Exploring ice and water

For the next two weeks we are looking at winter and what happens in winter. So ready for tomorrow I have this lovely lot in the freezer...

I have filled yoghurt pots with water and have added:

• Food colouring
• sequins
• pom poms
• pipe cleaners
• tissue paper
• lolly pop sticks
• glitter
  

I will add photos and a follow up of how we got on with the ice exploring. 

Coloured rice for sensory play

Hello again today has been a baking a resource making kind of day. We made coloured rice ready for tomorrow. I am currently trying to teach my youngest little one her colours. At the moment she likes green and black....everything is green or black.

So I decided we should make some coloured rice for the sand tray. This would be good for her to learn about colours, space and measurement as well as sharing. So here it is our rice..

All you need is:

• a bag of cheap long grain rice
  
• white vinegar
  
• food colouring or colour gels
  
• tea spoon
  
• cup
  
• zip lock bag or container with lid 

Right firstly pour some rice into a cup 

Then pour into a zip lock bag or container. We used a container as it is always good to recycle and we will be doing more rice.
Next add a couple drops of food colouring or a small blob or two of gel colouring. We used gels, I shall add a link where to buy these from at the end. 

Then add 1/2 a tea spoon of vinegar. You can use one tea spoon if you find 1/2 isn't enough. 

Next pop the lid on the tub/close the bag and carefully shake the tub/bag until the rice is all coloured.

Ta darrrrr as you can see mine need a smidge more blue but we liked it. 

Now pour on to a tray that is lined with grease proof paper...we used foil this time as we have run out of grease proof paper. You can then make more of the same colour or different if you want to make a rainbow style sensory tub.

Leave to dry over night and then let the little ones play. 

Ours is currently drying out ready for tomorrow. I hope this is of some use to you.

Here is a link for the gels I bought. I use them for rice, spaghetti and play dough.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colors--8-Icing-Set/dp/B0000CFMU7/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1408646822&sr=8-2&keywords=gel+food+colouring

Sensory bags

Today I was up bright and early to make some resources ready for work. Today I decided to make some sensory bags. Now these are one of my favourite things to make as I love to experiment with the contents to really get the most out of the babies and children I work with. These even entertain my colleagues.

So I grabbed some press lock bags, zip lock are better if you can get them cheap enough. I popped one inside the other to lesson the likely hood of a tear with me working within a nursery. I put a cup of sand and a cup of water inside the inner bag. I removed what air I could, sealed and cello-taped for extra caution. Then closed the outer bag and taped it to a low work surface. I repeated this with hair gel instead of the sand and water and also did one with blue and white paint. The best thing about these are that children can explore activities that they may normally shy away from for fear of getting their hands sticky, dirty.

The children learn sensory, colour mixing, mark making, simple writing skills, textures and so on just from a couple of sandwich bags and your imagination for the contents!

Best to stay clear of pointy objects due to piercing.

I shall add pictures tomorrow to show you some examples.


So there you have a very simple but enjoyable activity from items you may have inside your home already!

And then she said “no cooking”

Well not sure where to start typing…it has been a few years since I did some blogging.  I guess right here so here goes….

My name is Becky and I am a mum to four wonderful children and I am a nursery assistant.

Today while at work I was checking my planning to see what I had set for todays activity. It was exploring words and sensory actions with playdough…now here’s the thing. Myself and playdough have this love hate relationship.  I love the pleasure it brings children….it hates my pans.  I always seem to either burn or create a thick layer of non cooperative dough at the bottom of my pan. I was chewing my lip at work thinking how best not to burn the pan seen as I was at work. Then my lovely life saver collegue told me what can only be described as gold news that there was a recipe and a no cooking one at that which takes little time and even the children can help with making!  Jack pot. So now I have made two batches one tested with the nursery children which was a huge 2hr hit and one that will be tested by my own children in the morning.

The recipe is as follows:
2 cups plain flour
1 cup salt
1/2-1 cup water
1tbs oil
Few drops food colouring
Few drops flavouring for smell. (optional)

I used gloves so that my hands didn’t turn green! I used a bowl and put  two cups of flour and one cup of salt in and gave it a quick mix with my hands I then added the oil, essence and food colouring followed by half of the water. I gave it a good mix round and added the rest of the water as needed. It turned out I need a little more flour to make it less sticky. This is why it says 1/2 to 1 cup of water. The trick is to really nead the dough. I stretched and neaded until the dough was just right. All in all it took around 10-15 minutes from finding ingredients to done. I then split the dough into three, wrapped in cling film. :Popped it on the table with cutters for morning and done!

I Hope you try it too and come back to tell me of your variations!

I think this is perfect when you have small children and it’s a rainy day. You can add different flavours for sensory play. Glitter is good too to make it shiny.

So there you have it..no cook *yay* playdough.

**EDITED**

I have since found a better recipe which lasts even longer...It takes about 5-10 minutes to make and is fantastic.

• 2 cups of plain flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
• Up to 1.5 cups boiling water (add a little at a time until perfect)
• food colouring/colour gels (optional)
• You can add a few drops of glycerine if you want it shiny
• You can add a flavouring to make it smell nice too.