#Kinderchat Archive
#Kinderchat, glue, glitter, gogurt, bringing daily joy to twitter. Find us Mondays, 9 pm EST and 8:30PM London time when we talk all things Early Years!
Monday October 17, 2016
Good evening all :) from a very dark and chilly South Yorkshire- Autumn has arrived. Come & say hello and introduce yourself
Tonight our topic is classroom materials- fancy dropping in and sharing your favourites?
Oops! A bit late- was on car duty! Here now! Hello!!
Hello hello how are we all? We have had a great day today 😬😬
Hi no worries :) you had a good day? Autumn has really arrived here
Hi and how are you both it's soooooo dark here!
Really?! Do you get brilliant colors as well?! Here on east coast, USA is so gorgeous! Just starting!
evening! Can't stay for whole chat, trying to get ready for P/T meetings this week
Really good thanks, how are you? good day?
Dark already? Well I guess it IS night there! I always forget!!! :)
We have those this week as well! Another hurdle!!
Hi Kierna, how are you? You must share with us your best classroom materials before you go though :)
oh we get gorgeous colours I love it! It's so beautiful!
Doing well over here! New job has me running! I love it but ooof! :)
Yes!! I Kierna always has tricks up her sleeve!
It's my favourite season and always inspires fab artwork in school- love it!
I think it is the best time of year! Not too hot or cold and sooo gorgeous!!
Materials as in resources? Not 100% what topic is!
I need to get my leaves photocopied and get some leaf projects going!
Good, trying to get meetings over this week before I head off to
Yep same here- we really need an FT catchup for all the news :)
yeah I'm good too had a great morning in the nursery garden
Yes! Umbrella topic is "Classroom Materials" Let's start w "must-haves"?
When do you head to Iceland? For how long?! I love your adventures!
oooo great is that with Martin??
Oooh tell us more- harvesting? planting?
Yes! Tell us more about your garden!!
Yes with Martin & & . Heading on Sat for a week
My must haves for early years classroom are number stones, white boards and lots and lots of junk modelling
mmm must haves - water, sand & play dough for starters.
are number stones? Like counting stones?
the children that we have now have just settled nicely into the space and are using it more 1/2
RT mmm must haves - water, sand & play dough for starters.
ooh blocks are a must too - lots of different sizes.
lots of great role play and mark making activity not so many mud pies today. We will be harvesting our leeks soon! 2/2
What do you add to water or sand tables to keep it changing and interesting?
RT ooh blocks are a must too - lots of different sizes.
and how could I forget books!
Yes!! We are doing a lot w blocks this year! I always admire UK teachers block play centers!
Blocks, wood and loose parts loose parts are my favourite materials for EY classroom, especially corks :)
RT Blocks, wood and loose parts loose parts are my favourite materials for EY classroom, especially corks :)
stones collected locally and then hand painted with numbers on the children like using them.
I know coloured plastic can be a challenge for some but I love Duplo & so do the children!
Corks- interesting!!! To build with? Awesome!!
nice!! And they line them up?
Favorite classroom materials would need to include those from your friendly neighbourhood forest or shoreline
Oh oh another must have is a log with nails and hammers it's brilliant our children will spend ages hammering!!!
What are some of the ways you scaffold and change materials in play centers?
It was 1 of my 'must haves' when we got new sch & Community Playthings helped plan ours!
Hi Rob how are you?- drift wood- you just reminded me of drift wood- creates anything! FAB
ooo These are beautiful!! Why called whiskey stones? :)
Did you make them? They are really pretty!
yes and they experiment with the sequence together it's a great peer learning resource
RT Favorite classroom materials would need to include those from your friendly neighbourhood forest or shoreline
RT Oh oh another must have is a log with nails and hammers it's brilliant our children will spend ages hammering!!!
I love good old fashioned Fisher Price too!
WOW I have never heard of these! Please tell us more. looks fab
I must say the UK teachers incorporate natural materials so well into their classrooms! And have story dens!
This inspired by always engages children, great fine motor and maths, plus texture plus FUN! https://t.co/cmvx2ArwdG
there's so much to be said for the little characters that inspire dialogue!
I love natural materials they are so beautiful and make any space look so calming and pretty!
yes, we have corks & conkers in the water tray at moment.
What about your housekeeping center? What materials are must haves in there?
- ah we keep ours for outdoors, too noisy inside!
exactly, I love the conversations when playing with little people.
Adding gradually as children's learning dictates- e.g. string for bridges. Best to add as req- they re-visit & consolidate then
Sorry - late as usual - must haves: blocks, stones, sticks and glass beads
Sorry lovelies I'm going to sign off for tonight have a great week see you next time! 🌳🌲
They do always have the best ideas! Every center has an alter ego! :)
our number stones are double sided with numicon image for recognition
They are really beautiful!!
