Climbing high
Max de Boo
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
The favourite nursery rhyme 'The Incy Wincy Spider' can be used as the starting point for a series of problem-solving activities in the water tray. Resources
Resources
* plastic piping (eg drainpipes) * pieces of guttering and connecting brackets * a plastic spider * a watering can
Teach children the rhyme, explaining that 'water spout' in this context means 'drainpipe', and then engage the children in exploratory talk about spiders. This might be accompanied by model or puppet spiders which have the correct number of legs (eight) and two parts to the body, live spiders kept in a transparent container, and an interactive whiteboard to show children a close-up view of a spider using an Intel Computer Microscope.
It is very easy to create a drainpipe. All you need to do is to buy pieces of piping from a local builders' merchant, cut them down and make sure the edges are safe.
These can be placed in the water tray along with a large plastic spider, big enough for it to be dropped into the drainpipe and appear at the other end. It is also fun to use a watering can to simulate rain and wash Incy Wincy down the pipe in the water tray.
You could ask questions such as the following to see what responses the children come up with: Where have you seen spiders? What do you think spiders eat? How do you think Incy Wincy gets back up the drainpipe? What do you think happens to all the water when the sun comes out? Where does all the water go? What makes you think that? Where do you think you could find out more about spiders? Have you held a tarantula? What did it feel like?
When the children are familiar with the story in the nursery rhyme, and they have explored the various things in the water tray, you could change the story so that something different happens. For example, 'One day Incy Wincy Spider climbed up the water spout (the word drainpipe could be substituted), just as he always did - and as he climbed inside, guess what?'
Encourage suggestions from children by asking them what they thought happened next. When children offer interesting ideas, these can be taken on board. If they need prompting you could say, 'Oh, no! What do you know! Incy Wincy Spider got stuck. Yes, stuck right in the middle of the drainpipe.'
* Text and illustration from The Early Years Handbook, edited by Max de Boo, published for the Curriculum Partnership by the Geographical Society (0114 296 0088, 14.99)
