This project recognises that:
* settings should be constantly resourced and organised in such a way as to offer learning opportunities across all areas of the Foundation Stage curriculum
* topics can enhance basic provision and respond to children's interests
* children need plenty of first-hand experiences and time to develop ideas, skills and concepts through play
* the practitioner has a vital role in supporting children's learning.
This project, therefore, suggests:
* adult-led activities for introducing the theme
* resources that enhance basic provision and facilitate learning through child-initiated play
* how the practitioner can support children's learning.
When using the project, practitioners should recognise that:
* activities should be offered and never imposed on children
* children's experiences, and learning, may differ from those anticipated
* the learning, planned or unplanned, that takes place is valid
* the process is very valuable and should not be undermined by an inappropriate emphasis on outcomes or concrete end results.
The areas of learning are:
Personal, social and emotional development
Communication,language and literacy
Mathematical development
Knowledge & understanding of the world
Physical development
Creative development
Share the awe of the Christmas story and the joy of giving with activities from Jean Evans based on a sumptuously illustrated book
A wonderful book through which to share the Christmas story with children is The Animals' Christmas Carol by Helen Ward (Templar Publishing, Pounds 9.99).
Inspired by a French carol, the story tells of the procession of creatures that arrive one by one on Christmas Eve to bestow their particular gifts upon the Christ Child. The ram offers his wool, the turtle doves their song, and the lion and bear come to stand guard.
Only a golden glow in some of the illustrations signals the presence of the Holy Family and their human visitors. The Christmas story unfolds instead through the donkey that carried Mary, the camels that carried the Wise Men and the sheepdog that arrives ahead of the shepherds.
Throughout the book the illustrations are rich in colour and detail. It has been described by critics as 'sumptuously illustrated' and 'simply the most beautiful picture book to be published this year'.
Adult-led activity
A special story
Share the Christmas story with the children in your setting.
Key learning intentions
To listen with enjoyment and respond to a story
To use writing as a means of recording and communicating
To consider the consequences of their actions for themselves and others
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 6
Resources
The Animals' Christmas Carol by Helen Ward (Templar Publishing, 9.99) a catalogue with pictures of baby gifts and accessories large sheets of card camera felt pens Christmas wrapping paper length of wide, brightly coloured ribbon scissors hole punch
Activity content
* Read and reread the story to the children, pausing each time to talk about the picture on each page. Explain the meaning of 'Christmas carol'
and talk about the Christmas story.
* Invite the children to talk about their own experiences of new babies and gifts that they might receive.
* Explain to the children that the animals in the story could not go to the shops to buy a present for the new baby, but they all managed to give something special.
* Read the pages one by one and discuss what these special gifts might be, for example, how the cow gave up her manger and hay so that the baby had somewhere to sleep.
* Ask the children what they might be able to give to the baby. Perhaps they could sing a quiet song or make a brightly coloured mobile.
* Suggest that the children make a big book of pictures of their special gifts. Scribe captions underneath the pictures and encourage children who are able to attempt their own writing.
* Mount photographs of the children alongside their drawings.
* Glue Christmas wrapping paper to two sheets of card to create the covers.
* Punch holes in each of the pictures and thread ribbon through the holes to make the book.
Extended learning
Key vocabulary
Christmas, carol, candlelight, lullaby, creatures, shepherd, wise men, dawn, peace, manger, stable
Questions to ask
* The animals sang a lullaby to the baby. What song would you sing?
* The new baby slept in a manger. Where did you sleep when you were a baby?
* The lion and the bear growled at the shadows to stop the baby feeling afraid. What makes you feel frightened?
Extension ideas
* Reread the story and invite the children to make relevant animal noises, for example, buzzing, cooing, mooing and barking. Record this version so that the children can listen to it themselves.
* Create stick puppets representing the creatures in the story and invite older children to use them to re-enact the story for younger children.
In a stable
Create a stable in the role-play area.
Key learning intentions
To begin to know about their own cultures and beliefs and those of other people
To use language to recreate roles and experiences
To use their imagination in imaginative play, role-play and stories
Adult:child ratio 1:4
Resources
The Animals' Christmas Carol, three-sided scree,n black sheeting, silver foil, luminous stars, doll's cot, hay, brown fabric, white fabric, doll, animal masks and tabards, dressing gowns, tea-towels, headbands, plastic stick-on hooks
Activity content
* Create a role-play stable by draping a black sheet over a three-sided screen.
* Hang a large silver foil star above the stable and attach luminous stars to the underside of the sheet inside the stable.
* Transform a doll's cot into a manger by covering it with brown fabric and filling it with hay.
* Wrap a doll in a wide strip of white fabric and put it in the manger.
* Hang up the tabards and animal masks on plastic hooks on the stable wall and leave the tea towels and headbands in a storage box alongside.
* Encourage the children to dress as characters from the Nativity story, and to pretend to be animals visiting the new baby with their chosen gifts.
