Project guide
This project recognises that:
* settings should be constantly resourced and organised in such a way as to offer learning opportunities across all areas of the Foundation Stage curriculum
* topics can enhance basic provision and respond to children's interests
* children need plenty of first-hand experiences and time to develop ideas, skills and concepts through play
* the practitioner has a vital role in supporting children's learning.
This project, therefore, suggests:
* adult-led activities for introducing the theme
* resources that enhance basic provision and facilitate learning through child-initiated play
* how the practitioner can support children's learning.
When using the project, practitioners should recognise that:
* activities should be offered and never imposed on children
* children's experiences, and learning, may differ from those anticipated
* the learning, planned or unplanned, that takes place is valid
* the process is very valuable and should not be undermined by an inappropriate emphasis on outcomes or concrete end results.
The areas of learning are:
Personal, social and emotional development
Communication,language and literacy
Mathematical development
Knowledge & understanding of the world
Physical development
Creative development
The theme of brushes provides children with the opportunity to consider the magical as well as the ordinary and mundane.
Adult-led activity
Get the brush off
Investigate different kinds of brushes.
Key learning intentions
To use language of size and shape
To compare objects
Adult:child ratio 1:6
Resources
Pictures of brushes being used ,collection of different brushes, such as a scrubbing brush, bottle brush, sweeping brush, pastry brush, paintbrush and wallpaper brush ,collection of brushes and associated objects such as a dustpan and brush, toothpaste tube and toothbrush, shoe polish and a shoe brush, soap and a nailbrush, hairbrush and comb, washing-up liquid and a washing-up brush, clothes brush and jacket
Activity content
* Show the children all the brushes and talk about their function, shape and characteristics.
* Introduce the associated objects and place them at random on the floor.
Challenge the children to match the items, such as the dustpan and brush, and then to explain or demonstrate how the items work together.
* Ask the children to bring in more brushes from home to make a display.
The selection of brushes could change every day as different items arrive at the beginning of a session and leave at the end, only to be replaced the next day with some new examples.
* Let the children sort the brushes by type or any other criteria that they may wish.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Brush, clean, sweep, tidy, spread; names of different brushes; bristles, handle
Questions to ask
* What is this brush used for? Can you show me how you would use it? What sort of handle has it got? What are the bristles like? Are they soft or hard? Are they long or short?
* Can you find two objects that go together? Why have you chosen those two? Can you show us how they work together?
* Are you going to put all the toothbrushes together? Why have you put all these brushes into one group?
Extension ideas
* Try to find other brushes around the setting. For example, look at the brushes on a Hoover.
* Go for a walk and look out for brushes being used in the outdoors, perhaps by street sweepers or in the park.
* If you don't already do so, devise a system where the children help sweep up any spillages that they may have caused and take an active part in sweeping up and tidying the setting at the end of a session. Encouraging children to take responsibility for their actions and for daily routines helps them to build confidence and a sense of responsibility towards their environment and others.
* Ask if any of the children have been through a car wash, and ask them to describe the experience. Take the children to see a car wash in action.
Child-initiated learning
Home corner
Additional resources
Make available in the home corner kitchen the relevant resources from the opening activity, such as the scrubbing brush, pastry brush, shoe polish and shoe brush, soap and nailbrush and washing-up brush
Possible learning experiences
* Developing an awareness of the importance of hygiene and keeping clean.
* Understanding the purpose of different brushes.
* Developing fine motor skills while using brushes to, for example, clean pots.
The practitioner role
* Model how to use the different brushes where necessary.
* Reinforce messages about the need to keep various areas clean and tidy.
Water area
Additional resources
Bubble bath ,washing-up liquid ,washing powder (non-biological) ,scrubbing brushes ,washing-up brushes ,nail brushes ,bath brushes ,items to be washed such as dolls, doll's clothes or kitchen utensils
Possible learning experiences
* Comparing the shape, size and purpose of the different brushes as they wash items of their choosing.
* Developing fine motor skills.
* Working co-operatively.
The practitioner role
* Ask the children what they would like to wash, and talk about the brushes and cleaning products that they will need.
* Encourage the children to discuss the attributes of the different brushes, and why they are well suited to that particular task.
