It’s raining, it’s pouring, but the babies aren’t snoring!

This week in the Nest, we have been having lots of fun exploring messy play, much like our friends in the Warren. We made some gloop using corn flour and water and decided to add lemon flavouring and colour to make it appeal to more of the senses. We have also incorporated balls, bowls, cups and whisks to splash and given the children an opportunity to actually sit in bubbly, glittery water. Although young, the children in the Nest can still expect a certain level of independence. The children were given an independence of choice and encouraged to explore the water in whatever way they wished. Some children wanted to put their hands in it and splash about whereas others were more than happy to climb straight in and have more of a paddle. Others weren’t keen and simply dipped their fingers in to the water.

Experiencing water outdoors last week was easy and this consolidated our learning further by allowing the rain to splash on our faces and hands and enable us to marvel at the rainwater meandering through the farm.

If you’d like to explore this further at home, try making rainbow puddles. You can do this by adding food colouring, powder paint or normal paint to puddles and watch them mix together. You could also add washing up liquid and splash around to make bubbles too.

If you’d like any other ideas please don’t hesitate to ask us. We are more than happy to help.

Have fun splashing…

Cat

Messy? We think, organised chaos!

The messy table in the Warren is used for a range of things. The main objective for our table is for our Warren children to experience different media and materials. These range from flour, pasta, shaving foam, glitter and compost to name but a few. The activities available at the messy table allow the children to develop and support skills such as fine motor skills, communication and language, mark making, exploring different textures and hand - eye co-ordination.

The adult role in supporting this learning may be to direct questions and / or provide commentary for the children, both of which will develop language and communication. Such as, “Can you tell me what it feels like?” or “Look, you’re pouring the flour from one cup to another.”

Do let us know if you try any messy activities at home that your children enjoy, for further inspiration please take a look at our Pinterest boards.

Laura

Somewhere over the rainbow….there’s cloud dough!

Seeing a recipient for dough on Facebook, of all places, I was inspired to jazz up the usual play dough we see every week. Usually play dough includes flour, salt, oil and water, and requires skill in mixing it together in order to get the correct consistency.

But imagine my delight when I read the list of ingredients for this new dough, it was only 2 items long:

• Corn flour
• Hair conditioner

The children and I began by mixing coconut conditioner and corn flour. After some kneading and manipulating it did indeed resemble dough. Many of the Burrowers were fascinated by the subtle differences between this dough and play dough. This dough has a 'crunchier' feel to it, which lent itself wonderfully to encouraging and extending the children's narrative. We spoke of 'squeezing' and 'crunching' the dough.

The scent and colour added another level of discovery to their play. When we tried the pomegranate conditioner the dough was suddenly pink and very smelly!

Apologies if any of the toddlers come home with slightly pink or fruity smelling hands, at least you know they're clean!

Please follow us on Pinterest for further brilliant, activity ideas that we have picked up from many other sources around the world.

Making marks : Making meaning

This week our focus during small group time has been mark making. Specifically at this stage we are looking out for the meanings behind the marks that children are creating, and how children control their mark making equipment. With links to creative development, physical development and literacy, mark making has a strong significance within the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. Mark making is how children learn  ‘pre-writing’ skills. Before children begin formal teaching of writing they need to have developed control over certain muscles within their arms. Asking children to sit at a table and hold a pencil too early in life can have a negative effect upon their desire to learn. Young children should have the opportunity to draw and create marks on a large scale using a variety of resources.

Mark making is not all about pencils and paper. Although the list is exhaustive, using chalks, crayons, brushes, sticks, making prints in playdough, paint, mud, water, glupe, flour, and even using their bodies are just a few ideas which can provide valuable experiences that will help our children learn to write later in their lives.

Already we are seeing some children forming their own letters to write their name. We are not requiring children to write their names, they are doing so because they have shown an interest and they want to. By encouraging children to learn at their own pace we are encouraging deeper level learning. We do not want to switch children off to learning at an early stage by making learning to write too formally.

We learn about the purposes of writing through imitation of adults through role play. By having a notepad and pen next to our role play telephones we help children to understand one of the ways that writing can be used in a real life scenario. Helping an adult at home to write a shopping list is another good example of how to support young children’s learning of writing.

