Satay Chicken With Veggie Slaw

For dinner today the children made satay chicken with veggie slaw and jacket potatoes. Of course they refused to try the veggies.

Night Owls

Night Owls by R

R drew this picture of some owls using oil pastels. He was inspired by this postcard in our collection.

Owl postcard

Testing Materials

This week we have carried out 2 more experiments with our collection of different materials. The children sorted materials into 3 groups: transparent, translucent and opaque. There was some discussion about materials which you could see through due there being holes in them. The children decided to put these in a group on their own. We discussed what materials would be good for windows, bathroom windows, curtains etc.

The children also tested the materials to see which were waterproof. We discussed how to make the test fair and decided to use one syringe of water for each sample. You can get plastic syringes from the chemist.

We used food colouring to make it easier to see the water. The materials were stretched across a jar and held in place with an elastic band. Any water seeping through the material could be seen dripping into the jar. A baking tray collected all the spills.

L adds water to some sponge. 

R tests metal to see if it is waterproof.

We discussed which materials would be suitable for umbrellas, coats, roofing etc.

Magnetic Materials

As part of our science project the children tested a range of materials to see which were magnetic. R already had a good idea of which ones would be and which wouldn't.

Sorting materials into magnetic and non-magnetic.

First we established that only metals are magnetic. Next I asked them if all metals are magnetic. We went for a hunt around the house, first identifying metals and then testing to see which ones were magnetic. We had an interesting discussion about materials that looked like they were made from only 1 type of metal but were clearly made from different types as only certain parts were magnetic. We also investigated a pipe-cleaner which if touched in a certain way (where the wire inside was slightly exposed) could be held by a magnet

A funny picture of L getting a close up look at a magnetic cylinder

This cutter is magnetic

STOP

The children made these stop signs to help us with our tricky words. I read the children a story and they had to listen out for this week's tricky words "I" and "the". Each time the word came up they had to show the stop sign and say the word, the aim being to recognise how the words are used in sentences.

Family Jigsaws

I wanted L to become familiar with written family names so I decided to make these jigsaws. The undecorated puzzle pieces were found at Spotlight craft store. I used scrapbook papers and photographs to decorate them. They are stuck down and sealed with Mod Podge. For great ideas with this product visit Mod Podge Rocks

Carousel Horse

Carousel horse by R age 4.5

Today we tried another lesson from Drawing With Children by Mona Brookes. R produced this fantastic carousel horse. As usual we started off by practising the elements of shapes. R and L's doodles are below.