Acorns Montessori Rush

Growing our Beanstalk!

We extended the theme of Jack and the Beanstalk by taking it out into the garden and planting our own one. Ben and Killian just checking up on it hiere!

Landscape artist Alex.

The children love painting outdoors and I honestly think it brings even more of a creative streak out in them as there is much more movement going on around them with the breeze and the sounds of the outdoors.

Emergency Services!

Ayda was on the job getting a ladder to help her friends who got a bit stuck making a den. Great girl, Ayda always has a plan!

Spring has Sprung!

Today was the first warm day of Spring and we decide to have our whole morning outdoors.

Mixing paints.

Ayda loved mixing her paints to get the colour just right for her shells. I love seeing children so happy outdoors.

Painting shells.

Plant some tiny seeds.

All children love planting. Here we are planting sunflowers, sweetpea and lettuce and hopefully we'll see the rewards in May.

Great climbing Max!

Max loves the climbing frame! All this climbing helps him build up his muscles and develop his coordination and gross motor skills in a fun way.

Fun in the sandpit.

All the kids love the sandpit. It's a great spot for helping them develop good social skills, taking turns with buckets and spades etc.

Keeping warm like penguins!

Jake came up with the idea of all the kids huddling together like penguins to keep warm! I love it! They all had so much fun with this.

The late Winter Sun.

I just thought this was a lovely picture of Madison out playing in the late Winter sun. No matter what the weather the children love to go out every day for a play.

Digger man Ben.

Car Tracks.

Both the girls and the boys love playing with the cars while they're outside.

Valeting my car!

Ben was so funny here. He had the sprayer out squirting his car and wiping it down to get it sparkly and clean!

Open ended play..

An open ended play thing! This electrical wire spool provides so many opportunities from making it into a Christmas tree in the Winter to rolling and using as an outdoor painting table in the Spring!

Space hopping all the way!

Stella's really enjoying bouncing on her space hopper which is great fun and is super for developing her gross motor skills and balance.

Chasing Bubbles.

Peg weaves.

These peg boards are great for developing children's fine motor skills and coordination as they are trickier than peg boards. Here Max is enjoying sitting with Madison getting the hang it. Its a good one for smaller children to do on the floor as they don't have to keep bending down from a table to pick them up!!

Learning from my elders!

Montessori was a firm believer in younger and older children working and playing together. Here Ben is playing "assistant" to Jake who is working with the number balance. Jake is explaining how its works and Ben is loving it. Children are the best teachers!

Group colouring in!

Colouring in our poster for a talent show, we sellotape a big piece of paper to the table which the kids find so exciting. They happily come up with their own creations or do a bit of colouring in. All working on the same piece of paper really promotes language and social development as they chat to each other about what they're drawing, what colours they want to use and taking turns with those colours!

"Dia Duit Jake!"

We start the day with the hello song. Today is Stella's turn to shake hands with the other children while we all sing hello, sometimes in different languages. Each child then hangs their picture on an emotions board to say how they feel at the start of each day.

Cylinder Fun.

Stella is playing with all the knobbed cylinders (traditional Montessori activity) at the one time, which makes it quiet tricky but she is well able. These activities are great for developing a child's concentration and perception of volume and depth and numeracy. Good girl Stella.

Happy Birthday Val!

Ayda made me a gorgeous birthday cake with a big candle ("because I'm very old"!) out of her play dough. We love play dough as its so good for developing muscles for later writing and it gets the social and creative juices flowing too.

Train Track Champions.

The kids love making train tracks together and sometimes the track building becomes the focus of the morning as they build tracks to the zoo and the library etc that other children are building at the other end of the room. Great game for developing social skills, cooperation, language and creativity.

Lunch time!

"look what I got for lunch!". I love lunchtime because the children love to chat and with each other and show us what they got today. Its always a happy time and I think so much learning can actually happen if we give the children enough time to relax and really take their time to enjoy their conversations.

Happy Easter Mammy

Max did a super job colouring in and glueing his card. So proud of his work!

