Children will be familiar with various 'people who help us', any of whom can be incorporated into a project. However, we have chosen to focus on people who serve the community and are likely to be most familiar to children: firefighters, nurses, police officers and lollipop crossing patrol officers.
Start the project by discussing with the children all the people who help them, and the kind of help they give. During the course of the topic, encourage the children to become, in their turn, helpful people. Show them how to be supportive of each other, and to take responsibility for their own care.
Wherever possible, invite 'people who help us' to visit your setting to talk about their jobs. Ask them to bring their uniform and tools of their trade for the children to examine and ask questions about.
Adult-led activities
Firefighters
Children often spontaneously include fire fighters and fire engines in their imaginative play. Their interest may well reflect the impact of fire engines on the traffic flow, the noise of the sirens, the flashing lights and their bright red colour.
Key learning intentions
* To notice differences between features of the local environment and identify features in the place they live
* To talk about shape and use everyday words to describe position
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 6
Resources
Large and small sheets of paper, thick crayons or felt-tip pens, street maps and maps of buildings, aerial photos, large egg timers, telephones and message pads, water hoses, buckets of varying sizes and a pulling trolley, designate an area where fires often have to be put out in the outdoor environment
Preparation
* Discuss with the children where they have seen firefighters and fire engines.
* Talk about what happens when a fire engine is rushing to a fire.
* Ask why the fire engine needs flashing lights and a siren.
* Provide resources to enable children to explore being firefighters.
* Discuss how firefighters know that there is a fire that needs putting out. Explain that firefighters may need maps to help them to get to the fire quickly.
* Suggest that together you draw a map of your area to help the firefighters in your setting.
Activity content
* Discuss the maps and invite the children to identify features on them.
* Encourage them to draw a large map of the surrounding area. Help them get started by suggesting that they first draw the setting and then ask questions to clarify the position of other local features such as shops, houses and blocks of flats.
* Give children the opportunity to influence decisions about where things are drawn on the map.
* Encourage them to co-operate and focus on the process of map making.
* Talk about how close or far away the setting is to, say, local shops.
Key vocabulary
Left, right, next to, in front of, behind, above, below, along, over, under, around, near, far away, up, down, round the corner, between.
Questions to ask
* If we go out of the building and turn right, what do we see? What if we turn left? And what is straight ahead?
* What do we pass when we go down the road? Can you remember what comes first and what comes next?
* Is the big tree before or after the post box?
* Which way does the road go next? Where is the crossroads?
* Which route is quicker? Why is that?
Extending learning
* Decide where the fire is and use the map and telephone to talk about how to get to it.
* Work out the quickest route - without going over buildings. Turn over an egg timer and, using a toy fire engine, try to make the journey quickly and safely before the egg timer runs out.
* Construct a three-dimensional map of the local area using boxes and small-world figures.
* Take the children for a walk in the vicinity and photograph the features that are on the map.
* A typical fire engine is about 8m long, 2.5m wide and 3m high. Use metre sticks to decide how much space a fire engine would take up in the outdoor area.
Lollipop person
Develop children's awareness of road safety by exploring the role of the lollipop person.
Key learning intentions
* To use representations as a means of communication
* To use talk to explain what is happening and to anticipate what might happen next
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 4
Resources
Digital camera, tape recorder, dark paper, paint, plastic glue or grout spreaders, large card circles and triangles, collection of pictures of road and traffic signs (see the back of the Nursery World poster)
Preparation
* Explain to the children the role of the lollipop person.
* Ask how drivers know when to stop their car if the lollipop person doesn't speak to them.
* Outdoors, create a roadway with masking tape on the ground or chalked lines. Include a pedestrian crossing, and provide a lollipop stick and hat.
Activity content
* Go for a walk to look for traffic signs and markings on the road.
* Sketch or photograph some of the signs or markings. You could also make a tape recording of the traffic.
* Give the children circular and triangular paper and use the sketches and photographs to make large painted road signs for their 'roadway'.
* Supply the children with dark coloured paper, paint and plastic glue or grout spreaders to illustrate line markings on the roads.
* Look at the signs on the back of the Nursery World poster. Discuss what they mean and why we need road signs to keep us safe.
