Children at Rainbow Nursery, Middlestone Moor, have been conducting their own investigations into light and dark using a range of exciting resources designed to stimulate their imaginations, natural curiosity and desire to make sense of the world around them.
Darkness for some children is associated with anxiety, and so playing in dark areas with friends and familiar staff helps them to overcome these concerns. For others, experiencing the excitement of playing in dark secret spaces they have created for themselves motivates creativity and imaginative language.
'At first the children helped to generate ideas for exploring dark places, and then we provided additional resources, such as light boxes and shadow screens, to encourage them to make their own discoveries about the fascinating effects of light,' says nursery nurse Alex Higgins.
Planned learning intentions
- To respond to significant experiences, showing a range of feelings when appropriate
- To use talk to clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events
- To investigate objects and materials by using all of their senses as appropriate
- To use their imagination in art and design, music, dance, imaginative and role-play and stories
Resources
For dark places: lots of black fabric; stars; shiny reflective items such as tinsel and foil; torches.
Books to read: The park in the dark by Martin Waddell (Walker Books), A dark, dark tale by Ruth Brown (Red Fox), Funnybones by Janet and Allan Ahlberg (Picture Puffin).
For light investigations: light box; overhead projector; white sheet; colour investigation resources such as paddles, plastic prisms, plastic bottles filled with coloured water and glitter, gel pockets, acetate sheets, cellophane; coloured sand, glitter; mirrors; torches.
For artwork: card and paper, both black and white; crayons; black paint; washing-up liquid; scraping implements, such as clay tools and forks.
Step by step
- We began by discussing the children's experiences of dark and light, and talked about where we might be able to find a dark place in our nursery. Perhaps we could make one?
- The children looked around for suitable places and chose a climbing frame. Together we draped it in black and a staff member hung a long drape from the ceiling for added darkness. The children crawled inside, covered any gaps and created curtain doors to shut out the light. They attached stars and other shiny materials around the outside. When they were happy with their dark, dark place, we left them to develop play in their chosen direction.
- Later a staff member joined to talk more about darkness before reading a dark, dark story by the light of a torch.
- For contrast, we planned activities to investigate light. A staff member created a shadow screen by hanging up a sheet and shining an overhead projector on it. The children had great fun creating shadows with their bodies and different objects.
- We extended our explorations to include a light box and observed the effect of light shining through objects. Especially exciting to the children were the gel pockets and bottles of coloured liquids and glitter. They also made interesting observations using colour paddles to shine on their hands.
- With children's interest still high, we became more ambitious and scattered coloured sand and glitter on the surface of the light box. We noted children's language as they made their discoveries. Some created light patterns with their fingers, others wrote their names, one child was absorbed in creating a butterfly and some wondered if mixing the colours would have the same effect as mixing the colour paddles.
- Our theme continued in the creative area as children made dark and light pictures by colouring sheets of card using crayons and then painting over them with black paint mixed with washing-up liquid. Once dry, the children scraped patterns in the paint using forks and clay tools to reveal the colours beneath.
- The children produced contrasting 'dark and light' pictures sticking black and white paper. For some this led to an interest in symmetry as they tried to make their images match.
- All of the children's artwork was displayed around their dark, dark place, and staff created displays using photographs accompanied by the children's language to enable parents to see how their children's play links to the EYFS.
- Alex Higgins is a nursery nurse at Rainbow Nursery, Middlestone Moor, Co Durham. She spoke to Jean Evans.
