Mini beasts, birds, moths and bats!
Week One: Ladybirds
The children spent this session creating their own unique ladybirds – some were red, orange and green with varying numbers of spots and eyes! Leaves were decorated and embellished for the ladybirds to rest on. Mini ladybirds were also waiting to be discovered in the red rice of one tuff tray, and ladybird bracelets were made using careful threading in the other tuff tray. World Environment Day was also celebrated this week, with the children doing leaf rubbings with wax crayons to create their own special earth pictures. We read ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ and enjoyed making all of the different animal noises, and we also explored what we can each do to care for the world around us.
Week Two: Dragonflies
This week, the children created elegant dragonflies, complete with big eyes, long bodies, iridescent wings and additional bells and jewels! Dragonflies and other wildlife could be played with in our pond tuff tray, including beetles, frogs, tadpoles, fish, birds and plants. Mini beasts were dug for in our other tuff tray and hidden in mud castles . Father’s Day ‘You’re Treemendous’ cards were made using paints to create tree trunks and a range of foliage to make tree branches and we sang songs about biodiversity and the important role of every creature.
Week Three: Summer Solstice
With the summer solstice taking place this week, we celebrated the sun, summer and seasonal flowers! Children could make their own smiling suns with ribbon rays. They could also dig and sieve for mini suns, sunflowers and gold in one tuff tray. In the other, children could paint summer flowers using a range of poster paint colours, or use the flowers and leaves themselves as the painting tools. Summer flower potions were also mixed, sieved and stirred! Summer spinners were made with colourful designs painted on and buttons added to make them spin, spin, spin!
Week Four: Fledglings
A fledgling is the stage of a bird hatching and being able to fly. In the summer months, baby fledglings are being encouraged to leave the safety of their nests and explore their surroundings to find food…watching out for predators on the way! This week, children could make a colourful nest collage complete with adult bird, fledgling and fluffy feathers. They could also make beautiful peacock headbands. Baby birds and eggs could be found in one rice-filled tuff tray and a duck pond in our other one!
Week Five: Moths
This week, we learnt all about moths, which are very active during the spring and summer evenings. The children could thread their own moth caterpillars with coloured pasta and beads (as well as stir pasta ‘soup’ in our mini saucepans!). They could also scoop out moth caterpillars, mini moons and water lights from our night sky-inspired tuff tray. Moth templates were painted in and hairy caterpillars constructed from furry balls and displayed on shiny collage moons. We had torches out to attract our ‘moths’ and read a lovely story about moonbeams.
Week Six: Bats
Celebrating bats is not just limited to October and Halloween! During the summer months, bats give birth to their pups during the warmer season. At Goldfinch this week, children could search for bats amongst our black beans, make shadow puppets in our very own bat cave and create bat-inspired models with our black playdough. Bat soups were mixed and stirred in our tuff tray, complete with insects, frogs, lizards, fruit and flowers for tasty bat treats, and bat puppets were created on star-lit, night sky backgrounds.
Week Seven: Crickets and Grasshoppers
This week, we listened to the wonderful sounds of crickets and grasshoppers and explored the differences between them. The children could find their own green insects camouflaged amongst the green rice and build green sand castles for mini beast homes in our tuff trays. Crickets with long antennae and move-able parts were painted and constructed, and pegs were turned into jumping grasshoppers in their own mini habitats. The children themselves turned into jumping grasshoppers during singing time at the end of the sessions!
Now taking bookings for next term
Preschool and Baby Art Classes now open for booking – September/October
Create and Play: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri at 9 30am and 11am
Baby Sensory: Thur at 11am
Mini Makers: Mon and Fri at 2pm
Music and Move: Wed at 2pm and Thur at 9 30am
Please click here to see the class timetable for more details.
