Let’s ‘Play to Learn’
Encourage the children to explore:
- Moving away from their spot and returning to it. Children to move slowly at first. Remind them of the ‘bubbles’ concept. Rabbits and Farmers – on command ‘Rabbits’ children curl, stretch, yawn, bounce, hop away from their spot; on command ‘Farmers’ run back to their spot.
- Moving in a variety of ways / different directions / different levels and speeds
- Using the spot as a piece of apparatus that they can move over, around, etc.
- Repeating the above – taking a piece of equipment / toy on a journey
- Placing an object in a space and then returning to collect it / pick it up
- Balancing/pushing/steering an object using a body part or a bat, etc.
- Throwing an object up and collecting/stopping/catching/trapping it using various body parts or pieces of equipment
Safety & Organisation
Ensure:
- the surface is clean and free from obstructions
- children work in their ‘bubbles’ in a garden
Opportunities to
- develop increasing control and co-ordination
- explore simple tasks using a variety of equipment for longer periods of time
- perform basic physical skills
- improve basic physical skills
Questions
- What can you do to help you remember where your spot is placed?
- How can you make sure you do not bump into anyone when you are pushing or steering an object?
- How many times can you jump over the spot without landing on it?
- Why is it more difficult to catch or trap the object when you are moving?
- How many jumps did it take you to travel around your spot? How many jumps do you think it will take you to travel around your spot twice? What can you do to help you keep count?
- Which was your favourite way of moving and how could you improve this action?
Can you see the child?
- Developing increasing control and co-ordination
- Exploring simple tasks using a variety of equipment for longer periods of time
- Performing basic physical skills
- Improving basic physical skills
-
Most of the time
Encourage the child to:
- gradually place the object or another spot further and further away
- link several actions together to create a short series of linked actions – repeat as individuals or with a partner as they move away from and return to their spot
- describe the differences and similarities between their actions and another child’s actions – beginning to use some key words
- perform actions to a beat or percussion instruments or music
- follow a particular pathway – simple 2D shapes
- gently throw objects onto a spot or hit objects to land on a spot
- Exchange one or two/some/all markers for a piece of low apparatus
-
Sometimes
Encourage the child to:
- practise actions on the spot until confident
- personalise their spot by leaving a soft toy by it, decorating it with a name, painting, photograph, etc.
- discuss what they are going to do first and then complete the task by copying/following a more able child or a practitioner