What Have You Got In Your Tuffspot This Week?

[Guest]

Just after some more ideas, we have a tuffspot in our sensory area and have many different items in there for the children to discover. Does anyone have any different ideas that they would like to share.

Over the last few weeks we have had ~

Snow.

Shaving Foam.

Playdough.

Jelly.

Tissue paper and sparkley bits.

Pasta and Lentils.

Gloop.

Noodles and coloured rice ~ as part of our chinese new year celebration.

Leaves and branches.

Compost.

 

Mind has gone blank now.

Any ideas appreciated,

Thanks

Debbie

[dublinbay]

Uncooked porridge with bowls & spoons to link with Goldilocks & three bears story. Bob the Builder vehicles ended up in it but the children had lots of fun. Great smell!

[Guest]

we appeared to have dry cornflour in ours and not much of it, it made fro interesting footprints on the carpet area!!! My team need all the inspiration they can get so i shall wtch and make notes with interest

[Guest]

Instant mash is good, if you shape it into a mountain you can then create a volcano by adding tomato soup!!!

 

sawdust and bugs with magnifying glasses

 

wet sand and diggers

 

rice pudding

 

jelly with bugs

[Shiny]

This week we have Crazy Soap as it is on special offer at local Tescos!!

[Guest Wolfie]

I was in a nursery this morning that had a variety of root vegetables and a large quantity of mixed up packet stuffing in their tuff spot - the smell was lovely! Apparently the children had really enjoyed preparing veg and making soup last week so they decided to extend the experience. The stuffing added an extra sensory element and the children loved it!

[emmajess]

We've got newspaper pulp that has come from the water tray - strips of paper in the water, soft and pulpy, squeezed out and put in tuff spot with spoons, cups, scoops, mashers etc.

[Guest heleng]

We have a pirate treasure island complete with blue fabric sea, treasure chest, pirates and an x! The children have really enjoyed it.

 

In our other tray we have rice coloured with different colours of food colouring- this has been a fav activity.

[Posy]

Stones, shells, little jewels, blue water, sea weed (oh okay a spider plant) fish, sea creatures ( turtles, star fish etc) and mermaids from the ELC

Posy

[katiecar]

Hi,

I usually put cornflour in that has water added (But just a very small amount!!) When you look at it, it looks like liquid but when you put your fingers through it, it feels crumbly. It is very unusual but great and also icing sugar with water (small amount again) with food colouring. try mixing the colours. Hope this helps, enjoy

[Guest]

We've got pebbles and coloured smooth glass think I might put water as well so the pebbles will chnge colour when wet. also will put the fish and animals.

I've gone natural with everything at the moment

Steph

[katiecar]

We've got pebbles and coloured smooth glass think I might put water as well so the pebbles will chnge colour when wet. also will put the fish and animals.

I've gone natural with everything at the moment

Steph

I had a parent ask me today if the coloured smooth glass that we use is safe and bought from a reputable company and what would happen if it smashed bla blah blah!!! Get a life please!! I told her we risk assess all items in our unit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest]

Hi,

I usually put cornflour in that has water added (But just a very small amount!!) When you look at it, it looks like liquid but when you put your fingers through it, it feels crumbly. It is very unusual but great and also icing sugar with water (small amount again) with food colouring. try mixing the colours. Hope this helps, enjoy

I would usually add water as well, I had to have a segment at a staff meeting to tell the staff they were not sand trays, Ithink I need to do it again!

[Guest]

Thanks everyone for sharing.

Today we had a group of children playing an imaginative game of birds ~ sounded like the nursery was being invaded by crows to be honest and I hate birds!

Leading from this we changed the pasta and lentils in the tuffspot to multi coloured feathers from the craft area. They really enjoyed these and lots of nest building went on. They did float everywhere but a group of children responded very well to being asked if they would like to be feather fairies and collect any lost feathers and return them to the nest for the baby birds. All in all a very successful spontaneous activity. I love working with under 5's.

x

Edited February 11, 2009 by Guest

[Cait]

We've not got a tuff spot. We do have some largish Galt trays which we use for the same kind of thing. Pasta in there now with lentils and all kinds of dry stuff

[HappyMaz]

Instant mash is good, if you shape it into a mountain you can then create a volcano by adding tomato soup!!!

