Fun with eggs!

FINDING OUT MORE ABOUT EGGS!

Following the children's fascination with eggs the previous week, there were more learning opportunities this week. This young man brought us 12 eggs from his egg farm. He was also very excited to share lots of photos of his farm with all of us. This prompted lots of questions about different machinery, how the eggs were transported and why the eggs were different sizes.

We watched the Cbeebies programme "My pet and me - chickens" and learnt more about eggs for eating and eggs not for eating, which had chicks in them! The children couldn't take their eyes off the film as the little chick was hatching out of its egg - delightful to see the look of wonder on the children's faces. 

Some remembered when we had held chicks at Rand Farm Park in the Summer.

TIME TO EXPLORE A RAW EGG!

                                                                     

In small groups the children felt the egg shell. They all seemed to think it would be easy to break it to open it up!
A couple of children tapped it on the side of the bowl - they were very surprised that it didn't break. Others squeezed the egg or tried to peel it open with their fingers. 
Eventually one child hit the egg very hard on the edge of the bowl and the shell cracked!

There was a great deal of excitement at seeing the egg slide out of the shell! 
The children experienced feeling the raw egg between their fingers. Also they handled the broken egg shell - "it hurt my fingers!" "it's sharp", "it crunched!"

PANCAKE TIME!

 I showed the children my recipe sheet for how to make pancakes and we talked about how the order was important, and how the instructions helped us. We compared making pancakes to making scrambled egg the previous week.

 

So many opportunities to introduce and use vocabulary related to consistency, texture and colour.

The activity provided turn taking and sharing learning also.

PRETEND COOKING

It is so important for children to practise sequencing, and putting things into an order both in their minds and being able to describe the sequence with words.
During the week the children acted out making scrambled egg and pancakes, and it was good to hear them using some of the same vocabulary. It was especially amusing to see them using the cloth so they wouldn't burn their fingers when the food came out of the microwave, and reminding each other to be very careful!

We also  watched "Come outside - eggs!" which encouraged the children to expand their thinking about what else hatches out of eggs. When they saw the ostrich egg and I asked what had laid it, many of them commented that it must be a giant chicken! 

Busy, Busy week!

CONTINUING TO ENJOY AUTUMN

We were invited to join with the Children's Centre staff and some parents and toddlers on a Listening Walk. Aeroplanes, rustling leaves, car engines and wheelie bins were among the many sounds we heard as we walked. We were hopeful of hearing a train when we walked up the railway bridge, but not even the sound of a distant whistle!

We found heaps of leaves and had great fun scooping them up as well as jumping in them!

                                  

 Then a song dancing those leaves around and up and down!

              

       EGG-XPLORATIONS THIS WEEK!

One simple egg was what we started with. 

I posed some questions - where did this come from? How will it feel? Can we eat it like this? What will it be like inside? 

There was lots of discussion and interest and the most popular answer to where did it come from was "The Co-op"!

Cracking open the egg and watching it slip out and wobble about in the container produced delight, surprise and giggles and lots of children began wobbling their bodies to imitate what they could see!

Everyone observed closely as we watched the mixture heating up in the microwave.

A couple of hopeful children suggested it would be a cake when it had cooked!

The children were fascinated by the changes.

And then of course we needed to taste our scrambled eggs! Some children who hadn't been too sure found out they did like scrambled eggs after all!

From the children's comments and questions we will be finding out more about eggs and where they come from!

TIME WITH OUR OLDER FOLK

Once a month a coffee morning is held in school for the older members of our community to meet and chat. Little Conkers usually like to go and sing to them.

This week we took paper and crayons and invited them to a draw and talk time with us.

I think you'll agree from the photos that everyone had a great time! 

Such a wonderful opportunity we have for young and young at heart to share together!

Amazing Autumn!

PUMPKIN EXPLORATIONS!

On Monday morning the children spotted the pumpkin and immediately tried to cut it to see the inside! the plastic knives and spoons slipped, and bounced off the tough skin. One very determined child managed to pierce the skin and there were shouts of delight!

"It's very heavy!" was heard several times by surprised children lifting the pumpkin.

The children used some great words to describe how the pumpkin felt and smelt -
"Sticky"
"wet"
"cold"
"Like ice cream"
"It tickles!"

LOTS OF FUN WITH LEAVES

We have some incredible trees in our grounds!

Most days someone tries to climb this one!

         

 It was wonderful watching the children having fun together in the heaps of fallen leaves.
They scooped handfuls up and threw them high into the air, laughing and shouting with delight.








Next was the messy part! From the bucketfuls of leaves we collected the children chose some to paint and print.
 It was very interesting watching how the children approached this activity. Some clearly favoured particular colours, some worked through the colour choices in the order they were laid out. Others mixed colours on leaves. The effects achieved by all were stunning!

Harvest time!

FINDING OUT ABOUT HARVEST

Our week began with going to explore the whole school Harvest Festival display in the hall. The children were amazed by so much food!

They named the foods they could see that they liked to eat. Scooby Doo tinned spaghetti was spotted by one very observant child!

We talked about how Harvest time is a special time for saying Thank you to God for all the lovely foods we enjoy. We also talked about this food being collected to help others who do not have as much as us - this year the school is supporting our local Food Bank, The Sleaford Community Food Larder.

Some of the children asked questions about the cross and the candles.

     The children were                fascinated by the aubergine!  They gently smelt and touched it.  "Can we open it?" asked Charlotte.

The next day we cut an aubergine in half, and the children looked very surprised! 

"It feels a bit like cheese" commented Luke. "It's a bit squidgy!" added Theodore.

The children wanted to cut open some of the other vegetables on the table.  

There was lots of interest in all the vegetables, and plenty of opportunities to introduce new words and to encourage the children to explore and describe textures.

         

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Our explorations this week also extended into Autumn and to looking at what is happening in the world around us. We gathered all sorts of natural objects from our outdoor area.

   

Some of us also went walking in the village with our mums and dads and collected some different objects, which we brought in to share with the rest of the children.

 

 We found many different leaves, and compared the colours and sizes, looking closely to see if any matched.

There is so much to learn about our wonderful world in Autumn!

Next week..... trees and leaves - printing, threading....