Roll up

Use children's interest in ball play as a starting point for learning in the indoor and outdoor areas through this cross-curricular project.

Adult-led activities

The name game

Use a simple circle game to build children's confidence with each other and develop concentration skills.

Key learning intentions

* To take turns in a game and make contact with other children by name

* To roll a ball with control over its direction

Adult:child ratio 1:6

Resources

* Plenty of space indoors or outdoors

* smooth football-sized ball

Activity content

* Ask the children to sit in a circle and show them the ball.

* Pass the ball around the circle and encourage each child, as the ball reaches them, to introduce themselves to the rest of the group by saying their own name.

* When the ball returns to you, explain that you are going to say a particular child's name and then roll the ball to that child.

* Encourage children to take turns in saying someone's name and rolling the ball to them.

Extending learning

Key vocabulary

Children's names, ball, next, turn, roll.

Questions to ask

This time, can you roll the ball to a different person? Can you roll the ball into Sam's hands? Would you like her to tell you her name again? Did you hear Laura say your name? Can you roll the ball back to me? Do you think you will need to roll the ball very hard for it to reach the other side of the circle?

Extension ideas

* When the children are confident with the principle of the game, it can be adapted and extended. For example, say, 'Think about someone you have played with today, tell us what you did together and roll the ball to them.' The children may then begin to organise their own circle name games without adult involvement.

* Ask the children to stand in a circle and try throwing a large ball to each other instead of rolling it. If you play the game outside, it can help to draw a chalk circle on the ground.

Ball pool

Develop children's understanding of shape and measure through a tactile exploration of balls.

Key learning intentions

*To use the senses (particularly touch and sight) to investigate objects *To use simple mathematical language when talking about shape, size and weight

Adult:child ratio 1:4

Resources

*Large sports bag *large tray (an empty sand tray is ideal) *a range of balls, including sports balls such as for tennis, cricket, table tennis, rugby, football, squash, golf and snooker, baby's soft ball, woolly 'pom pom', juggling ball, 'koosh' ball and other sensory balls available from educational suppliers.

Activity content

* Ask the children, in turn, to feel inside the sports bag and to take out a ball.

* As the ball is passed around the group, encourage the children to talk about their observations and any knowledge that they have about the ball.

* Explain to the children that there will be an opportunity to throw, roll and catch some of the balls in the outdoor area later.

* Collect the balls in the large tray as they come out of the bag.

* Encourage the children to handle and compare the balls.

Extending learning

Key vocabulary

Hard, soft, smooth, rough, fluffy, big/bigger, small/smaller, heavy/heavier, light/lighter, round, sphere. Encourage the children to invent descriptive words, such as squashy and bobbly.

Questions to ask

Can you find a hard/soft ball in the bag? Is the football the same shape as the rugby ball? Which is heavier - the table tennis or the snooker ball? Can you find a ball bigger than this one? Why do you think this ball is so heavy - what do you think is inside it? Can you find all the smooth balls and put them at this side of the tray?

Extension ideas

* Provide a range of balls in the outdoor area for children to explore further, for example, how they bounce, roll or travel through the air. Make sure that the balls you select for outdoor play are appropriate and safe for young children - cricket, golf and snooker balls could be dangerous.

* Talk about the games in which the balls are used. Children may be quite well informed about the rules of a game such as football, and a 'pitch' or goal area set up outside will probably prove to be very popular. Provide photographs and posters of different ball sports.

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

*Large water tray *other containers (such as buckets, trays, bowls and plastic storage boxes) *crates (to support containers at different levels) *lengths of plastic guttering *collection of plastic or rubber balls *scoops or small plastic tubs

Possible learning experiences

* Working co-operatively to construct a water 'system' using guttering to connect the containers.

* Learning how water can be moved and can move objects.

* Using mathematical and scientific understanding to solve problems.

* Moving balls from one end of the 'system' to the other without handling them.

* Re-arranging containers in different positions and at different levels, experimenting with inclines and direction.

* Finding ways of recycling the water and balls back through the system.

* Talking about observations and ideas and beginning to make suggestions about why things happen.

The practitioner role

* Work alongside children, modelling investigative skills.

* Ask questions to challenge children's thinking - for example, 'What do you think will happen if...?' 'Why do you think the ball moves faster on this piece of guttering?' 'How could we change the level of this tray?'