It is important that we value and respect children’s mark making in order for them to have confidence to continue, practice and develop their skills. To an adults eye a child’s random creations may not seem like much, however to them there is often a story behind it. Instead of asking “what is it?,” which may show a complete lack of ability to grasp their meaning, try something more positive like “can you tell me about your picture?” The language that children use to describe their drawings will invite you into their thoughts and ideas.

This week we have seen lots of pictures based on our interest of books, specifically The Gruffalo, and of our families and pets, one boy wanted to make a treasure map and another began a huge tale of Spiderman climbing up the walls to chase baddies! All would have been relatively unclear to adults overseeing the activity had it not been for some careful questioning and open listening to the language that was used to describe their creations. So you see that what is important at this stage is not the clarity or neatness of children’s creations, it is the meaning that it has to them.

Welcome to The Warren

Firstly I would like to welcome all the new children and their families to The Warren. Our Blog will hopefully give you an insight into all the exciting things our children get up too during their time with us. Visiting the farm is an activity we engage in frequently as it offers the children a wealth of learning opportunities.

Such as:

• Gaining a deeper understanding of their immediate nursery environment
• Relating books in pictures to a real life context e.g. Gary the Goose, farm machinery
• Linking key concepts about the world in which we live e.g. wool comes from sheep, some foods grow in fields
• Negotiating uneven terrain and therefore developing their physical capabilities
• Splashing in puddles is simply great fun!

Although the rain may be getting some of us down it hasn’t dampened the spirits of our warren children who have very much enjoyed splashing in the puddles when out and about. The children run out of the door in search of the biggest puddle and laugh in excitement with their peers.

Louise

Rice is Nice!

In the Burrow last week we celebrated Chinese New Year. We did this in a variety of ways; rice paintings, Chinese lanterns and Chinese stencils. The larger aim of this week’s activities was to celebrate and understand cultures and promote an environment of inclusivity. We believe empathy and understanding is crucial to helping a child to develop holistically, so sharing a cultural celebration such as Chinese New Year with the children, greatly helps to promote these sentiments. One activity in particular, the children really loved, was making some coloured rice. We began with uncooked rice in three separate bowls. As children started to arrive they were very inquisitive about what the rice was for. We had three basic food colourings, red, green and yellow. M and C sat with me at the table with spoons at the ready! I poured some colouring into their bowls and the mixing began. When the rice was covered C, B and I transported the rice into a warm cupboard to let it dry.

Whilst playing with the rice they used their senses of sight, hearing and touch - which made me think, how best I could incorporate smell! So over the weekend I made some more colourful rice, going for a more vibrant blue, pink and green. This time I added a dash of peppermint flavouring so the children could use their sense of smell whilst playing. I brought the rice in on Tuesday making sure it was 100% dry (so we had no stained coloured fingers!) What a hit again! It’s great how this activity has attracted and interested the children in the Burrow for two weeks, watching them use all their senses whilst they are exploring.

Whilst playing with the rice, “A” said to me, “Look Nic, they are bouncing.” She let the rice pour out of her hand from a height and then let the grains fall into the tray.

It amazes me how something as simple as rice can begin to form the foundations of understanding key concepts such as volume and the differences between liquids and solids and therefore gradually help children to understand how the world works. The more links we can facilitate, the greater the understanding. That’s why as a practitioner I try to use questioning to further understanding and strengthen learning. For example, “What happens if we pour the rice from higher up?” or “Does the rice run down hill?’ From these simple activities, problem solving, creative thinking and language development are just some of the areas covered and explored.

And like the legend of the “chessboard,” who knows where and how this understanding might exponentially grow?

Just a peg

Five children sat around the table with the peg boards. As they worked we chatted about the patterns they were noticing, there were shape patterns and colour patterns "I've made a line around the edge"

"I can see a square and there's a red one, then a yellow one then red, red, yellow, yellow"

"I got green, green, green!"

Their pattern identification became more expansive as well

"I'm three"

"And I'm three but your a girl"

"I'm a boy and you've got a stripey top"

There was a wider pattern to their play as well, they would take an interest in the pegs that they were working with, some would work around the edges to form squares and then fill them in line by line, others would start the same way but make smaller and smaller squares. Then again other children would place them in random holes but worked with a clear determination to fill up their tile. They paid attention to what each other were doing and chose colours to match or helped to find particular pegs if they were needed. When they had finished their tile (as far as they wanted to go) they would tip all the pegs back into the bowl ("It looks like fireworks") before starting the process, and pattern, again.

