Activities With Friends

As I often have new children starting in my Kindy class throughout the year as the children turn three, I am always looking for activities to promote friendship in the group. I try to think of activities and games that involve the children using each other's names to stimulate conversation and encourage play.

Here are some examples of activities that I have done recently to promote little friendships in the group and learning each other's names.

Say Cheese!!

A fun camera to take some happy snaps of their friends.

The children glued coloured cellophane to the lens of their camera and then I laminated them. They used their cameras both inside and outside to take photos of their friends. They were calling their friends and telling them to 'smile' and to 'say cheese'

This was so cute and every child loved playing with their camera.

Rolling a Painted Ball to a Friend

This was a fun and very messy activity!

The children worked with a friend and dipped a large spikey ball into paint and then rolled the ball to each other in a large flat box. They made beautiful spotty printed paper together and there were lots of laughs and squeals of delight when rolling the ball to their friend.

Pretty Paper Friends

This was a simple and fun activity that stimulated a lot of conversation amongst the group. The children decorated the paper people to represent their friends or family. One of the things I love about three year olds is that they are friends with everyone and the paper people they were decorating were different friends by the time the children went home.

All of these activities helped the children learn their friends names and were a lot of fun for everyone.

Why don't you try one or all of these activities at home or in your classroom?

Niccola 

15 Practical PEG Projects

I love recycling and using things that can be found around the house to make simple and amazing crafts like the ideas on this list.

Here are 15 wonderful activities and ideas using PEGS that can be used at home or in the classroom.

1. Colour sorting with PEGS.

Children use pegs to pick up and sort pom poms according to colour. A great fine motor activity.

2. Painting with cotton wool and PEGS.

3. PEG names on boxes.

Write the childrens names on boxes and individual letters on the pegs. Children try to make their name by pegging the letters on the box.

4. Holiday PEG box.

Write activities on the pegs and children select one a day to complete. A great boredom buster.

5. PEG Legs.

Children match the patterns and peg onto the cats body.

6. PEGGING on a clothes line.

Socks, material scraps, dolls clothes or ribbons can be washed and hung out.

7. Christmas reindeer with PEG legs.

Children count 4 legs for the reindeer to create a Christmas scene.

8.PEG gift cards.

Use decorated pegs to attach gift cards.

9. Using PEGS to decorate dinosaurs.

Pegs can be used to create spikes and legs on dinosaurs.

10. PEGGING names on cards.

11. Painted PEGS with names and words to display childrens work.

12. Cute PEG people.

Children can attach arms and legs onto little people. Great for language and to promote play.

13. PEG bunting.

Children use pegs to make a number bunting.

14. Using PEGS to attach alphabet leaves to branches.

Write the letters of the alphabet on leaves and get children to peg them on the branch.

15. PEGS with leaves provide a cute Easter counting activity.

Children peg the leaves onto the nests and put the correct number of chicks in the nest.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the ways I have used PEGS at school and at home. 

Happy pegging and pinning.

Niccola x

Easter Crafts with a Milk Container

I find it very hard to throw away plastic containers and have a huge stash of ice-cream, yoghurt, take away food containers and various other containers at home and in my classroom. The container that does go into the recycling bin due to the sheer number we go through is the milk container- never with its lid however - I always save those!!

I have shown various ways to use milk containers in the past but this week it has an Easter focus - of course.

Take one milk container......

1. Carefully cut the handle off and get creative with your bunny shape! This was a counting game so I wrote the numbers on the tails. 

The counting game in the water trolley with pebbles.

2. Make a cute basket with a tulle handle to collect yummy Easter treats.

3. Make Easter Bunny necklaces.

Once you have cut out the bunny shapes get the children to trace or draw the rabbits face. Thread it and then some beads or straws to make a very cute Easter necklace.

Happy recycling and Happy Easter x

Outdoor Easter Fun

This week we are having our school Easter party. This is a very exciting time because we not only have delicious Easter treats to eat, an Easter egg hunt and egg and spoon races but we have a special visitor....

It also means the start of the school holidays. Yay !!

The weather is just perfect at the moment and I have been making the most of it by doing many of our activities outside.

Here are two wonderful outdoor Easter activities that are not the usual egg hunt or egg and spoon races. Don't get me wrong, I love them and as I said we will be doing both activities at our Easter party.

EASTER MUD PIES AND COOKING

The children absolutely loved this activity. Some items I added included...

Recycled bottles- filled with coloured water

Recycled honey containers- draw eggs on them so they are like Easter baskets

Egg cartons- of course

Recycled laundry powder scoops

A variety of nuts and twigs

Recycled cooking utensils and pots and pans

THE EASTER BUNNY'S HOUSE

I turned a washing machine box into a little house that is a perfect size for 3 year olds and the Easter Bunny to hide in.

I covered the box, drew a simple Easter picture and put it outside with a selection of paints.

The children painted the house and when it was dry I cut a door and put some pillows in it. The children loved decorating this cute little house and it is a fun little place to sit and play.

Have you done any fun outdoor Easter activities?? I would love to hear about them!
Niccola

5 Super Simple Egg Crafts for Little Ones

1. Painting and gluing on large eggs.

What 3 year old doesn't like free painting? I know that this simple activity is one of my children's favourite things to do. They loved painting patterns and designs on their eggs and once they were dry, they decorated their eggs with various collage materials. We painted a large basket while we were outside to hold all of our beautiful eggs.

2. Painting with chocolate pudding and cocoa.

Last year I let the children finger paint with chocolate pudding. This year I let them paint with chocolate pudding and brushes and sprinkle cocoa on top. It was a lovely chocolate scented activity.

3. Counting plastic eggs.

I cut down plastic milk cartons and made them into a simple Easter basket counting game. I put the baskets on the light table with coloured plastic eggs and the children put the correct number of eggs in each basket.

4. Chocolate pudding playdough eggs.

We put the left over chocolate pudding in the basic playdough recipe to create beautiful, silky smooth chocolate playdough. The children spent ages making chocolate eggs and wrapping them in alfoil. The only problem was that the playdough smelt so good that some kiddies just had to taste it !!!

5. Chalk drawing on egg paper.

Chalk is a wonderful versatile drawing material that doesn't have to be used on a blackboard. I put out egg shaped chalk for the children to draw patterns and designs on white egg shaped paper.

I love Easter!! Don't you?
Niccola