In part two of this project, planned activities provide young children with further opportunities to explore the features of day and night and to become aware of time passing through sequences of events. A variety of starting points is offered to capture the interest and motivation of children.
Approach
Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (page 11) emphasises the importance of providing children with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated learning. This project therefore:
* identifies adult-led activities to introduce or develop children's understanding of the topic through stimulating, meaningful experiences which offer challenge.
* suggests ways to enhance areas of core provision to consolidate children's learning about the theme. It is the practitioner's role to observe children's learning daily to inform individual children's Profiles and future planning. Children should be encouraged to use available resources to support their own learning, so the possible learning outcomes will be wide-ranging and varied for each child.
* advocates that settings should be organised and resourced using a 'workshop' approach so that children can access resources autonomously and independently (see box).
Adult-led activities
At dead of night
Use the popular story Peace at Last by Jill Murphy to promote discussion about the features of night and day and to raise children's awareness of sounds all around them.
Key learning intentions
To have a developing awareness and understanding of the differences between night and day
To discriminate between environmental sounds and to experiment with voice sounds
Adult:child ratio 1:6
Resources
* Peace at Last by Jill Murphy (Macmillan Children's Books, 4.99) * bed * pillow * bedclothes
Preparation
* Select a group of interested children to take part. Through observations of their learning, be aware of children's stage of development in the area of linking sounds and letters.
* Choose a comfortable and distraction-free location for sharing the story.
Activity content
* Read the story with the children, encouraging them to talk about the pictures and characters and to anticipate what might happen next.
* Encourage the children to join in with the sounds that wake up Mr Bear.
* Talk about the differences in sounds and think about which sounds would be the most likely to wake up Mr Bear suddenly.
* Ask a child to pretend to be Mr Bear sleeping in the bed. Encourage another child to make a sound (using their voice) from the story, for example, 'Miaaaow!' to wake up Mr Bear. Ask the first child to 'wake up'
and identify the sound - for example, 'It was the cat'. Encourage the children to take turns at being Mr Bear and producing the sound.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Night, day, dark, light, morning, evening, loud, quiet, silent, asleep, awake Questions to ask
* Which do you think was the loudest/quietest sound Mr Bear heard?
* Do you think the loud or the quiet sounds would be more likely to wake him up?
* Where do you think would be a quiet place for Mr Bear to sleep?
* Which would be the noisiest place in a house to sleep?
* What other sounds would you hear in a bathroom?
* What do you think Mr Bear could do to make the room silent?
Extension ideas
* Provide a copy of the story in the book corner with props such as an aeroplane, an owl, a hedgehog, a cat and an alarm clock. Encourage the children to tell the story and to talk about the different sounds that woke up Mr Bear.
* Compare the sounds made by a range of alarm clocks.
* Talk about children's own experiences of sounds that wake them up in the night, such as babies crying, aeroplanes flying overhead, adults coming home late, or dogs barking.
* Introduce the story to parents and offer to lend the book to children overnight. Encourage parents to listen to sounds at night with their children and to look out of the window at the night sky.
In the dark
Provide an exciting, nocturnal environment for children to explore. Support them in extending their knowledge about night and day and encourage them to develop imaginative ideas over time.
Key learning intentions
To experience the darkness of night
To begin to understand that some animals are nocturnal
To play imaginatively and introduce story themes into their play
Adult:child ratio 1:4
Resources
* Lengths of dark fabric * den frame * glow-in-the-dark stars * soft toys of nocturnal creatures (for example, owls and badgers) * torches * backpacks * tape/CD recorder and a recording of night time sounds (for example, owls hooting, rusting branches, cats howling) * information and story books about night time and nocturnal animals
Preparation
* Collect resources that will enable you to replicate a night-time woodland scene.
* Decide on a suitable location for building the den. Trees and shrubs, if you have some in your outdoor area, could provide an ideal structure around which to build the den.
* Use the fabric, and if necessary the den frame, to enclose a space and exclude as much light as possible. Arrange other items in the den for the children to 'discover'.
Activity content
* Explain to children that you are going on a night-time adventure.
* Give each child a torch and demonstrate how to use it.
* Encourage children to put their torch into their backpack and to pack other, imaginary objects that they might need (for example, scarves, hats, snacks and spades).
* Invite the children to explore the den.
* Talk with them about their observations and feelings as they enter the darkness. Be aware that some children may be anxious or fearful about the dark and may need extra support. Allow all the children to be in control of their own torch.
* Play the recorded sounds and encourage sensory awareness as children explore.
