Trucks, Aeroplanes and New Textures!

Recently the toddlers have explored the theme of transport and had a whale of a time looking at all of the different ways to travel! There were lots of discussions of trains, buses, boats and even helicopters. During a construction themed transport activity which consisted of soil, sand, blocks and lots of trucks and diggers, Sebastian began role playing and picked up a small digger, using his hands to manoeuvre the scoop to collect soil. “Bring it over here Mr Digger! We digging a hole”. As Henry made his way over with a much bigger truck, Sebastian squealed and said, “Oh no, quick digger run away from Mr McGregor Ahhhh!”,  quoting Peter Rabbit, and began moving his digger quickly in the other direction. Henry laughed at this and placed his hand on his chest while shaking his head, “Not ‘gregor” and placing blocks in the back of the truck.

In the garden Jenson picked up a roll of paper and held it up to his eye, saying, “I got my telescope… I can see you!” as he pointed it in different directions. This was quickly followed by a shout of, “OH…. AN AEROPLANE!” as he lowered the telescope and pointed above him, signalling to his friends what he could see. Evie picked up the binoculars hanging around her neck and held them up to her eyes, “Let me see…. Oh yes, you’re right Jenson it is an aeroplane!”. Clara then joined in on the discussion stating, “I going on a aeroplane on holiday” and Leo joined in with, “Me too on holiday!”. 

Over the last couple of weeks the under 2’s have had lots of fun getting involved with a range of materials and textures, including taking part in some sand painting. This activity involved the children using a variety of tools such as paintbrushes, sticks and sponges to mark-make using a mix of sand and paint. Together they explored the texture of the paint whilst decorating paper and recycled items like cardboard boxes. Lowen quickly ran over and pointed to the blue paint, shouting “Blue!” enthusiastically, whilst Zakariya followed him over shouting, “Painting!” with a big smile on his face! Freya stood back to begin with, but after watching her friends she then decided to join in, running over happily and letting out a little “Ooo” as she began to paint the box. 

Another texture they have been exploring is crazy foam. The children used sponges to wash the baby dolls, making sure to clean them head to toe. Sophia stood by the edge of the tray and peered in curiously, before picking up one of the sponges and quietly saying, “Baby”. She then began to carefully brush the sponge along the baby, moving it in circular motions. After showing her friends what she was doing, Wilfred came along and joined in, clapping happily when he had successfully coated the baby in the foam. 

Whilst out in the garden, the children have especially enjoyed the variety of table top activities including, crayon mark-making, finger painting and printing. During the crayon activity, Emilia made her way over to the table and sat herself down on the bench. She looked around at the range of crayon colours available and chose green and yellow. Isabella picked up her choice of crayons and said, “Look, look!”. A member of staff helped her out with identifying what colours she had chosen and Isabella repeated them confidently. After the children had picked out their colours, they began to draw their marks on the paper; these consisted of lines, circles and scribbles, all of which they were very proud of and continuously pointed their own ones out to show friends.