Summer Holidays

School is out for the summer and for our last week we have had a great time despite the typical rainy British summer weather!

With the additional children we have planned several day trips that have ranged from throwing stones into the sea and collecting shell with which we made clay ornaments at Mount Batten Beach through to admiring the animal collection and looking for the escaped lynx at Dartmoor Zoo!

We have had plenty of picnics, played in parks and even used our garden for a very successful water fight. The children have had their fill of fresh air, exercise and made lots of new friends.

We wish everyone a very happy summer and looking forward to seeing our little ones back in the Autumn :-)

Sports Day

As a mum of two primary school children I have attended my share of sports days and seen the enjoyment that the children gain from running around amongst a group of peers so when a fellow childminder suggested that several of us bring all our little ones and all our sports equipment out to the park for a sports day I thought it was a great idea. 

We enabled the children to have a free play session with all the equipment initially which they loved and it is always great to see the different ways that equipment can be used when left to a child's imagination. 

We then set up a few activities ranging from throw the beanbags in the hoop through to running races and an assault course that obviously turned into chaos with children running in all directions but having a great time! 

Water Fun!

This week has been very hot down here in the West Country so what better time than to introduce lots of water play to keep cool. 

 

We have been learning the importance of drinking lots, wearing sun hats and putting on our sunscreen but mainly, we've been having lots of fun!

We have been running through the water fountains at the local park through to painting the pavements with water and using our measuring pots in the paddling pool. All the children had a lovely time, I think I have a lot of water lovers on my hands!

Fruit Picking

Today we went fruit picking to pick some summer fruits much to the boys excitement. I have always tried to feed the children healthy meals and snacks and talked to them about this so fruit picking seemed a prefect way to make this more fun and let them see where their food comes from. 

The boys excitedly grabbed a contained each and chose to find some raspberries first. As soon as they were pointed in the right direction they shot off with their containers! We talked about just picking the ripe juicy red ones and leaving the green ones to ripen for other people. 

After rapidly filling a container of raspberries (and tasting just a few along the way!) the boys asked if they could pick some strawberries. After a lovely morning with tired boys and lots of juicy summer fruits we set off home. 

Using some of the fruit we had picked we made a smoothie to enjoy in the garden for afternoon snack - a great way of involving children in understanding where their food comes from and very tasty! 

Ice Cube Painting

Today has been pretty hot so I was on the search for some cooling summer activities when I came across an idea that looked great fun but was most certainly an outdoor activity - ice cube paints! Using an ice cube tray I froze diluted paints in two goes to make two-tone ice cubes. Placing some paper in our paddling pool the children were ready to start creating!

At first they explored the cubes pretty delicately, making small marks and then feeling them with their fingers. Even our youngest joined in with the sensory play, fascinated by the cold and the marks that he made. After making some pretty vibrant patterns on the paper the children decided that they would explore further and began to paint themselves turning it into a pretty messy play session with one of the children yelling, 'this is the best thing ever!'.

After a long time the children began to ask for some water so, we filled the paddling pool and the children had a great time splashing around. 

All in all this was a lovely cooling activity for such a sunny summer afternoon.