Butterfly Life Cycles

Even the youngest of children are often fascinated by butterflies and the children here are no exception. This gives the perfect way in which to start to teach them about life cycles, something that will enable them to connect with nature as they develop and start to gain an understanding of basic science. 

We started with 5 caterpillars that the children came and counted on a daily basis as well as commenting on their size and their movement. We talked about the food that the caterpillars were eating and the fact that we must not put them in the direct sun. It is important that the children can relate such activities to the outdoor environment and we were lucky enough to find some caterpillars on one of our trips to the local nature garden at the park. 

Whilst our caterpillars grew and became chrysalises we undertook a range of age-appropriate activities with older ones discussing the life cycle order for the caterpillars from egg through to butterfly with the aid of our toy models and appropriate picture books through to painting butterfly pictures for the younger children. 

Finally our butterflies all hatched safely and, having fed them with flowers and orange juice, it was time to release them to the wild, something that the children particularly enjoyed. 

Other life cycles that we have covered this term include that of the frog with several visits to Saltram House to view the frogspawn and subsequently tadpoles and frogs together with that of fruit, predominantly focussing on strawberries and a trip to the local pick your own.

Casper The Owl & Friends

We were lucky enough to be invited to another childminders house this morning where she had arranged a special visit from the local charity Casper the Owl & Friends. While we were waiting for the owls the children had the opportunity to stretch their legs and engage in some owl colouring activities. 

Once underway children ranging from 1 to 4 were fascinated by the talk about the 3 owls present, Gandalf, Indie and Albus. The children learnt about the owls habitat and how their body is adapted for the climates within which they reside. The children were then able to stroke the owls, feelings their feathers and examining their beaks! The older children were able to put on the glove and hold the owls themselves, something that they were very proud to describe to their parents. 

The highlight of the day for the children was a completely unplanned flight around the adjacent valley by the 'naughty' snowy owl, Albus! Luckily Albus returned when he had had enough! This had the children giggling for the rest of the day. 

At home to provide a more relaxed end to an exciting morning we engaged in some owl poetry, reading the owl and the pussycat together!

Flower Sun Catchers

We have been out and about lots in this lovely summer weather and the children always admire the colours of the flowers that they see. We combined their love of nature and the outdoors with some craft by collecting some of the petals that the wind had blown from the plants.

The children sorted the petals into colours and, using contact paper on a cardboard ring frame, they began to arrange the petals into their own arrangements. The older children worked on some elaborate arrangements while our youngest picked up handfuls and threw them to the paper!

We talked about numbers, colours and shapes of the petals before covering the petals with another set of contact paper to stick them in place. Our youngest thought pressing (and punching) this down was great! We placed our sun catchers in the window and talked about how bright the colours were when they caught the sun. These made such beautiful decorations and were perfect for children of a wide range of ages.

Natural Playgrounds

One of the great joys of being a childminder is having the freedom to take the children out into the natural environment where they can learn so much through play and exploration. This morning was another beautiful Autumn morning so we decided to do a walk though some local woods to the river. Although only a simple walk I watched the children and was fascinated by the many areas of learning covered within this lovely Autumn stroll. Just some of these are listed below:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Through interacting with their peers and discussing their thoughts and ideas the children learn how to interact with others and develop appropriate social behaviours. 

Physical Development: From climbing on trees, wading through long grass and squelching through mud through to picking up sticks to float down the river and throwing stones the children develop both fine and gross motor skills and benefit from the fresh air and exercise. 

Communication & Language: The children talk about what they can see as well as discussing their ideas with one another. 

Literacy: We related the different surfaces that we encountered to those detailed in the 'going on a bear hunt' book. 

Numeracy: The children instinctively counted a range of objects from sticks and stones through to the steps they were taking. 

Understanding the World: We looked at the environment around us, discussing the autumn, inspecting the effect of the low sun on our shadows and watching the river carry the sticks downstream.