbox from Teach Preschool

Oh the fun you will have, Oh the mess you will make!

While I was at nursery today, I got thinking about what a wonderful resource our Water Tray is! 

It's such a simple thing and can easily be forgotten or taken for granted, so I am going to take a moment to think about some of the many fun and stimulating ways that water trays can be used to promote children's learning across the curriculum...

Containers

We use all kinds of different containers in our water tray, from clear pop bottles to opaque yoghurt pots and a variety of shapes and sizes! Playing with these allows the children to experiment with scooping and pouring, investigating light and what they can see and it also encourages them to begin to understand about volume as they transfer water from one container to another.

Funnels and Tubes 
Funnels and tubes can be used along with bottles and containers,or can be provided as a separate activity, to allow the children to problem solve and use trial and error while connecting tubes, or working out a way to allow the water the flow through them.

Sieves and colanders 

Anything with a few holes will do! The children at my nursery love to pretend to make it rain by holding the sieve or colander up above the tray. This encourages talk about the weather and could lead on to learning about the water cycle. Children can also be encouraged to listen to to sounds as the water falls back into the tray.

Sponges

How fascinating to see how a sponge absorbs water, and how satisfying to squeeze all of the water back into the tray! This simple and fun activity promotes fine motor skills and muscle development.

Baby dolls

Fill the water tray with some warm, soapy water, provide some flannels and a couple of dry towels and maybe a few baby sized bottles. Then introduce some (washable - non electronic!!) baby dolls! 
The girls in my nursery class adore babies and want to play Mummy and Baby games all of the time. 
This encourages the children to think about how babies are cared for, and also how we care for ourselves and our own bodies.

Mixing colours 

Why not provide some small bottles of watered down food colouring and allow the children to mix and experiment with colour?

Smells

At my nursery we are lucky enough to have our very own herb garden. We recently picked a lot of home grown fresh mint and added it to our water tray to create a wonderful smell! You could also use peppermint essence, vanilla, fruity soap... the possibilities are endless!

Melting Ice

The water tray is a great area for the children to investigate temperature. They could be allowed to mix warm and cold water. You could also add ice cubes to either cold water, or warm water. This allows the children to predict what will happen, and also introduces them to the different forms that water can take.

Floating and sinking

Of course, providing a range of materials - some that will float and some that will sink, is a fantastic learning activity for children. It allows them to predict outcomes, and to test out their theories. You can also provide opportunities for children to change the items, for example "if i fill the boat with bricks, will it still float?"

Mirrors

Why not learn about reflections and light by providing some large and small mirrors in the water?

Textures

Have you ever tried adding soap flakes to water? It makes a fabulous goopy texture which your children will love to explore. You could also use this activity to promote descriptive language.



Of course, there are so many other ways that a water tray can be used! And don't forget all that wonderful 'splishy splashy' language!