Having built on the children's perceptions and interests in the first part of this project (see last week's Nursery World), now look at ways to enhance and extend their thinking through books, songs and rhymes that will inspire them to ask questions and carry out their own investigations.
One such title is What's Up? by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom (Franklin Watts, 5.99), an excellent non-fiction book for the Foundation Stage and one that is likely to stir children's imaginations and get everybody thinking.
It would make an excellent basis for activities and a great companion to A Great Day for Up! by Dr Seuss (Collins, 4.99). It would also be worthwhile spending time comparing and contrasting the ideas about 'up'
that are presented in both books.
What's Up? offers information and also tells the story of the adventures of a boy and girl (and their dog) as they climb higher and higher. Eventually, they travel in a rocket to the moon, before going on to the sun and the stars. The children then return home by parachute!
The last two pages of illustrations in the book show the children's journey from start to finish, which could provide the basis of a simple mathematical track game - a race to deep space! Simply mark out a long straight track and add pictures of the objects mentioned in the book, starting with the steps and ending with the stars. Add play people for counters and a numbered dice and let children experience the same journey in their own imaginations.
Adult-led activities
The big drop
Organise parachute play with soft toys.
Key learning intentions
To ask questions about why things happen and how things work
To use developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems
Adult:child ratio 1:6
Resources
Small cuddly toys wide range of materials for making parachutes, such as supermarket carriers - this activity will be most valuable if the children are encouraged to experiment with a wide range of materials joining and cutting tools good supply of string or wool somewhere to launch the toys, preferably outdoors, such as a climbing frame
Activity content
* Let the children choose a toy and design a parachute for it. They may wish to work individually, in pairs, or in a small group.
* Support the choices that the children make, but be careful not to dominate them with your own ideas about how the parachute might be made.
* When they are satisfied that they have made a suitable parachute for their toy, let them test how effective it is. Some children may want to revisit their design and make changes. Make sure that they have such an opportunity, as this is an essential part of the design process.
* Help the children evaluate what they have done. What do they think went well? How do they think they might work differently next time?
* Try to use the parachutes in the wind as well as on calm days. How do the differing conditions make the parachutes behave?
Child-initiated learning
Small-world play area
Additional resources and adult support
* Build a small-world airport with the children. Discuss with them what you will need, and involve the children in gathering the equipment.
* Tape some large pieces of blank paper to a tabletop, so that the children can draw their own runways for the toy aeroplanes.
* Encourage the use of junk and found materials to create the airport terminal, and make sure that you have some car parks available for all the travelling passengers.
* Keep a globe and atlas nearby, so the children can discuss their destinations.
* Be prepared to extend this kind of play if the children become particularly excited and inspired. You could end up creating a role-play departure lounge and some suitcases for children to pack.
Possible learning outcomes
Works as part of a group, taking turns and sharing fairly Builds and constructs with a wide range of objects, selecting appropriate resources and adapting their work where necessary
Selects the tools and techniques that they need to shape, assemble and join the materials that they are using
Construction area
Additional resources and adult support
* Display images of pyramids, cathedrals, castles, mosques and other tall buildings and toy figures of a boy, a girl and dog.
* Encourage the children to build an exciting tall structure for the characters. How high can they help them go?
* Make sure that there is time for the children to make up and tell their stories.
* Make a book of photographs of the constructions with captions dictated by the children. Leave it in the construction area so that the children can take inspiration from it.
* Add large rolls of paper and thick, brightly coloured felt pens to the area to encourage the children to create backgrounds for their stories or to draw the adventures that they have devised for their characters.
Possible learning outcomes
Uses language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences
Uses developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems
Explores colour, texture, shape, form and space in two and three dimensions
Adult-led activities
Up and up
Explore the theme of 'up' through a Shirley Hughes classic tale.
Key learning intentions
To use talk to clarify and sequence ideas, feelings and events
To listen with enjoyment and respond to stories, songs and other rhymes and poems
To interact with others, taking turns in conversation
Adult:child ratio 1:6. Because of the complexity of this book, it would be difficult to share in a large group - a small group with an adult is best, preferably with multiple copies, so that children can pore over the pictures carefully, to pick out the fine details.
