Children enjoy finding holes, creating holes, exploring holes - and they are always fascinated by finding ways to fill holes. Encourage their natural curiosity and develop their investigating and observational skills through exploring holes in your setting.
Adult-led activities
Looking for a hole
FIND HOLES AROUND THE SETTING.
KEY LEARNING INTENTIONS
* To explore and investigate objects and materials
ADULT:CHILD RATIO 1:6
RESOURCES
Paper Pens Pencils Camera
Activity content
* Share with the children a book that contains holes, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Puffin, 5.99) or Peepo! by Janet and Allan Ahlberg (Viking Kestrel Picture Books, 4.99).
* Urge the children to explore ideas about what a hole is and to think about where they might find holes in the setting.
* Explain that they are going on a hole hunt. Search together in different areas of the nursery for materials and equipment that contain holes.
Encourage discussion about the different types of holes found, how they were created and what purpose they serve.
* Collect some examples of things that contain holes, for example beads, scissors, junk materials, construction materials such as Lego, bags and boxes.
* Ask the children to draw pictures of the items they have found and to cut out the 'hole' part of drawing. Display the drawings in a 'hole book' or as part of an interactive display.
Key vocabulary
Holes, in, out, inside, outside, big, little, deep, through, wide, narrow.
Follow-up activities
* Suggest the children look for different types of holes in buildings, such as windows, doors and chimneys.
* Look for holes outdoors, both natural and man-made.
* Investigate animal homes. Look for holes made by, for example, ants and worms, and share stories with the children about animals that live in holes such as rabbits, moles and badgers.
* Take photographs to add to the 'hole book' or the display.
WEAR IT WELL
Explore holes in clothing.
Key learning intentions
* To explore different clothes and identify the holes they contain * To practise dressing and undressing
Adult:child ratio 1:6
RESOURCES
* A range of clothing such as trousers, shirts, pants, vests, T-shirts, jumpers, dresses, socks, shoes, tights, gloves, hats and coats 3Include clothes which have different kinds of fastenings such as buttons, toggles, laces, zips, press studs, Velcro, and belts
Activity content
* Encourage the children to look at the clothes and the holes in them to enable us to put them on. Talk about what the children are wearing and how they put them on or take them off.
* Give the children time to explore trying on different clothes and encourage them to talk about the different holes and parts of their body that go through the holes.
* Explore the holes in the clothes that act as fastenings - such as button holes or holes in a belt.
* Encourage children to choose two or three items of clothing to try on.
Count the number of holes in the items. Explore the different shapes and sizes of the holes in the clothes they choose.
Key vocabulary
Holes, arm, leg, head, hand, fingers, feet, toes, waist, clothing items, buttons, toggles, zips, belts, laces, pockets, dress, undress, through, in, out, over, under, top, bottom, middle
Follow-up activities
* Provide dolls and a variety of dolls' clothes for children to continue exploring dressing and undressing activities.
* Encourage the children to cut out pictures of clothing from magazines and catalogues and to count and name the types of holes. Scribe the number or type of holes contained in the clothes.
* Provide examples of different types of materials that clothes are made from, including lace and wool, and magnifying glasses through which to investigate them.
* Provide large sheets of paper that the children can use to design and make clothes, with the necessary holes.
Bottled up
Investigate the movement of water through holes in squeezy bottles.
Key learning intentions
1+2 To develop understanding of height, distance, speed, force and direction and use appropriate mathematical terms to describe observations Adult:child ratio 1:4 RESOURCES
* Squeezy bottles such as empty washing-up liquid bottles 3water tray filled with water or bowls of water
Activity content
* This activity can be organised indoors but it is more enjoyable if done outdoors.
* Encourage the children to agree rules about squirting water, such as not squirting it at each other!
* Provide plenty of time and space for the children to explore squirting water.
* Extend the children's learning, vocabulary and understanding by encouraging them to compare the height, distance, speed and direction of the water they are squirting.
* Make comparisons between the amount of force used to squirt water and the size of the hole in the bottle. Do different pressures and hole sizes produce different results?
Child-initiated learning
Encourage the children to develop their own ideas and interests across the curriculum by adding topic resources to your basic provision.
Outdoor area
Additional resources
* Buckets * spades * treasure * wind tunnels * plastic bags * string * large tunnels * small-world animals or minibeasts
Possible learning experiences
* Digging holes in the ground. Activities might extend to treasure hunts, burying items or filling the holes with water.
* Looking for the homes of animals or minibeasts, or creating homes for small-world creatures.
* Using wind tunnels which can either be bought or made to investigate the effect of wind speed and direction.
* Using tunnels to make dens.
* Exploring holes in walls, fences, gates or other structures.
