One sunny autumn day, the children at Ely and Caerau Nursery School and Integrated Children’s Centre in Cardiff went into the garden to play. Suddenly Chester called us to see a magnificent mushroom growing under the tree. He was fascinated by the mushroom and keen to pick it. Diane went to get Chester a pair of gloves, explaining that we had to be careful as some mushrooms can be poisonous. Chester broke the mushroom into pieces, looking really closely at the various parts. He wanted to show me the mushroom and very soon several other children had come to see what he had found. Chester decided he wanted to paint the mushroom red. The paint really highlighted the mushroom’s patterns and textures.
Chester’s discovery sparked a buzz around the nursery and very soon more children were hunting for mushrooms in the garden. Freddie noticed something which was growing on the side of the crocodile (an old wooden structure which the children tend to sit on or balance across), which he thought was a mushroom. However, this caused a debate among the children. Some thought that it was, others thought it wasn’t. So, we ordered some fungi identification books to help us find out more.
‘There are lots of different mushrooms,’ noticed Rupert. ‘That one looks like a volcano,’ said Bertie. While looking through the identification book, Rupert spotted something that he recognised. ‘I know where this one is!’ he said, running over to the crocodile. The book told us it was called Jelly Rot fungus. The children continued to search for mushrooms and we were amazed at how many different types we found.
We talked about the places where the mushrooms were growing and realised that they were quite dark and wet. Some grew on the side of trees or on things made of wood. Finley thought that if we put the mushrooms we had found in some soil and watered them, they would grow. To test out Finley’s idea, we collected some jars and filled them with soil before popping in some of the mushrooms. Following the children’s interest in growing mushrooms, we ordered some growing kits, one field mushrooms and the other pink oyster mushrooms. Now we would have to water them every day and check on their progress.
DISSECTING MUSHROOMS
As the children were keen to handle the mushrooms, we brought in some shop-bought mushrooms for them to have a closer look. Chester wanted to take the mushrooms apart, so we used scissors to chop them up. Nursery teacher Becki Cullen introduced them to the terms for the different parts of the mushroom, including the stalk, cap and gills.
We collected a selection of mushrooms from the garden and explored them on the overhead projector, creating beautiful shadows and patterns. Rupert noticed that the shadows were of all different shapes and sizes – Finley wanted the mushrooms to stand up.
While taking pictures of the children and the mushrooms, the children wanted to look at the photographs. I offered them my iPad to take their own pictures. The iPad was a bit big and awkward for them to use independently, so we introduced a digital camera. With practice, they were able to hold the camera steady until the image was clear and press the capture button, as well as reviewing their pictures.
Rupert and Bertie shared their adventures during half term. They went mushroom-hunting in the woods. Bertie helped to make mushroom risotto for his family while Rupert created a picturebook to share with his friends during group time.
Spores, the reproductive organs of the mushroom, were a difficult concept for the children to understand. We therefore carried out an experiment. We pulled the stalks off some mushrooms, placed them onto some sugar paper, and left them overnight. ‘I wonder what will happen?’ I asked. ‘The fairies might come,’ said Bertie. ‘They might grow bigger,’ thought Egan. ‘Into a big, big beanstalk,’ added Chester. The next day we took the mushrooms off the paper. ‘It’s like the mushroom,’ said Egan, looking at the print which the spores had created on the paper. We experimented with printing.
Over a few days, Bertie made a model toadstool out of junk. He carefully chose his materials and fixed them with tape. He wanted to paint it red and waited until the following day to paint on the white spots. ‘It says don’t eat me,’ he told us. ‘The fairies live underneath.’ We modelled mushrooms from salt dough and plasticine.
MUSHROOM HARVEST
After we brought our mushrooms inside where it was warmer, they started to grow. The children were keen to check on them as they entered nursery each morning. They independently sprayed them with water and were aware that they were getting bigger. ‘I think we should pick them and cook with them,’ I suggested. ‘Let’s make mushroom risotto!’ said Bertie.
With the ingredients bought, the children helped to make mushroom risotto. They followed instructions well, chopping and mixing the ingredients and then taking it in turns to stir the risotto as it cooked on the hob. Our little chefs served it up for snack. There were mixed reviews, but lots of the children were willing to give it a try. None of the grown-ups had ever cooked with pink oyster mushrooms, so we looked on the internet and found a pasta recipe that sounded tasty. Our next group of chefs cooked up a storm.
Chester and Bertie were interested in pulling the mushrooms apart. We set up a digital microscope and linked it to the laptop. The children quickly understood the link between the microscope pointing at the mushroom and the image on the screen. ‘I can see the gills,’ said Bertie. ‘They’re really big. Lots of lines.’ ‘Like worms,’ said Chester.
