Children naturally love physical activity, and they particularly enjoy playing with bikes, trikes and scooters. Wheeled toys help children develop control over their bodies and the way they move, while offering a context for learning about the world around them.
The number of wheeled toys available is always limited, and children learn fair ways of sharing them, and begin to understand the need for waiting their turn. Incorporating these toys into role play gives scope for children to involve themselves in a range of associated activities, rather than just waiting for the next bike to be free. Sometimes boys can dominate the use of wheeled toys. Planning their use in a variety of ways can offer all children the opportunity to ride.
Adult-led activities
At your service
Set up a service repair centre for the wheeled toys as a role play area outside. If possible, arrange a visit to a local car or bike repair centre, and invite a mechanic in to talk to the children about how to mend things.
Key learning intentions
Ask questions about why things happen and how things work. Extend their vocabulary, exploring the meanings and sounds of new words
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 6
Resources
*Bikes, trikes and scooters *telephone and message pad and pen *telephone directory *clock *servicing forms *test certificates *money *cheques *credit cards *invoices *receipts *message board *labels displaying repair prices *large pictures or photographs advertising spare parts and makes of vehicles *desk *chair *hats *helmets *overalls *toolbelts *tools *spare parts *can with nozzle labelled 'oil' *seating *magazines Activity content
* Show children some wheeled toys. You may have one or two available that need to be repaired. Discuss with children how the toys move, and what might go wrong to stop them moving. Look at all the moving parts, and find out what they are all for.
* Talk about safety and what might make the toy unsafe to use.
* Share experiences about vehicles breaking down, and about getting them mended. Describe the tools needed to mend different parts of a bike.
* Find out what children know about paying for repairs, and the ways of paying. Ask children to think about how a service centre works.
* Children can engage in role play and choose different roles: mechanic, customer with broken bike, service reception, bike road tester, and so on.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Pedal check, wheel check, brakes, handlebars, steering, cog, screw, nut, bolt, spin, pliers, screwdriver, repair, renew, replace Questions to ask
* How do the brakes work?
* What will happen if you turn the handlebars?
* Tell me more about the pedals and how they work.
* Why is this bell on the bike?
* How do you think this cog works?
* What could we do to mend it?
* How do you undo this screw with the screwdriver?
Follow-up activities
* Set up a bike, trike and scooter hire role play area. Each wheeled toy has a number. Have booking forms and a clock to time the hire of each vehicle. Check the condition and safety of each vehicle as they are returned, and record this on a form.
* Set up a bike, trike and scooter wash role play area. Have buckets, bowls, sponges, cloths, hoses, sprays, brushes, water and washing-up liquid. Make advertisements such as 'wash and shine'. Children organise the booking-in and payment of the wash.
* Take the bikes, trikes and scooters on a trip, and make bags, panniers and trailers for them. Fill these containers with appropriate items, and make sure they are safely packed and attached.
* Have a bike, trike and scooter rally. Make flags for each vehicle and plan a parade. Find the longest bike, the tallest scooter, the widest trike, the fastest and the slowest, the noisiest and the quietest, the one with the largest wheels, and so on.
* Do all of these activities in miniature with small-world toys.
Zig-zag track
Set up a zig-zag track using obstacles such as cones or skittles to mark out the area, and include different slopes and different surfaces in the circuit. Create a circuit that is safe but challenging and interesting.
Decide whether to have a start and finish to the circuit or whether it should be continuous.
Key learning intentions
Move with control and co-ordination
Use everyday words to describe position
Adult:child ratio 1: up to 4
Resources
*Bikes, trikes and scooters *cones *skittles *ramps *rubber mats *cardboard boxes *ridged hall carpet covering *water to create puddles *sand *leaves *large coloured soft PE building blocks *ropes to lay on the ground *fringed plastic curtain *coloured cotton reels *small box *numbers for wheeled toys *arrows *road signs
Preparation
Build a track in the outdoor area that involves up and down, under and over, through and between. Make sure that the track includes different surfaces and a few obstacles as this will give the children the opportunity to ride the bikes with a purpose other than racing them.
Activity content
* Invite the children to help you add features to the circuit such as a crossing point or use large plastic blocks to build a narrow bridge. Put up road signs and traffic lights.
* Before bike riders are allowed on the circuit, walk along the track with the children and point out different features.
* Encourage the children to feel the different surfaces and describe what a journey round the circuit will be like using language such as 'under the bridge' and 'through the water'.
* Discuss with the children issues of road safety and wearing helmets when bike riding.
* Drape a ribbon across the track and invite someone to declare the circuit open. The children could make posters advertising the grand opening of the circuit.
