Streams & Dinosaur Eggs!

The toddlers absolutely loved their trip to the stream one morning and were so excited to hear what they would be doing. As they saw spare clothes, wellies, wetsuit trousers and water toys all being gathered and put into the buggies Arlo asked, “Are we going for a walk? In the buggies?” Which Max overheard and celebrated with a cheer, “Go on a walk, Yayy”.  As the two were celebrating Arlo watched as their water bottles and a snack were placed into a bag too “We having snack on the walk too, it so tasty”. Once the children had their sun cream applied and hats on they were ready to set off in the buggies and began lots of chatter about vans, trucks and police cars that they might spot along the way. As they arrived at the stream they did some fabulous listening skills as made their way along the bank and sat down beside the stream to have a quick snack. Hugo was munching on a breadstick when he all of a sudden he stopped and shouted, “Ah Duck! Duck!” and pointed down the stream where two ducks appeared. This started a chorus of “Duck” and “Quack” amongst the children along with lots of giggles as Rafe tried to feed one his breadsticks. As soon as snack was finished the children were keen to get going and made their way straight into the water. Harry immediately gravitated towards the cups to scoop and collect water while Arlo chose a net. Arlo dipped the net in and scooped up a large amount of water, giggling as it trickled through the net, followed by a gasp as he saw what was left. He held it out to Harry to have a look who replied “Wow they are little stones… can you tip them out into the water? They go splash” which Arlo did and caused a little splash. Harry was about to pour out his full cup of water but hesitated and asked “Can we put this little water back into the big water?” Whilst pointing at the stream. Once Harry was reassured he could pour it out he turned his cup upside down with a splash. Matilda and Santiago enjoyed holding hands and wading through the water together, slowly making their way along the stream, stopping occasionally to giggle as the water flowed around them. Joseph spent a lot of his time on dry land, choosing to use his hands to investigate the water as he squatted down and used the cups and nets to collect water as it flowed at the edge of the stream. The toddlers spent all morning splashing, scooping, pouring and investigating the stream with the morning finished up by bundling into the buggies and setting off back to nursery for lunch. 

Over the last couple of weeks, the under twos have had an amazing time exploring our music and movement theme and all things dinosaurs. 

Inside, the children thoroughly enjoyed making their own rain makers using a cardboard tube, decorated by them and then filling it with rice. Sienna and Leonardo approached the table curiously, wondering what they could be doing. Sienna picked up the small scoop and put it to her her mouth, pretending she was eating and saying, “Mmm yum”, which made Leonardo giggle and join in. Once a short demonstration was given, the under twos began scooping and pouring rice into their shakers and played with them all afternoon. They also adored the sensory bag drumming activity. They used their hands or drumsticks to bang on sensory bags, filled with paint, along to the beat of drumming music. Margaux threw herself into this activity and set such a great example for her friends. Using both hands, Margaux drummed on the sensory bag and mixed up the colours, getting very excited when she left a hand print in the paint too. 

Outside the under twos have had lots of water and ice play to cool down in the glorious weather we’ve had. As they were loving the dinosaur theme, we continued it into the garden and made some frozen dinosaur eggs. The little dinosaurs were frozen inside spheres of ice which the children were able to feel and play with inside a sensory bin. Charlotte approached and felt one of the eggs which made her gasp and giggle, as she pulled her hand away saying, “Oh! cold ha ha”. During this activity, the under twos began exploring the garden in order to find things which could help them break into the eggs to get to the dinosaurs. Imogen came back with a spade from the sandpit and Leo came back with a saw from the toy tool kit. All in all, they gave it a very good go and we’re taking part for such a long time, the dinosaur eggs melted and created a dinosaur swimming pool.