Maths is Everywhere
We love mathematics.
Mathematics is often described as the search for relationships and patterns.
And shape-and-pattern-play have a significant impact on later maths achievement.
The children have been so absorbed in using shapes to build and balance, to tessellate and mark-make, to design and measure.
Can you make a model big enough to fit the cows and trucks and cars?
Can you print in playdough all the shapes with straight edges?
Can you make a triangle from three straight sticks?
Can you find out how many objects will fit onto your playdough pancake?
I wonder what you notice about all of these shapes?
The children have so readily been showing us how they fit objects together, composing and decomposing shapes, rotating and orientating them to make 3D models, playdough sculptures, props for their play.
We do love mathematics.
Big Bold Movers and Scientific Explorers
We are BIG BOLD MOVERS and love the “boing” of jumping, the “whoosh” of running, and the “push-and-pull” of wheelbarrows and buckets.
The children have been out in all weathers ( no such thing as “bad weather” just “bad clothing” is one of our sayings! ) and have had joyful exuberant exploration of being outside to play in sand and mud and rain and wind and sunshine!
Rosina – from Children’s Kitchen – had help from lots of children to move ENORMOUS amounts of soil so our raised beds could be ready for planting wildflowers.
It was hard work – the wheelbarrows were heavy with soil – but the children persevered and problem-solved, managed risks and confidently coordinated the barrows from one side of the garden to the other.
We love sand – the slippy, sloppy, squelchy kind!
The children have been solving problems, asking questions and finding out how things work. They have been scientifically exploring the sand and water, asking “what happens when…” as they make channels and force water down pipes to make rivers and swamps.
We love water – the shallow, splashy, paddly kind!
The children have used their noticing skills to find out, testing and retesting to see what is the best way to make things flow or float or sink or slow.
So much emptying and filling, carrying and transporting, digging and digging!
The Brilliance of Block Play
Blocks are one of the most essential materials.
Blocks are so open-ended, adaptable, versatile and have limitless possibilities.
They are both mathematically precise AND eclectically creative!
They ignite and support so much play – imaginative, collaborative, mathematical, physical, language!
Collaborating and connecting up with each other, the children have been building so that they could “go on holiday”!
A shared experience, sharing personal histories together, children were showing incredible attunement and sensitivity towards each other, confident to create, collaborate and communicate together in the blocks.
The Blocks have supported children to explore, experiment, investigate and problem-solve – together, as a group.
We do love Blocks!
