The recent freezing weather provides a good opportunity to explore with children what life is like for animals and peoples living in the polar regions.
Adult-led activities
Pole position
Introduce the topic with stories about people and animals living in the polar regions.
Key learning intentions
To recognise the importance of keeping healthy
To develop an awareness of change through watching water freeze and melt Adult:child ratio 1:8
Resources
* Globe * Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse, (Chronicle Books, Pounds 9.99) and Little Polar Bear by Hans de Beer (North-South Books, big book Pounds 13,99, 4.99 paperback) * information on the Inuit, on www.arctictravel.com. Under the heading 'The People' choose 'Inuit culture', where three Inuit writers describe their culture. (See the back of the Nursery World poster for details of other suitable stories and websites.)
Preparation
* Choose a day when it is very cold, but still possible for an outdoor play session, to start the topic.
* Research background information on the Inuit, using reliable sources.
Many older books may give a false impression of what life is like now in the Arctic.
Activity content
* Before going outside for an outdoor activity, talk about what the weather is like and what clothes are needed.
* Go to the cloakroom area and look at each child's clothes in turn.
Discuss why certain items are particularly useful on a wintry day.
* After the outdoor play session, talk about how adequate the clothes have been, and see if the children found other ways to keep warm. Encourage the children to think about their actions as well as their clothes. Did they run around? Did they eat something before going outside? (The children might not connect exercise or eating with keeping warm.)
* Talk about places at the very top and very bottom of the world (show them a globe, if this will help), where it is very cold all the time. The North Pole is in the Arctic and the South Pole is in the Antarctic. Use whichever names your children can best understand. Explain that some people and animals are surrounded by snow and ice for most of the year.
* Read the story Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse. This is a cross-cultural story about a mother's unconditional love for her child, but it is set in the Arctic and the family are Inuit.
* You may need to back up this image with some contemporary pictures and information about how the Inuit people live. They prefer the name Inuit to Eskimo, which is a derogatory term meaning 'eaters of raw meat'.
* Avoid reinforcing the stereotype that all people in the Arctic regions live in igloos. Some people in hunting parties may use these traditional snow houses for temporary shelter, but mostly they live in houses just as we do.
* Talk about how the Inuit keep warm and healthy and safe. Help the children to realise that in the towns, the Inuit people heat their houses as we do.
* Read the story Little Polar Bear by Hans de Beer. Talk about how the little polar bear kept warm, got enough food and stayed safe.
* Discuss the differences the polar bear found when he went to a country where it is hot all the time. Talk about whether he was still able to keep healthy and safe.
* Look at the poster with the children and identify the various polar animals. Most of these will live in the Arctic, as this has a slightly warmer period during the summer when some of the ice and snow melts. The Antarctic is always covered with ice and snow, and although seals and many varieties of penguins live there, no large land animals can survive.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Icy, snow, cold, warm, Inuit, polar bear, walrus, Arctic fox, penguin, Arctic, Antarctic, camouflage
Questions to ask
* What is the weather like today? Try to encourage the children to respond by using such words as freezing, windy and foggy. You might have a weather board already with some visual clues. What sort of outdoor clothes did we need to put on today?
* In the cloakroom, encourage the children to show their coats, jackets, hoods, hats, boots, scarves, gloves. Ask the children why certain items were useful. For example, 'This is a lovely warm jacket Martin has. Let's have a look inside. What is it like? Will it keep Martin warm?'
* When you come back indoors, ask, 'Who was warm/cold outside?' 'Why?'
'What would it be like to live in the Arctic/Antarctic?' Use the pictures from Mama, Do You Love Me? to help the children visualise the landscape.
'What is the country like where the little Inuit girl lives? How will she keep warm and safe?'
* Use the glossary from the book to enhance the question session. For example, 'Inuit boots have a special name, can you remember what it was? What are the boots made out of?'