Hi Annie, how are you? We just sharing our favourite classroom materials, am finding it hard to choose!
Depends on the time of year, after Christmas lots of small materials like hama beads & how could we survive without PVA glue?
If I only had one area it would be workshop. Lots of lovely recycled junk, sellotape, string, glue, split pins
making our own playdough is the thing of choice. Chn learning about how much water is too much!
Bye Lyndsey see you next week- cold feet calling I bet :) am recording ha ha!
Have a great night Lyndsey! Always good to see you! :)
Oh like a 'false' ice cubes? They are lovely.
No worries! Glad you are here! :)
I have seen some fab areas set up for this- we never had space in our room
Ahhh! Huh!! NOt sure if we have those here- literally cold iced stones?! Nice!!!
I really love provocations and thinking about how we invite learning in all areas of our classroom- fave yr grp for this
OK folks have to go - too much to do & not enough hours in the day - catch you all again soon
They will stay busy w those for hours!! So many scenarios!
Have to say I LOVE Cosy for resources and ideashttp://www.cosydirect.com
we do it straight into tuff spot.Very much adult supported at mo' with measured amounts. Will develop
What about the writing center? And reading or story areas? What materials are must haves for literacy?
Imdidnt know these existed before last week. They do them on amazon/eBay
Totally understand! Great to see you Kierna! Goodnight!
Think it's the opportunities for decision making, creativity, communication that come from provctns, loose parts etc
bet they LOVE it & won't be long before they will be exploring independently- brilliant
we're moving towards Mark making in every area so clipboards and post it notes a must have
I love stencils- helps give some control to the pencil and is satisfying to the child
They love whiteboards & pens - no fear of the blank page when you can so easily rub out!
Puppets, mini- characters and story props, own book making resources and iPad for own story and video creations
Puppets are definitely must haves!!! So under used and sooooo effective Transfixes them!!
perfect for gross motor dev and Mark making in flour before playdough is made. Win/win
oooo yes little blank books, cards, lists etc and clipboards we have A6 A5 and A4 - they love them all
Huh- noticing tweetchat is giving me problems- I apologize if I didn't respond to your tweet! Fixing now!
What do you think? Tap in your vote here! … https://t.co/4XvHUuTily
What are the most important thing being a modern teacher today?
Wow this looks so much fun- great for FMS and co-ordiantion too!
Clipboards just make everything feel so official don't they?! :)
Does anyone have a dress up area? We used to but has since gone away- using just scarves now and is a huge hit!
I used to but it got so old and shabby I got rid- they do love it though and so great for language- do you?
Yes!!! This is great! I usually call my "writing area" the "Office" so it feels more like a place of play
But then the "Office" becomes different things: The Post Office, a Library, restaurant, etc
We had lice issues too so then dress up went bye bye! :)
Sorry - must go prepare my spelling twilight (groan) for this week's training. A fleeting visit this week. Have a good half term
They are just using scarves now- it's wonderful- very simple- scarf can be anything!
ABC fab blog- if writing area a destination will always have those who choose not to visit! so have it everywhere
What about rest time? Do you allow children things on their mats? Toys?Books?
Oh boo! Sounds heave- NOT! Thanks for coming, see you soon :)
Yes! I started putting forms w each center-"draw your block design" etc after they built. Sometimes they would haha
Wow do you have rest time? We don't have time for that here ;)
I always found they would create own tools to write but never when I wanted them to- ha ha!
Really?!! Whoa!! Yes! We only do a short time (20 min) but many in US have mandatory 2 hours of rest A DAY!
They have their own ways don't they? I always say they learn despite our best efforts :)
PS I'm still having trouble w tweetchat so accept my apologies if I'm missing your tweets!
Up until Kindergarten for sure
Kindergarten (age 5&6) usually rest for 20-30 min Younger years in daycare settings up to 2 hours!!!
Some nurseries pre-3 would but not after that! Wow at 5 and 6 I am amazed :)
It's the law for under 4 years old- looking it up exactly
It should be up to 6 I think! They are so tired by afternoon. Looks like just me and you to finish chat ;)
some of ours crash at home time carpet session at 3.15. They are just 3 in nursery. No formal downtime planned
Ok good! :) Wasn't sure if I was missing tweets!! Let's call it a night then?! Facetime soon?!
Ok! I am heading out for the night!! Thanks to all for coming tonight!!
Yep need it but they have half day sessions age 3 but some are 4 when they start full time but no nap time!
Yep mine used to drop to sleep, how good would nap time be? although I had 44 in my class so maybe not!
No I missed some too -yep lets call it a night. Good night all and see you next week