Their behaviour too went in patterns; when one boy said "these are my pegs", the other children repeated the same phrase and regarded each other very tensely. The atmosphere was then broken when the same boy said "look you've got some the same as me", everyone looked down to theirs and then they started to share with each other before the next moment of tension appeared when someone could see their peg in the bowl and moved it closer ("we got to keep it in the middle!").

I sat next to these five children musing about the pattern and structure that our day follows in the Den: it's subtle but it's there. Our free play is based around group times at the start and end of the session with Ed taking a group of Forest Schoolers out to have a specific session in the paddock and beyond and smaller groups splitting off from the main room to focus on more detailed games and projects that allow the staff to get to know their children all the more closely.

This free play takes on intricate patterns through the children's interests and social interactions as well as their physical and emotional development. They develop their sense of self, who they are and who they want to be. We don't pressure them to fit the boxes and we wouldn't expect them to fit into our categorisation of "what a child aged x should be doing" and as for school readiness... if a child feels confident in themselves then they will deal with the pressures of life far better than if their constantly being shown who they should be.

As this play continued another girl came up to the group and asked "What are you all doing?"

One boy answered "We're just putting pegs in holes"

but there's far more to it than that...

Welcome all our new Nest families

We are already a month into the New Year and hasn’t it flown by!  I would like to officially welcome all our new Nest families to our first blog post of the term. I am pleased to say that all our new children are settling in brilliantly, bonding with the staff and enjoying the excellent range of resources that we have to offer. Over the past month we have got to know our new babies, their routines, likes, dislikes and cheeky personalities. We have offered a wide variety of activities to all our children to get stuck into: water play, mark-making in tea grains, exploring flour, shaking musical instruments, looking through coloured viewers, singing, blowing bubbles and much more!

Of course it wouldn’t be Free Rangers without each child being formally introduced to ‘Gary the Goose’, ‘Stanley the Cockerel’, ‘Scooby the Horse’ and all the mud that comes with them! We have been for many walks around the farm, with non-walkers enjoying the view from the comfort of the buggies and walkers being encouraged to splash in puddles, walk on different terrains and meet and greet the animals.

Our older Rangers have taken the newbies under their wing, role modelling excellent behaviour and sharing their toys as well as their rice cakes!  From these children we have noticed a particular climbing interest this month and have provided toddle boxes to crawl, walk and climb over steering this fascination away from the tables! We are planning on turning ‘The Nest’ into a soft play extravaganza over the next couple of weeks to further this interest but with a soft landing.

May I please remind our Nest parents that we are creating a ‘family tree’ board and would appreciate any pictures of yourself, child, family or even pets and anyone who is special to your child. (Cat and I have already threatened a few of you that we will start snapping as you come up the stairs… be warned!)

Any questions you might have, please never hesitate to ask,

Lisa

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Albert Einstein once said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

With that in mind, The Burrow practitioners have been focusing on the children's imaginations and really allowing them to follow and act out their thoughts.

During song box a little boy asked if we could sing "Wheels on the bus" which then made me think….. Let's go to Weston Super Mare on a bus!

So we set out the chairs into a 'bus' and I told the children we were off to the seaside! We all sat down and put our seat belts on ready for the long journey to the coast and then we were off! One child started to sing "Wheels on the bus" so I joined in the singing, which then encouraged other children. I used lots of different words and expression to encourage the children's emergent language.  M then said "I see lots of clouds, it might rain."

We then arrived at the seaside and I asked the children what they normally do at the coast.

"I eat ice cream" W said, so that was it, off we went to the ice cream van where Nic was standing behind the gate! We all ordered chocolate ice cream followed by a splash in the sea and making sandcastles.

On Wednesday we had a mixture of younger and older children in so I gave the children an option of where to go. "Moon, Moon" W said. We counted down to ten and BLAST OFF we were flying through the clouds. I started to shake as we took off and H joined in who is not even two yet! When we landed on the moon I asked what we could see, "Aliens" J answered. So off we went, looking for them!

On both trips the children acted out and commented on the weather, the scenery and the customs relevant to them and their families, as well as developing concepts totally alien to them (excuse the pun!)

Our adventures to the seaside and moon, were initiated by the children and as practitioners we simply facilitated and modelled their learning. The children had the time to play and explore their lines of thought, which at their age is crucial in making sense of the world around them and embedding deep learning.

