THEME
The inspiration behind developing a football outdoor resource box at Everton Nursery School and Family Centre started with a large group of boys who demonstrated a clear passion and interest in the game. They wanted to explore how they could use their whole bodies to kick and move a range of different sized balls as well as recreate the roles of their favourite footballers – some of whom were ‘scorers’, and others ‘goalies’.
We developed the resource box to introduce the concept of rules, making specific reference to both yellow cards and red cards, and we fostered a teamwork approach by equipping children to choose teams.
ON THE LIST
• Footballs of different sizes and material
• Examples of different football kits
• Large paper and mark-making utensils
• Football bibs
• Football posters, magazines, programmes and other fiction and non-fiction literature
• Goalkeeper gloves
• Red and yellow cards
• List of ‘rules’
CHOICE
We provided the children with a varied assortment of resources, including:
• coloured bibs for visual aids to remind children who is in their team
• yellow and red cards to support children’s knowledge and understanding of rules and fair play, as well as to create a sense of ‘real life’ for the children
• large pieces of paper and mark-making utensils to equip the observing children with an opportunity to keep score.
OBSERVATIONS
The number of children that engaged with this resource box increased very quickly as they observed others playing with the resources. They showed curiosity in discussing and debating why we should have red and yellow cards as part of the game, as well as how many goals one team may need to win the match.
One child demonstrated wonderful mathematical knowledge and understanding when he said, ‘I’ve scored three now’ after scoring another goal, while other, more able children demonstrated confidence in being able to create recognisable numbers to document the score of the match.
INDOORS
Key-worker times provided my group and I with lots of quality time to discuss, debate and think about all of the other uses for the core skills within a football game. Discussions involved thinking about each of the gross motor movements that we need to be able to run, jump, kick, throw and turn, and how we could use our movement skills in other parts of our learning.
We also discussed and debated why we have rules and boundaries in our nursery school, and why therefore referees use red and yellow cards during a football match.
Additionally, we were able to count all together, thinking about numbers that are one more than a given number. We engaged in our own research using the internet to find out more about not only our two local football teams (Everton and Liverpool), but to also research other local, national and international football teams in order to think about how the game is played in other parts of our country and the world.
AVAILABILITY
The football resource box is available for all children to engage with and access when playing outdoors. It is now stored in one of our outdoor containers, but can be accessed at any time by any member of staff to support, extend and develop children’s interest in football.
LEARNING
We were able to challenge gender-specific and stereotypical views of football by introducing all of the children to a female footballer. She was fantastic in being able to lead some of the football games and sessions, where children were able to practise and develop their football skills, balance and co-ordination, as well as ask questions. This increased the involvement of girls within the football games and promoted cross-curricular teaching and learning opportunities. The children listened to her experiences with excitement and responded positively to her instructions.
Additionally, all the children engaged in a range of physical development opportunities and explored counting through appropriate, first-hand experiences where they were able to link numbers to a real-life context.
MORE INFORMATION
• Everton Nursery School and Family Centre, www.evertonnurseryschoolandfamilycentre.org and @EvertonNursery on Twitter
Lyndsey Gardner is a senior early childhood educator and room leader at Everton Nursery School and Family Centre in Liverpool.