* Support children's own ideas by providing additional resources or responding practically to their suggestions and directions and encouraging evaluative discussion.

* Make sure that the equipment is available to children over a period of time to enable them to develop their ideas.

* Encourage children to construct 'dry runs' using the same equipment but rolling the balls rather than using water to move them.

* Guard against unnecessary interruptions to children's investigations.

Paint area

Additional resources

*Large shallow tray (such as a builder's mixing tray) on the floor or a table *individual shallow trays *paper (cut to the size of the trays and placed in the trays) *plastic bowls or tubs containing mixed paint *bowl of warm soapy water *collection of marbles (varying sizes) *small rubber balls.

Possible learning experiences

* Enjoying and responding to the tactile experience of dipping the marbles or balls in paint.

* Using imaginative language to describe the consistency and feel of the paint.

* Watching the effect of rolling paint-covered marbles over the paper in their tray.

* Exploring pattern.

* Attempting to control the direction of the marble and the line it makes by tilting the tray.

* Using different colours and looking at how these mix as the lines cross.

* Washing marbles in between using different colours.

* Creating a collaborative pattern in the large tray by rolling paint-covered marbles or balls across the tray to each other.

* Discussing the difference between the lines made by the marbles and by the rubber balls.

* Observing and talking about the changes that take place as the paint dries.

The practitioner role

* Model the use of appropriate language related to colour, line and pattern (such as red, purple, straight, zig-zag) and touch (such as wet, slimy and slippery).

* Ensure that the balls and marbles are used safely.

* Encourage children to extend their ideas - for example, by providing opportunities in the outdoor area for rolling paint-covered footballs along a length of lining paper or wet balls along the dry tarmac.

* Show children and talk with them about reproductions of abstract works of art such as those by Jackson Pollock.

Technology workshop

Additional resources

*Cardboard tubes (for example, from kitchen rolls and cooking foil) *cardboard boxes and plastic tubs *masking tape *collection of marbles, spherical beads or small balls

Possible learning experiences

* Exploring materials and equipment.

* Rolling marbles through tubes and watching them come out at the other end.

* Controlling the angle of the tube, keeping the marble inside by holding the tube level.

* Constructing a simple marble run by attaching a tube to a collection box.

* Building more complex marble run constructions.

* Working with others on collaborative projects.

* Negotiating plans.

* Finding effective and secure ways of joining and fixing.

* Testing the marble run and making appropriate modifications to the design.

* Adding sections to the marble run over a period of time.

* Describing how they made the marble run, for example, the materials and equipment used and the stages in the process.

The practitioner role

* Ask challenging questions, such as 'Can you find a tube wide enough for this marble to roll through?' 'If we make the tube level, do you think the ball will roll faster or slower?' 'How can we make the marble run more secure?'

* Act as a practical support - for example, by holding materials in position as children fasten them together.

* Encourage investigations on a larger scale in the outdoor area using plastic piping and guttering (see also 'Outdoor area').

* Look with children at how such principles are used in real life - for example, in factory production lines.

Water area

Additional resources

*Collection of small balls that float (such as table tennis balls or the small rubber balls often found in games such as 'Jacks') *spherical wooden beads *a range of transparent plastic bottles and water carriers (some with wide enough necks to accommodate the larger balls) *waterproof tape *funnels, scoops and plastic cups.

Possible learning experiences

* Filling and emptying containers with water.

* Experimenting to find out which balls fit through the necks of which containers.

* Using simple mathematical language when talking about quantities and size.

* Watching the ball float on the water inside the bottle and while it rises as the bottle is filled up.

* Marking levels on the side of bottle and filling the bottle with water until the ball reaches the selected mark.

* Counting scoops and cupfuls of water as they are poured into bottles.

* Commenting on the speed at which the ball rises in different containers.

The practitioner role

* Talk with children about their investigations, modelling the use of key vocabulary, such as full, empty, big, small, fast, slow, and asking questions such as, 'How many cupfuls of water did it take for the ball to reach the orange mark?' 'Did the ball rise to the top faster as you filled the narrow or the wide bottle (of same height)?' 'What do you think will happen when the ball reaches the neck of the bottle?'

* Reinforce children's learning in other contexts. For example, when they are drinking milk, water or juice, provide transparent cups and look at the changing surface level as the cup is filled or the drink consumed.