All we really needed were some chairs and our imaginations! So seeing as this wet weather is set to stay, I wonder where your imaginations will take you this weekend. I don't know about you, but I'm off to the sun!

Lauren

It's started!

Two of our older children had been to see Disney on Ice together, this is a section of the observation that Tam made during their play. I love the way it captures the excitement of backstage preparations, the thrill of the audience waiting and, above all, the magic of performance Charlie, "I need two more seats for my babies." looking at the chairs around the cosy corner she said, "Those are my babies' seats." placing the dolls onto them. walking back to the carpet she joined Daisy, holding hands they smiled and shouted together, "Disney on ice! Disney on ice!"

Daisy, "It's over. Now it's a brand new show."

Charlie, "I need my shoes on."

Daisy, "Now get the cushions." Daisy picked up and placed two cushions onto the carpet. "This is a brand new metal show."

Charlie, "This show's on and the chocolate van's here. The chocolate man has eaten the ice­-cream!" she looked shocked and wide-eyed then burst out giggling.

Daisy looked seriously at everyone who sat in the audience, "The show's over in ten minutes. Here's a brand new show from me today. Is anyone watching? We must wait now"

Jessica and Phoebe came over to Charlie and Daisy.

Jessica,"My show is dancing."

Phoebe: "My show is singing."

Daisy and Charlie went to the audience on chairs around the carpet while Jessica and Phoebe sang and danced, at the end they clapped.

Daisy announced the next interval, "The ice cream van's back, time to get some ice creams."

Jessica, "My show is starting over, the customers are at the show." Everyone was sat quietly in their seats waiting for the show to begin, I asked Florence if I could have an ice-cream, she said to me, "Strawberry ice cream and yours was strawberry ice cream and the babies got strawberry ice cream!"

Jessica theatrically announced, "1,2,3,4,5."

Charlie and Rosa joined in repeating her counting together, "1,2,3,4,5!"

Daisy announced, "Ladies and gentleman welcome to Disney on ice. You're welcome to cheer and shout."

Florence smiled at me and said, "Tam it's started!"

Herbalicious!

As Forest School is part of our ethos, we like to bring and do as much as possible in this sector to provide a range of opportunities for children to learn and explore outdoors. So for part of this week's activity, we got booted and wet suited up to go outdoors into the paddock. We took a small group out to explore the surroundings and to see what they could find. We turned over a few stumps to see if we could see any insects, and also stopped off to see Ed and Vince making progress on the fort. We made our way down to the pond where we sat on the decking just beside to see what was in there, whilst Louise scooped the water using a net to see what she could find, we then put the net full of pond goodness in a bowl for all the children to see. This activity boosted some of the children's communication and physical development as staff pointed out and pronounced the names of different animals in which some children tried to repeat. It also tested their physical ability as the ground was a different terrain, also the assault course challenged their thinking as to how they could navigate these different obstacles. Before heading back inside we spotted some different herbs (lavender, thyme, lemon mint, rosemary and mint), which we used our senses to smell and touch. We picked a generous handful of each herb and took them inside to use.

Our next activity was making several lots of play dough with our herbs we picked mixed into it, giving it a lovely smell. Firstly, we let the children touch the ingredients of the play dough and herbs so they could use their senses to touch, smell and taste the differences. We then broke up all the herbs which we sprinkled into the play dough mixture and gave it a stir to make it into the right consistency, which was done five or six times to have a range of smelly play doughs for the children to investigate. After the play dough had been made the children also used cutters do make different shapes and sizes focussing the children's use of their hand and eye coordination.

After this activity we also put the range of herbs in a easy access tray so the children could explore and investigate bring the outdoors in. A few children loved the smell of the lavender and would smell it quite a few times. We also decided to set out a creative activity to link in with this forest school, so we decided to do some herb sticking. The children decided which herb they would like to stick on the paper, but before sticking it down. All the children went home smelling delicious!

See you all next time,

Laura

I'll be good to the land

At the end of August I set out with two other musicians on a 5 day musical cycling tour. Under the title 'Pedal Folk' our aim is to promote folk music and sustainable touring using just the power of our own legs. During this tour we covered 130 miles, climbed 10,000 feet and played seven gigs in pubs, record stores, a tapas bar and a library, you can have a look at our adventures at www.pedalfolk.co.uk. We decided to challenge ourselves this time round and spend as little money as possible as we went. Each day we bought a loaf of bread, a block of cheese and made it last through our days cycling with the only additions being what we could forage from our travels; evening primrose in Bath, blackberries near Bristol, horseradish on the way to Stroud and, of course, the ubiquitous apple.

