experiences, and offers insights for practitioners.
With every child, there comes a different set of experiences from their unique home environment. The number of people living in each household will vary greatly; parents will have all kinds of occupations and work patterns; and children will be used to different routines, leisure activities and social experiences.
A topic on families is a confidence builder for children because it is always easier to talk about something familiar. Encouraging children to talk about their home life and family not only helps them get to know each other better and forge stronger friendships, it also introduces them to social and cultural difference. Such conversations are equally useful for practitioners, who can learn a great deal of helpful information about the children in their care and use this to plan sensitively in the future.
FAMILY OF PUPPETS
Help the children to make a set of puppets to represent the members of their family.
Adult role
- Make a set of simple puppets beforehand to use as examples. It is a good idea to make puppets that represent the members of your own family. Finger puppets are quick and easy: make tubes or cones with thin card, draw facial features on with felt pens, stick wool on for hair and use scrap fabric for clothing. Stick puppets are just as simple: use large lolly sticks, cut out a circle of card for a head and add features in a similar way to the finger puppets.
- Work with the children in small groups. This will make it easier to engage them in conversation both with yourself and with each other.
- Show the children your puppets and introduce each family member in your set. Explain that you would like the children to make a set of puppets to represent each member of their family. This can include people who do not live at home.
- Provide a range of craft materials for the children to choose from and as they make their puppets ask who they are making. Encourage them to talk about who lives at home and if there are any close family members who live elsewhere.
- Allow the children time to talk among themselves. Listen to what they tell each other and point out where there are similarities in their home arrangements.
- Look out for children who are shy or uncomfortable and take care not to push them if they do not seem happy to share. Instead, show them your puppets and share a little information about your family and who lived in your house as a child.
Learning opportunities
PSED: Forms positive relationships with adults and other children.
CL: Expresses themselves effectively; shows awareness of listeners' needs.
EAD: Uses and explores a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design and form.
ALL KINDS OF FAMILIES
Share with the children the beautifully illustrated All Kinds of Families by Mary Ann Hoberman and Marc Boutavant and use it as a springboard for activities and discussion about different families.
Adult role
- Gather a selection of objects, including some that are featured in the book and others that are not.
- Invite small groups of children to sort the objects into 'families'.
- As the children sort and arrange the items, ask them about what they are doing. Point out the varying features of the different objects, such as size, colour and shape. Ask the children why they have chosen to group certain items together. Do any objects represent particular people or family members? Why?
- Encourage the children to reflect on the book. What types of families were featured? What type of family does each child have? Can they match their own family to any they saw in the book?
Learning opportunities
PSED: Is confident to speak in a familiar group.
CL: Answers 'how' and 'why' questions about their experiences and in response to stories.
UW: Knows about similarities and difference in relation to objects, people and families; talks about aspects of their familiar world.
GINGERBREAD FAMILIES
Help the children bake gingerbread families.
Adult role
- Provide a range of different sized and shaped cutters for the children to choose from.
- Once the gingerbread people are baked, give them back to the children to decorate. Make icing and use it to stick on raisins or sweets for eyes and buttons. Give them coloured icing to add hair and clothing. Let the children represent some of their own family.
- Use the gingerbread families for maths activities. Count how many buttons each family member has; compare to see which have more buttons; work out how many eyes each family has altogether; count how many male or female family members there are.
Learning opportunities
M: Counts irregular arrangements of objects; uses language of more and fewer; finds the total number of items.
UW: Explain why some things occur and talk about changes when combing ingredients and baking.
OUR HOUSE
Help the children make junk models of their homes.
Adult role
- Use information books or photographs from the internet to prompt a discussion on houses and homes. Look at the various types of building that people live in and point out their features. Ask the children to describe what type of homes they live in.
- Provide a range of junk and craft materials for the children to use to make models of their homes.
- As they work, ask the children about who lives in their house. Do they have any siblings? Do they share a room or have their own room? If they have pets, where do they sleep? Does their home have a garden? Which family member does most of the cooking? Where do they eat dinner? Do they have many visitors? What are the neighbours like?
Learning opportunities
PSED: Is confident to speak in a familiar group.
CL: Expresses themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners' needs.
UW: Talks about aspects of their familiar world.
EAD: Safely uses a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with design, form and function.
SONGS, RHYMES AND GAMES
Rhymes
- Family Poems by Jennifer Curry and Sarah Naylor contains a large selection of poems about family members and family life.
- The Puffin Book of First Fantastic Poems, edited by June Crebbin, includes a number of poems about various family members.
Games
Create a game of family lotto for the children to play with. Find cartoon pictures of mums, dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents and other family members on clipart or the internet. Then make four playing cards with sets of matching tiles.
MORE IDEAS
- Invite the children to bring in family photographs and create a 'My Family' display.
- Set up a role-play home corner.
- Help the children make peg people family members to play with in the dolls' house.
- Invite parents into the setting to talk about their jobs and professions.
- Ask parents to bring family pets into the setting.
- Organise a big family picnic.
Marianne Sargent is a writer specialising in early years education and a former foundation stage teacher and primary and early years lecturer.
RESOURCES
Family of puppets Card, glue, Sellotape, wool, scissors, felt pens, fabric, lolly sticks, small gloves or socks, stick on eyes. Find ideas for making puppets in The Little Book of Puppet Making by Suzy Tutchell
All kinds of families Buttons, cutlery, flowers, bottle caps, costume jewellery, shells, toy tools, vehicles and any other items that can be sorted into 'families'.
Gingerbread families Ingredients to make gingerbread people, different sized gingerbread cutters, currants, raisins, sweets, icing sugar, coloured squeezy icing tubes, piping bags or pipettes, hundreds and thousands.
Our house Junk and craft materials, scissors, glue, Sellotape.
BOOKS
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram - classic picture book about the love between a parent and child.
The Large Family collection by Jill Murphy - four stories about a family of elephants that children are sure to identify with.
The Great Big Book of Families and Welcome to the Family by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith - wonderful books that manage to convey the complexity of the modern family with humour and sensitivity.
The Family Book by Todd Parr - brightly illustrated book that celebrates all kinds of different families.
We Belong Together by Todd Parr - a picture book looking at adoption.
Mommy, Mama and ME and Daddy, Papa and ME by Leslea Newman and Carol Thompson - on same-sex partners and their children.
Mum and Dad Glue by Kes Gray and Lee Wildish - a moving picture book that helps to explain divorce.
You're All My Favourites by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram - Mummy and Daddy Bear try to convince their children that they are equally loved.
