The play diary is an observation of what kind of play takes place during a session. As much as possible we use the words the children have used to describe their own play. We use it to reflect on our own practice and also to give to children bi-monthly to reflect on their play sessions and share with their parents.
May Play Diary
Friday 27th May
3 guest children, 2 adults. We went to the stream. Arram found a deep bit where a dragon lives. "JERONIMOOO! These are pirannah infested waters. CANNON BALL! After a really warm day this is the perfect place to be. I'm going to waddle in like a penguin. I'm going to crouch down and curl up my body so I'm all under the water." Best bits - Kai - the river of course; Arram - curling up in a ball; Johi - digging holes in the river.
Thursday 26th May
10 guest children, 4 adults. Warm and sunny. Thea drew inside with Louise. Rachel and Lucy and Beth lit a bonfire. Beth had a go lighting the match. Some children played cricket, some climbed trees and some rolled down the slope, played 'head it/catch it'. Children's comments about their play: Will - I didn't really have a fixed play today - cricket a bit, then I climbed a tree, played with Tobias; Matilda - rolling down the hill and getting grass in our hair, going up a tree, finding a pill woodlouse; Lucy - I went in the play house and me and Beth played 'Knock, Knock, who's there?'; Alex - climbing trees and playing cricket; Thea - I don't know; Luca - getting 115 runs; Hannah - playing cricket; Auguy - playing cricket with Edward; Oscar - first cricket, climbed tree, bit more cricket, relighted the fire - I can't really chose my best bit; Robbie - I just did all cricket - favourite bit was hitting it for 6; Beth - rolling down the hill.
Wednesday 25th May
10 guest children, 3 adults. Lydia, Indra and Matilda picked flowers on the way home. Lydia and Indra arranged them in a vase. Warm and sunny. Some climbed trees. Will K and Tobias played chase in the long grass. Tobias is a 'jungle eater'. They eat red leaves, humans and lions. Some of the boys are jousting. Lydia, Indra and Tobias play with a bucket of green goo! Sliddy slide. Hannah, Josie, Oscar, Josh and Rachel go on a trip to the stream. We wade up the stream. Our boots fill up. Under the bridge we find 'the snotty nose'. It is scary. "Uggh, there's something touching me!". "I don't like this!". We waded back to the beach. Josh and Oscar did a 'leap and a half' into the water, jumping in like 'crazy frogs'. They went into their waists - "It's scary isn't it?", "I'm going to float in a minute". When he got out Josh felt like a hoover with something stuck in it. Best bits: Hanna - Nothing could be better than this...the best bit was wading upsteam through the water; Oscar - being in the stream; Indra - sliddy slide, definately; Lydia - slippy slide; Matilda - slippy slide, climbing the tree; Charlie - playing cricket; Josie - wading in the water; Rachel - seeing Hannah's confidence grow as she deliberately got herself wet; Luke - playing tennis and climb trees; Whizzer (William M) - cricket; Edward - teaching Charlie cricket.
Sliddy Slide competition
| Lydia | Matilda | William M | Indra | |
|
speed
|
9, 10 | 9, 10 | 10, 10 | 8, 9 |
|
style
|
8, 9 | 8, 9 | 9, 10 | 9, 10 |
|
variation
|
9, 8 | 7, 9 | 8, 8 | 9, 10 |
|
total
|
26, 27 | 24, 28 | 27, 28 | 26, 29 |
Tuesday 24th May
10 guest children, 4 adults. Sunny, very green flora. Luca, Tobias, Xavier and Rachel made 'goo'. Edward and some children played cricket. They looked closely at a beetle that Robbie had spied - a 'cock chafer' - brown, white, hairy underneath. William and Tobias crawled around the long grass, as did Xavier and Arthur. Margaret helped Xavier light a bonfire. Louise was in the house, making it beautiful. Beth and George went to tennis. Best bits: Will K: when I scored a 4; Robbie - getting 4 people out in my bowlling; Auguy - catching Luca out; Matilda - I played with Mali up the tree and it took ages to climb up. We climbed as high as we could but it was too unstable to climb to the top; Mali - Well, I went on those bike things. I liked going on the hammock - it was relaxing, swinging; Xavier - making the bonfire; Emerson - well, I was outside....and inside!