We have a beautiful apple tree in the paddock and over the last week Ed and I have been talking about the need to start picking as some of the fruit are on the turn. On Friday morning we took all of the children out with the mission to collect as many apples as we could: and what a crop we got! Armed with our specially designed telescopic apple grabbers (or fishing nets) and our bare hands and with the Autumn sun gently warming our backs we picked, and picked, and picked

All of the children stayed around the tree picking, carrying the fruit to our overflowing baskets and chomping their way through apple after apple, I'm sure that we're going to have a lot more apple trees growing around the nursery after today!

We supported our work with a lovely little song that Lucy taught us:

"High up in the apple tree

5 little apples smiled at me

I shook that tree as hard as I could

Down came an apple, mmm tastes good!"

Repeated as a counting song it created a great atmosphere.

The question is now, what shall we do with our crop? I've been thinking up a little rhyme to help us out:

"Hat fulls, cap fulls, bushels, bags and sacks full

But the apple in my pocket is just for me

Hat fulls, cap fulls, bushels, bags and sacks full

But the apple in my pocket is just for me

Juice, pie, crumble or cake

With my apple: what shall I make?

Juice, pie, crumble or cake

With my apple: what shall I make?"

I always consider our foremost responsibility as adults is to provide our children with a wide range of experiences, the chance to take part in this activity gave the children a greater idea of where our food comes from, the way it tastes when it comes freshly from the plant, it builds their trust in eating wild and it also develops their physical ability and understanding about amounts. We are going to be baking and juicing next week so conversations about amounts will be important, joining the process and relating experiences from home will also be part and parcel of the learning experience. I can't think of a better way to understand and extend learning and development than to provide a broad activity and then pay the closest attention to what comes from it and adapting accordingly. It's sometimes best to open an idea and be carried by it as far as it will go, the results will often be surprising.. and rather tasty!

To finish, have a listen to a song written by my friend Robin Grey which tells of a community gardening project near London: The Ballad of Hawkwood

Happy scrumping

Tim

Paint Good Enough To Eat

The beginning of September has brought lots of fresh faces to the Nest all of whom I am pleased to say are settling well. After chatting to each child’s parents, a common theme amongst them was their child puts everything in their mouth; food, sand, food, paint, food, toys! As a result I have experimented with different activity ideas to extend my messy play repertoire... Edible Finger paint seemed the excellent mix (no pun intended) of messy play and mark making with the added bonus that it is safe to eat and included all natural ingredients. My idea was to use a variety of fruit or vegetables that would add their colour to the mixture giving us an array of coloured paints. Blackberries were an obvious choice for the vast quantity that have appeared around nursery in recent ‘blackberry picking expedition’ weeks. When mixed with flour and water (wheat free due to allergies) this made a delicious purple colour, however not as tasty as it looked! My next choice was beetroot, however after careful consideration, I decided sending pink stained babies home wasn't the best idea, so opted for the juice from an orange.

The process of making the paint turned out to be just as fascinating for the children as the finished product. Sitting on the floor ladened with bowls, whisks, water, flour (extra flour for when the previous flour was tipped over the floor) and fruit, we got to work. The children laughed with delight as flour was sprinkled from a height in to the bowl, I added the fruit and water encouraging the children to use their whisks or hands to mix, stir and squeeze. Making this for the first time I was pleasantly surprised at how well the colour took and will definitely be repeating this activity with other ingredients.

It was now time for the messy part! I poured each mixture in turn onto the table and placed a variety of brushes alongside letting the children choose how, and if they would like to take part. Each child adopted a different approach, some got stuck in with both hands moving them in random motions across the table, one child picked up a brush making circular motions and another used one finger then looked slightly disgusted! Mark making is important for many reasons; as children develop it may be used to tell stories or express feelings, write or draw a picture and sometimes it is just an outlet for pure physical enjoyment. Babies’ random movements, whether in paint or with a crayon, will develop as they gradually realise they can take control of the marks they make. By providing children with a variety of mark making opportunities can help them develop imaginatively, creatively and physically.

Please try this at home!

