tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82947561847168280522024-03-14T00:39:15.805+00:00Wugs and DooeyLearning Through Play - Activities and Crafts for Young ChildrenWugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-17016773538095560522016-09-30T14:47:00.000+01:002016-09-30T14:47:50.949+01:00Exploring Bugs<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Over the past few weeks we have been exploring bugs!</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The children are both fascinated and scared
by them; with Wugs declaring his undying for spiders until he sees one and then
runs through the house screaming and with Dooey saying he doesn’t like flies,
but if he sees one sat on a table or flower he watches it with
fascination.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Either way, I thought devoting
a few weeks to the study of bugs would be therapeutic for them…and me! (It’s
ironic that I’m writing this a week after a gigantic spider crawled under my
bed which meant I had to bunk with the children all night)!</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Bug Sensory Tub</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I started off our bug exploration with a sensory tub which I
filled with soil, a spoon, a flower or two, some fruit on a plate with a bug
munching on it (the children are intrigued by bugs turning up on plates or in
food after we played the <a href="http://www.orchardtoys.com/product/pizza-pizza" target="_blank">“Pizza! Pizza!” game from Orchard</a>).</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">They played with the sensory tub on and off
for a couple of hours and at one point when I was sitting inside I could hear
them through the window talking about the need for the caterpillar to eat lots
and lots of food referencing Eric Carle’s </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The
Hungry Caterpillar</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri";">.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">A Bug Hunt</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Afterwards I asked the children if they would like to look
for bugs in the garden.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We had a look
through some cards that showed illustrations of common bugs and that matched
the models of the bugs they had been playing with.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The children took the bug box and a
magnifying glass into the garden and spent all afternoon outside searching for
bugs.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">To their delight, they discovered
a caterpillar on the wooden fence and gently put him in the bug box with a
leaf.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">He instantly coiled up and after
15 minutes still hadn’t uncoiled, so Dooey released him. They also found lots
of ants and a spider which we placed in the box, but it turned out to be dead
already.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For added fun I included some bug glasses, so the children
could see through the eyes of a fly!</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">(I’m
not sure how accurate the bug glasses are, but they had great fun putting them
on and seeing the world through yellow-tinted glasses).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Alongside our outdoor activities, I included some literacy
and maths activities which I placed on the children’s shelves indoors.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">These were downloaded from <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bugs-Literacy-Math-and-Science-Bundle-643049" target="_blank">TrilliumMontessori</a>.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Counting Ladybirds
and Spiders</span></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJWMg9Nd9oRhYf4bc1axyRiJ7RAtjULYYSnrK0ijEQWTZZbV8ZzljxaufjxCQ6bSEXUBeMDlYfY9dtP6q3kwjgLfypXy1q8wZ0fodFqdRQo5QKnt0Jbnp4UHyqvwdDiVgzGvoRlzytj4/s1600/ladybird+and+spider+counters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJWMg9Nd9oRhYf4bc1axyRiJ7RAtjULYYSnrK0ijEQWTZZbV8ZzljxaufjxCQ6bSEXUBeMDlYfY9dtP6q3kwjgLfypXy1q8wZ0fodFqdRQo5QKnt0Jbnp4UHyqvwdDiVgzGvoRlzytj4/s640/ladybird+and+spider+counters.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The ladybird counters were made using red glass pebbles and
a black marker; an idea I took from Trillium Montessori.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">As our red pebbles were quite dark, we
carried out the counting on our <a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/diy-light-box.html" target="_blank">DIY light box</a>, which the children are always
thrilled to use.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I adapted this idea for
my spider-lover using clear pebbles.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Pegging the First
Letter Sound</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For the literacy activities we used the cards to peg the
beginning letter sound using some ladybird pegs.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Bug Identification (Nomenclature)
Cards</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I also included some terminology (nomenclature cards) which
we downloaded from <a href="http://www.everystarisdifferent.com/2014/05/insect-unit-w-free-printables.html" target="_blank">Every Star is Different</a>.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I spent some time searching for some clear, real images and I found that
these were the best.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The children became
familiar with the names of various bugs and then matched the labels with the
pictures.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Creating an Ant Farm</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Although the children enjoyed all the activities, they
seemed to prefer observing the live bugs they had seen in the garden, but when the children came close, the insects
would freeze in fear.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I thought
creating a habitat for the bugs and observing them over a period of time would
give the children an opportunity to view their habits without frightening
them.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">So... I invested in an ant farm!</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Our ant farm arrived a few weeks ago.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We went into the garden to collect the ants
in the little dish provided, but we waited and waited and couldn’t find any
ants at all!</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I could see the children’s
interest waning, so I decided to order some ants online.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBxuNf7F2TNzLvmpyed_bnd6vgnNCe9IfeCD-EbxyadDHfkdyrzxJrH2N0S4PprhUxGxEQsqEhSPih4hxkno7t3K5OJMXiK2jGc0uXdRVtKe5XiyjXY_bwxFOEJ8siFofkvYiQmV8BY8/s1600/Ants+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBxuNf7F2TNzLvmpyed_bnd6vgnNCe9IfeCD-EbxyadDHfkdyrzxJrH2N0S4PprhUxGxEQsqEhSPih4hxkno7t3K5OJMXiK2jGc0uXdRVtKe5XiyjXY_bwxFOEJ8siFofkvYiQmV8BY8/s320/Ants+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Week 2</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvOsXgkNviecuCf2WZi8mGvc0wwZWXC2GIIevSTioJ1_VNZEehF0YXqwQPaTkiiScpPWwPofCknkMb9hKOUTmaPC-BoPwowYQKyziEi4UDauFBlv2TDAGmV00UEabhOuNh1pmmHeKrzDI/s1600/Ants+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvOsXgkNviecuCf2WZi8mGvc0wwZWXC2GIIevSTioJ1_VNZEehF0YXqwQPaTkiiScpPWwPofCknkMb9hKOUTmaPC-BoPwowYQKyziEi4UDauFBlv2TDAGmV00UEabhOuNh1pmmHeKrzDI/s320/Ants+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Week 5</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The ants arrived in a dish with soil already
provided and we connected it up to our farm.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Slowly we saw the ants moving up the tube into the viewing box that was
filled with a sand/soil mixture.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Unfortunately, most of them stayed in the tube or seemed happier in the
dish with the soil they had travelled with, so after a couple of days I engaged
in the tricky operation of emptying the soil and some of the ants directly into
the farm. I had a couple of escapees, but on the whole it was a success!</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Over
the past week the ants have begun to create tunnels and chambers in the
sand/soil, carrying things from one area of the ant farm to another.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We replenish their food every few days and
keep the soil moisturised using a teat pipette.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">So far we haven’t observed any pregnant ants, but we are on the
look-out!</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ant Anatomy</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQPUiVQmScHUJx3p1R1nhlzAn4V7frDJjCJo2Nab7btAGiHt98lrloEardI84C8UfS7sa4XHMg5PbTy9RsHURD3q7wUFR2GZg6H1rI364Ov_WjQ4zNimp8n_H2LGXCo-GVMKR95YMmrs/s1600/Ant+Anatomy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQPUiVQmScHUJx3p1R1nhlzAn4V7frDJjCJo2Nab7btAGiHt98lrloEardI84C8UfS7sa4XHMg5PbTy9RsHURD3q7wUFR2GZg6H1rI364Ov_WjQ4zNimp8n_H2LGXCo-GVMKR95YMmrs/s320/Ant+Anatomy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Seeing as the children are observing ants at the moment, I
thought it would be useful to look at the anatomy of an ant.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">These sheets are produced by <a href="http://www.giftofcuriosity.com/teaching-kids-about-ant-anatomy/" target="_blank">Gift of Curiosity</a> and are free
