Trunk calls

A project on elephants will provide a jumbo opportunity for large-scale creative and mathematical activities, writes Denise Bailey

Adult-led activities

Provide opportunities for children to engage in creative and mathematical activities, including working on a large scale, through a topic on elephants. Begin by talking about the Nursery World elephant poster and sharing story and factual books about elephants (see Resources on the back of the poster).

Encourage the children to share their experiences of elephants that they have seen, such as at the zoo.

Discuss features of elephants and make notes of shared information such as their big ears, their small tails, the shape of their bodies, the shape, size and functions of their trunks, their skin colour, natural habitat and feeding habits. Find out about baby elephants, again creating opportunities to discuss their size, eating habits and features (see Facts and figures on the back of the Nursery World poster).

Child-initiated learning
Creative area
Additional resources
3 Paints 3 crayons 3 felt-tip pens 3 paper 3 card 3 tissue paper 3 natural materials such as sand, compost, stones, small branches, twigs and leaves 3builder's tray

Possible learning experiences

• Making drawings and paintings of elephants using a range of materials.
• Using natural materials to make a habitat for use with small-world toy elephants. (The habitat can be kept and extended or changed over a period of time if a builder's tray is used to contain it.)
• Using black and white paints to explore mixing shades of grey.
• Adding white and black paint to other colours to make lighter and darker shades of colour.
• Using paper to make 'elephant ears' fans, making fans of different shapes and sizes.

The practitioner role

• Participate in activities, exploring resources alongside children.
• Model and extend language and vocabulary.
• Provide books and other resources to enable children to develop their knowledge and ideas.
• Provide technical assistance when making fans.

Clay and dough area
Additional resources
3 Clay and playdough 3 black and white paint 3 string 3 pencils

Possible learning experiences

• Rolling balls and cylinders of clay and dough to make elephant models.
• Developing an understanding of 3D shapes.
• Developing an appreciation of weight and balance when trying to make their models stand up.
• Exploring paint mixing.
• Painting the models after they have been dried or baked.

The practitioner role

• Model and extend the children's vocabulary and the language of shape and colour.
  
• Model how to create a ball by taking a piece of the clay or dough and rolling it firmly in opposing circular motions between the palms of your hands to create a round shape.
  
• Model how to make a cylinder by first forming a ball, then rolling the material on a flat surface, pushing backwards and forwards with both hands held flat. Exert a little pressure while moving hands outwards which gradually stretches the material out into a cylinder.
  
• Discuss elephant features with the children and how to make them. What do elephants' ears look like? Are they big? How can they make the eyes? Could they use a pencil tip to create eye sockets? How much string would they need to make a tail?
  
• If necessary, ask questions and make suggestions about how to make the model stand up. Why do you think the model fell over? Are its legs too long? What do you think would happen if its legs were thicker?
  
• Give assistance to join the pieces together. If the joints are moulded together well, the model can be dried slowly either by leaving it in a warm place for a few days, or by baking it slowly in an oven and at a low temperature.

Construction area
Additional resources
3 Wooden bricks 3 Duplo 3 Lego 3 Sticklebricks 3 Popoids

Possible learning experiences

• Using wooden bricks to create elephant enclosures of different shapes and sizes to house small-world toy elephants.
• Exploring ways to design elephants using a variety of construction materials.

The practitioner role

• Ask children's opinions and support their ideas.
• Explore and experiment with the materials alongside the children.
• Ensure that there are sufficient resources so that children have the opportunity to save their models, and provide a secure area to display models so that children can return to work on them if they wish.

Outdoor area
Additional resources
3 Chalk 3 metre sticks 3 rulers

Possible learning experiences

• Creating large drawings of elephants on the ground using chalk.
• Drawing other large real or imaginary animals and creatures.
• Drawing large elephant footsteps and then exploring stepping or jumping along these.
• Using rulers and metre sticks to measure the size of the animals that they have drawn.
• Exploring other ways to measure such as by hand counts, long or short footsteps and jumps.

