A topic about families is a perennial favourite. This is to be expected, as effective practitioners plan experiences and activities based on children's interests and there are few things most children are interested in more than themselves! Practitioners can build on these interests and plan experiences and activities that reflect the learning needs of individuals and groups of children.
A project about families must reflect the many different kinds of families that children live in today - from a small unit including just one child and an adult who may or may not be the mother or father, to large extended families and children who divide their time between more than one home.
Books about different sorts of families make wonderful starting points for practitioners and children to explore the wealth of similarities and differences between and within families (see 'Children's Books - It's all relative', Nursery World, 13 April 2006).
By their very nature, such books help children to consider issues such as the birth of a baby, sibling rivalry or the departure or death of a relative, and to explore the emotions that can surround such events including fear, loss, jealousy, loneliness and anger.
By providing stimulating and challenging experiences that promote children's imagination and curiosity, practitioners can engage all children in this ever-popular theme. Some very different fiction and non-fiction books make an excellent starting point.
Project guide
The Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (page 11) emphasises the importance of providing children with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated learning opportunities. 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 practitioners' role to make daily observations of children's learning which inform individual child profiles and future planning. Children should be encouraged to use the resources to support their own learning. This means that the possible learning outcomes will be wide-ranging and varied.
* advocates that settings should be organised and resourced using a 'workshop' approach so that children can access resources autonomously and independently.
Adult-led activities
Get Lost, Laura!
Read Get Lost, Laura to the group.
Key learning intentions
* To express needs and feelings in appropriate ways
* To extend their vocabulary, exploring the meanings and sounds of new words
* To listen to stories with increasing attention and recall
Adult:child ratio 1:8
Resources
* Get Lost, Laura! by Jennifer Northway (Scholastic) * flipchart or sheet of A1 paper *large coloured markers
Story outline
* Get Lost, Laura! is a story that tackles families and sibling rivalry.
Laura interferes with Lucy and cousin Alice's play and won't go away, so they decide to hide. But Laura doesn't follow and the girls soon begin to worry about her. Worry soon turns to panic and the cousins begin to blame each other for the toddler's disappearance. Eventually, Lucy bursts into tears and the girls make their way back to the house to tell mum, only to find Laura sitting on her knee.
Activity content
* Read the story to the children, encouraging them to listen and enjoy the experience.
* Revisit the book, asking the children open-ended questions about the main characters. Discuss how Lucy and her cousin must have felt when they thought Laura was lost. Record the words and expressions the children use as they describe how they might have felt.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Lost, alone, afraid, feel like, hide, seek, find, worry, panic, sad, scared, miserable, sorry, guilty, unhappy, older, younger, toddler
Questions to ask
* Why do you think Lucy told Laura to 'get lost'?
* How do you think Lucy felt when she couldn't find Laura?
* What do you think Lucy could have done if she was getting tired of Laura?
* What sorts of games could you play with a younger brother or sister?
Extension ideas
* Play 'hide and seek' outdoors.
* Create a display of the children's words for feelings - sad, happy, angry, scared - with the children's pictures of themselves. Try to find lots of words that describe the same emotion.
* Create a display of photographs of children with younger brothers and sisters and speech bubbles recording the sorts of games they play together.
Books about families
Create a group book featuring photographs of the children in your setting with a family member.
Key learning intentions
* To have a sense of self as a member of different communities
* To ascribe meaning to marks
* To interact with others, taking turns in conversation
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 6
Resources
* A4 card to make a group book * Photographs of child with a family member * Speech bubbles * Marker pens and glue sticks * Information texts about families such as Families by Debbie Bailey (Annick Press), which uses photographs to explore the similarities and differences within families.
Preparation
* Ask each family to contribute one photograph of the child with one other family member, such as a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, cousin, or more distant relative. Some families may find it easier to have a photograph taken at the setting or, where possible, practitioners could lend families a digital camera to take photographs overnight.
* Ensure that the children have had lots of opportunities to explore storybooks and information texts about families.
Activity content
* Talk to the children about the photographs, discussing the familiar adults and the things that they like doing with them.
* Record the children's comments in speech bubbles. Where appropriate, support the children as they record their own thoughts through mark-making and early writing.
* Help the children to fix their photograph and speech bubble on to a piece of A4 coloured card.
* Continue until a group book is created, with the children's photographs and comments on each page.
* Share the book with the children and encourage them to guess what each child likes to do with an adult in their family.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Mum, dad, sister, brother, uncle, aunt, grandmother, grandfather, cousin, family, baby, toddler, home, live
Questions to ask
* What to you like to do with this person?
* Why do you think she/he likes cooking/gardening/painting/playing football?
* Do you think that she/he would like playing in the nursery/school?
* What else would you like to do with...?
* Do you do different things with other members of your family? What do you like to do?
Extension ideas
* Make individual simple zig-zag books with the children with pages headed 'my dad...', for example, is a bus driver or likes cooking.
