Nursery World - Enabling Environments: Real-World Experiences

Identifying different themes within the topic of furniture can
provide insights into day-to day living and inspire creativity in
learning. By Diane Rich, Mary Jane Drummond and Cathy Myer

In a small one-class entry infant school in a large industrial city, the staff entered on a month-long investigation of furniture. Each class took a different theme, focusing on a different aspect of this enormous topic.

To enrich the youngest children's domestic play, the educators in this class embarked on an investigation of launderette furniture. Some children had been playing with bubbles in the water tray. One child remarked, 'It's like a washing machine.' Another ran to the book box and found a storybook with launderette washing machines on the front cover, called The Frogs Go on Holiday. The children asked the teacher to read it aloud to them and when she did, one child asked, 'Is there really such a thing as launderettes?'

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