to download.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">A control sheet is also
provided.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Bug Books</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4F2eh6aRP8oLTn4zmX5tk7gzf7EfAJOmmO3sy-3ijlaZJLT8nvUfV-Uq5Q-p0GObsw_bYvJj_MxevUXhVdhBs9OSV_yLmwNbc968hpKqzHXosSelTsgL6sFYYkrZZAT5AA2CQ6KbPRA/s1600/Books+on+Bugs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk4F2eh6aRP8oLTn4zmX5tk7gzf7EfAJOmmO3sy-3ijlaZJLT8nvUfV-Uq5Q-p0GObsw_bYvJj_MxevUXhVdhBs9OSV_yLmwNbc968hpKqzHXosSelTsgL6sFYYkrZZAT5AA2CQ6KbPRA/s320/Books+on+Bugs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">During our bug project, we visited the library and
collected a number of books and pulled out a few of our favourites from our own
collection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIQ5eO9eAVm3sPF280bue-IR4rsNQGuBElaXp6lUVKOiVJaNsY3IIwEPBHaChaw8W2DvYbFgS7110IHviJZG4d336wvMYD9bHL68gDxF3l3b4vccY-iE4ImCPWpKO8ovZWTmD8rZdvH8/s1600/INsects+Book.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4llek65o_q_eFNDOxnDdopLUMeBwUzQrgdx6VNa1kL0cgL3KYiXcwuWtR9Nw49-owW77Y3xOz44boYmHeTImpu4lLO6swaqQSnL7gCMqDAkzKOF8qU5AhCexMXCXcQvMWQyodFn66kg/s1600/close+up+of+bees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4llek65o_q_eFNDOxnDdopLUMeBwUzQrgdx6VNa1kL0cgL3KYiXcwuWtR9Nw49-owW77Y3xOz44boYmHeTImpu4lLO6swaqQSnL7gCMqDAkzKOF8qU5AhCexMXCXcQvMWQyodFn66kg/s400/close+up+of+bees.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A new series that we are starting to collect is produced by
Moonlight Publishing and uses overlays and a “torchlight” (a white backdrop in
the shape of a torch!) to view detailed images.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Given that Dooey is still in his sensitive period for
small things, I found these books have really captured his interest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIz2l0QEvQ1fCdJlPLffwxtFY1Q2yF_JeaEov8thXFxVtDxaxR67TRjXmn4YIQUGI23tGKbHWdfxOTqW3uKpXMosGvWLgDyuCruL3LlWn28JwTnZANGZWHmMZSRinFksGeVO4GGCqI0Y/s1600/IMG_5466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIz2l0QEvQ1fCdJlPLffwxtFY1Q2yF_JeaEov8thXFxVtDxaxR67TRjXmn4YIQUGI23tGKbHWdfxOTqW3uKpXMosGvWLgDyuCruL3LlWn28JwTnZANGZWHmMZSRinFksGeVO4GGCqI0Y/s320/IMG_5466.JPG" width="274" /></a></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">At the moment, the National Geographic are doing a series on
bugs and each edition has a specimen of a bug enclosed in glass.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">(I hope they died naturally).</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The series looks amazing, but is a bit
expensive, so we might be selective about which ones we collect.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The features and images on the National
Geographic website are a great alternative and include lots of interesting
facts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b>Clay Bug Creations</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></b>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIHb-WS33HR2bWcmlW-NpC4-B-QxU7Sl758-knyDNWnqMB7EG2hLwI2CfDmuyz0fmHD7AyJxQtIUNrbPachQ-QJPnFO79kWQprz6hY_GddoBMkqUsN5ZqEZPZemdhSCUYWDWacQ5jOa90/s1600/Insect+Clay+Models.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIHb-WS33HR2bWcmlW-NpC4-B-QxU7Sl758-knyDNWnqMB7EG2hLwI2CfDmuyz0fmHD7AyJxQtIUNrbPachQ-QJPnFO79kWQprz6hY_GddoBMkqUsN5ZqEZPZemdhSCUYWDWacQ5jOa90/s320/Insect+Clay+Models.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Our final bug activity involved creating bugs from clay,
pipe cleaners and googly eyes.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We had
12-legged spiders and insects with just one eye!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
I'm not sure if our bug activities have completely allayed our fear of creepy crawlies, but the children seem to have a greater appreciation for them. During a trip to a playground, Dooey discovered a golden-coloured caterpillar and on the trunk of a tree at Wugs' school, he found a yellow ladybird. We try to take pictures of our little discoveries each time we meet them. </div>
</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-76458921323556638422016-03-25T10:06:00.002+00:002016-04-08T04:46:07.538+01:00Resurrection Garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4jxYJkEVXnlE_Hh-rseiG7nTLCXal2bxJfD5SrI8-kj5Z0JCjkvx9EiyZ1tlmQDvlUouW89pCMrsyFRUGVu5IQT4Gl6oNA3T29-T678PI6GzGUV7Jdpr1h0FDkknc7ipiu6iDIhV238/s1600/IMG_2006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo4jxYJkEVXnlE_Hh-rseiG7nTLCXal2bxJfD5SrI8-kj5Z0JCjkvx9EiyZ1tlmQDvlUouW89pCMrsyFRUGVu5IQT4Gl6oNA3T29-T678PI6GzGUV7Jdpr1h0FDkknc7ipiu6iDIhV238/s400/IMG_2006.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I love Easter! I love it like most people love Christmas! The promise of new life reflected in the season with its blooming of daffodils and the lighter evenings after the cold and darkness of winter.<br />
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I felt inspired to create a resurrection garden a couple of years ago, initially <a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/resurrection-garden-small-world-play_20.html" target="_blank">building one from play dough,</a> but this year I finally built up enough courage to grow one! Given my poor performance in keeping plants and flowers alive, this was quite a feat.<br />
<br />
It turned out to be very easy. I purchased a large plant tray, a small flower pot, some soil and grass seed. I covered the tray with soil and built a mound of soil over the flower pot. Once the pot was held in place, I added grass seed pushing it into the soil. I watered it and waited about six days for signs of life and by the sixth day grass started to sprout and from then on grew very quickly. I added some stones that I collected from our driveway and a large stone for the tomb.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDs8wRw8rUyoLcWJBKWtRb3P8UVSXZhGR3hPTSFh8vWQDLDvMJ_zaNT1oawweKNS4OJ0krCZCWyHKQMMo54d4lP85iBbRcYnzaKirKzulipn-FHtNQdyN_bbat-OP2gon9On30_vrbmjM/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDs8wRw8rUyoLcWJBKWtRb3P8UVSXZhGR3hPTSFh8vWQDLDvMJ_zaNT1oawweKNS4OJ0krCZCWyHKQMMo54d4lP85iBbRcYnzaKirKzulipn-FHtNQdyN_bbat-OP2gon9On30_vrbmjM/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I wanted the children to open an egg each day and find a symbol of Easter inside that could be built into the garden scene. I used seven plastic eggs and placed a chocolate for each child inside together with a symbol and a card. The cards were downloaded from <a href="http://www.churchhousecollection.com/resources/Resurrection%20Eggs%20Colored%20Page.jpg" target="_blank">this website</a>. The website uses more cards as part of a resurrection egg activity, but I stuck with just seven days. I hung the eggs on a tree for the children to take down and open up each day.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0m-mrYUjeQ2nFo0soBu5u8pa9kdyWb2hfmGRsK5KH108bAfgiPdy84-kCERbVApBiwl3h8GZd9GoIpHl7jC0jFvmwLx9BhBPgiAhkfccp3kD-2qiH3cMBJsNrioXaG6F1sGBpAUe9hLo/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0m-mrYUjeQ2nFo0soBu5u8pa9kdyWb2hfmGRsK5KH108bAfgiPdy84-kCERbVApBiwl3h8GZd9GoIpHl7jC0jFvmwLx9BhBPgiAhkfccp3kD-2qiH3cMBJsNrioXaG6F1sGBpAUe9hLo/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In addition to the symbols I included some larger items: a donkey, three crosses, an angel and a small LED light that will shine out of the tomb on Easter morning (more photos to follow).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXLc_SOOPQrd2AVmZn3Um1a8h4HjfykUGP3t3jO235ShG06Om7RI504nVj53h4NPhfZ2BNIxl65whCLxvgnh1GeYSQe5xCW0qb_o5ctlts8H-9j1elOeega8qzRmMNpEMGI0dbUxUMRA/s1600/IMG_1993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXLc_SOOPQrd2AVmZn3Um1a8h4HjfykUGP3t3jO235ShG06Om7RI504nVj53h4NPhfZ2BNIxl65whCLxvgnh1GeYSQe5xCW0qb_o5ctlts8H-9j1elOeega8qzRmMNpEMGI0dbUxUMRA/s320/IMG_1993.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The children absolutely loved it and we accompanied the activity with readings from the bible story to make sure the children could appreciate the true meaning of Easter.<br />
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
Large plant tray<br />
Soil<br />
Grass seed<br />
Small plant pot<br />
Small stones<br />
One large stone<br />
Plastic eggs<br />
Symbols for the eggs: green foam paper palm leaves, bread, a foil cup to symbolise suffering, a gold coin, a crown of thorns made from twisted jewellery wire, a crucifix, a swab to represent Jesus' clothes in the tomb (I decided that the "clothes" would be placed in the tomb for the children to discover on Easter morning, rather than in the egg).<br />
A donkey figurine<br />
An angel (made from silver tinsel pipe cleaners)<br />
3 crosses (made from coloured lollipop sticks)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdP32yTYPH-YYjbGgM-1HUzIk5uHHWySn-oCTSknPQ2CLaZDe2-T1rThG4gDpSp9__1xFlnrKbtGxPcJsf3wDxk8GClq5WmKofg3Dk0vnvsac7lJXaLVPm8JBR4PXVTBWKC4SRCGWT4uo/s1600/IMG_1985.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdP32yTYPH-YYjbGgM-1HUzIk5uHHWySn-oCTSknPQ2CLaZDe2-T1rThG4gDpSp9__1xFlnrKbtGxPcJsf3wDxk8GClq5WmKofg3Dk0vnvsac7lJXaLVPm8JBR4PXVTBWKC4SRCGWT4uo/s320/IMG_1985.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Happy Easter everyone!</i></span></h3>
Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-35336748931778730522016-02-05T22:25:00.001+00:002016-02-05T22:25:34.177+00:00Chinese New Year Activities and Crafts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwbneNp_v9-EYjAGFre-iTkIw4O2MKZxavGpnUUzFBCDnH1mPbZZX-gDkpQWBm8ErXyj-8Lav6khjwUUbWeWrRJzT2z6el9IqemCZhkOAqBtXCf84Jn30AqESbgIBvJ5HZMzLNKJaNwo/s1600/PicMonkey+Collage+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwbneNp_v9-EYjAGFre-iTkIw4O2MKZxavGpnUUzFBCDnH1mPbZZX-gDkpQWBm8ErXyj-8Lav6khjwUUbWeWrRJzT2z6el9IqemCZhkOAqBtXCf84Jn30AqESbgIBvJ5HZMzLNKJaNwo/s640/PicMonkey+Collage+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/chinese-new-year-sensory-tub.html" target="_blank">Chinese New Year Sensory Tub</a></div>
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<a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/orange-peel-numbers.html" target="_blank">Lion Dance Orange Peel Numbers</a></div>
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<a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/counting-angpow.html" target="_blank">Angpow Counting Game</a></div>
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<a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/lo-hei-chinese-new-year-craft.html" target="_blank">"Lo Hei" Chinese New Year Meal Craft</a></div>
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<a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/making-angpow-packets.html" target="_blank">Angpow Packet Craft</a></div>
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<a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/chinese-new-year-plaques.html" target="_blank">Chinese "Happiness" Plaque</a></div>
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<b>More Chinese New Year activities and crafts:</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_VLTh67j3Pdm5FGkWvG3t0Bdzx8G8FzIk1yXsznBqkTxsG9sZJZvqRQSE8B1Z1tqB99jMNMiUWYgfeK8LhZWd6q-kqqT8GCYWx3auH8imaAGetsoYnzzTLeACAoJP4cT_UwF06NSIQw/s1600/PicMonkey+Collage+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_VLTh67j3Pdm5FGkWvG3t0Bdzx8G8FzIk1yXsznBqkTxsG9sZJZvqRQSE8B1Z1tqB99jMNMiUWYgfeK8LhZWd6q-kqqT8GCYWx3auH8imaAGetsoYnzzTLeACAoJP4cT_UwF06NSIQw/s400/PicMonkey+Collage+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.sg/2014/06/chinese-new-year-small-world-play.html" target="_blank">Chinese New Year Small World Play</a><br />
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<a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.sg/2015/02/chinese-new-year-lion-sock-puppets.html" target="_blank">Lion Dance Puppets</a>Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-71849997496455098742016-02-05T21:53:00.002+00:002016-02-05T21:53:24.040+00:00Chinese New Year Sensory Tub<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg446CpAkJlZX2MFwfbmakM2Sa898I_6yd_wx5uHLQEIWPBJrkemJCdeWQbAq-DyG3R4ajoeb8UpR5hCiBH2a8RJtISsGnkSJHVwwTJqYSj8ZfQPdVHnDCUizwJPFQEcIW-HymKdcPqFms/s1600/Sensory+Tub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg446CpAkJlZX2MFwfbmakM2Sa898I_6yd_wx5uHLQEIWPBJrkemJCdeWQbAq-DyG3R4ajoeb8UpR5hCiBH2a8RJtISsGnkSJHVwwTJqYSj8ZfQPdVHnDCUizwJPFQEcIW-HymKdcPqFms/s320/Sensory+Tub.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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My youngest son, Dooey (2.7 years) is really into sensory play at the moment, so I created this mini sensory tub for him to explore.<br />
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
Rice (dyed red)<br />
Gold coins<br />
Orange peel<br />
Angpow packets (for him to transfer the rice into and empty)<br />
Tin containers (for extra sound)<br />
Scoops for transferring<br />
(Another idea I had, but didn't use in this tub was the idea of adding the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac for the child to discover and arrange according to the order they came in the race).Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-88543451467769333042016-02-05T21:47:00.002+00:002016-02-05T21:47:17.382+00:00Orange Peel Numbers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVbHa5DHBEjNIecf7gNXVFDyWVC_KGXEMik8jXksX9ERKgiEVwqSA-K0ekIP8acM0bVt1UhdDpyyVfImqa0_DvynzwlramZ70Vbh9suYPBF_Pu_8NrE51XqZPbkH2xbVubkjTWTeYLTo/s1600/2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVbHa5DHBEjNIecf7gNXVFDyWVC_KGXEMik8jXksX9ERKgiEVwqSA-K0ekIP8acM0bVt1UhdDpyyVfImqa0_DvynzwlramZ70Vbh9suYPBF_Pu_8NrE51XqZPbkH2xbVubkjTWTeYLTo/s320/2016.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This activity was based on the lion dance that is performed around shops and condos in Singapore during the build up to Chinese New Year. During the dance, the lion is offered oranges (believed to symbolise prosperity and health), which he consumes, leaving an arrangement of "lucky" numbers which he forms out of the orange peel. The Chinese typically make a note of the numbers and then gamble on them!<br />
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I created an outline of our numbers (I followed the year, 2016, but also created individual mats for the boys birth years, 2011 and 2013). I peeled a couple of oranges and tore up the peel. The boys then arranged the peel in the shape of the numbers. It was also a fun way to teach them the year of their birth and to help Dooey (2.7 years) gain a familiarity with the shape of the numbers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5vNyoW0Hlpt-0Ibnx_T6zDHU2ra0eSCFzgQGpq-Jm5W68Bia0vy15QN5SNNT_CMaLZlZujiaZBtDmgxvkCcO1VNNznLRzhUabYmjQVhWciAhkSQPKmUcf3jmEtci9OH4RUw7Nm3o80k/s1600/Set+up+mats+and+orange+peel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5vNyoW0Hlpt-0Ibnx_T6zDHU2ra0eSCFzgQGpq-Jm5W68Bia0vy15QN5SNNT_CMaLZlZujiaZBtDmgxvkCcO1VNNznLRzhUabYmjQVhWciAhkSQPKmUcf3jmEtci9OH4RUw7Nm3o80k/s320/Set+up+mats+and+orange+peel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>What we used:</b></div>
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Paper</div>
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Printer</div>
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Laminator</div>
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Orange Peel</div>
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Bowl</div>
Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-48107892012944826442016-02-05T21:33:00.002+00:002016-02-05T21:33:28.295+00:00Chinese New Year Plaques<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbujMfU9YnoeuY7Bxdeo25T7rF05ZJp2EblbHEfHbURfsVbt4MKmVzsnCLRkNmPNzXc92WAK1qM6g56ddrsjLoFfGAkLWv8P8K8-3JFsDetXsTmCyyh5LP2THjR246ksfYeVjz1eBq3zs/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbujMfU9YnoeuY7Bxdeo25T7rF05ZJp2EblbHEfHbURfsVbt4MKmVzsnCLRkNmPNzXc92WAK1qM6g56ddrsjLoFfGAkLWv8P8K8-3JFsDetXsTmCyyh5LP2THjR246ksfYeVjz1eBq3zs/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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When I think of Chinese New Year in Singapore I think of red and gold plaques with animals and/or Chinese symbols for wealth, health, good luck and happiness stuck to shop windows or hanging from the ceilings - if not the plaques then those gigantic paper pineapples!<br />
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Today we made some plaques of our own - an activity that combined writing and threading skills. <br />
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I downloaded images of Chinese symbols for happiness and laminated them. I gave each child a symbol, tracing paper and a black marker pen (Dooey chose green!) and let them trace the symbol. Later we mounted the symbols onto red card and added some gold thread, which Wugs threaded.<br />
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
Chinese symbol (laminated)<br />
Tracing paper (optional, the child could copy)<br />
Glue<br />
Red card<br />
Gold threadWugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-26593335041980789202016-02-05T21:28:00.002+00:002016-02-05T21:28:11.577+00:00Making Angpow Packets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oryX46wfPNl9q_-LbaGVYQXpN0BsTrGA89-Cp-K3GeUoXFd53BYDk-vukm7V05mMasSHQ7KK5zKB-2cCxYUdtrZLFiQ1NFNxhGkS8yE6fJIzWXu2WRU7QII6KGgE4aWZnprR5C1vWTo/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oryX46wfPNl9q_-LbaGVYQXpN0BsTrGA89-Cp-K3GeUoXFd53BYDk-vukm7V05mMasSHQ7KK5zKB-2cCxYUdtrZLFiQ1NFNxhGkS8yE6fJIzWXu2WRU7QII6KGgE4aWZnprR5C1vWTo/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We have really been getting into the spirit of Chinese New Year this week and decided that today we would make some angpow packets. In Chinese tradition, the red envelopes (sometimes refered to as "lai see") are usually filled with money notes and presented by the older generation to the younger one. They symbolise good luck for the year ahead. Being a part-Chinese family, we follow this tradition and the children will be receiving angpow from us and their grandparents this year.<br />
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I designed a template for the packets based on an A4 sheet of red paper. Once I had cut them out and glued the edges, I presented the packets to the boys for decoration. Usually the decoration is in gold and includes Chinese symbols for good luck and happiness. Once they had finished, we added chocolate gold coins.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARoOj9pLojv4MgnIxakWfnWbifRkqxtmdm5rk9ClRvwpo73K8uFm_Ig1_7jkqmWi7cVTmIjPgAMl6aeMuFBRQTJ54x3tTHcpgVwzGyHCsHrAVzAkEQ8xrL0vg3H6famkAo5zbeIAmYzc/s1600/ANgpow+packet+template.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiARoOj9pLojv4MgnIxakWfnWbifRkqxtmdm5rk9ClRvwpo73K8uFm_Ig1_7jkqmWi7cVTmIjPgAMl6aeMuFBRQTJ54x3tTHcpgVwzGyHCsHrAVzAkEQ8xrL0vg3H6famkAo5zbeIAmYzc/s320/ANgpow+packet+template.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-jPH0oJCvnlkYXWUXLjEeDkbog_zvbylQoBoNa-mUdBborsegmt8LR-do4_-5Hp2PyC13-N8uJATCSgTGMCrwpCQkAV7QUu9XDQkY6RQFzedJuX9ZkYcNtEyRYzWlZ4fjb3nvKMhh3QQ/s1600/IMG_1435+%255B62505%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-jPH0oJCvnlkYXWUXLjEeDkbog_zvbylQoBoNa-mUdBborsegmt8LR-do4_-5Hp2PyC13-N8uJATCSgTGMCrwpCQkAV7QUu9XDQkY6RQFzedJuX9ZkYcNtEyRYzWlZ4fjb3nvKMhh3QQ/s320/IMG_1435+%255B62505%255D.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