Lisa

Physical Development (how not to land on other people's faces)

The weather has been wonderful, the rain has (in the main) kept off and the garden is dry Get out the ball pool!!

A little while ago Charlotte came to the nursery having bought a huge amount of soft play equipment including a 1.5m ball pool, it has been fantastic to provide the children with a way to develop their physical motor skills whilst having a soft landing at the end! Creating different spaces for children to push themselves physically means that we have to be aware how to create rules to manage them. One of the best ways is to let the children choose themselves and so self-govern the space; saying "watch out!", looking for the space, thinking about children who might be under the balls...

And it's not just the ball pool getting the use

"look how high I can jump!"

"I did a forward roll!"

Watching children push themselves and testing how far their confidence will let them go has been mentioned before, when I watch our children I consider four stages of development

Unconscious incompetence: I don't know what I can't do

Conscious incompetence: I know what I can't do

Conscious competence: I can do it but I need to concentrate

Unconscious competence: I can do it

It's always wonderful to look back at the pictures and see the concentration on the faces of children who are very much in the "conscious competence" stage of their development, it's only after they feel fully confident with the processes of jumping and landing do we see the next stage: looking at the camera, smiling in mid-air, doing rolls and spins into the pool, helping others out and showing them how do jump in. And the best thing is that it's completely natural.

Blackberry Baking Bonanza

A child I was observing had a spoon and fork in hand mixing food items, which made me think how I could further their development using different role-play activities. I decided to put out several cups, dried pasta and spoons, which they spent a long period of time filling and pouring from one cup to another. I also put out ice cubes with pasta, coffee granules and bits of lemon in them, so the children could explore and use their different senses as well as experimenting with the sensation of the coldness of the ice. The children really enjoyed the ice cube activity as they could use some of the cubes to draw with across paper, enabling them to figure out their dominant hand but with the other cubes they used their touch, smell and taste to differentiate what the ice cubes had in them. To see and remove what was in the ice cubes, some children pulled out bits of pasta using their fingers and others tried to snap the ice cubes in half. As the ice cubes started to melt they then used their fingers to spread the paint around paper, swirling, and splashing the droplets, experimenting with the mixture of colours.

Now the blackberries are ripe and ready to pick from the different areas around the nursery, we thought about an activity the children could be involved in both the making and eating. The children picked some blackberries ready for our cooking activity and tasted a few, meaning we had less than what we started with! We decided to make some cakes, which let the children learn and put into practice new skills, as well as begin to understand how we can use foods from naturally growing sources.

From doing this activity the children learnt and used a range of skills through feeling the different textures of the ingredients as each item was placed on the table for the children to touch, smell, and taste. Also the children developed physical development and gross motor skills from mixing the different ingredients together and separating bits of mixture into a tray to cook. Also, hand-eye co-ordination was developed as they iced their cakes using a spoon to smooth the icing over. The icing didn't last long though as soon as the children tasted it, it began to vanish! The cakes looked and smelt delicious and the children not only had fun making and eating them, but developed some important skills along the way.

We are already thinking about what other delicious creations we can make for budding little chefs!

Thank you for reading.

Laura

Blackberry Picking

We are very lucky at Free Rangers to be blessed with a cycle track in very close proximity that’s rich in bramble bushes full of large juicy blackberries.The children in the Burrow have had the chance to pick their own, and sample the trials and tribulations of foraging for these black jewels. Valarie our Food Resource Manager at Free Rangers mentioned about a blackberry jelly she intended to make in the kitchen, so we jumped at the chance to take our little fruit pickers along the cycle track to see what we could find. When we have snack in the Burrow, the children receive fruit in front of them on the table. How did this fruit get to them? Where did it come from? By allowing the children to be a part of the production of their food (our nursery garden is key to this also), it begins to teach them about the journey their food goes through to get it to their plates. The first task was to let 10 bouncing toddlers know what sort of adventure we were about to take, of course as soon as we mentioned it there was a rush of putting wellies on and getting our collection pots.