Bertie began to peel the mushroom. ‘It’s all white inside,’ he said. When he peeled the top off, he took a look at it with the microscope. ‘It looks fluffy,’ said Chester. He began to take the stalks off some of the mushrooms. He pointed the microscope at the circular pattern left behind on the mushroom. ‘It looks like a sausage,’ said Evie. ‘It’s all bonkers!’ said Rupert.
What a great adventure, so much we’ve learned, with knowledge, skills and processes developed every day. Hunting, identifying, exploring, investigating, experimenting, growing, cooking, tasting, creating – these are just some of the skills that the children developed over this project.
Interpreting and analysing the observations using Tina Bruce’s ten Early Childhood principles
1. The best way to prepare children for adult life is to give them what they need as children. Chester was supported to take the mushrooms apart many times because he had a need to change their appearance. When he was ready, the adult gave him the language of “cap” and “gills”. Finley was allowed to test his theory, helping him to predict how the mushroom might behave through his own trial and error. Rupert was learning through his own efforts – looking for mushrooms led to thinking, reasoning and understanding about where mushrooms may be located. Bertie experimented with different ways of fixing his toadstool together and created stories about fairies.
The things that children make spontaneously are based on their ideas and lived experiences.
2. Children are whole people who have feelings, ideas and relationships with others, and who need to be physically, mentally, morally and spiritually healthy. The adults did not bombard Chester with too many questions when he needed to investigate separating the mushroom – they knew that he needed time to explore. With repetition, his experiences strengthened his understanding. Finley was given support to carry out his experiment in a way which will build his confidence and skills. The adults, respecting Rupert’s knowledge, supported him to extend his understanding, leading to him making his own book to share. The adults also supported Bertie’s idea by providing opportunities for him to follow a recipe and make mushroom risotto. In doing this he was learning to choose and use.
3. Young children learn in an integrated way and not in neat, tidy compartments. Adults should provide children with an intellectually challenging learning environment which promotes their curiosity, interest and learning. Chester and Finley explored how things can be transformed, with the adults giving them repeated opportunities to understand reversible and irreversible processes. Rupert and Bertie showed us their understanding of comparative heights of mushrooms. All of the children learned in ways which can be linked with developmental pathways in the curriculum.
4. Children learn best when they are given appropriate responsibility, are allowed to make errors, decisions and choices, and are respected as autonomous learners. All the children were self-motivated because they are encouraged to be so. Their intrinsic motivation to learn was nurtured.
5. Self-discipline is emphasised, and children need their efforts to be valued. Each of the children was developing self-discipline. This helped them to concentrate well and learn effectively.
6. There are times when children are especially able to learn particular things. Because they were given choices to make decisions, while being given sensitive help as and when needed, Chester, Finley, Rupert and Bertie were able to learn in ways which were right for each of them as individuals. Adults observed, supported and extended their learning.
7. What children can do (rather than what they cannot do) is the starting point in their education. Here the adults placed an emphasis on what the children could do and were interested in, rather than what they couldn’t do. The tone and atmosphere was very encouraging and not judgemental or critical. This helped to build self-esteem and confidence.
8. Imagination, creativity and all kinds of symbolic behaviour (reading, drawing, etc.) develop and emerge when conditions are favourable. Chester needed time and personal space to explore the mushrooms and represent them in his painting. The adults led Finley to move from the familiar to the unfamiliar by providing him with many opportunities to understand how the mushroom could be taken apart. Rupert also benefited from talking about what he was discovering with the adults, his family and friends. Talking and listening to each other is central to the way in which children become symbol users.
9. The people (both adults and children) with whom the child interacts are of central importance. Adults can create warm, affectionate atmospheres which open children up to learning. Children develop relationships between themselves – when they were fully engaged with the mushrooms, they spontaneously used them in their play and exploration. This helps children to know themselves and engage with their learning very positively.
10. Quality education is about three things: the child, the context in which learning takes place, and the knowledge and understanding which the child develops and learns. Adults create the physical and emotional environment both indoors and outdoors. Chester showed us how important it is to learn without external pressures from adults. He initiated exploration and investigation of the mushrooms over time, in different ways, then represented them in his painting. He needed time to revisit his learning. This contrasts with Finley, who needed help from an adult in setting up his experiment. The adult did not see his investigation as purposeless, but about making important connections with his prior learning. Rupert and Bertie took what they had learned home. They were supported to explore the parts of the mushroom in the minutest detail and then arranged the parts into a logical sequence – moving from concrete to imaginative and abstract thinking.