Red A4 paper<br />
Glue<br />
Gold and red glitter glue<br />
Examples of angpow packets and Chinese symbols<br />
(Any red and gold patterned paper would also look good on these packets). <br />
Chocolate gold coinsWugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-33396975828744914442016-02-05T21:12:00.000+00:002016-02-06T11:49:53.296+00:00Counting Angpow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdy1LBjRC8OfzLG85Hfo8ZbbuGpX1sjCdoyMAhYxq9iQ9WQ_H6kHR__lOU1_QNWx3VqPsas66tl9USIFYHK9kB_PascDfLtkLnRDoZXYiIlotLL1TAsGpCFsdNOmAyhtC-VsiwF4iSPbo/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdy1LBjRC8OfzLG85Hfo8ZbbuGpX1sjCdoyMAhYxq9iQ9WQ_H6kHR__lOU1_QNWx3VqPsas66tl9USIFYHK9kB_PascDfLtkLnRDoZXYiIlotLL1TAsGpCFsdNOmAyhtC-VsiwF4iSPbo/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm always looking to present maths to my sons in fun and interesting ways. (I loathed the subject as a child!). In these activities I used their fascination with money and their anticipation of receiving their angpow this Chinese New Year to encourage them to practise counting, adding and subtracting.<br />
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The first version of this activity was made for Dooey (2.7 years). I gathered together 5 angpow packets and fixed 5 post stick notes to the back with numbers on them. I did the same to the front of the packets, but instead of writing the numbers, I made dots to correspond to the numbers on the back. Then I flipped them over so the numbers were facing him. For each number he read out, he counted the same in coins and placed them inside the packet. Once he was finished, he flipped over the packet and emptied it, comparing the number of coins he placed in the packet with the number of dots on the front. (The post sticks notes with dots worked as a control of error).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvyfKDfcdIsUQnY_3A-eWmt-c67G7ygI_eQDH-fm0tvFfROa3InuH894OKIIR8ebrTM5DlbcsnFZh2Awo1MmPLB3900n9fF_tUYvNyzPDBN8mhhyBQJNgb8ZqZTJt0VCL6Y29r6TtuuU/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvyfKDfcdIsUQnY_3A-eWmt-c67G7ygI_eQDH-fm0tvFfROa3InuH894OKIIR8ebrTM5DlbcsnFZh2Awo1MmPLB3900n9fF_tUYvNyzPDBN8mhhyBQJNgb8ZqZTJt0VCL6Y29r6TtuuU/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The second version of this activity was made for Wugs (4.3 years). Instead of writing numbers on the back of the packets, I wrote sums which corresponded to the answers on the front of the packet: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGnA1bVCQ1lRIR5QOT8z2x9FpxLXStSvtpFa3m5zYyIu1QMdRS9zJED2dePcmqoWnZwvZEaPypnt_UZj2B61yUmNIPf6AHVGCaL88q3-tB6XxlARrxBC-2Gt35N2Tpnmg0Ef0rujTtVA/s1600/Angpow+Counting+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGnA1bVCQ1lRIR5QOT8z2x9FpxLXStSvtpFa3m5zYyIu1QMdRS9zJED2dePcmqoWnZwvZEaPypnt_UZj2B61yUmNIPf6AHVGCaL88q3-tB6XxlARrxBC-2Gt35N2Tpnmg0Ef0rujTtVA/s200/Angpow+Counting+2.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEPx1s_qhuB3iOlpaWwnVpK8PxLfEopdI44_cq3v1ZrSzqiUfC6oFF81FgH4jJHadw4qt9jJrSwn_iEhYezbkU1uTWaFgOsKI1eOMzKkARq5BJXFsyjdq8X4y2bJE2f4h8fgUiX4ZEvo/s1600/Angpow+Counting+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEPx1s_qhuB3iOlpaWwnVpK8PxLfEopdI44_cq3v1ZrSzqiUfC6oFF81FgH4jJHadw4qt9jJrSwn_iEhYezbkU1uTWaFgOsKI1eOMzKkARq5BJXFsyjdq8X4y2bJE2f4h8fgUiX4ZEvo/s200/Angpow+Counting+1.jpg" width="200" /><br />
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This activity combined their love of coins with their love of hiding and rediscovering objects in envelopes.<br />
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
Angpow packets<br />
Post stick notes<br />
Black marker pen<br />
CoinsWugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-17820927409877180862016-02-01T11:49:00.001+00:002016-02-05T21:34:10.362+00:00Lo Hei - Chinese New Year craft<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfWzwEkc0L8pPecdTKTkmYuNpMExOTdreiW3Xr0geDpSFz5jeicMy5Rgv8WZxGVUcI6QIGhQU-mjB11VN_615_1RIW6-i1ETpdn_-mKm4D6aVUCfKXKLuZTGP3LW-RGgDVX87_X4k3kA/s1600/Lo+Hei+-+finished+dish.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfWzwEkc0L8pPecdTKTkmYuNpMExOTdreiW3Xr0geDpSFz5jeicMy5Rgv8WZxGVUcI6QIGhQU-mjB11VN_615_1RIW6-i1ETpdn_-mKm4D6aVUCfKXKLuZTGP3LW-RGgDVX87_X4k3kA/s320/Lo+Hei+-+finished+dish.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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"Lo Hei" or "Yusheng" is a traditional Chinese New Year meal for the Chinese in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. It consists of a raw fish salad, shredded vegetables and condiments with each ingredient symbolising some aspect of good fortune for the year ahead. The meal is served on a dish and is tossed in the air using chopsticks with the idea that the higher it is tossed the greater will be the group's fortune in the year ahead.<br />
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I thought it would be fun for the children to create a "Lo Hei" dish using various craft supplies I had around the house. Getting the children to cut up the "ingredients" is a fun way to strengthen their fine motor skills, especially if they are going through a phase of wanting to cut everything!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYov6ChNiSUg9s2SFLl3-iyY3xM2UmWV1ncAtAhjYQAELZR-NOy9HjkT8F8wG9xaQEyI1P5q-volDLWDhQxLp2ESbDo09t2kau0T1praLFKL_erTF1aTBol1ZIsPn0aE43MWqfE7u0zvE/s1600/Lo+Hei+big+dish.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYov6ChNiSUg9s2SFLl3-iyY3xM2UmWV1ncAtAhjYQAELZR-NOy9HjkT8F8wG9xaQEyI1P5q-volDLWDhQxLp2ESbDo09t2kau0T1praLFKL_erTF1aTBol1ZIsPn0aE43MWqfE7u0zvE/s320/Lo+Hei+big+dish.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I gave my son a plastic plate, some glue, a paintbrush and a large plate of the "ingredients". He brushed the glue on the base of the plate and gradually added the "food", adding glue to different levels of the dish so it would hold together. The more glue that is added to this craft, the more realistic it looks. The inspiration for this idea came from CBeebies Mister Maker who has made some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPJpkI5tD7Y" target="_blank">amazing food crafts</a> and has a clever technique for gluing spaghetti that could be applied to noodles. Once his dish had dried, and the chopsticks added we could hang it up as a picture.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlqTMIjh4Uj9ytLfun4J2kgewA6sZuFRhEbE0hvnQuAXjAACbCokYXPqTI7P0A65RvzWUEdvpuz3if1b1SqqDY4ZK9_eLjTGTlvyAtjhuTkKfxfrczos4O2CfXADeGBVEK5RSr6IhsFM/s1600/Lo+Hei+in+the+making.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlqTMIjh4Uj9ytLfun4J2kgewA6sZuFRhEbE0hvnQuAXjAACbCokYXPqTI7P0A65RvzWUEdvpuz3if1b1SqqDY4ZK9_eLjTGTlvyAtjhuTkKfxfrczos4O2CfXADeGBVEK5RSr6IhsFM/s320/Lo+Hei+in+the+making.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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A fun extension to this activity would be to see if the children can toss the ingredients using chopsticks.</div>
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<b>What we used:</b></div>
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String</div>
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Yellow wool</div>
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Red crepe paper</div>
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Orange foam paper</div>
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Green tissue paper and foam paper</div>
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Wooden chopsticks</div>
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Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-68722511795230810512015-12-30T20:47:00.001+00:002015-12-30T20:47:24.611+00:00Christmas Counting Activity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My two-year old is massively into playdough at the moment and his older brother is interested in counting, so I created this activity with both of their interests in mind. <br />
<br />
The Christmas tree is made of playdough, which I rolled out and then cut into shape using a cookie cutter. In one bowl I placed some numbers and in the other a handful of sequins. I demonstrated the activity to the children, selecting a number from the bowl and placing it above the tree and then counting out the sequins to match the number above the tree. Wugs (4) did this a few times on his own, the largest number he created was 30 before screwing up the Christmas tree and playing with it to create various shapes. Dooey (2) didn't engage with the numbers, but enjoyed pressing the sequins into the playdough and then pulling them out again. <br />
<br />
An easy activity to set up and engaged the boys for some time - we've pulled it out numerous times over the Christmas holidays!<br />
<br />
<b>What we used:</b><br />
- Green Playdough<br />
- Cookie Cutter<br />
- Plastic Numbers<br />
