ADULT-LED
Encourage the children to look closely at the buildings in which they live and their family groupings. and to explore the similarities and differences.
Planned learning intention
To talk freely about their home and family environments, exploring differences and similarities and developing a strong sense of self as a member of different communities, such as their family
Adult:child ratio 1:4
Resources
Sheet of A3 paper for each child, a range of drawing and writing materials, scissors.
Preparation
Have to hand as much information as you can about the homes of the children in your care, for example, door numbers, street and house names, the type of building - flat, tower block, terrace, semi-detached, detached, caravan site, hostel/hotel and so on - so that you are able to prompt and ask questions appropriately. Similarly, refer to admissions and registration information to ensure you can prompt information about family make-up.
Step by step
* Help the children to fold their piece of paper in half. With the fold along the top, encourage them to draw the place in which they live. The drawing need not be an accurate portrayal, but it will provide you and the child with an opportunity to talk about the features of where they live.
* Indicate to the child where on their picture they could cut along the outline of the drawing to make a 'door' flap, so that the whole of the building becomes a 'door'.
* Cut along one side and the top of the home and fold back the 'door'.
* Glue the edges of the paper together.
* With the 'door' open, ask the children to draw the people who live with them in their home on the exposed part of the paper. Don't forget any pets!
* On the back of the 'door', they can draw all the people who are important to them and visit their home regularly, for example, any parents and siblings who may no longer live in the family home, grandparents and other members of the family, childminders, parents' partners, close family friends and so on.
This exercise allows children the opportunity to include significant people in their lives who may not share their home, and for children in foster care to include birth family members with whom they are not currently living. The whole family group can be displayed together when the 'door' is open. Children who spend significant amounts of time in two homes can be encouraged to draw both home settings with the appropriate people in each.
Repeat the activity and adapt the drawing if it is decided that more 'family' space is needed, or if the child wants to include more visitors!
Stepping stones
* A child with the experience may choose to observe others before they engage in the activity. They may use the drawing materials randomly, or for their own purposes and if they choose to draw their home, their picture may not appear to portray any accurate detail.
They will probably need technical help to cut appropriately. They may choose to talk about their home and family and may identify them in their picture.
* A child with some experience will probably engage more readily in the activity, and show a clearer understanding of the intentions. They may still need some technical help to cut accurately. They will probably respond to questions, and offer information about their family and features of their home, which may be represented in their drawings. They will probably show some awareness of the differences and similarities between their own home and those of others.
* A child with more experience will probably produce more detailed drawings, which they will be able to discuss, offering information and responding to questions. They will be able to describe features of their home environment and compare similarities and differences with others. Similarly, they may show some understanding of the ways in which family groupings differ and show positive acknowledgement of this. They will be able to write labels and captions to accompany their pictures.
Extension ideas
* Add to the pictures any information that the child may know about their home - for example. door number and street name - and about their family members, for example, their names, ages and relationship to the child, * Repeat the activity with windows with cutaway flaps that reveal each family member.
* Display the pictures at a level where the 'doors' can be opened and closed.
Strengthen the flaps with sticky-backed plastic.
* Make the origami house. outlined on the back of the Nursery Topics poster.
Share the rhyme 'This is my little house', printed on the back of the Nursery Topics poster.