* From Little Polar Bear ask, 'What is it like at the North Pole? What does Lars eat? How did he keep out of the wind at night? What did Lars see on his travels in the hot country? How was it different? Do you think he would be happy to live in a very hot country all the time?'
* 'Why do you think Lars is white? Who can you see on the poster? Which ones have a white coat? How does their white coat help and protect them?'
Follow-up activities
* Share the action rhyme and the story about the Emperor penguin on the back of the Nursery World poster.
Icy cold
Develop children's understanding of frost and ice.
Key learning intention
To understand that water can freeze and melt depending on how hot or cold the air is around it
Adult:child ratio 1:8
Resources
* Water * access to a freezer * different shaped containers for ice shapes
Activity content
* If possible, choose a morning after a heavy frost so the children can observe icy patterns.
* Teach the children the rhyme:
Look out! Look out!
Jack Frost is about!
He's after our fingers and toes;
And all through the night,
The gay little sprite
Is working where nobody knows.
(Even with very young children you may have to explain that 'gay' means 'lively' or 'merry'. Although they may not understand the homosexual implications, the children may have heard the word used derogatorily, either in a joke or as a term of abuse.)
* Talk about how we sometimes find icy patterns on the windows. With central heating in many homes now this is not as common as it used to be, but children may see signs of frost on garage and shed windows. One frosty morning it might be possible to walk round your neighbourhood and see if you can find any icy patterns.
* Talk about how we say sometimes that our fingers are like ice; they feel so cold. Talk about why this is, as far as the children are able to understand.
* How do we try to warm our fingers and toes? Shake our hands, stamp our feet, run around - all to get the blood flowing faster round our bodies.
* Talk about what ice is and make some ice 'cubes' in interesting shapes.
Place them on a tray and encourage the children to observe the changes as they melt.
* Talk about how you could freeze the water again into another shape, and encourage the children to find containers in the setting to use as ice 'moulds'. You might want to add some juice to the water before freezing it for a second time.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Ice, frost, cold, warm, melt, fingers
Questions to ask
* What do your fingers and toes feel when you are outside and it is very cold? Why do they get so cold? What can you do to warm them up?
* Did you find any icy patterns on the way to school/on our walk? What were they like? Can you draw the pattern on our board?
* What is ice made of? How can we make water freeze?
* When viewing the ice, ask: How is the water different now? What will happen if we hold the ice for a few minutes? What will happen to our hands?
* How could we make the water into a different shape? Who can find another container?
Child-led art activities
Additional resources
* Blue and white background paper * white paper * black felt pens * glue * paints * black paper * white sheet * biscuit cutters of different shapes * tools to make patterns
Possible learning experiences
* Making icy patterns using the white chalk again on the blackboard, or white paint on black paper.
* Making pictures of polar animals.
The practitioner's role
* Develop children's understanding of pattern and the fact that any shape can be used.
* Pin up the background paper and encourage the children to create a polar background and display their animal pictures against it.
* Display the Nursery World poster and storybooks for the topic, so the children can use them as models for their own pictures.
Child-led role play
Additional resources
* Small-world polar and other animals * animal puppets (make finger puppets or stick some of the children's polar animal pictures to lollypop sticks) * water tray * ice * set of cardboard boxes of similar sizes * white sheet, which can be laid on the floor or table to create a polar landscape * storybooks
Possible learning experiences
* Recreating stories such as Little Polar Bear using puppets or small-world resources as appropriate on the sheet or in the water. The children may, for example, want to act out the little polar bear's trip to the tropics.
They may meet any animal they choose and decide on the dialogue modelled on the story.
* Building 'igloos' from the cardboard boxes indoors or outside and taking on the role of Inuit.
The practitioner's role
* Ensure there is enough time for children to express their thoughts, ideas and feelings through the role play.
* Extend the children's experience and expand their imagination through the stories and poems suggested.
* Model the new vocabulary so the children can describe their actions.
* Participate in the role play only when appropriate.