- Sequins<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_e_0HCpRyOnU31x_uta3AZdQm624PgWYjSs_d1c8Wf10GoIoKcYGUBtDSa0pqS5XAbO8kJbIVj8EwqGihMno5ETQVTlEFuJJ6afTZH_LBtOa0gRsLZEZzf1FoJN1BuOCq0qwOibBAwOk/s1600/Wugs+playing+with+Christmas+tree+playdough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_e_0HCpRyOnU31x_uta3AZdQm624PgWYjSs_d1c8Wf10GoIoKcYGUBtDSa0pqS5XAbO8kJbIVj8EwqGihMno5ETQVTlEFuJJ6afTZH_LBtOa0gRsLZEZzf1FoJN1BuOCq0qwOibBAwOk/s320/Wugs+playing+with+Christmas+tree+playdough.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-70304753549824781382015-12-29T16:28:00.000+00:002015-12-29T16:28:05.260+00:00Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh Activity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHV1XqqGBi45TWEs71t-Pw_4m_ItgfJLmgLLJ8marlJ5yvx3fJvaklxPBwE1z-C6TMTvLUQ2QsjHpaYClvo08FArEpgHAI70Uwjq-JH35WAkH1woG6I8n0wzMArU1WRSpQTNdZ_biTC3g/s1600/Gifts+to+Christ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHV1XqqGBi45TWEs71t-Pw_4m_ItgfJLmgLLJ8marlJ5yvx3fJvaklxPBwE1z-C6TMTvLUQ2QsjHpaYClvo08FArEpgHAI70Uwjq-JH35WAkH1woG6I8n0wzMArU1WRSpQTNdZ_biTC3g/s400/Gifts+to+Christ.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This year we brought the nativity story alive by experiencing the gifts that the wise men brought the baby Jesus. As a child I remember wondering what the gifts of frankincense and myrrh were like and this year, I ordered a bottle of the oils. I emptied a drop or two of each oil onto a cotton wool ball and placed the cotton wool balls into these beautifully crafted pill boxes from India. In the third box, I added a little gold cross.<br />
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Once the children had smelled the frankincense and myrrh, I added one of the oils to a burner to see whether they could guess which oil was burning. This was quite difficult as frankincense and myrrh do not smell that different. Frankincense was, in my view, a slightly heavier smell than myrrh. <br />
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
- Essential oils of frankincense and myrrh<br />
- Gold cross<br />
- Small pill boxes<br />
- Small tray<br />
- Oil burnerWugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-72138055883367687342015-12-29T15:54:00.000+00:002015-12-29T15:54:05.644+00:00Advent Calendar Maths Game<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPcRBIHQhJ9qrt4HY2_EQOen2eLZ-PUuSZ6R6JSJRuYZ7rwxIQ7ZUKjUvs9Nloz6xBRjy61kHjxoQ5D8Kw1rtSJoB5nGXRao_49XSaF1CxLM0oARQMz8h9ihg36mHOYlyAhgGgFsgJPHY/s1600/Advent+Calendar+Maths+Game.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPcRBIHQhJ9qrt4HY2_EQOen2eLZ-PUuSZ6R6JSJRuYZ7rwxIQ7ZUKjUvs9Nloz6xBRjy61kHjxoQ5D8Kw1rtSJoB5nGXRao_49XSaF1CxLM0oARQMz8h9ihg36mHOYlyAhgGgFsgJPHY/s400/Advent+Calendar+Maths+Game.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This Christmas we found ourselves in the awkward
position of having three advent calendars and just two children to open them. The generous
act of a mum at Wugs' preschool of giving each child an advent calendar meant
that I had to decide whether to consume the chocolates in the third advent
calendar myself or ask the children to take turns in having the chocolates in
addition to the ones they had from their own calendars. Given
the huge amount of chocolate that is generally consumed at Christmas, I thought
I'd do something different with this advent calendar.<br />
<br />
I decided to create a treasure hunt where the clues behind each door of the
calendar are Maths puzzles, which lead to the next door and so on. <br />
<br />
To make this game, I emptied all the chocolates from the advent calendar
and put them in a bowl in the fridge. Then I measured the inner doors of the
advent calendar and created 24 paper squares which would cover the picture that
was already on the inner door. On the squares I wrote the puzzles. I used four different types of puzzle:<br />
- subtraction (e.g. 5-3)<br />
- addition (e.g. 10+3)<br />
- counting (e.g. pictures of trees or snowballs)<br />
- sequences (e.g. 62, 63, 64, 65, __?)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3fOtOnaL9u9r4KIITVFzy7bVP8klyJXl75XW02LtnRdD-0dii-lcI92rZ6BnzQ7eiW8-tqpAt466GEHQGWMWlwm3UKxZTtAOj8s863fXqOizcQN-cGWoGIndJibFW3IcdsIQ_ZTF2JpA/s1600/PicMonkey+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3fOtOnaL9u9r4KIITVFzy7bVP8klyJXl75XW02LtnRdD-0dii-lcI92rZ6BnzQ7eiW8-tqpAt466GEHQGWMWlwm3UKxZTtAOj8s863fXqOizcQN-cGWoGIndJibFW3IcdsIQ_ZTF2JpA/s640/PicMonkey+Collage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Once I wrote out all the puzzles on the paper squares, I cut out 24 small
stickers and wrote the answers to the puzzles on them. The only sticker
that is not the answer to a puzzle is the first and I labelled this 100 as Wugs
is interested in that number at the moment. I stuck the stickers over the
numbers on the advent calendar doors and then starting with door 100, I stuck
the puzzles to the inside of the calendar doors. The answer to the first puzzle
is the number of the next door to be opened. For example, door 100 has the
puzzle "Count the stars" followed by a drawing of 9 stars. The child
then opens the door with 9 on it to reveal another puzzle and so
on until all the doors are opened. The last door says a simple "well
done!". If any doors remain closed then an error will have been made along
the way and the child might wish to go back and double-check his/her answers. <br />
<br />
Once I finished making the calendar, I added a chocolate to a couple of the
doors, so that Wugs gets a surprise every now and then as he works through it.
The second time he does it, a different door will have the chocolate and so on.
<br />
<br />
My Advent Calendar Maths Game was created for a four year old, with the puzzles
ranging from very easy to difficult and I offered Wugs a hundred board and 20 stones to help him with the addition and subtraction puzzles. The game could be adapted for any
age range.<br />
<br /><b>What we used:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">- Advent calendar (with/without chocolates)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">- White paper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">- Stickers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">- Pen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">- A hundred board and 20 stones</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
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<!--[endif]--></span>Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-74040397058941883542015-12-01T14:11:00.002+00:002015-12-01T14:16:46.518+00:00Prayer Advent Calendar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For the last couple of years I have created advent calendars which contain a craft or activity to do with the children. This year I decided to go for something a little different...<br />
<br />
I've often thought that the greatest thing I could teach my children is how to pray. To be able to show them how they can speak to God, to share their happiness and their troubles with Him is really a gift that can be taken for granted. Our advent calendar this year will contain a heart in each pocket which represents a person or a country that we will pray for on that day. Hopefully we will do this with our <a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.sg/2015/11/advent-candle.html" target="_blank">Advent Candle</a> lit and blow the candle out after we have prayed. <br />
<br />
In putting together the advent calendar I asked the boys who they would like to pray for and then I added some of my own. <br />
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I'm hoping that throughout advent the boys will begin to lead us in prayer and grow spiritually.<br />
<br />
In our church the children are asked if they would like to pray for the children's ministry and a child always offers to come out the front and say the prayer. Not only does it encourage children to talk to God, but also it acknowledges that children are equally important to God and to the church and enables them to gain confidence in public speaking.<br />
<br />Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-11221979065276423152015-11-30T22:56:00.002+00:002015-11-30T22:57:14.743+00:00Advent Candle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Yesterday my son created this beautiful advent candle during his children's church session and the idea was simply too good not to share!<br />
<br />
To create the base of the advent candle, a paper plate was provided together with a text "Jesus is Coming" and a ring of 24 candles to encircle the candle. We glued the centrepiece to the paper plate first and then my son chose from a variety of small decorative materials to be added to his base. He glued this around the centrepiece. The candle was the last piece to be added which was glued inside the ring of stars. Each day of advent he will colour in one of the stars until the ring is coloured in and it is Christmas. A simple and beautiful craft that could be easily put together as a last-minute Advent activity!<br />
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<br />
<b>What we used:</b><br />
Paper plate<br />
Small decorative embellishments<br />
A candle<br />
A centrepiece with the words "Jesus is Coming" and 24 stars to encircle the candle (I do not have the printable, but it would be easy to recreate the text with a different wording (if preferred) and instead of using stars to colour in, the child could use star stickers to add to the centrepiece.<br />
Glue<br />
<br />Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-85029771355671727142015-11-25T21:28:00.002+00:002015-11-25T21:28:10.120+00:00Autumn Play Dough<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today I experimented with a different type of play dough,
“bubble dough” made from cornflour and hair conditioner. Last February we experimented with a
variation of bubble dough using cornflour and hand wash in our “Frozen” bubble
dough play. It gave a soft, but crumbly
texture compared to regular play dough.
Our bubble dough this time was shiny, soft, a little bit slimy (like bubble
gum) and eventually it became crumbly.