Resources
Several copies of Up and Up by Shirley Hughes (Red Fox, available on Amazon), a wordless picture book about a little girl's unsuccessful attempts to fly until she receives and eats an enormous chocolate egg, when, amazingly, she finds herself able to fly
Activity content
* Although this book has no words, it is not an 'easy read'. This is the kind of picture book that challenges both adults and children alike to make up their own narratives.
* Prepare for this activity by reading the book for yourself, as it will make you more aware of the possibilities for discussion.
* Share the book with the children. Begin by looking at the cover together.
What do the children think the book will be about?
* The endpapers have a lot of details to explore as they show a bird's eye view of some streets. Perhaps the children will see some things in this double page spread that they recognise - if they do, give them the opportunity to talk about it.
* As you turn the pages of the book, make sure that you involve the children in telling the story from the pictures. Give them time to predict what will happen next, and to talk about what has happened in the space 'between' the pictures.
* They will also need to have time to talk about the characters' feelings - those of the little girl and all the people that she encounters along the way, especially the elderly gentleman who chases her in a hot-air balloon.
* You could also discuss what the children think it would be like in a world where everyone could fly. Such conversations are best initiated with phrases such as 'I wonder what it would be like if...' as this encourages children to offer more tentative replies.
* Make available copies of the book so that the children can return to it independently, as they are sure to want to revisit and 'reread' it.
Child-initiated learning
Rhymes and songs
Provide opportunities for children to explore the theme of 'up' through rhymes and song.
Preparation
* Gather together a selection of rhymes that support the theme - for example, 'Incy Wincy Spider', 'Jack and Jill', 'Wind the Bobbin Up', 'The Grand Old Duke of York', 'Hickory, Dickory, Dock', 'Dickery, Dickery Dare, the pig flew up in the air', 'There was an old woman tossed up in a basket'.
* Type up each of the rhymes and laminate them.
* If you wish, make multiple copies - these are useful, but not essential.
* Gather together props to help develop activities around the theme of 'up'.
'Incy Wincy Spider'
Additional resources and adult support
* Provide plastic spiders, pieces of drain pipe and guttering, string, jugs, pipes and hoses, and equipment for squirting water, such as washing-up liquid bottles.
* Place the selection of equipment outside and let the children investigate ways of washing Incy Wincy down the pipes, and devising ways of helping him 'climb' back up.
Possible learning outcomes
Uses developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems Interacts with others, negotiating plans and activities and taking turns in conversation
'There was an old woman tossed up in a basket'
Additional resources and adult support
* Provide a wicker basket large enough for at least one child to sit in; a broom, ideally one that looks like a witch's broom; feather duster; shawl, or large piece of fabric; large sheets of fabric to represent the sky and the clouds; atlas; non-fiction books about the stars and the planets and pictures of the night sky; junk modelling materials, including masking tape; an old diary with plenty of blank pages; blank postcards.
* Encourage the children to 'go off' on adventures in the basket. They may wish to write about their adventures, or draw pictures of where they have been, in the diary.
* Adding blank postcards to the activity could encourage a different kind of writing.
* Lesley Hendy describes an excellent interactive storymaking activity, using 'There Was an Old Woman Tossed Up in a Basket' as the starting point in Supporting Drama and Imaginative Play in the Early Years (see Resources).
Possible learning outcomes
Uses language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences
Attempts writing for various purposes
Uses their imagination in role play
Hickory, Dickory, Dock
Additional resources and adult support
* Provide a few toy mice (if children are using the activity below, as a competitive game, they will need a mouse each); blank dice, numbered 2, 4, 6 and - 1, - 2, and - 3; pictorial representation of a tall clock, preferably with a face that has moveable hands - make it relatively long and draw a simple track on the clock, running from bottom to top.
* Show the children how to use the track as a racing game. Place the mice at the foot of the clock. Children take it in turns to throw the dice. They must throw a 2, 4 or 6 to start. They then move the number of squares indicated by the dice. If they throw a negative score then they must move back the equivalent number of squares. First one to reach the clock face is the winner.
Possible learning outcomes
Works as part of a group or class, taking turns and sharing fairly
Understands what is wrong, what is right and why
Counts reliably up to 10
Recognises numerals 1-9
Finds one more or one less than a number from 1 to 10
Begins to use the vocabulary involved in adding and subtracting in practical activities and discussion
Resources to support the theme
* Supporting Drama and Imaginative Play in the Early Years by Lesley Hendy and Lucy Toon (Open University Press, 17.99)
* Blank dice are available from www.ldalearning.com
