Young children learn to make sense of their world by revisiting and representing experiences and imitating the actions and behaviours of adults around them. Their home and family are of paramount importance to them and provide a vital context for learning. It is not surprising, therefore, that we see so many children choosing to engage in domestic role play in the nursery. In order for the children to explore fully the ideas around this play theme, the environment must be rich in opportunities and activities planned with care.
Adult-led activities
Home improvements
Invite the children to explore the role of a real-life decorator in the outdoor area.
Key learning intentions
To begin to use the language of measurement
To use tools effectively and with control
To engage in imaginative and role play based on first-hand experiences
Adult:child ratio 1:4-6 (depending on the amount of equipment and materials available)
Resources
Large sheets of card or hardboard ,rolls of wallpaper (end-of-line designs can usually be bought at a reasonable price) ,child scissors, paste (safe for the children to use) ,buckets, decorator's paint and paste brushes (varying widths) 3paint trays and rollers 3sponges 3'pasting table' (at child height) ,overalls or aprons ,paint shade cards ,home decor books and magazines ,water
Preparation
* Talk with the children about their experiences of decorating in the home.
Some children may also have seen DIY programmes on television.
* Fasten the pieces of card/hardboard securely to the wall (these can be turned around and used on the other side too).
* Invite parents to join you for this activity to model the skills and techniques involved in painting and hanging wallpaper.
Activity content
* Introduce the tools and materials to the children and talk with them about the purposes of these. Give them an opportunity to look at the books and magazines.
* Mix the paste with the children.
* Demonstrate how to use the tools and materials, for example, measuring and cutting a piece of wallpaper, pasting and hanging the paper on the boards, painting outdoor walls with water using rollers and brushes. When the wallpaper has dried and stuck, the board can be re-used and the children encouraged to paint over the paper using powder paint.
* Support the children as they engage in the activities themselves and encourage them to talk about their ideas while they are at work.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Names of tools and materials. Long, longer, short, shorter, big, bigger, small, smaller, wide, narrow.
Questions to ask
What do you think this brush could be used for?
Which brush do you think would be best for putting the paste on the paper?
Can you find a wider brush?
How long do you think the piece of wallpaper needs to be?
Which paper are you going to choose to put on the wall?
Extension ideas
* As a team, look at the benefits of this activity in terms of the children's handwriting development - that is, the large up and down movements involved in 'painting' with water that will eventually be refined to produce the stick characters in writing.
* Encourage the children to design and print their own wallpaper on blank lining paper.
* Ask any parents who are currently decorating at home to take photographs (or film) of the process to show the children in the nursery.
Tea time The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr is always a firm favourite with children and is probably familiar to parents from their own childhood too.
Use the book as a starting point for imaginative and role play around a 'tea party' theme.
Key learning intentions
To enjoy and join in with a story, listening attentively when appropriate To show an awareness of story elements such as key characters, sequence of events
To draw on personal experience and a familiar story to represent ideas through role play and to play alongside other children who are engaged in the same theme
Adult:child ratio 1:up to 6
Resources
The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr (Collins Picture Lions)
Preparation
* Plan to read the story in a quiet, comfortable area free from distractions, such as the book area.
* Make sure that the home corner is adequately equipped to provide the necessary props to support children's story play.
Activity content
* Gather interested children on the carpet and introduce the book, asking if the children know the story already. If not, encourage them to predict what it might be about, using picture clues on the front cover.
* Read the story with the children, talking about the illustrations in the book and anticipating what might happen next.
* Discuss with the children how they would react if a tiger came to tea at their house.
* Suggest to the children that you move to the home corner and play alongside the children as they recreate the story of The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Follow the children's ideas and support their play by providing additional resources as appropriate.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Page, word, picture, front, back, beginning, end; tiger, Sophie, Mummy, Daddy
Questions to ask
* Who do you think Sophie and her Mummy will find when they open the door?
* What do you think you would do if the Tiger knocked on your door?
* What do you think the Tiger will want to eat next?
* What would you make the Tiger for tea?
* What do you think Sophie's family should do now that there is nothing in the house for tea?
Extension ideas
* Buy several copies of the book and position them in different areas of provision, such as the sand, water and dough areas, to encourage the children to revisit the story ideas and themes.
* Make up a 'story bag' related to this story including, for example, a copy of the book, an unbreakable plate, teapot and cup, empty (and washed) milk and orange juice containers. Lend the bag to the children to take home to their families.