Once we were all ready I opened the gates to different setting to that of the nursery, however it didn’t look like any blackberries would be growing in the car park, so we all ventured into the farm where some were located. These weren’t immediately highlighted to the children, to see if they could spot any themselves. One little girl ran over to the first blackberry bush we discovered excitedly exclaiming: “I found a blackberry!” She understood straight away what we were looking for and showed she had understood what our adventure was all about. It was clear the discovery had made her happy and picked one straight away, however this blackberry didn’t manage to reach the cups it went straight into her mouth! Before all the children started picking the berries, we first had to explain some important rules about foraging. Could we pick green or red blackberries? We let the children know that only black berries were to be picked, as the green and red would be very yucky in our tummies! The children noticed the blackberries had sharp thorns and stinging nettles growing around them. A few of the older children knew the stinging nettles and brambles would hurt them, so they learnt to identify what they looked like so they could avoid harm. When we venture out of the nursery we always explain to the children about all the hazardous plants that we might encounter, for example Lords and Ladies.

When the children started to get stuck into picking the berries, they didn’t stop! We spent 45minutes along the cycle track picking all the blackberries we could reach. Spending this amount of time outside gave the children lots of exercise and fresh air, running back and forth from bush to bush without them even getting out of breath!

During our blackberry picking, there was lots of talk between the children. The main topic was children telling others that they can’t put green or red blackberries in their mouths. Many of these children put these back into the bush. Other conversations were about picking blackberries at home, it was nice to see the children are able to do this activity at nursery but it is a lot more satisfying knowing that this happens at home. The sharing was also great to see between the children, passing around the pots so we all have a hold without adults having to suggest it. We then spoke about how nutritious the blackberries are, especially because they are organic, full of vitamin C giving the children’s immune systems a good boost and containing plenty of fibre to help with their digestion. When we returned back to nursery, a child took the blackberries up to the kitchen ready to be included into our jelly!

All the children had a fantastic time whilst picking the berries and we eagerly look forward to our next outdoor adventure!

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

"Little Drops of Water, Little Grains of Sand"

In recent sunny (and the occasional not so sunny) weeks, our cubs from the Nest and Warren have shown particular interest in sand and water. Filling, emptying, mixing, pouring, SPLASHING! Inside and outside, if there is a chance to get wet our little water magnets will scout it out! The idea that water or milk must stay in a tommee tippee is a common misconception amongst adults. What we see as a simple tool to keep our children hydrated, they see as a tool for exploration (and not just at our patience). How much water can I shake out the tippee? The more I shake the more I can splash. If I hold it upside down I can watch the water trickle out. I wonder how far I can spread my milk? These are just a few choice games our children like to play. Although we do encourage drinking from the cups, equally letting them experiment helps to connect thoughts and ideas.

Sensory experience is an integral part to children's learning and we have encouraged their interest in water and sand by using both their hands and feet to explore the environment: splashing in puddles, building sand castles, and mark-making with sticks, to name a few. This helps to make connections and create concepts about the world.

To pursue their love of all things sandy, we had a trip to Somer Valley Park. Watching our youngsters delight as they ran/crawled/shuffled towards the water fountain made me wonder how something so simple can bring so much enjoyment? The answer, I assume, is MESS. The children loved dipping their hands in the water and bending down to watch it wash over the edge, trying to catch the movement. Some added sand, feeling the different textures between their fingers. Interestingly, one child went straight to the source of the water, intrigued and fascinated to see how it worked and where it came from. As sand and water play is open-ended, the child determines the direction and path of his or her own play. Whether this is digging to Australia or simply pouring from one jug to another, this freedom clears the way for the child to build developmental concepts.

With water at our fingertips (and quite often dripping on our heads) I am excited to see what our little wonders decide to do next.

Lisa

Free Rangers Goes to the Awards!

Welcome to the first blog post for the children aged 2 years and under. Each of the rooms will take it in turns to write a little something informing you of what's been occurring with the littlest Free Rangers. The Burrow ( 2-3 year old's) will start and then the Warren (1-2 years) old's will follow, finishing up with the Nest.

Recently Holly from the Burrow went to an awards ceremony in Bath with Gemma and Tim. Gemma received an award for "Your commitment to working an integrated way to support children and families" (she had worked with many outside agencies to ensure the well being of children in her previous setting). Holly collected an award for "Empowering staff to include a large number of children with a wide range of needs", and Tim was the nursery representative when we were congratulated for obtaining our 'Outstanding' from Ofsted. It was a lovely to have all the hard work we put in to Free Rangers recognised by the Local Authority!