The practitioner role

• Experiment with ideas alongside the children.
• Support children's ideas and understanding.
• Introduce and model vocabulary of size and measurement.
• Encourage children to estimate.
• Ensure children have enough space to create large drawings without being disturbed by other activities.

Adult-led activities
Make a large elephant from junk materials.

Key learning intentions To make three-dimensional structures To work creatively on a large scale To work as part of a group

Adult:child ratio 1:6

Resources

3 Metre stick 3 a variety of large boxes and containers 3 large hollow cylinders 3 glue 3 Sellotape 3 string 3 masking tape 3 grey paint 3 paintbrushes 3 pieces of grey fabric

Preparation

• Look again at the pictures of elephants on the Nursery World poster and discuss the child-initiated activities which have already provided opportunities for the children to explore different features of elephants.
  
• Suggest that the children try to make a large elephant together.
  
• Remind them about the enormous size of elephants. Use a metre stick to again illustrate the size of a fully-grown elephant on the wall.
  
• Explore ideas with the children about what you might need to make a model baby elephant to scale.
  
• Gather together enough boxes and other resources to create different parts of the elephant such as the body (large box), legs and trunk (cardboard tubes), head (smaller box) and ears (pieces of grey fabric).
  
• Provide opportunities for the children to explore the materials available and encourage discussions of which items might be suitable for different body parts.

Activity content

• Use the available materials to design an elephant. Encourage the children to explore a variety of methods to join the boxes together including glue, Sellotape masking tape and string.
  
• Try to create a model which is free-standing by using heavier materials for legs and lightweight boxes for the body and head. Hollow cylinders could have sand poured in them to provide stability.
  
• Encourage children to paint the elephant with grey paint, using brushes of various sizes. Use the opportunity for children to develop their experience of creating shades of grey by mixing black and white paints.
  
• Provide paintbrushes of varying sizes and encourage children to decide which brushes will best cover different areas.
  
• Consider the children's safety if the elephant created is so big that they need to stand on steps to paint the upper parts of the body.
  
• Ensure the elephant is fairly steady and will not fall over easily. If necessary, attach it to a wall or secure it to the ceiling using string.

Key vocabulary Elephant, ears, legs, trunk, body, eyes, ears, tail, size, large, big, size, grey.

Follow-up activities

• Make a similar large-scale elephant from soft materials. Use a plain pillowcase for the body (or a single duvet cover if you wish to work on a really large scale), a plain cushion cover for the head and pairs of tights for the elephant's legs and the trunk. (The pillowcase and cushion could be pre-dyed grey.) Stuff the items with scrunched-up newspaper and sew the body parts together using wool, string or twine and large darning needles.The model could be painted if the children wish, though the paint will probably flake off over time.
  
• Provide smaller junk materials for children to design and make their own smaller versions of the elephant.
  
• Provide large sheets of paper taped together or preferably rolls of wallpaper (as they do not tear easily) and drawing materials for children to work together to create a large 2D picture of an elephant. When it is completed, display it on a wall with the legs reaching to the ground.

Encourage the children to compare their height to that of the elephant, to make name labels and to stick them on the wall indicating how tall they are. Model comparative language such as small, short, big, bigger, biggest, taller, higher, lower and so on.

Have fun making elephant hats, masks and costumes for the children to dress up in. Encourage the children to create a simple band hat by colouring grey a piece of card or thick paper. Provide a selection of grey fabrics, paper, cardboard cylinders and grey pencils and pens for the children to use to make two big floppy ears and a trunk. Attach the ears to the hat with staples or Sellotape and attach the trunk to the front of the band.

To create masks, cut elephant faces from card and colour them in, cut out holes for the eyes, and attach a band of card to keep the mask in place when worn.

Again, attach to the band two floppy ears (slightly in front of the children's ears) and a trunk (positioned between the child's mouth and nose. Use large grey plastic bin bags with holes cut out for the head and arms and legs to make elephant bodies. Make sure that staff are aware of the dangers of plastic bags and that the children are supervised when using these materials.

Discuss other big animals such as giraffes or whales. Encourage children to estimate their size and provide paper for them to draw the animals, making their pictures as big as possible.