Rain Gauge

Having enjoyed a little sunshine this week we are now back to persistent rain so, to make the most of the bad weather we decided to measure the rain using a home made rain gauge! 

 I cut the top off a large empty plastic bottle and then the boys helped measure some numbers that they recognised using their toy ruler. I wrote the numbers on the bottle and drew circles at regular intervals. This activity was great as it helped the boys learn about using numbers and measuring in context.Wrapping up in our wet weather gear the children set off to find a place in the garden that they could put their bottle. 

Several days later the children went out to check their bottle and the weather had not disappointed. They read off the level of the water that had reached 5cm in our bottle. They then set off to play with the water that they had collected. 

Bubbles

As we have had such lovely spring weather we have been making the most of being outside without freezing! This coincided nicely with the arrival of our new bubble machine. 

The children had great fun chasing the bubbles and trying to pop them. We also talked about the wind blowing the bubbles and attempted to count several of them before they blew away.

Even our youngest enjoyed trying to poke and catch the bubbles!

Wind Chimes

We had a go at making our own wind chimes so that the children could use their creativity as well as seeing the effect of the wind outdoors. We found some old tin cans and then had great fun painting them using acrylic paints. Some were messier than others and the boys enjoyed having a good bashing session to see what noise the cans made!

The end results were very different but all colourful. We hung them up in the garden and waited for some wind. Unfortunately it was not a windy day and the cans needed some help to move but they made some noise and that was enough to make the children smile. 

Cloud Dough

After the boys had been partying hard at their little friend's birthday party, I thought we needed something a bit calming for an afternoon activity. We opted for cloud dough messy play. Cloud dough is a combination of baby oil and flour and has a lovely soft but mouldable texture. 

 We used the dough in several ways, first exploring the texture - pressing it together and running it through fingers. We then added some animals to increase the imaginative play. The animals walked through the dough, ate it and even got buried in it!

Finally, I resorted to the old favourite of adding spoons and silicone cupcake cases - a winner every time for making pretend cupcakes (while increasing fine motor skills!). 

Comb painted rainbows

I thought we could introduce some more of our weather theme into our paintings and rainbows seemed like the perfect way to do this. Rather than using paint brushes we decided to experiment with combs. Having poured some paints into a dish we talked about all the colours of the rainbow. 

After a quick demonstration the children soon cottoned onto the plan of painting with the comb. They had great fun experimenting with the colourful patterns whilst exploring the textures of the comb. 

This short activity resulted in some pretty colourful and rather fun artwork!  

February Topic

Given the very changeable outdoor environment at the moment we are going to be looking at things related to WEATHER in February. 

We have a few exciting activities planned ranging from looking at weather pictures and books through to sorting clothes for appropriate weather. As ever, we will be doing several weather themed craft activities and, most importantly, going outdoors in all weathers to explore!