The children and staff at St Osmund's Pre-school have been imagining exciting journeys after creating a colourful display about hot air balloons.
Planned learning intentions
To have a sense of belonging
To begin to 'se talk to pretend imaginary situations
To show an interest in what is happening and how things work
To explore what happens when they mix colours
Resources
* Hot air balloon pictures * blue paper * contrasting border roll * paper plates * straws * woven fabric such as hessian * cotton wool * bottles of coloured squeezy paint * salad spinner * digital camera * photograph printer or computer
Preparation
Take a close-up photograph of each child. Back a display board with blue paper to represent the sky and add a contrasting border.
Step by step
* Show the children pictures of hot air balloons and explain how they work.
Ask them where they would like to fly in a balloon. Suggest that they make a display about hot air balloons.
* Demonstrate how to make an imaginary balloon by putting a paper plate into a salad spinner, dripping different coloured paint on to it and then closing the spinner and spinning it around so that the paint spreads and mixes on the surface of the plate.
* Invite the children to create their own coloured balloons 'sing this method, encouraging them to talk about what happens when the colours spread and mix.
* Make the balloon baskets 'sing rectangles of woven fabric.
* Attach the balloons to the display background and fasten the baskets below them. Join the baskets to the balloons with straws to represent ropes.
* Put the children's photographs on the top of the appropriate baskets to look as if the children are flying in the balloons.
* Add extra features to the display, such as cotton wool clouds.
* Encourage children to suggest other ways of developing the display, such as making collage birds or background mountains.
Activities
* Encourage children to make up stories about journeys in their balloons.
* Make name labels to attach to the balloons to encourage name recognition.
