Nursery World - Enabling Environments: Collections

Design and technology sparks imagination and helps children begin to make sense of the world in which we live, says Nicole Weinstein.

Design and technology (D&T) in the early years helps children to make sense of the world in which they live. After all, we live in a world that is filled with objects, gadgets and gizmos designed to help us live our lives, save us time and give us enjoyment; these range from houses to cars, from toys to mobile phones. Children can use their imagination to design new concepts or modify ideas with a variety of different materials, including junk modelling, wood, Lego and food.

Linda Thornton, early years adviser to Reflections on Learning and former primary adviser for science and design technology, says, 'It's a wonderful way of engaging children in active learning and thinking creatively and critically. It is a process-based area of learning where young children can begin to design and build with a purpose in mind. It's rewarding for both children and educators.'

WHAT IS D&T?

In the new Early Years Foundation Stage, design and technology is closely linked with Understanding of the World and Expressive Arts and Design. Early years consultant Linda Pound says that design is about 'thinking' and that technology is about 'doing' - making something for a purpose.

She explains, 'Design is not just about drawing. Designing a new Lego structure or creating a pizza require no drawing, but both involve some experience, some imagination and a willingness to change and modify ideas. Technology, on the other hand, involves putting ideas into practice and having an awareness of the possibilities and limitations of different materials. Children need to experience at first hand the consequences of the decisions they have made, rather than quickly being shown by an adult how to get it "right". Purposeful making involves creativity, imagination and fun, as well as making mistakes.'

D&T is made up of four strands:

resistant materials - wood, metal, card, paper

textiles

food technology

control technology (designing and making things where movement is controlled using ICT).

Practitioners can cover a range of activities in these areas. Ms Thornton suggests using construction sets and reclaimed materials to design and make buildings and furniture for different-sized teddies or dolls, or vehicles to carry them in. She says, 'Make sure the children design it first, because without the design element, it's not design and technology.'

She continues, 'Introduce a focus to a weaving activity by providing pictures and photographs for children to base their designs on. Following a recipe for autumn festival soup will require mastery of food technology skills such as peeling, cutting, chopping, grating and an understanding of the cooking processes involved. Control technology is more complicated, but young children can begin to develop their understanding through using simple remote control toys or equipment such as a roamer.'

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

All aspects of D&T require children to learn the skills necessary to use tools safely. The tools may include scissors, cooking utensils, a hammer, drill, saw, hole punch and glue gun, among others, and all should be:

well cared for - clean, rust-free

fit for purpose - blunt scissors or a saw that doesn't cut pose a safety hazard

ergonomically appropriate for young children - a suitable size and weight and easy to handle

stored safely.

Tools intended for use by young children can be bought from specialist suppliers, along with bench hooks for safe sawing and clamps for holding wood and other materials securely.

Some proponents of working with resistant materials argue that wearing goggles restricts children's creativity. Ms Thornton disagrees, 'I feel that it is reckless to encourage small children to saw wood or hammer nails without eye protection. Fitted with extra elastic to keep them on, a pair of goggles can become part of the exciting ritual of working with wood.'

The skills needed for children to use tools safely and effectively should to be taught by practitioners competent and confident in using tools.

Ms Thornton concludes, 'Settings in which working with a range of tools is an accepted part of practice must ensure that all practitioners have a sound working knowledge of the tools they are offering to children. Only then can they be sure that they have taken all reasonable steps to ensure the children's safety.'

RESOURCES

Reflections on Learning www.reflectionsonlearning.co.uk has a range of weaving frames and construction sets. Try the large Weaving Frames Shapes Set (£39.99 for three) and the Weaving Spiral Rings (£34.99 for four), ideal for customising with different accessories such as the Assorted Ribbons (£9.99). For construction, try the Giant Wood Effect Foam Blocks (£199.99) or the Surprise Bag of reclaimed wooden pieces (£29.99). For control technology, the Remote Control Bee (£20.99).

The Mindstretchers, www.mindstretchers.co.uk, Corvus Kids at Work range is a full range of real tools designed for little people and are used at Mindstretchers Nature Kindergartens. Try the Toolbox Kit (£99), which includes 18 child-sized tools in a metal toolbox. The full range includes woodwork tools such as the Junior Hacksaw (£5.90) and a Sanding Mouse (£4.70), along with other useful D&T items like a Drill and Holder (£7), a Measuring Set (£6), and a Build Your Own Bird House set (£14.20).