Thursday 19th May
15 guest children, 4 adults. Luca, Arram, Mia, Kai, Johi, Lucy and Rachel went to the stream. Some of the children waded along the stream. It was "really shallow and really deep". Some of the boys jumped in, sometimes spinning as they went - "Let's go really deep", "1'm getting wet". Arram swam. We went to the other area which has a rope across the stream. Lucy went along and sat in the water. We walked back up the field and Christine was there to pick up her 3 boys. Meanwhile in the garden some children played cricket. Beth, Matilda, Hannah played in the house - music, making noise, rowing. Louise made popcorn. Best bits: Kai - swinging, jumping in, doing press-ups in the water and getting wet; Johi - river; Luca - getting wet; Mia - I enjoyed playing with my scoobidoos (Edward calls them a sennit knot); Robbie - cricket; Auguy - biking; Beth - eating popcorn; Matilda - playing with Beth and Hannah; Thea - I threw the ball, if it went past the cricket racket it was my point, and if it went past the scoopies it was Tobias' point. I threw it like a crazy wack; Alex - cricket; Lucy - sitting in the water.
Wednesday 18th May
13 guest children, 3 adults. Lovely sunny afternoon. Some girls practised their handstands. Some boys and Edward practicised their football skills - headers and catchers. The boys were standing on a log, trying to roll it as a team. Boys then joined in with handstands. Each child took it in turn to mark everyone at handstands. William and Josie were consistently great for length of handstand and straightness. We all played "catch it, head it". Charlie and Luc were digging and helping Edward plant sweetcorn seedlings. Best bits: Indra - everything; Josie - handstands and all the games and rolling down the hill; Lydia - doing the handstands and rolling down the hill; Hannah - handstands and head and catch; William - winning all the handstand competitions; Oscar - doing the handstands or whacking down metal; Luc - making mudpies with Charlie; Charlie - making mud pies; Matilda - handstands and judging handstands; Will - walking on the pole.
Tuesday 17th May
10 guest children, 3 adults. Warm and sunny. Luca, Matilda, Arthur and Rachel went on a trip to the brook. Led by Luca, we walked along a very muddy stream, with deep and shallow bits, to under a small bridge. Luca was picked up by his mum and Matilda and Arthur spent some time digging the stream bank with a shovel and spade. We walked up through a field and saw a shepherd and 4 sheep dogs herding a flock of sheep over some fields. Meanwhile in the garden Auguy, Will and Tobias were fixing new felt onto the roof of the small wendy house. Xavier was burning rabbit skin on a fire that he had made. Auguy practised his cycling for his sponsored bike ride. Robbie arrived from football and did some wrestling with Tobias, as did Will. Robbie and Will took it in turns to referee with an american accent. Best bits: Xavier - I liked banging the wasp's nest; Matilida - playing in the stream with Luca; Beth - playing tennis; Robbie - we played Super Tobias and Giant Robbie; Will - I was William Bonkers, mending the new thing on the roof of the wendy house.
Thursday 12th May
13 guest children, 4 adults. After tea Will, Luca, Arram, Mia, Oscar and Rachel went for a quick trip down to the stream. The boys dared each other to jump into the water and they did - "It's making bubbles!, bibbly, bubbly, boo! BULLS EYE!, All of my body is...WET!". Oscar sawed already cut branches lying in a pile. Mia and Rachel paddled. We all waded up the stream and found a metal hoop which we brought out of the water. Meanwhile back in the garden Joe was cooking a rabbit he had shot. Robbie's description of how to do it: "We got 2 Y-shaped sticks, stuck them into the ground over a fire, put a rabbit - that was shot by Joe - on a stick in between the Y-shaped sticks and then it cooked, peeled it off and Joe gave out the rabbit pieces. Some of the children tried it. Tobias, especially, thought it was delicious. Auguy, Johi and George repaired the small house with planks, hammer and nails. Luca and George axed the bark off an old log. Best bits: Kai - playing swing ball and arguing with Joe; Oscar - playing in the stream, jumping in; Hannah - playing with Matilda; Mia - gardening with Edward; Will - diving off the waterfall; Arram - going swimming; Johi - making the wendy house.
