Let’s ‘Play to Learn’
Encourage the children to explore:
- Collecting objects from a wide range of containers. Alone / in pairs / in small teams – children wear a specific colour bib and start in their ‘home corner’ of a large square ‘garden’. Place the same number of coloured objects either in a large area in the middle of the ‘garden’ or divided out in containers spread around the ‘garden’. E.g. three teams: yellow, red, green – approx. 20 bean bags of each colour. One child moves at a time from each home den, collects their colour objects as quickly as they can and carries them back to place in their home corner. Compete against the clock or another team.
- Moving in a variety of ways to collect their objects.
- Transporting their objects in a variety of ways.
- Solving cognitive problems by collecting clues or collecting objects to complete a task in their home den.
Safety & Organisation
Ensure:
- you start with a small number of children in a large space
- you gradually increase the number of children and reduce the space
- the surface is clean and free from obstructions
- children remember their ‘bubbles’ and to keep out of other children’s ‘bubbles’ so they do not bump into anyone
- children take care when collecting equipment at the same time as others
Opportunities to
- work safely with others when using equipment
- take responsibility for taking out and putting equipment away
- sustain activity over appropriate periods of time
- recognise and describe the physical changes to their bodies while doing different types of activity
Questions
- What did you do to make sure you did not bump into anyone else?
- Describe the ways you carried/transported your objects.
- What is your favourite way to collect the objects?
- What was the fastest way you collected and returned the objects?
- How could you complete the task in a faster time?
- How did you feel at the end of the activity?
Can you see the child?
- Working safely with others when using equipment
- Taking responsibility for taking equipment out and putting it away
- Sustaining activity over appropriate periods of time
- Recognising and describing the physical changes to their bodies while doing different types of activity
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Most of the time
Encourage the child to:
- work in a smaller space with more children
- use more complex skills to complete the activity
- plan the equipment for the activity and take more responsibility for putting it out and putting away
- set targets for the time it will take to complete the activity
- describe how exercise affects the body and give reasons why daily physical activity is good for them
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Sometimes
Encourage the child to:
- initially practise activities alone, gradually increasing the number of children in the ‘garden’
- discuss which object they are going to collect, how they will collect it and from which container before they start
- gradually increase the time and the pace at which they work
- work with another child to discuss how they feel as they exercise and use a mirror to show them some of the changes that happen as they exercise