The practitioner role
* Experiment with materials alongside the children posing questions to extend thinking and supporting their ideas.
* Ensure resources are easily accessible for children to follow through and develop their particular ideas and interests.
* Ensure materials are used safely, such as spades for digging.
Sand and water area
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
* Washing-up liquid * straws * buckets * sieves * sprinklers * taps and pumps * sand and water wheels * bottles and other containers with different sized openings * sponges * fishing nets * kitchen tools with holes such as slotted spoons, slotted scoops and potato mashers * spoons * scoops * paper bags * jewellery or other items of treasure (pretend money can be made easily from baked dough sprayed or painted gold and silver) * minibeasts * small-world items such as animals, people and vehicles
Possible learning activities
* Using taps and pumps to move water through holes.
* Using wheels and sieves to explore movement of sand and water through them or to collect small items.
* Exploring ways to move sand and water through kitchen utensils.
* Creating tunnels in sand for small-world animals, people or vehicles to pass through.
* Digging holes as homes for minibeasts.
* Using fishing nets to scoop small items from the water.
* Exploring how sponges absorb water and can be wrung out.
* Filling bottles with water.
The practitioner role
* Encourage children to predict outcomes when exploring different-sized holes.
* Ensure children have sufficient resources and time to explore the materials to stimulate problem-solving by testing out ideas.
* Model appropriate mathematical language of size, shape, position, speed.
Role play areas
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
* Cups * bowls * kitchen tools with holes * keys * dressing-up clothes * plastic play food * dolls * dolls' clothes * hand puppets * materials such as plastic tunnels * large construction materials * tables * chairs
Possible learning outcomes
* Trying on clothes, exploring the holes they contain.
* Dressing and undressing dolls.
* Exploring kitchen utensils and finding out how to plug any holes in them.
* Using keys to pretend to lock and unlock keyholes.
* Exploring the use of hand puppets.
The practitioner role
* Enable children to use materials to initiate activities in different areas in the setting.
* Ensure that materials are used safely and encourage children to understand why this is necessary.
* Model appropriate language.
Creative area
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
* A variety of musical instruments * hole punches * scissors * junk materials * dough * cutters * rolling pins * scissors * baking tins * egg cartons * bubble wrap
Possible learning activities
* Rolling out dough and cutting out holes of different shapes using cutters.
* Filling holes in baking tins and egg cartons with dough shapes.
* Cutting or punching holes in paper or card. Making holes in folded paper to create symmetrical patterns.
* Making masks and cutting out holes for the eyes, nose or mouth.
* Exploring holes in bubble wrap.
* Exploring musical instruments which have holes such as wind instruments, and discovering how sound is created by blowing through the holes to create sound.
The practitioner role
* To provide technical assistance when appropriate and to model skills such as cutting.
* To experiment with the materials alongside the children.
* To ensure there are sufficient resources and equipment for children to explore, experiment and gain confidence in handling materials and tools.
* To ensure safe use of materials and tools.
Maths area
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
* Beads * threading shapes * pasta tubes * peg boards and pegs * small boxes or other containers * sorting trays * small items for sorting such as buttons * Compare Bears * plastic and wooden numbers * writing materials
Possible learning activities
* Threading through holes using beads, shapes or pasta.
* Making patterns or shapes using peg boards and pegs.
* Filling boxes, small containers or sorting trays with materials and sorting by number, colour, shape or size.
* Looking at the shapes of numerals and when they contain enclosed holes - namely 0, 6, 8, 9, 10.
* Recording information about the activities.
The practitioner role
* To introduce vocabulary of numbers, shape, colour and size.
* To support children in estimating the number of items they might need to fill, say, a small box.
* To encourage children to find ways to record information about these activities.
* To support children's ideas and developing mathematical concepts and understanding.
Ways in to holes
Books and songs
* Cat and Mouse, the Hole Story by Christyan Fox and Diane Fox (Little Tiger Press, 4.99)
* Dig Dig Digging by Margaret Mayo and Alex Ayliffe (Orchard Books, Pounds 4.99)
* Postman Pat and the Hole in the Road by John Cunliffe (Hodder Children's Books, 2.99)
* Let's All Dig and Burrow (Animals on the Move) by Anna Nilsen and Anni Axworthy (Zero to Ten, 4.99) Peep-hole books
* Eye Spy Shapes by Debbbie MacKinnon and Anthea Sieveking (Frances Lincoln, 4.99)
* Guess What I Am by Anni Axworthy (Walker Books) Songs
* 'There's a hole in my bucket', 'This is the way we put on our coats', 'John Brown's tractor had a puncture in its tyre', 'I went to the garden and dug up the ground' See This Little Puffin (Puffin Books, 6.99).
