Adult-led activities.
Blowing in the wind
Help children to understand that, although we can't see the wind, we can see, hear and feel its effects all around us on a blustery day. Make and use wind wands with children and explore wind force and direction.
Key learning intentions
To experience windy weather and raise sensory awareness
To talk about observations and ask questions about why things happen
To understand that wind can cause things to move
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 6.
Resources
*A windy day! * paper 'sticks' (made from tightly rolled paper - 30cm to 60cm is an ideal length) * lengths of ribbon *crepe paper streamers * long strips of, for example, tissue paper or coloured cellophane * chiffon scarves * masking tape * Sellotape * rubber bands * string * scissors
Preparation
* Make sure that materials are readily available so that you can respond quickly to the arrival of windy weather.
* Make a stock of paper 'sticks' in advance (although you should demonstrate to the children how these are made and provide the necessary materials for them to make their own if they wish).
* Cut a stock of 'streamers' and lengths of ribbon.
* Set up an indoor area (or resource the workshop appropriately) where children can make a wind wand.
* If the wind is strong, do a safety check immediately before taking the children outside. For example, make sure that open doors are hooked back and that no potentially dangerous items are blowing around the area.
Activity content
* Take the children outside. Encourage them to feel the force of the wind and to move in response to the wind.
* With the children, look at branches bending and any leaves being blown around the area.
* Draw their attention to sounds created as a result of the wind.
* Encourage children to make wind sounds using their own voices, such as 'Whoooooo' and 'Shhhhhhhhh'.
* Give children scarves and streamers to hold and encourage them to watch and talk about what happens to them when the wind blows.
* Return indoors to make wind wands. Encourage children to select three or four streamers and ribbons to attach to the top of a paper stick. Discuss with them the properties and features of the different materials and support them in fixing their chosen streamers to the stick.
* Take the wind wands outside. Ask children to hold them up and watch what happens to the streamers as the wind blows, again encouraging the use of their senses.
Extending learning.
Key vocabulary
Wind, windy, blow, push, up, down and sideways. Also model and encourage the use of vocabulary such as twisting, flapping, howling, whistling and rustling.
Questions to ask
What happens to the trees when the wind blows? Which way is the wind pushing you? Can you move to a place where you can feel the wind blowing on your face? Can you hear any sound as the wind blows? Can you make the same sound? How can you tell that it is windy when you are inside? What is making the leaves move? Why are they making a rustling sound? Which way are streamers on your wind wand blowing? Are the other children's streamers blowing in the same direction? Do they always blow upwards/to this side? Do the streamers make any sound as the wind blows them? Do the paper and plastic streamers make the same sound? What would happen to the streamers if we let go of them? What does it feel like when the wind blows the streamers across your face?
Follow-up activities
* Explain the purposes of the activity to parents and encourage children to take their wind wands home to continue their investigations.
* Look at ways in which wind is used to make things move, for example, to sail boats and to power windmills.
* Provide a range of resources in the outdoor area that will encourage further exploration of wind (see 'Outdoor area' on the following page).
Blow a tune
With the children, look at and make wind musical instruments.
Key learning intention
To explore how sounds can be made and changed
Adult:child ratio 1:4
Resources
* A range of commercially produced musical instruments such as flute, clarinet, recorder, bagpipes, pan pipes * balloons * cardboard tubes * differing lengths and widths of plastic tubing/piping * wide, plastic drinking straws *paper art straws * plastic bottles * paper bags * scissors * string * masking tape * Sellotape.
Preparation
* Make sure that the area is free from noisy distractions. Children need to be able to focus on the sounds they are listening to and making.
* If children are making instruments in the workshop area, enhance provision with the necessary resources.
Activity content
* Talk about how we can use our own breath as 'wind'. Encourage children to hold the palm of their hand in front of their face and to blow on to it feeling the force of the air.
* Show children the musical instruments. Take the instruments apart and look at how they work. Blow each instrument in turn and compare the sounds they make.
* Demonstrate blowing up a balloon and then releasing the air to produce a sound.
* Introduce children to the junk materials that you have gathered together. Encourage them to experiment with, and compare, the sounds they can make by blowing. (Be aware of hygiene and safety. Discourage children from putting tubes, plastic bottles and so on into their mouths. They should be able to produce sounds by blowing into tubes or over the top of the ends of tubes. Make sure that mouthpieces on instruments are cleaned before children are allowed to have a turn.)
* Support children, where necessary, in joining items together to make an instrument. For example, wide, plastic drinking straws of different lengths stuck on to a strip of card can be very effective pipes - as children blow over the top of the ends of the straws, they will hear a range of high and low sounds.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Blow, loud, quiet, high, low.
