Giving young children the chance to explore their local environment is central to early years education, and each year we spend a week focusing on our town, Easingwold, and learning more about it. I think it's a great topic because so often children whizz around the town in cars and don't always appreciate what is around them.
We began the project by taking our 20 three-and four-year-olds to visit the local market place. They had a great time taking a closer look at some of the shops and businesses. In the past, we have visited the baker's, the newsagent's, the garden centre, the vet's and the Post Office.
I think the children particularly enjoyed a trip to the fish and chip shop.
They actually got to help batter the fish and sample different varieties.
Taking fish and chips back to the nursery for lunch was a bonus too!
We discussed the different shops and buildings we saw, and the children made a model of the town out of cardboard boxes and tubes. Recreating the town was made easier by photos taken while we explored, and we also referred to a book about the town's history. The children painted the model buildings, made signs and laid out their model town on the floor. We tried to recreate it as accurately as possible and the model people and cars brought the town to life.
To extend the project, we invited older members of the community to the nursery to discuss what the town was like in their day. The children loved seeing old photos and toys.
Other activities included creating a vet's surgery and Post Office in the activity den - the topic possibilities really are endless. The activities spanned many Early Learning Goals, including those in Knowledge and Understanding of the World, Language and Literacy and Creative Development.
Nursery manager Judith Tubb spoke to Mahrukh Choughtai