* Plan tea parties for other story characters, or for the children's teddy bears. Encourage the children to write invitations and plan preparations.
Child-initiated learning
Malleable materials area
Additional resources and adult support
* Make dough with the children and then offer the dough as part of the continuous provision.
* Provide play kitchen equipment such as a microwave oven, cooker, baking tins, bun cases, rolling pins, cutlery, biscuit cutters, pizza cutters, chopping boards, colanders, pans and so on. Play alongside the children, modelling food preparation and cooking skills. Question the children to challenge their thinking - for example, 'How many buns do we need to make if you want to give everyone at the table one?', 'What will happen when we put the buns in the oven?', 'What shall we put on our pizza?'
* Provide a large shallow tray (or individual trays) and, with the children, add cornflour and water to create a gloopy mixture. Add a few drops of food colouring in the water to colour the mixture. Provide spoons, blunt knives, forks and other utensils and experiment alongside the children, using your hands and the tools to manipulate the mixture. Model the use of creative vocabulary and encourage the children to use descriptive words such as 'stretchy', 'blobby', 'squidgy'. Allow the children opportunities to become deeply involved in their play and be aware that adult intervention may not always be appropriate.
* Offer the cornflour gloop over several days and encourage the children to observe how the mixture changes as it dries out and when water is added.
* Buy, or make, some roll-out icing to offer the children a different medium to work with. Provide a range of plastic sweet cutters, cases and packaging trays from chocolate boxes and colour the icing with food colouring. If the children choose to make sweets with the icing, work alongside them, while talking about their ideas, and your own.
* Offer the children materials such as porridge oats and jugs of water with mixing bowls and wooden spoons. Allow them plenty of time to explore the materials and to experiment with them. Observe the children closely to determine the direction of their play and support their ideas with additional resources as opportunities arise, for example, a 'Three Bears'
story book and a porridge recipe.
Play possibilities
* Exploring the textures and properties of malleable materials
* Pretending to prepare and cook food
* Counting people and objects, matching one to one
* Cutting and moulding shapes to fit containers
* Planning meals and parties and engaging in play with a 'party' or 'meal'
theme
* Revisiting personal experiences or favourite stories
* Mixing materials together
* Returning to materials over a period of time to develop ideas
Possible learning outcomes
Becomes very involved in self-chosen activities
Uses talk to clarify thinking and experiments with descriptive language
Talks about the features of materials and comments on changes in materials as they are mixed
Asks questions about why things happen
Uses number in the context of play
Explores shape in two and three dimensions
Manipulates tools and materials to achieve an effect
Develops hand-eye co-ordination
Imitates what adults do and uses one object to represent another
Water area
Additional resources and adult support
* Add gentle soap liquid to create bubbles in the water (be aware of any allergies children may have).
* Offer washing-up brushes, dishcloths, tea towels and play plates, bowls, cups, pans and cutlery. Provide draining racks on a surface near to the water tray. Play with the children who choose to access the area, washing up alongside them. Talk with the children about washing-up routines at home. Support the children in making links with other areas, perhaps bringing some equipment from the home corner kitchen to wash in the water tray or making a 'dishwasher' in the technology area to use in the home corner.
* Provide sponges, towels, empty plastic shampoo bottles and washable dolls. Put plastic changing mats on a surface close to the water tray so that the children can dry 'their' babies after they have been bathed.
* In the outdoor water area, provide pegs, a laundry basket and a washing line. Encourage the children to wash items such as dolls' clothes, blankets and tea towels from the home corner and to peg them out to dry.
Play possibilities
* Exploring the texture and properties of bubbles in the water, 'modelling'
with the bubbles, stirring them with hands, rubbing them between palms and so on
* Pretending to wash up and dry the pots after a meal
* Imaginative and role play with 'babies', bathing them, washing their hair, drying them and dressing them
* Washing clothes and hanging them out to dry
Possible learning outcomes
Uses talk to express ideas and negotiate roles
Explores and investigates materials, using senses as appropriate
Observes changes from wet to dry and dry to wet
Handles objects and tools with increasing control
Engages in imaginative and role play based on first-hand experience
Areas of learning
Personal, social and emotional development
Communication, language and literacy
Mathematical development
Knowledge & understanding of the world
Physical development
Creative development