As we have been exploring Autumn this month, I decided to dye the dough
to reflect the colours of the season. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I poured the cornflour into a bowl and gradually added the
hair conditioner, kneading each part until it was completely mixed
together. Then I added the food
colouring. This part was a little tricky
as the hair conditioner was a pink colour, so I had to vary the quantity of
food colouring I added to each batch of dough to get the desired colour.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I presented the dough to the boys and together we made
Autumn leaves. Unlike other play dough
projects, it didn’t matter if the different colours became mixed up as it made
the Autumn leaves look more realistic.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What we used:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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1 part hair conditioner<o:p></o:p></div>
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2 parts cornflour<o:p></o:p></div>
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Food colouring<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-89766350459247767012015-10-31T22:28:00.005+00:002015-10-31T22:28:44.697+00:00Autumn Scavenger Hunt<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
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This week we went on an Autumn Scavenger Hunt. Wugs’ preschool presented him with a piece of paper with a variety of items on it that he could find on his walk. The scavenger hunt was part of an initiative to raise funds to purchase more Montessori materials at the preschool. For each item the child would be sponsored a certain amount. The list ranged from basic things that could be found in the garden like a blade of grass and a stone, to items that are more difficult to find such as a winged seed. This was a lovely way to encourage the children to appreciate nature during Autumn and raise some funds for the preschool.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZQxRrVd69T961s5dYcQyn6xyt9VqL-aqFqsRvBT4azkffjhA00p5gA0OQyuKt_BRoUyAMFr0IEl4nYWTzP2v1S0ZoIeshR6Weg1urb3DFg2boYfoBwD4cwGNRqAPJU2ztl_vXd8XNxg/s1600/Baskets.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZQxRrVd69T961s5dYcQyn6xyt9VqL-aqFqsRvBT4azkffjhA00p5gA0OQyuKt_BRoUyAMFr0IEl4nYWTzP2v1S0ZoIeshR6Weg1urb3DFg2boYfoBwD4cwGNRqAPJU2ztl_vXd8XNxg/s320/Baskets.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-15678833564911337532015-10-31T22:20:00.000+00:002015-10-31T22:31:32.874+00:00Autumn Lanterns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gTBaDkFfjY0Pq6H0tHzB6HwBfRAKk2Kwb-TvIt1wD99lTROnmIjPxphKkD49eVYHfRuEXvELyGG-vweO6HbAgkV4EduXIgOZC5Dbu6sjjdcq65c1aW6w1TIZZsZIkTZxfvQqHEujCVc/s1600/fina%253B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gTBaDkFfjY0Pq6H0tHzB6HwBfRAKk2Kwb-TvIt1wD99lTROnmIjPxphKkD49eVYHfRuEXvELyGG-vweO6HbAgkV4EduXIgOZC5Dbu6sjjdcq65c1aW6w1TIZZsZIkTZxfvQqHEujCVc/s400/fina%253B.jpg" width="285" /></a></div>
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This week we have been enjoying the colours of Autumn! We took a trip to our local park and admired
the changing of the seasons. I asked the
boys to gather together different-coloured leaves (this was initially part of
Wugs’ <a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/autumn-scavenger-hunt.html" target="_blank">Autumn Scavenger Hunt</a>, arranged by his preschool), but the boys seemed
eager to pick up more and more leaves and fill their baskets, so we used the
leftover leaves to create these beautiful Autumn lanterns.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilKFKFCqRW2C3uL6uctPuMbBSf9PeZxasFc3IxgOpw5_55y_jDdu6vk2Kz7Dlr29flK2zlR8XOafDQHNIF4j8MJ5onkYr-GAlT367UFuXwNHroGPIhCbwpmZeUG0TABLj45I1hAnZUk44/s1600/Autumn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilKFKFCqRW2C3uL6uctPuMbBSf9PeZxasFc3IxgOpw5_55y_jDdu6vk2Kz7Dlr29flK2zlR8XOafDQHNIF4j8MJ5onkYr-GAlT367UFuXwNHroGPIhCbwpmZeUG0TABLj45I1hAnZUk44/s1600/Autumn.JPG" /></a></div>
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I purchased a couple of glass jars from Sainsburys and using
a paint brush I covered the inside of the jar with Mod Podge. (You could let the child do this part, but
mine were tired after all that walking!)
Then I asked the children to choose the leaves they wanted to put inside
their lanterns. I pressed the leaves
into the inside of the jars and then brushed Mod Podge over them until they
stuck. I found non-waxy leaves worked
best as they stuck to the side better.
This part was quite difficult to do as the mouth of our jars was fairly
narrow, so I pushed down the leaves inside the jar gently with the paint brush. A jar with a wider opening would have worked
better and the child could gently place the leaves inside him/herself. When we
had finished we left the jars to dry overnight.
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The next day we placed LED lights inside the jars which
illuminated the leaves to show their intricate designs and colours. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What we used:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Coloured leaves <o:p></o:p></div>
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Glass jar<o:p></o:p></div>
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LED light<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mod Podge</div>
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Paint brush<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-21203555056140987512015-10-25T21:43:00.000+00:002015-10-25T21:50:52.149+00:00Letter-Matching Drop Box<div class="MsoNormal">
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I created the letter-matching drop box in response to my
three-year old’s fascination with letters (phonics and writing). The <a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/colour-matching-drop-box.html" target="_blank">colour-matching drop box</a> was so
successful with my two-year old that I decided to apply the same “control of
error” principle to the letter-matching drop box.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I purchased a sturdy cardboard box from Hobbycraft and cut out 15 windows into the lid. Above each
window I wrote an upper- and lower-case letter, so that each window's letter
corresponded to an object (the name of which began with the corresponding letter) that
was to be posted into the window. For
example, above one window was the letter “Ee” and in the basket to the side was
an object (an elephant) to be posted into this window. </div>
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To enable my son to check whether he had matched
the objects to the letters correctly, I took pictures of the different objects
in the basket, printed these out, laminated them and fixed them to the bottom
of the box underneath the corresponding window.
Once my son had completed the activity, he could remove the lid of the
box and check whether he had matched them correctly. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU5eYufvied4QKEkZk_PlkWHGF3esiF3GnbZvG9jVuVrtXpWgtsVMlmec12qcMM3gyQVyWBzgzI9n9k8vBJaGnmkLQteXaePTIfopW7JJ-Cwx9LfAANnO2bBhgeAKrP3epGYLcRJFQMDw/s1600/image1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU5eYufvied4QKEkZk_PlkWHGF3esiF3GnbZvG9jVuVrtXpWgtsVMlmec12qcMM3gyQVyWBzgzI9n9k8vBJaGnmkLQteXaePTIfopW7JJ-Cwx9LfAANnO2bBhgeAKrP3epGYLcRJFQMDw/s320/image1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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As the drop box contained many windows, I decided to create
sections inside the box to stop the objects moving around, therefore making it
clear whether he had matched them correctly.
The intersections were made from an old cardboard box with slits cut
into them so they interlocked with one another.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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As this was a new activity, I decided to use mainly familiar
objects that I knew my son could match correctly. There were a few less familiar objects like
the otter, the beaver and coral, but including these became a way of introducing new
vocabulary and to maintain his interest.
The sheer number of windows meant that a little more concentration was required
of him than with the colour-matching drop box.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After a few attempts, my son has become familiar with all
the objects in the box and can match them correctly without any help from me.
The activity can now be modified to include different objects to further expand
his appreciation of the beginning sounds of words as well as with his knowledge
of objects around him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What we used:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<ul>
<li>A sturdy cardboard box (a shoebox would work
well, provided it is strong enough to have the windows cut into its lid and
provided words and patterns do not obscure the letters around the windows)</li>
<li>Craft knife</li>
<li>Small objects and figurines</li>
<li>A marker pen</li>
<li>Paper</li>
<li>Laminator</li>
</ul>
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Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-2516739915628822122015-10-25T21:36:00.001+00:002015-10-25T21:51:35.587+00:00Colour-Matching Drop Box<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgauoy9iuWMm50K-BjnaFfqhBMuGiDfTtDlZ4oLfK8l6by1L6gJv4-tvOAChpS6JL0sXwax7OkLW_UNIgXpf5gV_M-5JO9OcB2D4AFge_eteZ8AsYJRumhRdp4dFuITJnWAy_Dvty2rtOg/s1600/Colour+drop+box+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgauoy9iuWMm50K-BjnaFfqhBMuGiDfTtDlZ4oLfK8l6by1L6gJv4-tvOAChpS6JL0sXwax7OkLW_UNIgXpf5gV_M-5JO9OcB2D4AFge_eteZ8AsYJRumhRdp4dFuITJnWAy_Dvty2rtOg/s400/Colour+drop+box+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This September I started training to become a
Montessori-qualified teacher. It’s been
busy studying with a pre-schooler and a toddler at home, but I’m hoping the
course will help me to facilitate my children’s learning and to enable me to share our experiences on here with you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The inspiration to create drop boxes came from an attempt to
apply the principle of “control of error” to the children’s activities. Control of error refers to a mechanism
whereby a child can perceive his/her own mistake when undertaking an activity
because the activity is designed according to the principle of one-to-one correspondence. A typical example of this would be a jigsaw
puzzle in which every piece is different and only interlocks with the correct
corresponding piece. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The first drop box I created was for my 2.5 year old who has
developed an interest in colours (or at least the names of colours). He would point to a red car
and say “I want the green car” and this would lead to some frustration on his
part and confusion on ours. Rather than
correcting him each time, I thought it would be more effective for him to
realise his mistake through a self-checking element incorporated into the drop
box. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwHkR3YjCoCbA0E_oOgebH_8BGIaDACrf8a9XQgQv2DbicnNUbpiFmk1NWRn9TLecnzYAXE5_At-b4msRnUmqf2rOfxHDnXvCZkCrlxNC33XoGdk3-u5oTw1FMzRJORcJyOnI8igyygI/s1600/Colour+drop+box+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwHkR3YjCoCbA0E_oOgebH_8BGIaDACrf8a9XQgQv2DbicnNUbpiFmk1NWRn9TLecnzYAXE5_At-b4msRnUmqf2rOfxHDnXvCZkCrlxNC33XoGdk3-u5oTw1FMzRJORcJyOnI8igyygI/s320/Colour+drop+box+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I purchased a sturdy box from Hobbycraft and cut some
windows into the lid. Around the edge of
each window I created a border using eight different-coloured marker pens to
correspond to the different-coloured pom poms to be posted into the windows. One of the pom poms was multi-coloured, so I represented this with a multi-coloured border. (I added the names of the colours above each
window so that my 3 year old could also use the box and become familiar
with the words that correspond to the colours).