Wednesday 11th May
10 guest children, 3 adults. Indra, Charlotte, Josie, Hannah, Matilda and Rachel had a cheese tasting session. We tried Keens, Devon Oke, Single Gloscester, Lyburn Gold, Wife of Bath, and Chedder. Indra recorded all our reactions. It was established that the last 4 were suitable for children's tastes. Meanwhile outside Lucy and Edward planted 'pink fir' potatoes and looked at willow. Luc arrived and we decided to all do a trip to the stream. Some of us found wellies to fit. We set off along the lanes in the Landrover down to Woolly Mill. We went to a bend in the stream where there was paddling area and a rope to swing across the stream and a bridge to walk under. Luc and Lucy got the wettest, Oscar was the bravest, deliberately plunging himself fully dressed into the stream to make Luc and Lucy feel better. We trundled back home, nearly everyone a bit wet. Josh, Oscar, Charlie and Will played in the garden - using a magnifying glass to burn a hole in a newspaper. Best bits: Luc - going outside in the garden and getting the net; Indra "Everything" - Indra wants to be a food critic after the cheese tasting! Josh - playing with the hosepipe at the end; Lucy - going on the swing in the garden; Oscar - going in the stream, "nearly nuding"; Hannah - making mud pies.
Tuesday 10th May
10 guest children, 3 adults. Beautiful sunny afternoon. George and Beth had tennis coaching. After tea Xavier, Mia, Luca, Tobias, Will and Rachel went for a walk a rope, penknives and refreshments along the lanes and down through fields to a stream. Luca and Will swung across the stream on a rope already hanging there. They both ended up getting wet. Xavier sawed a stick. Tobias waded. Mia tried wild garlic. We walked back and Xavier, Tobias and Mia picked enormous bouquets of cow parsley. Meanwhile back in the garden Emerson and Robbie played ball games and chase. Best bits: Xavier - picking the parsley and the river; Will - falling in the nettle patch; Mia - my best bit was when we was picking cow parsley; Emerson - playing outside, hanging about.
Thursday 6th May
14 guest children, 4 adults. It was hot and sunny. Mia, Matilda, Rachel, Johi did some gardening, using shears to cut long grass and sort of clippers for making straight edges. Kai played swingball, Matilda had a go. Others played a "wet and wierd game" chasing each other with bottles of water. Arram and Luca each sat in a bucket, full up to the brim, were covered with water poured onto their heads. They seemed to enjoy it! Beth, an innocent bystander, got caught with a bucket of water tipped onto her head :-{. Some children were inside in the library and sitting room looking at magazines and playing with lego. Auguy wasn't feeling well. Some children carved their names on a plank using a sharp tool and mallet. Best bits: Mia - playing with my little friend, that girl, doing gardening and stuff, cutting grass; Robbie - getting Luca wet; Will - the water fight mostly - that was my best bit and worst bit was getting brain-freeze from Robbie; Matilda - playing tennis with Kai; Johi - throwing water on Arram's head; Kai - playing swing ball and getting good at it; Beth - my worst bit was getting wet; Hannah - carving my name on the wood.
Wednesday 5th May
12 guest children, 3 adults. After tea a group of children go on a trip to a local woods with Edward and Charlotte. We made a small fire, Luc, Will and Alex took turns to cut down, with an axe and saw, a small privet tree. We found a swing of vine. Hannah and Josie found lots of different passageways and made up their own. They swung on branches. Indra, Lydia and Matilida played in the garden and Matilda did some cleaning. Best bits: Charlie - eating chocolate biscuits and building a fire; Josh - I liked it when we cameback from the woods - played on the likeabikes, going as fast as we could down the path and under the apple tree branches; Lydia - making dens and things with Indra; Matilda - pretending to be a gipsy and cleaning.
Tuesday 4th May
Flora, Rory, Xavier and Tobias stripped bark off hazel poles and elder poles as they chatted around the fire. The poles were smooth and cool with no bark on. Xavier and Rory skewered the pith out of an elder stick. Some children played in the tree house, someone made a whistle, did bike rides, some played table football inside. Will climbed high up in a walnut tree and then did some digging. Best bits - Emerson - I liked playing on the skateboard; Xavier - I love doing the grass fight; Matilda - my favourite bit was cleaning.