Questions to ask
Blow hard on to your hand - can you feel/hear your breath? Does it feel different if you blow softly? How do you think we can make this instrument produce a sound? Where do we need to blow? What sound can you make by blowing across the top of a plastic bottle? Do all the bottles make the same sound? Can you put a few bottles together and play a tune?
Follow-up activities
* Provide a tape or CD of wind instrumental music in the listening area.
* Arrange a recital of recorder music in the setting by older children.
Child-initiated learning
Encourage children to develop their own interests and ideas across the curriculum by adding topic resources to the basic provision.
Outdoor area
Additional resources
* Kites, windsocks, flagpoles and flags * Windmills. Garden centres sometimes stock very large windmills. Paper windmills can be made quite easily with a square of paper: cut from each corner almost to the centre, fold alternate points loosely to meet in the centre and fix with a split pin * Weather vane * Commercially produced wind chimes; lengths of copper/plastic piping or disused (safe) kitchen utensils to hang from tree branches or wall brackets * Ribbons, scarves, streamers *Bubbles and bubble wands * Washing lines, pegs * Tape recorder, blank tape
Possible learning experiences/activities
* Finding out about wind force and direction through first-hand experiences.
* Exploring and talking about the effects of wind.
* Talking about seed dispersal, blossom/leaves blowing off the trees (depending on the season).
* Listening to the sounds made by wind blowing objects together, such as leaves rustling or a bucket being blown against a wall. Experimenting using the wind, with other items, to make music.
* Blowing bubbles. Talking about how bubbles are formed and, when released, pushed and carried along by the wind.
* Hanging items on the washing line and observing which way the wind blows them. Drying wet clothes on a washing line on a windy day.
* Taping the wind sounds in the outdoor area. Using the tape in imaginative play/ story-making activities in the indoor area.
The practitioner role
* Prepare a 'windy weather' box of appropriate resources and make sure that it is easily accessible.
* Make full use of outdoor facilities/ natural features. For example, tie ribbons to fencing posts, tree branches, drain pipes or use tree trunks as flag poles.
* Support children by providing resources in other areas to enable them to make their own kites, wind chimes, etc.
* Encourage sensory awareness.
* Challenge children's thinking by asking them questions such as, 'What is inside the bubble?' 'What keeps the air inside the bubble?' 'Where do you think the wind will blow the bubble?' 'Where will it land?' 'Who will find it?'
Workshop
Additional resources
* Examples of commercially produced kites * Wooden 'lolly' sticks, rolled paper 'sticks', art straws, plastic drinking straws * String, wool * Scissors * Masking tape, Sellotape * Paper bags, pieces of tissue paper, nylon material, thin plastic sheeting, cellophane.
Possible learning experiences/activities
* Looking at materials used by manufacturers to make kites.
* Dismantling a kite to discover how it has been made.
* Exploring materials.
* Talking about properties of materials.
* Selecting appropriate tools and materials.
* Experimenting with ways of joining and fixing materials.
* Making own kites.
* Flying bought and made kites in outdoor area.
* Finding out about the features of wind.
* Evaluating the success of kites and making necessary modifications.
The practitioner role
* Model exploration of materials and use of language such as thin, light and strong.
* Replenish stocks of materials if necessary making sure that there is always a range available so that children are able to make choices.
* Work with children encouraging them to look carefully at how kites are made and talking with them about reasons for choices of materials for their own kites.
* Pose challenges such as, 'How could you make a handle so that you can hold the kite string securely?'
* Observe children's understanding and skills when they are designing and making.
Water area
On a breezy day, an outdoor water tray in an exposed area can offer an opportunity for children to see how natural wind moves a sailboat.
Additional resources
* Sailing boats * Plastic 'tub' boats, plasticine, paper 'sails' * Small-world people * Lightweight plastic balls * Plastic ducks * Battery operated, hand held fans, bellows, card fans
Possible learning experiences/activities
* Investigating how sails work.
* Using fans/bellows to produce 'wind'.
* Moving floating objects using wind.
* Making ripples and 'waves' in the water.
* Making paper sails and using them on 'tub' boats, experimenting with size, shape and position of sails to ensure effectiveness.
* Experimenting with wind direction, steering boats by positioning the fan.
* Blowing a boat, containing a passenger, from one destination to another.
The practitioner role
* Talk about different types of boats and how they are moved through the water by using oars, sails, engines. Share with children books about and photographs of each boat type.
* Allow children opportunities to explore the bellows and fans in a range of contexts before they are expected to use them in a controlled way to move objects.
* Support children with the physical skills required to make and attach a sail.
* Offer the resources to children over a period of a few days (or even longer), allowing them time to carry out their own investigations and to revisit the area to develop ideas.
* Encourage children to test and adapt their designs.