There are some changes afoot in the Burrow, Meg has left us, Booo! She is going to Hong Kong to work in a nursery. It's an amazing opportunity and although we'll miss her (her love of pick 'n' mix and comedy value clumsiness), we wish her all the best! As of Monday 5th August the room staff in the Burrow will consist of Holly, Lauren and we'll welcome Nicola in Meg's place.

We all wish you a pleasant August and look forward to meeting some of our new little Rangers in September.

Have fun!! :-)

Strong in the Sun

The weather has been blazing over the last few weeks and it means that nearly all of our play has happened outside. We love the fact that all our children want to be out and our planning allows for that fact but more importantly we want our children to understand the importance of being safe in the sun. We do this in a few ways:

• Slip, Slap, Slop: Slip on a T-shirt, Slap on a hat, slop on some suncream!
• We always have water available either in the garden or inside with cups for a drink
• We talk about the emotional side of things, feeling overly angry or upset can be because of the heat so we add cooling down as part of our conflict resolution

Having so much time outside as led to wonderful activities, most notably when Vince took our hose and we had to improvise!

We've also put up a few hammocks in our shelters and they have proved so popular that they haven't been moved for about a month!

So keep enjoying the weather (though it is meant to change rapidly over the next week!) and remember to keep safe whatever the weather... and don't forget to put up a few hammocks as well!

Tim

Forest School Inset at Free Rangers

Never one to rest on our laurels and always looking to improve, the Free Rangers Staff team met up on Saturday 20th July for an Inset morning. We were promised cake and marshmallows cooked over the fires that we were to light so there was an incentive for the early morning start! The morning started with us all playing an “ice breaker game” in which staff were positioned in a circle and given something in their hands. Without looking and using only their sense of touch they had to find their partner in the circle who had the same item as themselves. Once their partner was located they were asked to talk about what they are most proud in their lives; it could be a personal achievement or a family member or a combination of a number of things. Staff were then invited to share this with the whole group. This was an emotional half hour when we all listened intently as people generously shared private feelings and personal triumphs.

We then progressed onto collecting sticks of similar size and learnt how to tie them together and make a star. Whilst doing this and lending a hand to one another, we chatted about what Free Rangers means to us on a personal level and shared ideas about our vision for Free Rangers in the future.

Ideas expressed in no particular order included:

• Open an Infant School, Primary School, Secondary School, University (all with a forest school ethos)
• Open another Free Rangers Nursery around the Bath area
• Have a sensory room on site
• Have a flower meadow on site
• Expand the pond area
• Forge links with other nurseries both on a local, national and international level
• Develop a building just for the under two’s
• Further improve the provision for the under two’s outside
• Increased opportunities for Continued Professional Development

Everyone has ideas about how they see the nursery developing whether it is on the current site or elsewhere. We actively encourage all parents past and present to share their ideas in the comments box following this blog post. What would you like to see at Free Rangers, how can we seek to improve out practice further? Is making the car park floor puddle free a priority over investing in more outdoor resources for the children? What do you think?

Following a short break we split into groups and went to different areas in the paddock area. We came up with a list of the perceived risks in our allocated area. This provoked numerous discussions on what is a risk? How can we minimize risks? One overall conclusion we all agreed on is that there are so many “benefits to risk” and by taking them all away would hugely reduce the learning experiences and opportunities we provide for the children. A bit of good old common sense is of course required!

We headed down to the woods and foraged for firewood to make our own fires. We reminded ourselves of the fire triangle and the importance of fire safety and under the watchful eye of Ed Harding we all accomplished lighting our own fire. It was clear to see from the faces of the group that I was in that we all felt a sense of accomplishment seeing our fires burning brightly ready for some serious marshmallow cooking. It reminded us of how the children feel when they achieve something. You that that warm glow feeling, that “ Sense of Chuffedness!”

A couple of days later and having had an opportunity to reflect on the morning some things are very apparent and already known but there is no harm in putting it in writing from time to time:

• We are all very passionate about children.
• We care deeply about finding the best ways to meet the needs of each and every child that passes through the Free Rangers doors.
• The Free Rangers staff is a special group of individuals.
• We are all looking to learn and improve all the time.

Saturday was at the very least an opportunity for us to talk to one another without the distractions of a working day. It was an opportunity to catch up on one another lives and to say those important words,

“Thank You Free Rangers Staff we are very lucky to have you."

Onwards an upwards we all go, seeking to enhance the opportunities of those little Free Rangers.

Jayne