Inside the box across the base, I made coloured circles to correspond
to the coloured edges of the windows, so that when my son posted the pom poms
into the box, he could remove the lid and check whether he had posted the pom
poms into the correct window. To make
the self-checking element more pronounced, I could have created sections inside
the box (as I did with the letter-matching box), but as I used only a few pom
poms in this activity, they tended to fall exactly on the coloured circles,
making it obvious which window they had been posted into. The decision to use just a few pom poms
worked well as I found my son’s concentration was beginning to wane as he came
to the end of the activity.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The drop box managed to grip my son’s attention and after six or seven attempts over the course of a couple of weeks, he was able to match the
pom poms correctly and refer to the colours of objects in the room accurately. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTZ7LQV3uYhPpJv8WQ190f3VJqDwyCsM5IkXbCQyFgwmhybfnHgVG6SBzMUimKq2yHWmr1b2JHSPxEyqgc70xRzuDUf6jMpVQWP3jqbV7tg-gTO_X7EUu_MyEWxwHEuZJb2-ZweFcXpg/s1600/Colour+drop+box+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTZ7LQV3uYhPpJv8WQ190f3VJqDwyCsM5IkXbCQyFgwmhybfnHgVG6SBzMUimKq2yHWmr1b2JHSPxEyqgc70xRzuDUf6jMpVQWP3jqbV7tg-gTO_X7EUu_MyEWxwHEuZJb2-ZweFcXpg/s320/Colour+drop+box+3.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>A sturdy cardboard box (a shoebox would have
worked well provided the coloured borders were not obscured by
writing/patterns)</li>
<li>A craft knife</li>
<li>Marker pens</li>
<li>Coloured pom poms</li>
</ul>
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Click here to see our <a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/letter-matching-drop-box.html" target="_blank">letter-matching drop box</a></div>
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Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-42506617891106167542015-08-19T16:22:00.003+01:002015-08-19T16:22:35.572+01:00Writing and Phonics Seaside Small World Play<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUC-WoBTskR2SRq0563z-ZKPnhugk4JRA6Ilg332J9PIXrjaMziCG3BEVf56TB0-qGQV3zGgHfpLrAIrMxjKlKNVQPgm-A2Lqk9T-HHnc123O4V3ioDXnbID2w2FN7e3SnwFw0JZwxO1g/s1600/Seaside+Small+World+Letter+Play.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUC-WoBTskR2SRq0563z-ZKPnhugk4JRA6Ilg332J9PIXrjaMziCG3BEVf56TB0-qGQV3zGgHfpLrAIrMxjKlKNVQPgm-A2Lqk9T-HHnc123O4V3ioDXnbID2w2FN7e3SnwFw0JZwxO1g/s400/Seaside+Small+World+Letter+Play.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Over the last couple of months, I have been reading about and following some of the suggestions in the book <i>Montessori Read and Write: A Parent's Guide to Literacy for Children, </i>by Lynne Lawrence<br />
in response to Wugs' recent interest in writing. At the same time as familiarising himself with the shapes of the letters, he has also been exploring the beginning sounds of certain words. Our favourite activities have included "I spy" games ("I spy with my little eye something beginning with "sss" - ie referring to the sound of the letter rather than its name) and pulling objects out of a mystery bag and then grouping the objects according to the starting letter of their names. Today's small world was an extension of these activities combined with Wugs' favourite type of play - sensory small world play.<br />
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The group of letters we have been exploring are S,M,A,T so I gathered objects that had these letters at the beginning of their words and arranged them in the play scene - a scorpion crawling out of the sea, a straw and piece of string buried in the sand, a landing spot made out of a mirror for air balloons and aeroplanes, an ambulance, a motorbike and truck travelling across the sand, a shark, turtle and scuba diver swimming in the sea near to a treasure chest and a spoon and a stick placed outside the box for Wugs to use to scoop or draw in the sand.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1m7FU9dgvu4sa8z8dUwVukV0Up3335hPuiEWy61HeFXjlTX0hiYQdHtmM3Y9PlHUwQCJbEmwYpKX8rCd8EOb5LoLiHK91A9ISBFIfOqtZobjC4LIGf2nyfNJ2yujAT8Qp2xAIf4FLUoI/s1600/Letter+Matching.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1m7FU9dgvu4sa8z8dUwVukV0Up3335hPuiEWy61HeFXjlTX0hiYQdHtmM3Y9PlHUwQCJbEmwYpKX8rCd8EOb5LoLiHK91A9ISBFIfOqtZobjC4LIGf2nyfNJ2yujAT8Qp2xAIf4FLUoI/s320/Letter+Matching.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
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In a separate container, I placed the four letters that corresponded to the names of the objects in the play scene so that Wugs could match them up. <br />
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As the weather was sunny I took the small world into the garden and let Wugs play with it as he pleased. He pulled out the different objects asking the names of the ones he didn't know. He proceeded to write letters into the sand using the stick and manipulated the string into the shape of various letters. After he had finished writing, I asked him if he could find something that begins with "sss". He pulled out a straw and we put it in the container section under "s". We went through all the objects in the play scene until it was empty - some of the objects he identified correctly and some he struggled with, so I encouraged him to listen to the beginning sounds of the words.<br />
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Once all the objects had been taken out of the scene and categorised according to their starting letters, I let Wugs play with the scene as he wished. Interestingly he continued to refer to the objects using their beginning sounds even though we were no longer categorising them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCo2LBQUVg2ehGpyNhfJx-fsp9sJkG8j24Uc532rL44zBc9nipxjKRCV8SNuoKXCnYR4Bi_ECDTX8d56u5tawse8ZG3VwA7F7exlsmOK10tFkQG2uOe4FZ54DG08d12_ecxtaFRHkaU2s/s1600/Letter+Writing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCo2LBQUVg2ehGpyNhfJx-fsp9sJkG8j24Uc532rL44zBc9nipxjKRCV8SNuoKXCnYR4Bi_ECDTX8d56u5tawse8ZG3VwA7F7exlsmOK10tFkQG2uOe4FZ54DG08d12_ecxtaFRHkaU2s/s320/Letter+Writing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
Tub<br />
Sand<br />
Blue perspex (for the sea)<br />
Water<br />
Figurines and other small objects related to the letters <br />
Wooden letters<br />
Container for letters<br />
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( If I did this activity again I would probably use less figurines and more objects that he was less familiar with to make it more challenging).<br />
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<br />Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-35862809931949716602015-07-28T12:36:00.000+01:002015-07-28T12:46:58.170+01:00A Rainbow Watercolour Picture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTK9EPry88terl7VjYgtWXVYS3S9qlNspgNL1KiGKvUXQacgC0yoKFUgPVEMrpzFAW68Iaag2EDaZ1JtiQ8Kpz_rZLakncl7Os4YgrHaHOUfJblbOSdY4d7BZA6ZbVHZtEPtvLqndFIc/s1600/Rainbow+Watercolour+Picture+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTK9EPry88terl7VjYgtWXVYS3S9qlNspgNL1KiGKvUXQacgC0yoKFUgPVEMrpzFAW68Iaag2EDaZ1JtiQ8Kpz_rZLakncl7Os4YgrHaHOUfJblbOSdY4d7BZA6ZbVHZtEPtvLqndFIc/s320/Rainbow+Watercolour+Picture+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The rainbow watercolour picture was part of our Noah's Ark theme that we have been following this week, but it could be used for any rainbow/colour-related activity. I thought it would be fun for the boys to hang up a rainbow that they had made. To do this, I gave them some watercolour paper and asked Wugs to tell me which order the colours should come in. We coloured our paper with felt-tip pens in the order that they appear in the rainbow and then I asked Wugs to squirt the paper with water using a squirty bottle. Whilst he was doing this, I held the paper over the sink until all the water had run off the other end. Then I left the picture to dry. Unfortunately the colours didn't run as much I had hoped, but the subtle appearance of the rainbow on the page was quite realistic considering some of the rainbows I have viewed in real life.<br />
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
Watercolour paper<br />
Felt-tip pens<br />
Squirty bottle of water<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Please click </span><a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/noahs-ark.html" style="background-color: white; color: #066a9d; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> to see our other Noah's Ark-related activities.</span>Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-66763313701297132015-07-28T12:34:00.003+01:002015-07-28T12:46:43.640+01:00Sampling Olives<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOKtg1AeDW_b7eYJtHr_fo2lrTCFitwCHChdhAO8HXEXwgOLIhJGTnzBgcZC2sPTXS1amhwPfQEoWGT24NAJiTaSC5iX6UbKYtwbdw1QuM9MlxaAV9TZANgUKQ2nLlbVs8vxL8BSN-xk/s1600/Olive+Branch+Set+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOKtg1AeDW_b7eYJtHr_fo2lrTCFitwCHChdhAO8HXEXwgOLIhJGTnzBgcZC2sPTXS1amhwPfQEoWGT24NAJiTaSC5iX6UbKYtwbdw1QuM9MlxaAV9TZANgUKQ2nLlbVs8vxL8BSN-xk/s320/Olive+Branch+Set+up.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The dish full of green and black olives was a tasting activity that I set up for the children as part of our Noah's Ark theme. In the story of Noah we are told that Noah sent out a dove who brought back an olive leaf in his beak indicating that the flood waters had receded and vegetation was once again growing on the earth. I wanted to make the children's activities multi-sensory and the closest thing I had to an olive leaf or branch were olives. Although the children had tasted olives before, they were usually part of pizza or pasta meal, so it was interesting to see whether they liked them on their own. They didn't!<br />
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I printed off the olive branch card so they could see the tasting activity in the context of the story. <br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Please click </span><a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/noahs-ark.html" style="background-color: white; color: #066a9d; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> to see our other Noah's Ark-related activities.</span><br />