Dust Masks (£1.35 for a pack of 10), a Bag of Nails (£1.49), Safety Goggles (£5.95), Short Hammers (£4.75 for three), a Hammering/Tinkering Block (£12) and a Hammering Table (£149.99) are all available from Cosy Direct on 01332 370152. The organisation also sells Weave recycling kits based on three themes: Outdoors, Maths and Literacy (£14.95 each).

The Junior Baking Set (£112.99) from The Consortium Early Years, www.earlyyears.co.uk, contains enough bakeware for two children. It includes oven gloves, a mechanical scale, mixing bowls, muffin trays and baking tin. The Lego Bricks Set (£34.99), from the same organisation, encourages the designing and making of figures, objects and buildings, and the Lego Wheels Set (£27.99) helps children add mobility to their constructions.

TTS Group, www.tts-group.co.uk, has a range of resources for indoor and outdoor D&T. The Busy Bench Toolkit (£34.95) includes two hacksaws, two bench hooks, three clamps, two mini hammers, six screwdrivers and two pairs of goggles. Use them with the Busy Bench (£184.95) or the Trestle (£134.95). Also available is the Vehicles Kit (£38.75), which can make 25 vehicles.

The Community Playthings, www.communityplaythings.co.uk, Hollow Blocks (£565 for a set of 26) can be used to create large-scale vehicles, buildings or animals.

Early Excellence's Solid Woodwork Bench (£225) contains two in-built vices and is ideal for use with all the woodwork accessories, which include a Set of Hacksaws and 6 Blades (£16.50), a Set of Corks (£6.50), a Set of Dowling (£8.25) and a Drill with a Set of 6 Drill Bits (£24.45). Or try the Ready Made Provision Collection - Woodwork (£275), which contains all the above and more. See www.earlyexcellence.com.

Early Years Resources, www.earlyyearsresources.co.uk, stocks a range of equipment for craft activities, including the Crazy Cut Scissors Assortment (£15.40), Wooden Spools (£12.50 for 60), a Loot Bag of assorted ribbons and trimming (£7.99) and a pack of 12 Glasspaper (Sandpaper) Sheets (£1.70). For fastening and joining, try Treasury Tags (£2.75 for 100), Hole Punch (99p), Stapler (£2.80), and the Masking Tape Bulk Saver Pack of 6 (£9.60).

The Asco Educational, www.ascoeducational.co.uk, Tegu Magnetic Blocks, Jungle (£84.35) allow geometric building possibilities for gravity-defying play. The Moov Advanced Kit (£185) contains 150 components including two wheels and instructions for seven models.

Playbales (£349 for a set of 12) from www.playgardens.co.uk are filled with barley straw and covered in cotton canvas fabric.

They can be used for large scale construction indoors or out.

Case study: Luton Street nursery

Children at London Early Years Foundation's Luton Street Nursery in Marylebone get to experience some of the wonders of design and technology with a range of science-based activities.

Nursery manager Julie Weiss says, 'We have a science area where children can explore flour, sand, egg timers, measuring and weighing. Every day at one o'clock we have a focused activity with our three-year-olds. These adult-led activities include cause-and-effect play - for example, floating and sinking, making volcanoes with vinegar and baking soda, watching raisins expand in water, baking, construction with mini saws and pieces of wood, and junk modelling.

'Junk modelling is also a free-play opportunity but if we have been reading a book about robots, for example, we might make a robot.

'We encourage children to use real child-sized woodwork tools under adult supervision and we do a lot of work with screwdrivers. Some of our three-year-olds are very adept at opening and closing the battery compartments of old cassette players, keyboards or telephones, and we find that they concentrate for sustained periods of time.

'We recently transformed an area of the nursery into a jungle, after we arrived one morning to find that a neighbour had dumped tree cuttings by our fire exit. The children used saws to cut the branches. We put them in pots and discussed what to do with the leaves.

'We talked about creating a jungle and planned how we would make it and what materials and resources should go into it. We put collages on the wall and made parrots out of papier-mache. It was a fantastic spontaneous activity for risky play and the children loved it.'

This article was prepared with the help of Linda Thornton.

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