Extended learning Key vocabulary Extend the vocabulary used in the first activity to include descriptive words from the book.
Questions to ask
* Which character are you? What did the shepherds bring the Baby Jesus?
* What creature are you? What sound do you make? What is your present for the new baby?
Extension ideas
* Transform a shed or outdoor playhouse into a stable. Introduce crates and sacks to sit on and create a manger from an upturned crate. Attach silver stars to the outside.
* Talk about other festivals of light, such as Diwali and Hanukkah (20 December), and talk about the traditions associated with these festivals.
Child-initiated learning
Encourage children to develop their own interests and ideas across the curriculum by adding topic resources to the basic provision.
Book corner
Additional resources
Yellow fabric and cushions, crates, a doll in a cot, one large and several small silver stars, thread, books and posters about Christmas celebrations and nativity stories, including The Animals' Christmas Carol 3small table 3cassette player 3recording of a staff member reading The Animals'
Christmas Carol Possible learning experiences
* Becoming familiar with the Christmas story.
* Making connections between their own experiences of Christmas and the Christmas story.
* Showing an interest in illustrations and print in books.
* Discovering how to hold books the correct way up and to turn pages in the right direction.
* Beginning to show an interest an ICT and learning how to use simple equipment.
The practitioner role
* Create a 'stable' in the area using the crates, fabrics, stars and a doll in a cot.
* Display Christmas books on a table and hang up Christmas posters.
* Visit the area regularly to read stories to the children and reinforce their awareness of the Christmas story.
* Introduce a cassette recorder containing a pre-recorded story tape, and demonstrate to the children how to operate the recorder themselves.
Music area
Additional resources
Cassette recorder, recordings of Christmas carols, recordings of staff reading The Animals' Christmas Carol (from the book corner) and telling the Christmas story 3percussion instruments, including coconut shells and small bells, Christmas posters
Possible learning experiences
* Using their imaginations in music and stories.
* Showing an interest in the way sound is created.
* Tapping out simple repeated rhythms.
* Exploring and learning how sounds can be changed.
* Exploring the different sounds of instruments.
* Talking about personal preferences and discussing the sounds they are trying to recreate.
* Singing simple songs from memory.
The practitioner role
* Demonstrate how to operate the cassette recorder.
* Interact with the children, then leave them to explore the resources freely. Encourage them to accompany the tapes with percussion instruments.
Emphasise how some Christmas carols are soft and should be accompanied by gentle sounds, while others are much livelier and can be accompanied by louder instruments.
* Visit the area to talk about how to create sound effects for the story tapes, for example, using the coconut shells for the clop-clop of the donkey's hooves. Leave them the children to experiment making different effects and return later to talk about their attempts, and to extend and support their developing ideas.
Creative area
Additional resources
Posters depicting the story of the nativity, set of nativity figures, candles, stars of various sizes, sponge scraps, sponge stars, black paper, white paint
Possible learning experiences
* Exploring colour, texture, shape, form and space in two and three dimensions.
* Talking about and creating simple patterns.
* Learning different creative techniques.
* Expressing and communicating their ideas using a range of different materials.
* Developing hand-eye co-ordination.
The practitioner role
* Set up a small interest table alongside the area to stimulate the children's ideas. Hang up posters depicting the nativity, arrange a nativity scene on the table and place the candles nearby. Visit the area frequently to encourage the children to talk about them. Suggest that they might draw, paint or make models of what they see.
* Talk about how the bees in the story made beeswax for candles to light the stable, and demonstrate how to create a wax resist pictures using candles. Leave the resources in the area so that the children can create their own pictures.
* Show the children how to sponge print over the stars before lifting them to reveal a clear star shape. Demonstrate how to print patterns using star-shaped sponges. Supply black paper and white paint to enhance the effect.
* Encourage the children to use hay in their collage pictures.
Small-world play
Additional resources
Shoe boxes, hay, scissors, recycled materials such as small boxes and fabric scraps, small-world animals and people
Possible learning experiences
* Constructing with a purpose in mind, using a variety of resources.
* Using available resources to create props to support their play.
* Playing alongside children engaged in the same theme.
The practitioner role
* Set out the resources on a table and encourage the children to explore freely before joining them and reminding them of the story, The Animals'
Christmas Carol. Suggest re-enacting the story with small-world figures.
* Ask questions to stimulate the children's ideas - for example, 'How are you going to make a stable?' 'How many Wise Men were there?' Provide additional resources suggested by the children where possible.
* Encourage the children to co-operate with one another, and praise any joint efforts they make.
Reader offer
* We have ten copies of The Animals' Christmas Carol by Helen Ward (Templar Publishing, 9.99) to give away to Nursery World readers. Send your name and address on the back of a postcard or envelope, marked 'Christmas Carol', to the address on page 3. Winners will be the first ten names drawn on 20 November.
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