* Make a display of children's pictures and comments about individual family members - for example, 'Our mums are all different, but ALL mums are marvellous!' or, with the whole family, 'Our families are all different, but all wonderful.'
Child-initiated learning
Home corner
Additional resources and adult support
* Provide resources for the children to role-play a birthday party, such as a paper tablecloth, napkins, cups, plates, birthday cards, banner, pretend cake with candles, wrapped 'presents', wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, gift tags, invitations.
* Ensure the children are familiar with A Quiet Night In by Jill Murphy (Walker Books) or other books about families and birthday parties. A Quiet Night In is one of Jill Murphy's stories featuring the Large Family. It is Mr Large's birthday and Mrs Large is planning a quiet night in, without any children - but things in the Large household rarely go as planned.
* Observe, and where appropriate, extend children's imaginative role play.
* Support the children as they select gifts to wrap.
* Model the use of specific resources and act 'in role' - as a party guest, caterer or 'birthday girl/boy'.
* Ask open-ended questions that encourage the use of imaginative and descriptive language.
* Encourage the children to add resources or use equipment in creative ways to support their play.
Play possibilities
* Making up their own stories
* Talking about past experiences
* Sorting the food, cutlery and crockery
* Expressing and communicating ideas, thoughts and feelings through role play
* Taking on different roles and exploring the use of language
* Cutting, mixing and cooking food
* Possible learning outcomes
* Has a growing awareness of the needs of others
* Uses language to recreate roles and experiences
* Remembers and talks about significant things that have happened to them
* Shows an awareness of a range of healthy practices with regard to eating and hygiene
* Uses imagination in role play
Birthday cards
Additional resources and adult support
* Provide a range of birthday cards, particularly those with numerals, or family cards for 'brother', 'mum' or 'sister'.
* Provide A4 coloured card, folded in half, envelopes, a post box and assorted marker pens.
* Introduce and reinforce the use of specific vocabulary for birthday cards -love from, to, sister, brother, Happy Birthday!, age, envelope, post.
* Encourage the children to explore the commercial greetings cards.
* Support children as they make their own birthday cards, fit them into envelopes, write addresses and post them.
Play possibilities
* Making connections with previous experiences.
* Finding cards that have similarities.
* Identifying familiar numerals and family words.
* Talking about events that have included sending or receiving cards or presents, or attending birthday parties.
* Mark-making to create birthday cards.
Possible learning outcomes
* Persists at an activity of own choosing
* Uses simple statements and questions
* Ascribes meaning to marks
* Recognises numerals 1 to 5 or 1 to 9
* Describes significant events
Imaginative play area
Additional resources and adult support
* Provide a doll's house, furniture and play people of different sizes to make up family units.
* Add play dough or plasticene and small plastic flowers, trees, twigs, gravel and pebbles to make gardens.
* Add books and photographs/posters of different families.
* Model the use of key vocabulary - house, home, family, live, kitchen, bedroom, visitors, mum, dad, uncle, aunt, grandma, grandpa, sister, brother, baby.
* Ask open-ended questions about what the children are doing and why. What are the characters doing and saying? What is likely to happen?
* Support children's conversations, encouraging them to make connections with earlier or home experiences.
Play possibilities
* Sorting play people to create familiar families
* Making connections with home experiences
* Retelling and making up stories
* Planning where to put furniture for different purposes
* Designing and making gardens
* Working as part of a group, co-operating and negotiating.
Possible learning outcomes
* Displays high levels of involvement in activities
* Uses language to recreate roles and experiences
* Uses developing mathematical ideas to solve practical problems
* Designs and makes for a purpose
* Handles objects with increasing skill
Creative workshop
Additional resources and adult support
* Provide ready-mxed paints in a variety of colours including skin tones, mirrors, assorted drawing media, sugar paper, wool in a variety of hair colours, assorted fabric, labels and speech bubbles, books, paintings and pictures of families
* Introduce and reinforce language relating to families.
* Encourage the children to talk about their families and to represent their own family using pencils, paint, collage or a mixture of different media.
* Support children's conversations, encouraging them to communicate what they are doing and why.
Play possibilities
* Drawing pictures of family members
* Painting pictures of one or more family member
* Adding collage to drawings or paintings
* Recalling and making links with own earlier experiences
* Writing or mark-making labels or speech bubbles to go with their creations
* Creating story lines, individually or in co-operation with others
Possible learning outcomes
* Works as part of a group, co-operating and negotiating
* Ascribes meaning to marks when making signs
* Shows an interest in the world in which they live
* Uses a range of small equipment
* Uses imagination in creative play
Judith Stevens is an early years adviser for Lewisham Education
AREAS OF LEARNING
* Personal, social and emotional development
* Communication, language and literacy
* Mathematical development
* Knowledge & understanding of the world
* Physical development
* Creative development
