Nursery World - Go for growth (1)

Children are naturally curious and spend much of their time trying to make sense of the world around them. A topic about growth gives children lots of opportunities to satisfy that curiosity through activities based on first-hand experiences that encourage exploration, observation, problem-solving, prediction, critical thinking, decision-making and discussion. This broad, stimulating topic will enable practitioners to offer the children exciting and challenging experiences across the six areas of learning, both indoors and outdoors.

This broad, stimulating topic will enable practitioners to offer the children exciting and challenging experiences across the six areas of learning, both indoors and outdoors.

A sense of time

Many of the experiences relating to growth will help children to explore the complex concept of the passing of time and to differentiate between past and present, in meaningful ways.

Children should be given opportunities to consider the passing of time throughout the day and from day to day, as well as showing growth, development and change over longer periods of time.

Sprouting beans, germinating seeds and growing fast shooting plants such as amaryllis bulbs enable children to witness growth over a relatively short period. Longer term projects such as watching sunflowers develop from seeds to flowers to seed heads and observing trees changing throughout the seasons give children more challenging insights into longer periods of time.

Measures

Practitioners delivering the Foundation Stage curriculum sometimes emphasise numbers, counting and calculating at the expense of measuring, which is a skill we rely on all the time in 'real life'. It is important to provide children with the many words that describe measurements and comparison and with opportunities to play at measuring and use the vocabulary in their play.

Children will often be interested in the contrasts in measure - big and little animals, or tall and short sunflowers. Later, they may develop an interest in observing adults using tape measures, rulers or height charts (see our Nursery Topics poster).

Also important is that early years practitioners allow children to use both 'non-standard' measures, such as handprints, and 'standard' measures such as centimetres. When introducing the height chart, talk to the children about standard measures and model the vocabulary of size.

Time and commitment

Resources to support a topic about growth can often be collected at little cost, particularly if practitioners enlist the support of children's families and friends and the local community. But staff members do have to be enthusiastic and committed to make the topic a positive experience for everyone. It would be very disappointing for children and staff to germinate tiny seedlings, only to find them dead through lack of water at the end of a long weekend.

The responsibility for the care of animals is an even more pressing issue.

Here settings must consider the policies and issues around pets in settings before introducing a resident animal ('Little and large', page 12). Careful planning is necessary and the cost of keeping the animal (including veterinary bills) needs to be calculated, including a decision on how the costs will be met.

There can be few more exciting experiences for young children than to see a chick hatch from an egg, but baby animals are demanding in terms of time, care and attention, and practitioners considering such an undertaking should investigate the matter fully. Tiny ducklings may be great fun, but what happens to them when they are six weeks old?

Health and safety

Children need access to natural objects, plants and living things, and it is the responsibility of practitioners to ensure that any risks are identified. The Guidance to the National Standards (Ofsted 2001) provides a list of common poisonous plants in Appendix 2, with which practitioners should be familiar.

Judith Stevens is an early years adviser in Lewisham and co-author of Learning for Life - a curriculum for the early years, A Place to Learn - developing a stimulating learning environment, and Focus on Planning - effective planning and assessment in the Foundation Stage (LEARN Publications, 40, Pounds 17.50 and 30 respectively, including p&p. To order copies, call 020 8695 9806.)

Websites to support this topic