* Discuss making signs that give information or instructions without using words and that could be displayed in the setting - for example, one indicating how many children can use the sand area at one time.
Key vocabulary
Sign, notice, poster, danger, instruction, traffic, safety, brake, important, circle, triangle, pedestrian crossing, crossing patrol, zebra crossing, look, listen
Questions to ask
* What design have you decided to paint?
* What will your sign tell people?
* I wonder whether you will choose a triangular or a circular sign?
* What do you think this sign means?
Nurses
Nearly all the children in the setting will have some experience of minor injuries, such as cuts and bruises, while some will be familiar with nurses and visiting a health centre.
Key learning intentions
* To show awareness of a range of healthy practices with regard to eating, sleeping and hygiene
* To use talk to pretend imaginary situations and to recreate roles and experiences
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 4
Resources
Prepared blank zigzag books, pencils, crayons, a reception area with telephone, appointments diary and box containing file cards of medical records, computer set up with database for entering patient details, a waiting area with two or three chairs and magazines, a selection of bandages and plasters to be used on the dolls and soft toys, information leaflets and posters
Preparation
* Help children to set up a health centre and nursing station in the role-play area.
* Urge them to share their knowledge of what a nurse does and why.
* Talk about the outfits that nurses wear.
* Ask the children to identify equipment, and make a list of the items that they have seen in a health centre.
Activity content
* Provide zigzag books and suggest the children make information leaflets on important things to do to keep healthy.
* Discuss washing hands before lunch and after going to the toilet.
* Talk about eating healthy food and not too many sweets and crisps.
* Explain why people need to sleep, and share going to bed routines.
Key vocabulary
Disinfect, diet, wound, prescription, injection, graze, bandage, plaster, patient
Extending learning
* Give each patient a personal information card for details of their name, age, address and details of their injury.
* Ask the children who are acting as nurses at the centre to write down details of the treatment they give the 'patients'.
* Give prescriptions to patients who need it. Write a rota so every one has a chance to act as a nurse and a patient or carer.
Questions to ask
* Can you describe Teddy's symptoms?
* What do you think is wrong with Teddy?
* How does Dolly feel with a broken leg?
* Why does a health centre need an appointment book?
* Where do you get a prescription from, and what are they for?
* What do X-rays show?
Police officers
Develop children's awareness of the role of the police.
Key learning intentions
* To use talk to organise, sequence, and clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events
* To show care and concern for others, for living things and the environment
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 6
Resources
Walkie-talkie sets, police helmets for role play, notebooks, tape recorder, telephone, diary, table and chairs
Preparation
* Talk about the various tasks that police officers do to keep children protected.
* Discuss how police officers patrol the area, making sure that everything is safe, and observing things that are happening to make sure nothing is dangerous.
* Explain that police officers also look after children who are lost and find things that are lost or have been taken.
Activity content
* Set up a role-play area as a police station with hats, enquiry desk, telephone, diary and writing table.
* Have children walk round or patrol the outdoor area in pairs like police officers, making sure that everything is safe and taking notes about anything unusual that they see or anything that has been lost.
* If possible, provide each pair of children with real or pretend walkie-talkies and model how to use them.
* Provide the children with notebooks in which to write down their observations.
* Include plenty of opportunities for dramatic play and give the children chances to reflect on the happenings and report back what they noticed.
Key vocabulary
Incident, lost, found, safe, witness, description, statement, notes
Extending learning
* Identify any personal items that have been found in the setting, or equipment or materials that have been lost.
* Help children to describe what the lost or found objects look and feel like using words that describe texture and shape.
* Make lost and found posters on the computer to put up in the police station.
Questions to ask
* What do you think is the best thing to do if you find something that isn't yours?
* What would you suggest that someone who is lost should do?
* What questions shall we ask to find out about the lost dog? What do you think it is important to find out?
Sheila Ebbutt is managing director and Carole Skinner is project development manager at BEAM Education (tel: 020 7684 3323)
Useful websites
* www.london-fire.gov.ukfor information about the fire brigade (and see also regional fire brigade websites)
* www.police.ukfor links to local police force websites
* www.hedgehogs.gov.uk for information about road signs and the green cross code
