an see the food through it!”
In the afternoon the children ate the spring rolls and we had a Chinese tea ceremony. The children were very interested to find out that the Chinese nod their heads or tap their finger on the table to say ‘thank you’.
“How do you say ‘cheers!’ in Chinese?” We googled it… “Ganbei.”
The children remembered that Chinese people drink out of bowls, so held their cups like bowls.
We practised tying knots using crepe paper to make cherry blossom!
Investigation: how to make paint textured for the wolf’s fur.
“Look! It’s all fluffy…Now it’s soggy. Oh! It’s gone! Can I have some more? I think it’s going to be really sloppy in a minute.”
“Mine is really lumpy! I used some of it all. I mixed it then it came lumpy.”
“I’ve put flour in mine.”
“This doesn’t feel like a wolf – it’s all crunchy…I’ve put flour in…it’s not smooth enough…I’ll try another thing.”
“I’ve got loads of lumps!
“This might work…maybe if I put loads of flour in it might work…It’s gone really thick!”
“Mine looks really grumpy and lumpy!”
More work on our house models:
“I’m not giving up!”
A cowl proved problematic. The plastic lid chosen for the job would need to have holes in it. “maybe I could use cardboard and draw round it and cut it out – I can make holes in cardboard.”
“Are you having trouble? I’ll hold it for you…just a second… hold it there. There!”
“This roof’s not big enough. I’ll have to make another one for the other end…I need to measure... There’s a ruler in my pencil case.”
“This drain pipe is too short…I could stick two together.”
This week we thought about healthy lunchboxes as we had a feeling the 3 pigs weren’t very healthy. The children suggested ham, tomatoes, salad, cheese, cucumber… We decided these were healthy as there was no sugar in them.
But the 3 Little Pigs don’t like healthy food. They love sugar and they eat it all the time.
“Oh! Their teeth will fall out.”
What else could we think of with lots of sugar in?
“Nutella, lollipops, sweeties, ice cream, jam…”
It turned out that the 3 Little Pigs always had jam sandwiches and had asked that we make some for them (“They will feel a little bit ill.”) but we had forgotten the butter.
What could we make it out of?
There was some cream on the side. Was that like butter?
“No, butter is sticky. That’s runny.”
“We could put some syrup in it.”
“We could put it in the oven.”
We had some marbles and a jam jar so we decided to put the cream in there and give it a shake to see what would happen.
Soon the cream was getting thicker but we needed it to be thicker still.
“Why don’t we put some milk in? … Oh no! Then it would be even more sloppier and the marbles would move about.”
“Why don’t we use a mixer to make it quick?”
Luckily, just then, the cream turned into butter!
“The marble isn’t in there any more… I think it’s gone into the butter.”
“You can’t hear the marbles because it’s all melted into the butter – because they’re stuck.”
Spreading was not easy (“You drag it along with your knife.”) and nor was cutting but the children were so pleased when they had managed it.
“I’ve never cut a sandwich before!”
“I’ve cut it into quarters. It’s 2 and 2.”
“Next time the pigs mustn’t have jam. They could have cucumber or salad.”
The jam sandwiches were a great hit with the children – no crusts or crumbs left! I wonder why?!
Role Play: Electricians
We began by talking about electricity and how lights and kettles etc needed them to work.
“Can we use the plugs in the hall?” This led to a chat about the dangers of electricity.
“It will kill you.”
We talked about our pretend electricity as we were pretending to be electricians.
Tubes proved useful to push the cables through “like school’s electricity.”
“I’ve found a flat surface for the plug.”
“I’m connecting the electricity to the fan…It can go in the house. Make sure you connect the electricity to the fan otherwise it won’t work.”
“This mixer has no electricity. I need a wire with a plug.”
“Look! There’s wires inside. The electricity goes in lots of different wires for all the TVs… These holes in the walls are for the electricity…,and