Particularly the older children have been showing an interest in their bodies and how they change and grow, what parts do what and showing an increase in confidence in what their bodies are capable of. Many of the younger children are toilet training at present so they also are taking more control of their bodies and pride in what they are achieving. So, this month we will be looking a little bit closer at bodies.
The activities this month will be
based around the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) areas of learning:
Prime areas:PSED: To feel comfortable and confident in their bodies and what they can do. PD: Challenge their physical abilities and learn new ways of moving. C&L: Build their vocabulary of body parts, movement, think about and discover new words for describing physical sensations.
Specific areas:
L: Understanding
and using books for reference and research to aid discovery and knowledge. M: Using
their bodies to count with, pairing. UW:
learning about how bodies grow, develop and change. EA&D:
Move their bodies creatively with and without music.
·
Arranging body parts. Shilpi will be talking about the different
parts of the body with the children and then getting them to arrange the body
parts where they think they go.
·
Foot painting. Marie-Claire will be helping children to make
large scale pictures with the children’s feet in the outdoor area.
·
Moving to music versus silence. Christine H will be supporting the children
to move in different ways to music using ribbons, scarves and also comparing
how different it feels when you move without music.
·
Fruits and vegetables. Laura Z will be making picture lists with the
children of their five favourite fruits and vegetables and talking about how
you need to eat at least five a day and more is better.
·
How does your body work? Jenny will be working with the preschool
group on how their body works and how to keep them healthy with food and
exercise.
·
Growth. Matt will be working with the children, families and team on
gathering pictures of themselves as they have grown up to talk about how your
body grows.
·
Life size drawings. Carole and Natty will be helping the children
to make life size drawings of themselves and naming the different body parts.
What you could do to support your children at home:
· Look through photo albums together of
different family members and talk about how you have each grown.
· Talk about and count the fruits and vegetables
they have eaten in the day. Talk about how you need at least five fruits and
vegetables a day to keep healthy and check off with them as they do it.
· Go to the park and do some running together.
Feel your pulses and talk about how exercise makes you feel. Use lots of
describing words; puffed, happy, wobbly, beating.
· Name body parts, sing songs (we all know
Heads, Shoulders…), count body parts, repeat and remember.
After
a month of listening to sounds, the children have really tuned into the road
and what they think they hear passing by. They have been finding pictures of
different vehicles and talking about them, so this month we will support the
children in discovering more about the different types of vehicles and what
they are for.
The activities this month will be
based around the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) areas of learning:
Prime areas:
PSED: Learning
alongside others, sharing discoveries and exploring new things supported by
familiar key person or friend. PD: Using
their body to move, pass, operate vehicles and walking to street to watch
vehicles. C&L: imitating words
and sounds. Making sounds to represent noises vehicles make.
Specific areas:
M: Recognising
different sizes, matching, ordering vehicles. UW: Observing the different vehicles on the street, what they do,
how they sound. EA&D: Expressions of what they have learned through movement,
sound, art.
Some of the activities we will be doing
this month will involve:
·
Obstacle
course. Sarah G will be supporting the use of their
bodies as vehicles or using ride on toys, moving around cones, responding to
signs and role modelling from what they see or know about the streets and
vehicles.
·
Going
on a boating journey. Laura W will support the children into role
playing going on a boating journey in boxes with waving material as the sea for
them to travel through.
·
Vehicle
collages. Cristina will be helping the children to make
collages of vehicles and talking about the different names, noises, activities
of them as they go.
·
Making
artistic tracks. Ella will be supporting the children in
making art by painting with the wheels of the vehicles, making sounds and actions
as they go.
·
Small
world play. Sara will be supporting the children in
setting up lots of small world play with all the different vehicles and playing
sounds of the roads, sea, sky.
·
Excursions
to the river, railway station and roads. All of the team
will be taking the children on a range of excursions to look at different types
of transport.
·
Excursion
to the library for transport books. Chloe will be organising a group of children
to go to the library to look for and take out books about transport.
Some ideas to support your children at home:
·
Take time to stop of and look at diggers,
trucks, trains and cars. Children love it and find it fascinating. Talk about
what they are doing.
·
Take a trip on some transport that you
normally don’t for a change. Buses, trains, canal boats, river bus. Do you or a
friend have a canoe or rowing boat they could have a little ride in?
·
Go for a walk to a Fire Station. Look at the
fire engines through the doors or windows. You might even be lucky enough for
one to come out all bells and speed.
·
Go to the library and get out some books on
transport.
·
Walks along the Thames in the weekend are full
of different boats. Have a walk, watch and chat about it.