* Change the washing activity as requested by the children.
Adult-led activity
On a broomstick
Share stories about witches and broomsticks.
Key learning intentions
To know what is right and wrong
To consider the consequences of their actions
Adult:child ratio 1:8
Resources
Broomstick ,The Widow's Broom by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin) or similar (see box)
Activity content
* Show the children the broomstick and talk about which sort of character often has such a brush in stories.
* If possible, share the story of The Widow's Broom by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin), which is now out of print but should be available in libraries. This retelling of a traditional French tale is the story of Minna Shaw, a widow who is left with a magic broom after a witch crash-lands in her vegetable garden. The witch disappears, leaving the broom behind, and it soon starts to sweep on its own. Eventually Minna trains it to chop wood, fetch water and play the piano. However, her neighbours become jealous and demand that the broom be burned because it is 'a wicked thing', but Minna tricks them and an ordinary broom is burned instead.
* Encourage the children to think how they would have used the broom.
* This story can stimulate the children to think about jealousy, and about wanting what other people have. Talk about the actions of the characters and the feelings of everyone in the story, and what the children think was right and what was wrong.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Brush, broom, clean, sweep, tidy, spread, magic, jealous
Questions to ask
Who has seen one of these broomsticks before? What did the broom do for Minna in our story? What would you ask a magic broom to do for you? Do you think the broom should have been burned? Why, or why not? Do you sometimes feel jealous? Do you sometimes want something that someone else has got? How does that make you feel? What can we do when we feel like that?
Extension ideas
* Share other stories about witches with the children, such as Meg and Mog by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski (Puffin Books, 4.99), which is the first in the series about a witch called Meg and her cat, Mog. In this story, Meg flies off on her broomstick to meet her friends for some spell-making.
* Another good story to introduce to the children is a modern version of The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Ted Dewan (Corgi Children's Books, 4.99), in which a busy inventor makes a robot to help tidy his workshop.
When the robot decides to create another robot, things get out of control.
This story can lead to discussions about obedience, and the need to put things right when we have made a mess of something. You could encourage the children to re-enact part of the story using a programmable toy of their own or one that belongs to your setting.
* Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler (Macmillan Children's Books, 5.99) is also likely to prove a favourite with the children. In this story, mayhem ensues after a witch's hat blows away while she flies through the air on her broomstick.
* Make available witches' cloaks and hats and other props for the children to re-enact these written stories and develop their own stories in their imaginative role play.
* Provide opportunities for the children to listen to and learn songs and action rhymes about the brushes and broomsticks. Make up songs and rhymes to a familiar tune and add suitable actions. For example, 'This is the way we scrub the floor/clean our teeth/brush our hair/paint the wall' to the tune of 'Here we go round the mulberry bush'.
Child-initiated learning
Creative area
Additional resources
Paint brushes of all sizes including wallpaper and house painting brushes ,paper in different sizes ,colours and textures ,stones and pieces of wood to paint ,bucket
Possible learning experiences
* Creating and comparing patterns and pictures made with a variety of different brushes.
* Observing changes in patterns and pictures.
The practitioner role
* Encourage the children to create their own works of art on a large scale as well as small.
* Talk to them about what they want to do, and provide any additional resources that the children may want.
* Talk to the children about the different sizes and types of brushes that would be suitable for their project, and about the different effects that they can create.
* If possible, encourage the children to paint pictures and patterns on an outside wall or flagstones. Water-based paints can be used to provide this temporary art exhibition, but be sure to take some photographs of the children's work before the rain comes and washes it away!
* Alternatively, provide the children with a bucket of water and encourage them to 'paint' the walls and flagstones with water. Talk about the patterns and how they gradually disappear.
Books
* The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Ted Dewan (Corgi Children's Books, Pounds 4.99)
* Zoom Broom by Margie Palatini (Hyperion Books for Children, 8.75)
* Broom Mates by Margie Palatini (Hyperion Books for Children, Pounds 8.75)
* The Widow's Broom by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin) is now out of print, but your library might have a copy of this lovely version.
* Meg and Mog by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski (Puffin Books, Pounds 4.99)
* Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler (Macmillan Children's Books, 5.99)
