Early learning goal
To select the tools and techniques they need to shape, assemble and join materials that they are using
Every object has a form, and young children learn about shape and materials through sight and touch. It is important, therefore, that you create opportunities for children to play with a wide range of objects, both familiar and unfamiliar, so they can develop the correct language to describe them. Use the stepping stones below to guide your planning.
1 Malleable materials
The youngest children love the sensation of moulding dough, and with proper adult support, this helps children develop:
Sharing and turn taking when using the same tools.
Extending vocabulary through sustained conversation between practitioners and children.
Learning about size, shape and number.
Being imaginative in role-play scenarios, such as 'baking'.
Developing fine motor skills through using a variety of tools.
Learning they can have an impact on their world by exerting their strength and imagination to change the way it looks.
Encourage children to solve simple problems as they choose the best tools, and explain how they plan to achieve the tasks they have set themselves.
Good practice
* Provide lots of stimulating experiences by offering a wide range of malleable materials, such as plasticine, playdough (it's easy to make your own), clay, custard powder and other commercial products, and a large selection of resources, such as rolling pins, plastic knives and forks.
* Encourage children to collect objects from the room, for example, cotton reels, small hollow bricks, large bottle tops and rulers.
* Ensure each child has a chopping board and enough space at the table.
* Provide trays for children to keep their made objects to show friends.
* Record activities on a digital camera.
2 Construction kits
The joy of building is that it is non-competitive and never 'right' or 'wrong'. It can also help in: Co-operating and exchanging ideas through the daily sharing of construction equipment and working together.
Using correct mathematical and technical vocabulary.
Developing an understanding of three-dimensional constructions and concepts of space, shape and form.
Developing an understanding of the characteristics of building materials; making decisions about how to use materials effectively to create the models they conceive; testing their problem-solving techniques.
Using their imaginative skills.
Developing good hand-eye co-ordination.
Good practice
* Provide good access to resources and create opportunities for children to build with construction equipment.
* Always interact subtly with children and encourage them to express themselves as they play.
* Remember that giving acknowledgement is often more crucial to children than engaging them in conversation about what they are building.
* Gauge interaction so that it is appropriate to the children's needs.
Praise and encouragement delivered through facial expressions and a few positive comments will encourage children to pursue their building.
* At appropriate moments, encourage the children to take stock of their progress and to address construction problems as they occur, so helping them develop understanding of form and shape.
* Give the children space and time to interact with others and initiate opportunities for them to build models together and to discuss strategies.
* Always use appropriate terminology and encourage the children to do the same.
* Refer to books and photographs to stimulate ideas for construction work.
3 Properties of materials
Encourage children to explore the properties of different materials through displays of objects that will stimulate them to use their senses and describe their observations.
Change the objects regularly and use them in a variety of activities. For example, create treasure boxes of assorted fabrics, baskets of buttons or plastic sweet jars filled with specialist collections such as shiny objects or translucent materials.
The display can help in:
Learning where materials come from and how they are made; asking questions to find solutions as they investigate the properties of materials.
Learning to categorise materials.
Developing fine motor skills and learning, for example, a feather is handled with more delicacy than a stone. Thus, by investigating the tactile nature of objects, children become sensitive to different materials, for instance, the smoothness of lacquered wood compared to the roughness of bark. Only through direct contact with different surfaces can they learn about sensitivity of the skin and how they can use it to make decisions about what they investigate.
Display resources
Wooden objects
Spoons, brushes, boxes, bracelets, Babushka dolls, clothes pegs, small twigs and branches, bark, etc.
Metal objects
Household utensils such as whisks and spoons; biscuit tins, pots, bull-dog clips, pencil sharpeners, etc.
Natural objects
Stones, cones, catkins, bark, feathers, straw, leaves, flowers, plants, gravel, soil, hay, etc.
Accessible reference books about materials and how they are processed into familiar objects.
Good practice
* Explore objects alongside children so they learn from you to act as detectives finding out as much as they can about an object.
* Use precise and varied terminology to extend the children's vocabulary: crumpled, wavy, speckled and so on.
* Encourage children to consult reference books to stimulate discussion about the origin and fabrication of artificial materials. Suggest they speculate how objects are made, then check their theories with you in a book.
* Collect natural objects while on walks and invite parents to bring in suitable objects.
* Collect illustrations and photographs of the categories of objects on display to reinforce and support children's learning. Encourage children to visit the displays when they wish.
* Encourage small groups of children to experiment with labelled display objects then report back to the whole group about their investigations.
4 Using objects
Children often develop a fixed idea about the purpose of some objects. A toothbrush, for instance, is for brushing teeth. However, an old one could also be used to brush mud from shoes. Encourage children to think laterally, in order to develop their imagination and to begin to question what they are told about the objects. They can also learn that tools can be used in various contexts.
Resources
* Collect objects, such as whisks, combs and scarves, to use in simple experiments.
* Set up activities to encourage children to investigate the possibilities of these objects. For the whisks, for example, provide plastic washing-up bowls, one with water and washing-up liquid, another with water and washing flakes, another with sand and another with flour and water.
Good practice
* Support children's growing ability to question received knowledge. At this age, children enjoy the opportunity to experiment and to invent new ways of seeing and doing things.
* Help children to use their imagination by participating in play and making your own discoveries that, in turn, stimulate them.
* Allow children time to reflect on what they observe and to share their ideas with others.
* Allow children to test theories and arrive at conclusions through first-hand experience. For example, children love creating their own mixtures and will learn that whisking water and liquid soap creates bubbles, while whisking flour and water creates a paste. Why not let them add liquid soap to see if they can make a paste that bubbles? Fun experiments like these can encourage communication and problem solving.
* Capitalise on children's enthusiasm and inspire their creative instincts.
