One frosty morning we discovered that some magical changes had happened at nursery, so we decided to seize the moment and go outside to investigate.

The children realised that they would need to wrap up in their warmest clothes and did a fantastic job of putting on their own coats, boots, hats and gloves.

We were amazed to see that the grass in our big garden had turned white and, as we walked on it, we made a crunching sound.

The water in the trough spot was now frozen so hard that we were able to pick it up and look through it, and all of the spider webs glistened and sparkled like fairy wings.

We tested our tracking skills by laying trails and following footprints, and we used our fingers to make lots of patterns and marks on the icy table before heading back inside to warm up and talk about all the amazing things we had seen.

We extended our icy explorations inside with all of the children embarking on their own amazing learning journeys.

In the Baby Bunnies our youngest explorers discovered the ice for themselves in their own special area of the garden, where they listened to one of their favourite stories That’s Not My Snowman.

Back inside they explored a variety of textured materials, they threw cotton wool and fluff in the air and scrunched up shiny tinfoil before decorating their own special mug tree with sparkly baubles and tinsel.

Throughout the day the children used all of their senses to engage in a variety of messy sensory activities.

They made their own animal footprints with the wild animals in gloop, explored ice and bubbles in the water tray and used their whole bodies to paint a giant icy pattern picture on the floor.

Over the next few days the older children included a lot more icy themes in their self chosen activities.

They decided to make an Arctic tray so we used the iPad to discover all about the world where the polar animals live.

We made icebergs where we could count penguins, water for the big and little seals to swim in and decorated special frosty pine cone Christmas trees which we used to compare groups of objects.

The children froze some of the animals in ice and experimented by placing them in various places to discover where they would melt the fastest.

They made lots of icy symbols on the ground by making ice cube paints and used the scissors to cut out their own snowflakes to stick on the windows. Our play-dough station became a special snowman building area with the addition of some natural resources for hats and arms, while the water tray was turned into a snowball pit by filling it with blue balls which the children had lots of fun throwing around outside.

Here at First Class Kids we love to explore all of the seasons in every type of weather, and we are lucky enough to have large outdoor spaces as well as unlimited access to local woodland which enhances all areas of a child’s learning.

Children are given both time and opportunity to engage in ‘risky play’ and to explore the natural world at their own pace, allowing for in the moment opportunities. Facilitating this learning, staff are able to inspire a sense of awe and wonder in the children in their care.