Starting nursery or even moving to a new room in an early years setting can be challenging for lots of young children. These transitions can be particularly difficult for those with special educational needs and disabilities.
Becoming familiar with new members of staff and forming friendships with peers can be an area that young children need extra help with during transitions. Thankfully, there are lots of lovely play-based activities suitable to support them with this.
This month I’m sharing two such activities that you can do with them to help introduce the idea of being cared for by new members of staff and support children in forming new friendships with peers.
FRIENDSHIP TREE
Suitable for: pre-schoolers
Enjoy time together discussing what makes a good friend. Use their real-life examples to create a ‘Friendship Tree’ display of their friends which they can refer to.
Equipment
Coloured paper, pens, scissors and glue sticks.
How to
- Together draw a very large outline of a tree without leaves on some brown paper and cut out and stick onto the wall or place on the floor.
- Cut some leaf shapes out of green paper and put them in a pile.
- Discuss what makes a good friend. You may choose to ask them to give real-life examples, like ‘When I fell over yesterday my friends told a teacher’. Giving real examples can be particularly useful for some children with SEND who may struggle with abstract concepts.
- Write their examples on a ‘leaf’ (if they are able, they could write some of the words too) and then ask them to stick the leaf onto the friendship tree.
- Use the tree to refer to; for example, if you spot a child doing something ‘on the tree’, you could praise them for this and show them the leaf. Add a new leaf if you notice a new example of someone being a kind friend.
Alternatives
It doesn’t need to be a tree, it could be the petals of a ‘friendship flower’ or the ingredients of a ‘friendship cake’. Make it suit the children’s interests if you can.
Extension activity
You could also read books that have a friendship theme and pick out more examples together from the story to add to your tree.
Skills developed
Language and communication, motor, emotional regulation, social.
FRIENDLY FACES PAPER CHAIN
Suitable for: toddlers
Moving rooms in an early years setting can be unsettling for some children, especially if they have developed a strong bond with a member of staff that they will no longer be with. This activity helps young children to start to be familiar with new members of staff through play alongside your other transition activities.
Equipment
Photograph of new member of staff, paper plate, natural collage materials (sticks, leaves, grass, petals, etc.*) and glue sticks. *Risk assess and ensure all materials chosen by the children are safe and that the children won’t ingest them.
How to
- Show the children a photograph of their new teacher (even better if the children can take a photograph themselves). Chat about what they look like, their eye colour, hair, etc. Explain that they are going to go on a nature hunt to find some materials to stick onto a paper plate to make a picture of their new teacher.
- Go into your outdoor space to collect some natural materials to create a collage picture of their new teacher. Remind them of the colour of their teacher’s hair and what they might find that is the same colour, etc.
- Give the children time to stick their materials onto their paper plate. Encourage them to refer to the photograph while they are creating.
Alternatives
If you are able, have the new member of staff in the room instead of a photograph.
Extension activity
If time allows, let them present their new teacher with the pictures as a gift. The more opportunities to meet their new teacher, the better.
Skills developed
Concentration, language and communication, problem-solving, motor, emotional regulation.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
This is the second of a three-part series on how to support children (including those with SEND) with transitions: starting school, starting nursery, or moving room.
Georgina Durrant is author of 100 Ways Your Child Can Learn Through Play, a book of play- based activities that help develop skills for children with special educational needs. She is a former teacher/SENDCO, private tutor for children with SEND and the founder of The SEN Resources Blog, www.senresourcesblog.com. Twitter: @senresourceblog Facebook: @senresourcesblog Instagram: @thesenresourcesblog
