In April, May and June the children in Primary 2 enjoyed lots of outdoor exploration based around the theme ‘Things That Move’.
At the sand area lots of children investigated how to get water to move on the sand from one area to another. They responsibly collected water from the tap and were able to explain that if they dug a track that the water would follow it like a river ‘from the top to the bottom’.
In the Mud Lab we had lots of great potions with children discussing his much water they needed to add to their potions what what happened to the consistency of the mud when water was added. Children worked on their gross and fine motor skills, lifting heavy containers of water to pour or measuring out exact amount of water using droppers.
We saw great problem solving and perseverance at the water area where children worked cooperatively to find out how to move water from one area to another. There was lots of chat about how the water always travels downwards and some children stated that water is a ‘liquid’ and ‘heavy’ and that the Earth has ‘gravity’ so the water won’t float like in outer space. Children also experimented with the new addition to the hose (the trigger) and worked on their fine manipulative strength when controlling how hard to press to get the amount of water they needed.
In the quarry the many children experimented with different ways of moving their sand from one place to another. They investigated how to get the sand to move through a pipe from a high level to a lower level and we saw great thinking and suggestions about how experiments could be improved upon so that they would work. Children worked on their physical skills digging deep holes and trying to lift large rocks, working on their upper arm strength.
In Creative Classroom the children expressed themselves through a range of arts. When painting they explored mixing colours to achieve the desired colour for their picture while also working on their fine manipulative control through use of paintbrushes. At the felting area the children followed the instructions to create pictures and they explored the various patterns and textures that would be created with the wool. The children also studied painting by artist Alan M Hunt and lots of children took the opportunity to create lions, tigers and giraffes using clay, paint and pencil. There was super focus, concentration and problem solving at the joining and connecting area where children used different adhesives, tapes and bands to join their creations together.