Tower Building

This is one of Montessori's original toys and its a real winner in here with the children. Kids love to build towers and these cylinders are super for developing their motor and numeracy skills.

Wooden jigsaw.

Here Stella is making her bird wooden jigsaw. She is super fast and its a lovely time to sit with the child and chat about the different animal parts which they usually have an innate interest in!

Playdough with my buddy!

Max is sitting here with his friend Jack playing playdough. While being great for building up muscles in the hand for later writing, playdough is also a super social activity and Max loves to make sure hes sitting with his new buddy!

Our sensory tent.

Here's Alex crawling out of our darkened tent totally engaged in a game with his train! A sensory tent has much to offer any child: 1) a place to relax and unwind 2) sensory experiences exploring shades of light and dark and tuning into a range of senses 3) opportunities to engage in role play and imaginative play and 4) social and emotional development as children engage in play together.

"Hello Killian!!"

Max's turn to shake hands with each of the other children while we all sing the hello song. He hands Killian his picture to hang on our emotions board so he can tell us how he feels at the start of this morning.

Goldilocks story.

This is an interactive story of "Goldilocks and the 3 bears". It comes with the cottage, forest, all the furniture and Goldilocks and the bears. So each of the children get to act out the scene with the props. Super for this age in particular.

Story telling.

Sometimes we ask a child to read the book for story time. Here Ayda is reading "Zog" and the other children are totally engaged as she describes what she sees in the pictures. Helps builds confidence in children to take a leading role.

Montessori fun.

Alex is having good fun with the cylinders here. Its a great activity to help develop concentration and also an understanding of dimensions. Good man Alex!

Water play.

All children love water play! Its a great sensory activity for children of all ages and is totally child directed play. Again its a super social activity when a group are gathered around blowing bubbles and pouring together.

Junior Picasso!

Alex loves to stand at the easel to paint. Most children prefer to be standing up while painting as they love the extra freedom of movement and the big brush strokes! They can really express a lot of emotions too while painting as most often preschool children don't have the words to express strong emotions.

Block building.

Ayda and Max are enjoying building towers together. They love to build towers and while they play they are developing their motor numeracy and social skills. Good job guys!

Pancake Tuesday!

Ben is in deep concentration as he spreads maple syrup on his pancake!!...yum yum yum...

Dia Duit Mia

Today Ayda has the job of shaking hands with each of the other children while we all sing the good morning song. It's great to see the younger ones confidence beginning to blossom in the classroom.

Construction with suction!

Squigz! Whether they're sticking them to the window, table or their heads, these little suckers call on the child's creativity and fine motor skills to make anything their pliable little minds can dream up!

Obstacle Courses!

All the children love the indoor obstacle course because It ticks all the best boxes... its fun, incorporates big body movements and is super imaginative when we go exploring the jungle, the lava pit or deep sea along the way.

Another budding artist!

Stella painting at the easel. Mostly she loves to mix her paints to create new colours. Here Stella mixes yellow and red to make the orange needed for her tigers face.

On the Job!

Every day the children look at the jobs board to see what their job for the morning is. Ben is on watering the plants today. These jobs encourage independence and also that squirter is a great one for building up those little hand muscles! Nice job Ben!

Goodbye Goodbye...

Yes we have a goodbye song too! Today Ben's job is to sing goodbye to the group. We sing it together and when he's done he takes the cutest little bow.

Snip snip snip..

Max is loving any scissors action at the moment in school. This is the normal grip for a child his age and he is doing a fabulous job on that piece of paper. Sometimes you will see cut up pages brought home and believe me this represents a great work or art and labour of love... so be very proud parents!!

Forever blowing bubbles..

Ben and the gang are having super fun here blowing "loads of bubbles" during their water play. Its super to see children have so much fun and excitement together.

Lemony pancakes!

Ayda loves the bitter lemon taste! Ayda is squeezing her second piece of lemon on her pancake...yum, yum ,yum!

Great job ladies!

Every day the children look at the jobs board to see what their job for the morning is. Stella and Fiadh are on cleaning tables today. These jobs encourage independence and really all children love being given a job to do! Nice job Stella!