When provision is rich and open-ended, children will demonstrate their interest in lines in many different ways. This may include lining up objects; building up; using the body to move up and down or to move things through the air (for example, throwing or squirting water); following a path with a start and end point; and representing lines with language, paint or clay.
Children may make connections with experiences in their own lives, such as a visit to a station (railway tracks) or a fishing trip with grandad (the fishing line.) By observing, listening and talking with children, early years practitioners can build on these experiences and seize the moments when teaching will be most effective.
Child-initiated learning
Outside-continuous provision
Make sure that there is a good selection of resources to support a schematic interest in lines - carpet squares; planks; offcuts of wood; natural collections such as cobbles/logs/fir cones; crates and boxes; plastic plant pots in a variety of sizes; lengths of guttering; rope, string or jute; washing line and pegs; number lines; chunky chalks; decorators' brushes and rollers; rolled-up newspaper spills; ribbons, scarves, or lengths of fabric; balls and bean bags; sponges; wheeled toys; wood, nails and hammers; percussion instruments.
Additional resources
*A selection of fiction and non-fiction books linked to individual children's underlying interest in lines, such as trains (railway tracks), fire engines (ladders), We're Going On A Lion Hunt (journeys with a start and an end) Possible learning experiences
* Exploring trajectories (linear movements in space) by throwing balls, wet sponges or bean bags; squirting water; walking along obstacle courses; banging drums and other percussion instruments; using pulleys to explore up and down; running with ribbons, scarves or homemade kites; pouring sand, water and gravel down lengths of guttering and rolling balls down
* Climbing up and down, jumping up and down
* Making long tracks and paths using carpet squares, planks, wood offcuts, fir cones, plant pots
* Representing lines using chunky chalks, decorators' brushes, rollers and water. 'Painting' up and down fencing with water
* Driving wheeled toys through puddles or snow to make tracks
* Putting up washing lines and pegging out washed clothes, number lines or leaves
* Using string and rope to make pulleys and connect things together
* Using construction materials to build upwards
* Exploring mathematical concepts such as length, height, space and distance.
Construction area/small world
Additional resources
*Images of tall buildings, long bridges, railway lines, roadways, ladders etc *non fiction books to support these possible links *clipboards and large sheets of card *photo albums of children's previous work to help recall ideas *a basket of small-world fences and ladders *collections of found materials, such as lollipop sticks, pipe cleaners or pebbles Possible learning experiences
* Identifying and selecting the resources they need to develop their interest in lines - horizontal/vertical/diagonal
* Lining up small world people, animals, vehicles
* Building roadways, railway tracks or air strips - straight, curved, long, short
* Investigating the different ways of joining construction pieces
* Exploring ideas of height and length by building up and along
* Talking about their ideas, recalling and adding to their thinking in the light of experience
* Using books, stories, rhymes and images to enhance their work
* Making plans and signs and drawing roadways, railway tracks
* Using fences, ladders and found materials to create imaginary worlds and re-create experiences.
The practitioner role
* Make provision and time available for children to become as involved as they wish in the exploration of their schematic interest
* Observe how children respond to the provision, listen to the connections they are making and intervene appropriately to take them on
* Become a partner in the play without taking control
* Encourage and support the play by offering new experiences, ideas and resources
* Offer views and ideas by thinking aloud and encouraging children to initiate questions
* Collect evidence of learning in the form of written observations, photographs, children's comments
* Develop a two-way dialogue with parents and carers, sharing what a child is doing at home and in the setting.
Adult-led activities
Starting with a story
Introduce this story about a little boy's imaginative adventure when he decides to follow a very long line on the floor Key learning intentions
To listen with enjoyment and respond to a story
To use the mathematical language of measure and position
Engage in activities requiring hand-eye co-ordination
Move freely with pleasure and confidence
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 5
Resources
*Follow the line by Simone Lia (Egmont-4.99) Outside provision: *chunky chalks *brushes, paint rollers and water *watering cans *plastic plant pots *dry sand *carrier bags/envelopes *sweeping brushes and dustpans Activity content
* Share the book with interested individuals and groups, allowing plenty of time to explore and enjoy the story.
* Let the children trace the line across the pages with a finger.
* Describe how the line changes from page to page - for example, going up, down, across from side to side, top to bottom, straight, curved, zig zag.
* Talk about the journey to the moon and who Bruce meets on the way.
* Use the chalks to recreate Bruce's journey. Follow the line up the snowy mountain, up and down the zig zag road.