Not sure how I feel about this to be honest - but then I hate tomato soup!

 

Welcome to the Forum, sunshineshowers

 

Congratulations on making your first post - make yourself at home!

 

Maz

[Mouseketeer]

have just purchased a couple of these and love them.........we're aiming to involve the children in making a paper maché base complete with volcano for dinosaurs this half term.....would really like the one with mirror bottom to it, does anyone have this ? i can imagine it getting scratched really quickly.

[HappyMaz]

would really like the one with mirror bottom to it, does anyone have this ? i can imagine it getting scratched really quickly.

I made my mirror base with some heavy duty card (the sort a fridge comes wrapped in, I think) and some shiny sticky backed plastic (very heavy duty which was donated). I used it for a good long while without problem, but then we used it as the space of a space scape and the glitter sand and stone completely finished it off.

 

Will be interested to see if anyone else has a mirror base and whether it does get scratched easily. For now I have to dig deep in my cupboard to find some more mirror stuff!

 

Maz

[Mouseketeer]

thats a good idea maz, at least it can be changed when its had it. will have to look out for something to use.......mirror on a roll maybe ?

[Guest]

Instant mash is good, if you shape it into a mountain you can then create a volcano by adding tomato soup!!!

 

We just use boring old bicarb and vinegar

[HappyMaz]

will have to look out for something to use.......mirror on a roll maybe ?

Lakeland sell that don't they?

[Guest]

will have to look out for something to use.......mirror on a roll maybe ?

 

got mine from the Betterbuy catalog that landed on the doormat

[Bliss]

Biccy, loved the photo of your volcano! The dinosaurs are being very well-behaved - are they allowed to touch and play with the "lava" or is it a spectator sport? (adult led?)

[Guest]

The dinosaurs are being very well-behaved - are they allowed to touch and play with the "lava" or is it a spectator sport? (adult led?)

 

The children we're given the task to 'build a volcano with the sand on the tuff spot with a yogurt pot as the centre'. The tuff spot was on the table with the yogurt pot and the sand was in the sand tray Problem solving and reasoning skills. Once the volcano was built by the children they were given the vinegar, pot of bicarb and plastic spoons (adult put a few drops of red colouring in the bottom of the pot ). They worked in pairs (with a large audience) to spoon in and add vinegar. I think we had 4 eruptions before we ran out then they free played. It was the children who added the dinosaurs and positioned them to 'watch' before eruption.It was an extention from the children but they do look a bit 'staged'.The dinosaurs all ended up taking a bath in the middle. The photo was the best of the sequence to show the volcano erupting, the rest have too many children on or the volcano is trashed.I'm never sure if its adult led when you pose a problem that the children solve and extend on themselves.The idea to do the volcano came from a child the day before as 'volcano' came up and some one mentioned making one from powder. I think it was in a film they had watched possibly with Arnie?

[Mouseketeer]

used ours today for large scale marble painting, covered bottom with large sheet of paper, 4 children - 1 on each corner, paints, small balls, large marbles, children had to work together to move marbles around, great team work.....who had to lift up, who down etc.....

[Cait]

Works well with golf balls too!

 

In our big tray this week we have compost and loads of hidden minibeasts!

[Guest]

Our has got sand in this week as part of the dinosaur land small world play, along with sticks, rocks and leaves. The children loved it today, we teamed it with a water 'lake/river' area where the dinosaurs could drink and wash and some green fabric for the landscape. We will be adding to it throughout the next couple of weeks!

[Guest]

Please can someone tell me what a tuffspot is, sounds like something thats hard to get out of the carpet!

[Cait]

It's like a builder's tray. We've not got one, we've got some large galt trays which serve just as well, although they're not so big picture

[Guest]

we had cooked spaghetti in last week and the children loved it.