Monday, November 18, 2013

More mechanical play worlds!


Maybe I should have added this post onto 'From Trash to Treasure', but this is so much more.....
 Crates are our most valuable resource! They have been turned into towers, engines, cars, machines, baby beds, chairs, teenage mutant ninja turtle houses and so much more.





We use them to intertwine hoses and add funnels to create a water machine or for children to explore gravity!

This was part of a bicycle that we found on the side of the road . The wheels were added to our climbing frame . There is a handle which is part of the inner rubber tubing of the stationary bike.  Keep watching for what we do with the rest of the bike!




Stay tuned!
 We hope to add interactive parts to our bicycle and create a mechanical tree!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN!


You know what they say, one person's trash is another person's treasure! And that's just what we found with these old fans that were on the side of the road looking for a home...




So we collected them, pulled them off their bases, and held them up to the wind to see if they would spin...AND THEY DID! So, we decorated them to emphasize the spinning action and hung them up.  

With our 'spinners' (as the kids called them),     we had created a point of interest in the yard that captured the passing wind, and the interest and eye of those around them.  What a great way to recycle old materials into new things. BUT! We weren't finished there, we still had some parts to recycle...

       
This stand will be perfect for attaching a microphone for all of our live performances. 
                                               

And this casing will work beautifully as a sifter in our sandpit. 


STAY TUNED FOR MORE 'TRASH TO TREASURE' STORIES FROM OUR KINDY!

Monday, November 4, 2013

Building a wall!


 Building a brick wall! 
 yes, we used cement!
  As part of our inquiry of ' How things grow" a child said
"houses grow"  which led us to look at how houses are built . we built clay house making clay bricks and realised, wow! building takes a long time. We then decided to create a wall with real bricks and cement . We mixed cement .gathered all our bricks( left over pavers) and set about building a wall.

The Children were so engaged in mixing the cement and carefully pl;acing bricks making sure they were straight and that they had enough cement to hold it down.
                                       


 It took negotiation, co-operation and team work to get our wall up.

Here it stands!

Bubbles and more!


Bubbles and more!

We have been exploring ' How Things Grow' and here have a look at how to make bubbles grow..
 Step 1: trays of water 
Step 2: add detergent
Step 3: provide plastic tubes
Step 4: make it irresistible
Step 5: we added rose petals and food dye to make different coloured bubbles.







And let the blowing begin! My bubbles are bigger!














The children were engaged for hours and our pictures tell the story!


 Making it inviting !

 At group time we also looked at how else we could grow the bubbles!

Happy bubble growing!