* Let the children use the other resources to make their own journey lines with brushes and water; sprinkling dry sand from a plant pot or water from a watering can; fill an envelope or carrier with sand, cut a corner off and sprinkle. (Use the brushes afterwards to sweep up. It's fun!) Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Curved, straight, zig zag, up, down, across, top, bottom, long, short, longer, shorter, horizontal, vertical, diagonal
Questions to ask
* Wondering 'why, if, what, when, where' questions linked to the story.
* Where is your line going to?
* Can you run/hop/walk backwards along your line ?
* Where are you going to start/finish?
* Can you draw a curved/zig-zag line?
* I wonder if you can make your line reach the fence?
* Can you make your line go round the crates?
Extension ideas
* Go for a line spotting walk with small groups of interested children.
* Fill three large trays with dry sand, damp sand, gravel. Let the children explore lines with fingers, lollipop sticks or twigs.
* Play Follow My Leader and The Grand Old Duke of York.. Join up to make a long train and follow a chalked line to the station.
* Introduce other stories involving making tracks and journeys (see box).
Introducing art
Use artist Bridget Riley's work with lines as a starting point for exploring lines on paper with paint and craft materials.
Key learning intentions
Respond to works of art linked to an interest in lines
Use materials to express ideas and experiences
Experiment with colour, line, texture, shape, form and space
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 4
Resources
*Examples of Bridget Riley's screen prints based on lines (Books can be borrowed from the library) *A variety of tools for children to experiment with, such as thick and thin brushes, sticks, cotton buds, rollers in different sizes; ready mixed paint *a good selection of paper in a variety of lengths *add to technology workshop resources to include lollipop sticks, pipe cleaners, craft sticks, lengths of ribbon, felt or fabric, strips of card/coloured paper in different lengths and thicknesses Actvity content
* Introduce Bridget Riley's art work.
* Allow plenty of time to look at the work and discuss what they see.
* Introduce the names of the work - for example, 'Winged Curve'.
* Talk about the children's experiences of lines. What sort of lines did they see when they went on the line walk ?
* Ask children if they would like to do their own line pictures using the different resources.
* Encourage discussion about the kinds of lines they are making - for example, thick/thin/wiggly/straight - and the colours they are choosing.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Artist, lines, thick, thin, wiggly, near together, far apart, colour names, across the top, across the bottom, down the side. Encourage children to think of names for their pictures Extension ideas
* Visit a building site and, from a safe distance, look at cranes, drills, ladders, tipper trucks.
* Go to the local park to experience going up and down a slide and swinging backwards and forwards on a swing.
* Walk up a hill, walk down a hill, look up at flats, go up in a lift, look down from the top of the flats or from the top of the climbing frame.
* Invite a fire engine and look at ladders and long hoses.
* Walk in the rain and notice rain coming down, umbrellas going up.
* Offer white strips of paper or card in different lengths and widths and let interested children create white on black patterns. Reverse the choice and offer black lines on white paper.
* Transfer some of the artist's work on to acetate and project on to a wall. Do the same with some of the children's work. Suggest that children 'step' into the pictures. Record their responses to the experience.
* Display laminated copies of the artist's and the children's work near the mark-making table along with rulers and a selection of felt-tip pens and paper.
* Set up an interactive display of lines collected with the children.
Include photographs from the line walk and children's work.
* Collect rhymes linked to linear movements, to share at small group times.
Examples are 'Incy Wincy Spider', 'Little Mousey Brown', 'Hickory Dickory Dock', 'Five Little Frogs Sitting on a Well' (all in This Little Puffin), 'Tall Shops in the Town' (Maths Together). Also any of the number rhymes that involve animals or objects lining up.
Project guide
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
Reading resources
* Follow the Line by Simone Lia (Mammoth, 4.99)
* We're Going On A Lion Hunt by David Axtell (Macmillan, 4.99)
* Washing Line by Jez Alborough (Walker Books, 3.99)
* Follow My Leader by Emma Chichester Clark (Picture Lion, 4.99)
* Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins (Picture Puffins, Red Fox 4.99)
* Snail Trail by Ruth Brown ( Andersen Press, 5.99)
* The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy & Niamh Sharkey (Barefoot Books, 5.99)
* Pulleys by Michael Dahl (Franklin Watts, 4.99)
* This Little Puffin (Puffin Books, 6.99)
* 'Get it straight' in Nursery World, 17 June 2004 (Child development: schemas)