* Play alongside children and, where appropriate, support their developing ideas by providing additional resources.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Night, day, dark, light, animal names.
Questions to ask
* What is it like outside at night?
* What do you think happens in your garden while you are asleep?
* What do you think owls do during the day?
* How do you know there is an owl here if you can't see it?
* What else can you hear?
* Can you feel anything in front of you?
* What do you think you would be able to see if you turned off your torch?
* How is the night sky different from the sky during the day?
Extension ideas
* As children become more confident, suggest that they turn off their torch to experience total darkness.
* Encourage children to make modifications to the den by rebuilding it and adding or removing items. Support them in constructing dark dens in other areas of the nursery.
* Provide further opportunities for children to explore the habitats and behaviour of nocturnal animals (See also 'sand area').
* Share with the children In the Middle of the Night by Kathy Henderson (Walker Books, 4.99). Through this story, the nocturnal urban world is revealed as a mother comforts her wakeful child. (See also 'small world').
Child-initiated learning
Sand area
Additional resources and adult support
* In the sand tray, provide logs, bark chippings, imitation or real pot plants (to represent shrubs or trees), plastic and cardboard tubes and lengths of half-pipe, small-world animals, birds and 'minibeasts', for example, a badger, owl and centipede.
* Talk with the children about the behaviour of nocturnal animals and help them to make links with their own experiences of night and of the nursery 'dark den'.
* Provide information and story books to support children's play, such as Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (Walker Books, 4.99) and read these with them.
* Ask questions such as 'Why do you think the badger makes his home underground?' and 'Where would you go if you wanted to sleep during the day?'
Play possibilities
* Exploring the new materials and other resources.
* Arranging and rearranging the 'habitat'.
* Creating burrows and dens in the sand and using tubes and half pipes to support these.
* Exploring the idea of being nocturnal through imaginative play.
* Recreating and making up stories within the environment.
Possible learning outcomes Explores materials using appropriate senses and compares features of different materials.
Talks about the features of an environment.
Uses imaginative play as a vehicle for exploring other concepts.
Outdoor area
Additional resources and adult support
* Provide 'sundials', for example, wooden stands for paper towels.
Encourage the children to position these around the area and to comment on the shadows they cast. Look at other shadows in the outdoor area.
* Provide playground chalk and demonstrate how this can be used to mark around shadows.
* Make the nursery camera accessible to the children and support them in using it correctly.
* Provide tents, sleeping bags and blankets alongside other camping equipment. Play alongside the children as appropriate.
Play possibilities
* Drawing around shadows at different times of the day, such as those of the children and a tree or a bike.
* Taking photographs of shadows.
* Watching and taking photographs of events in the local environment (for example, through the fence) throughout the day, such as a delivery, road repairs, shops opening and closing at the beginning and end of the day.
* Pretending to camp outside overnight. Preparing for night-time in the tent, 'sleeping' in sleeping bags, making breakfast in the morning.
Possible learning outcomes Talks about the features of day time and compares these with those of night.
Asks questions about why things happen.
Observes, and documents, changes throughout the day.
Shows an awareness of keeping safe and healthy with regard to skin protection from the sun.
Engages in role-play and explores the theme of night time through imaginative play ideas.
Small-world play Additional resources and adult support
* Provide In the Middle of the Night by Kathy Henderson (Walker Books, Pounds 4.99), which explores the worlds of people who work during the night, and share the story with the children (see also extension ideas for 'In the dark').
* Provide a shallow builder's tray and small-world equipment such as people, vehicles and traffic signs.
* Ensure that the children are able to access equipment and materials in other areas of provision to support their play.
* Encourage the children to set up an environment that reflects the nocturnal world in a town.
* Observe the children's play and support the children's developing ideas by offering additional resources.
* Ask questions to challenge thinking, for example, Why do you think the doctors and nurses have to work at the hospital through the night? Who do you think gets up early to make the bread so that it is in the bakery by morning? How could we make it dark as if was night? How will the ambulance driver see the road if it is dark?
* Plan for the small-world environment to be available over a period of time so that all interested children can access it at a time that is appropriate to them. This will also enable children to revisit and develop ideas.
Play possibilities
* Talking about the story In the Middle of the Night.
* Talking about own experiences of night time and sharing knowledge of nocturnal activities.
* Creating and modifying a small-world environment.
* Making models and finding objects to represent - for example, buildings.
* Making up scenarios and stories about night-time activity in the town.
Possible learning outcomes Uses language to recreate experiences and talk to organise thinking.
Designs and makes with a purpose in mind.
Uses one object to represent another.
Communicates ideas through imaginative play.