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<br />Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-25527401877991346722015-07-28T12:25:00.003+01:002015-07-28T12:46:29.907+01:00Raven and Dove Craft<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTV07cX5o5TxRURAFDWDWRfePkGIdpWjcsAiTYrJlt93Q9aw2mk5A3-R5rZBz5ZHJ2PEOo-UV303FdrklZ10cbsV6QrGQ4hJ4-oqRGRYmtYYjN0JCLt5mNm1maQ86_ppjZTl687FQvvJo/s1600/Finished+Raven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTV07cX5o5TxRURAFDWDWRfePkGIdpWjcsAiTYrJlt93Q9aw2mk5A3-R5rZBz5ZHJ2PEOo-UV303FdrklZ10cbsV6QrGQ4hJ4-oqRGRYmtYYjN0JCLt5mNm1maQ86_ppjZTl687FQvvJo/s320/Finished+Raven.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The sending out of the raven and dove are important parts of the Noah's Ark story (the theme that we are following at the moment). We are told that soon after the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat, Noah sent out a raven and a dove to see whether the flood waters had sufficiently receded so that he and everybody in the ark could disembark (Genesis 8). The significance of the two birds in the story has been debated, with some people suggesting that the raven was an impure bird (according to Hebrew tradition) and therefore did not complete its mission - it simply flew back and forth until the waters had dried up. The dove was a pure bird and therefore returned to Noah when it could not find a place to rest (on its first mission) and when it carried an olive leaf in its beak (on its second mission) before it too left Noah.<br />
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The biggest challenge with our raven and dove craft was finding a simple way of making a raven and a dove that didn't require artistic talent or materials that I didn't have to hand. I decided to make the birds from paper plates, with their heads, bodies and wings being of slightly different proportions - and one being black and the other white. I painted one of the paper plates using black ink as I didn't have any black paint to hand(!) and then drew the following outlines:<br />
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I glued the wings to the birds' bodies so it was clear to the children that they were decorating a bird. The beaks were made of black and orange foam paper and I had a stash of googly eyes which I thought the children would enjoy adding to their birds. Finally I put out a pot of glue for the children to paste onto the bird's bodies and two bowls of feathers which the boys could stick to their birds. I also included some pictures of a raven and dove for the children to refer to which I printed off from the free clipart website: www.allthingsclipart.com.<br />
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Wugs was eager to do the activity and decorated both the birds whilst his brother was napping, so I drew up another dove and gave it to Dooey to decorate. After pasting the glue to the dove's body, he decided not to use the feathers, but decorated the bird with crayons instead. Finally the olive leaves made from green pipe cleaners were fixed around the doves' beaks and we hung up the birds in the conservatory.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bVXLWUE5vVNCcnYehyphenhyphenM1uvEnnuLiB808i8Ga9obP1L0OeQWvs321x3uG2uhSkKIsKyzd0DzP11qC91f-ta_NczOPeX0i1G8GF3MA8ht32w-0WGKe3CIM-w9h3iMNtzkm7lgJD1-JBik/s1600/Wugs+and+his+raven+craft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bVXLWUE5vVNCcnYehyphenhyphenM1uvEnnuLiB808i8Ga9obP1L0OeQWvs321x3uG2uhSkKIsKyzd0DzP11qC91f-ta_NczOPeX0i1G8GF3MA8ht32w-0WGKe3CIM-w9h3iMNtzkm7lgJD1-JBik/s320/Wugs+and+his+raven+craft.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
Paper plates<br />
Black ink (paint would obviously work better and the child could do the painting himself)<br />
Orange and black foam (for the beaks)<br />
Googly eyes<br />
Glue<br />
Black and white feathers<br />
Green pipecleaners (for the olive leaves)<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Please click </span><a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/noahs-ark.html" style="background-color: white; color: #066a9d; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> to see our other Noah's Ark-related activities.</span>Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-54981320766807331752015-07-28T12:22:00.000+01:002015-07-28T12:46:14.572+01:0040 Days and 40 Nights Counting Activity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsase12b-JoHMMQysq0zbPwR7QJnfw7NZCB8MnIP8AHokMdfXx_wFjXscDszwjYWuS9c7Uts_VXTflstyHS-HoaDuHwwO7_DB7TeI1eKm-wv7WayH2LZwP9Z9U8dKqqig3XgRHaS9dm0/s1600/40+Days+and+40+Nights+Counting+Activity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsase12b-JoHMMQysq0zbPwR7QJnfw7NZCB8MnIP8AHokMdfXx_wFjXscDszwjYWuS9c7Uts_VXTflstyHS-HoaDuHwwO7_DB7TeI1eKm-wv7WayH2LZwP9Z9U8dKqqig3XgRHaS9dm0/s320/40+Days+and+40+Nights+Counting+Activity.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I created this counting activity as part of our Noah's Ark theme that we have been working on for the past week, but it could be used to accommodate any counting activity. In the story of Noah's Ark, we are told that it rained for 40 days and for 40 nights. I was looking for a way to represent days and nights to Wugs and decided to do this by using a clock. He has developed an interest in clocks and reading the time at the moment. I was hoping to build on this interest by teaching him that the small hand on the clock must go round twice to represent a day and a night. Once it has been turned twice, he could add a small piece of straw to the pipecleaner until he had 4 sets of 10 to represent 40 days and 40 nights. To help him out, I used 4 different colours for each set of 10 so that if he got lost in his counting, he could tell how many more he needed to add of any one colour by checking the pieces of straw of that same colour that were left in the dish. <br />
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
Paper plate<br />
Yellow and red foam (for the clock hands and the numbers)<br />
Black marker Pen<br />
Metal peg (that spreads out at the back - I have no idea of the official name!)<br />
Glue<br />
Pipe cleaners<br />
4 Straws<br />
Scissors<br />
Labels<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Please click </span><a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/noahs-ark.html" style="background-color: white; color: #066a9d; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> to see our other Noah's Ark-related activities.</span><br />
<br />Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8294756184716828052.post-10017739107152661382015-07-28T12:20:00.001+01:002015-07-28T12:45:58.189+01:00Making Rain Shakers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We are following a Noah's Ark theme at the moment and last Friday's rainy weather couldn't have been more appropriate for the activity I had planned for the children - rain shakers! I have seen various ways of making "rain shakers" or "rain sticks" on the internet using clear plastic containers which enables the child to see the contents of the rain shaker at the same time as shaking them, but I decided to experiment with the sound of the contents against a tin container instead.<br />
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A little while ago I was given two tins of posh biscuits which (once consumed) I saved for the purpose of making into rain shakers. I sourced the contents to be added to the containers from things I already had in the kitchen and put them into a tub for the children to scoop out and empty into the tins as they wished. Apart from benefiting from the rainy weather that day, we also benefited from doing the activity in the conservatory where the sound of the rain hitting the roof of the conservatory could be heard loudly. I encouraged the children to listen to the sound of the rain and to compare that to the sounds of the various items they were scooping into their tins. We tested out the sound of the pasta against the table and compared that to the sound of the rice and the lentils etc. Wugs realised that the pasta made the loudest noise so he took a handful of it and put it in his shaker. Dooey seemed to focus closely on how to scoop the contents into the tin, which ones required a scoop and which ones required him to use his fingers. </div>
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Once the boys had finished filling their shakers, I put the lids on. Wugs asked to test out his shaker before asking me to re-open it so he could add in some more items (!). When they were finally sealed, they asked to decorate the tops with some shiny tape (which I helped them with - making sure the lids were fully sealed down) and then they spent all afternoon decorate their shakers with stickers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63Bxo7x2wmCK_4Y9cb9q8Y6w-ERdvAuiu5ocJssyXRVl5w9Um77gFy-LkMk6-HLzaJO8oHnlTk9EOyLAl_Fw_Lp24h0d68t76uroQNW6Mzr6bZ4ic0K2yzE_-c3OtP8-G2k1Q4ZLgaxQ/s1600/Decorating+Rain+shakers+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63Bxo7x2wmCK_4Y9cb9q8Y6w-ERdvAuiu5ocJssyXRVl5w9Um77gFy-LkMk6-HLzaJO8oHnlTk9EOyLAl_Fw_Lp24h0d68t76uroQNW6Mzr6bZ4ic0K2yzE_-c3OtP8-G2k1Q4ZLgaxQ/s320/Decorating+Rain+shakers+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Last Friday certainly felt as though we were in the ark watching torrential rain from the comfort of our conservatory and then re-creating the sound of rain inside of it. </div>
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<b>What we used:</b><br />
Two tin biscuit tubes (a Pringle tube would also work well)<br />
A tub<br />
Red and green lentils, pasta shapes, spaghetti, rice, black peppercorns (beads, paper clips, toothpicks, any small objects would work)<br />
Spaghetti<br />
Shiny tape<br />
Stickers<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Please click </span><a href="http://wugsanddooey.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/noahs-ark.html" style="background-color: white; color: #066a9d; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> to see our other Noah's Ark-related activities.</span><br />
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Wugs and Dooeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17739332881484485558noreply@blogger.com1