* Once children have had plenty of time to play and experiment with the bikes, trikes and scooter collection discuss which is their favourite and why.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Zig-zag, bendy, slope, curve, up, down, round, between, next to, over, under, through, bumpy, smooth, shiny
Questions to ask
* Where are you going?
* Who is coming with you?
* How many times round the circuit will you ride?
* What can you do to get the bike to slow down?
* How do you go round corners on a scooter?
* Can you describe the circuit?
* What did you do first?
* What did you do after the sharp bend? n What did you see when you went through the curtain?
* Did you have to slow down when you went between the two cushions?
Follow-up activities
* Children put a particular coloured cotton reel into a box as they complete each circuit to keep a track of the number of circuits they have completed and use this data at the end of a session.
* Set up a till and a ticket system and children 'pay' to ride the bikes and scooters around the circuit.
* Put numbers on the wheeled toys and give each toy a similar numbered parking space.
* Children draw maps of the circuit indicating slow-down points and passing places as well rough surface and water splash.
* Encourage the children to pretend they are going on an imaginary journey as they start to ride around the circuit. Suggest that they tell the story of where they have visited when they have been on the bike ride.
Child-initiated learning Encourage the children to develop their own ideas and interests across the curriculum by adding topic resources to your basic provision.
Creative workshop
Additional resources
*Small cogs and wheels from discarded clocks and watches *CD discs, jumbo pipe cleaners, tin foil *Wheels from construction sets and broken small cars *Charcoal, soft pencils and cartridge paper *Exhibits, such as model bikes made from wire hangers, paper or card mechanical toys with wheels, mobiles, tools with cogs such as a mechanical whisk *Photos of wheeled vehicles and models
Possible learning experiences
* Making a landscape for a small-world bike circuit using reclaimed materials.
* Making a mobile by suspending a bike wheel and encouraging the children to attach any model bikes they have made using foil covered pipe cleaners and CDs and any other reclaimed material.
* Dipping wheels from construction sets into paint and wheel across paper to make tracks.
* Sketching a favourite bike or scooter.
* Making a wheeled vehicle with junk boxes, and cogs and wheels.
The practitioner role
* Encourage the children to use vocabulary of shape such as straight, curved, circle.
* Experiment with different tyres and draw the children's attention to the wheel patterns.
* Allow children time to develop their ideas and to come back to work they are engaged in.
* Model techniques for fixing wheels that allow the vehicle's wheels to turn, using an axle.
* Extend children's range of techniques for joining and finishing.
Science area
Additional resources
*Exhibition of bikes, mountain, very small trike, racing bike and clothing needed for bike riding *Exercise bike with lowered saddle for the children to practise pedalling *Hair dryer or blower to replicate wind when bike riding *Extra wheels, cotton reels and slopes of different angles *Reflectors, bells and hooters
Possible learning experiences
* Experimenting with different angled slopes by running cotton reels down them.
* Pedalling on an exercise bike and record speeds on a clipboard.
The practitioner role
* Discuss how fast or slow children can pedal the exercise bike.
* Talk about the type of clothing you need when you are riding a bike.
* Ask children to describe what it feels like on their skin, face and hair when they are riding bikes and scooters.
* Explain different features of bikes and scooters. Demonstrate how brakes work to stop a bike and handlebars help to steer a scooter.
* Debate why wheels are round and imagine what would happen if they were a different shape.
Construction play
Additional resources
*Extra wheels, connectors and axles *small boxes and open topped containers
*small-world people
Possible learning experiences
* Construct a garage to park a small-world bike in and make some doors to keep it safe.
* Make a sidecar and attach it to a bike for a small-world person to travel in.
* Design and construct a scooter maze using a base and plastic construction material.
* Chalk out a circular track with four pit stops. Arrange some small-world people at each of the pit stops; push model bikes and trailers around the track and collect some people at each of the stops. Throw a dice to decide how many people can get in the trailer.
The practitioner role
* Encourage the children to discuss how many small-world people to put at each pit stop.
* Talk about how doors open and close, and walk around the setting with the children opening different doors.
Sheila Ebbutt and Carole Skinner are co-ordinators of the Early Childhood Mathematics Group
Books
* The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters by Janet and Allan Ahlberg (Viking Children's Books, 11.99)
* Mrs Armitage on Wheels by Quentin Blake (Red Fox, 4.99)
* Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake (Red Fox, 4.99)
* Titch by Pat Hutchins (Red Fox, 4.99)
* Do You Dare? by Paul and Emma Rodgers (Orchard Books, 4.99)
* Where's Everybody Going? by Christopher Carr and Quentin Samuel (Zero to Ten, 4.99)
* Topsy and Tim Have New Bikes by Jean and Gareth Adamson (Ladybird, Pounds 2.99)
* Bears in the Night by Jan and Stan Berenstain (Collins, 4.99)
