
What Is Strewing?
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Picture | Activity | Hands-On Activities | Early Learning Goals | Downloads |
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Activity 1All About Me |
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Activity 1All About Me |
The lesson plan emphasizes the importance of play in children's development, encouraging exploration and self-discovery through various activities. It presents practical suggestions for parents to foster literacy skills and creativity in their children. The lesson plan highlights the significance of play in helping children develop their personalities and understand their preferences. It encourages parents to provide diverse opportunities for exploration, allowing children to engage in activities at their own pace. Suggestions for developing literacy skills include having children discuss their interests, create drawings, and make collages. Specific activities include writing their name, drawing family members, using their favourite colour in art, making handprints, illustrating their age with candles, and depicting their favourite toy, story, and food. These activities not only promote creativity but also enhance literacy and self-expression. The content aligns with early learning goals, emphasizing independence, resilience, and perseverance in children. |
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Activity 2Dinosaurs |
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Activity 2Dinosaurs |
The lesson plan provides a variety of imaginative play activities cantered around dinosaurs to enhance children's learning and engagement. It emphasizes the importance of sensory experiences and hands-on learning in understanding concepts related to dinosaurs and their environments. This content outlines several engaging activities designed for children to explore the world of dinosaurs through imaginative play. It suggests creating a play area with dinosaur figurines and sensory materials like rocks, soil, and sand to stimulate creativity. A 'Dinosaur Hunt' activity encourages children to search for hidden figurines while role-playing as explorers. The 'Buried Dinosaurs' activity allows children to dig for buried figurines in wet sand, simulating an archaeological dig. Children can also create dinosaur footprints using paint and cardboard cutouts, enhancing their fine motor skills. The content introduces the concept of fossils by having children make imprints in salt dough or clay. Sorting activities are also suggested, where children can categorize dinosaurs by type, colour, size, and diet, fostering critical thinking and classification skills. |
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Activity 3Seasons |
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Activity 3Seasons |
The lesson plan emphasizes the importance of outdoor play and hands-on activities in helping children understand seasonal changes and develop their learning skills. It presents various engaging activities that parents can use to facilitate their child's exploration of nature and numeracy through seasonal experiences. The lesson plan outlines several activities designed to help children learn about the seasons and develop their skills through outdoor play. It suggests that children should spend time outside to observe changes in weather and nature. Activities include dressing a bear or doll with seasonal clothing, which encourages children to think about appropriate attire for different weather conditions. Nature walks are recommended for collecting leaves, which can be used for leaf stencils and printing, allowing children to engage creatively with their environment. The content also proposes creating a seasonal circle to illustrate tree growth throughout the year. Additionally, it highlights the use of collected nature items to enhance numeracy skills, such as counting, grouping, and pattern-making. These activities aim to foster a connection between children and their natural surroundings while promoting learning through play. |
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Activity 4Minibeasts |
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Activity 4Minibeasts |
The lesson plan emphasizes the importance of hands-on exploration and creative activities to enhance children's understanding of minibeasts and their environments. It advocates for engaging children in nature through observation, sorting, and artistic expression to foster both literacy and numeracy skills. This content provides a variety of engaging activities designed to help children explore and learn about minibeasts in their natural environment. It encourages parents to take their children on bug hunts, emphasizing that minibeasts can be found in various locations such as gardens and woods. The text suggests using a magnifying glass for closer observation and highlights the importance of not harming the creatures during exploration. Additionally, it offers ideas for creating habitats for minibeasts, such as building a bug hotel using natural materials. The content also includes sorting activities where children can categorize minibeasts based on physical features, enhancing their understanding of biodiversity. To support numeracy skills, it introduces a ladybird spots activity where children can practice counting and placing spots on a ladybird drawing. Fine motor skills can be developed through a spider web weaving activity using coloured string. The content also suggests a butterfly symmetry art project to explore patterns and colours. Phonics skills are supported through minibeast figurines, encouraging children to pronounce initial sounds. Lastly, it references the popular children's book 'The Hungry Caterpillar' as a tool for literacy development, suggesting various related activities to deepen understanding of the story. |
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Activity 5At The Farm |
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Activity 5At The Farm |
The lesson plan emphasizes the importance of hands-on learning experiences for children to explore and understand the natural world, particularly through farm-related activities. It presents practical play ideas and literacy development strategies using animal figurines to enhance children's engagement and learning outcomes. The lesson plan provides a variety of hands-on educational activities designed for children to explore the natural world, particularly through the lens of farm life. It suggests visiting a farm or creating a play area with animal figurines and sensory materials to facilitate learning. Play ideas include using animal figurines and craft sticks to create fences, as well as sensory materials like shredded paper and small sticks. The nursery rhyme 'Old MacDonald' is recommended as a fun way to introduce farm animals, where children can pull out figurines corresponding to the lyrics. Additionally, children can create a barn using a cardboard box, which they can decorate and use for their animal figurines. The content also highlights the development of literacy skills through engaging activities, such as emphasizing phonetic sounds of animals and matching names to figurines. Overall, these activities aim to foster curiosity, creativity, and foundational literacy in young learners. |
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Activity 6At The Beach |
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Activity 6At The Beach |
The lesson plan emphasizes the importance of hands-on exploration and play in early childhood education, particularly in a beach setting. It advocates for engaging children in activities that enhance their understanding of the natural world while developing essential skills. The lesson plan outlines various educational activities for children at the beach, focusing on exploration and play. It suggests taking field trips to the beach or creating a sand and water play area if a beach visit is not possible. Activities include building sandcastles, digging holes, and exploring the differences between dry and wet sand. Shells can be sorted by size, shape, or colour, and used for creative projects like imprints in play dough or painting. The content also highlights the importance of discussing the sounds of the beach, such as waves and seagulls, and suggests a fun activity using a tube filled with rice to mimic wave sounds. Additionally, it emphasizes developing literacy skills through beach-themed images and phonetic exercises. Overall, the content aims to foster curiosity and learning in young children through interactive experiences. |
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Activity 7Things That Go |
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Activity 7Things That Go |
The lesson plan emphasizes the importance of imaginative play in children's development, particularly through activities involving cars and trucks. It presents various engaging methods to enhance this play, fostering creativity and learning through hands-on experiences. The lesson plan discusses the significance of imaginative play for children, particularly through the use of cars and trucks. It suggests enhancing this play by incorporating sensory materials like sand, shaving foam, or glitter. A creative activity involves drawing parking spaces on cardboard and using coloured stickers for matching games. Another idea is to create roads or pathways using chalk, paper, or coloured tape, allowing children to navigate their cars. The content also encourages investigation by making ramps from cardboard to observe how far different cars roll. Additionally, it promotes the use of shapes to create vehicles, providing a hands-on approach to learning about shapes and creativity. |
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Activity 8Superheroes |
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Activity 8Superheroes |
The lesson plan emphasizes the importance of educating children about emergency services and their societal roles through interactive discussions and role play. It advocates for using books and creative activities to help children understand emergencies and the help they can receive from real-life superheroes like police and firefighters. The lesson plan outlines strategies for teaching children about emergency services, highlighting the roles of police, firefighters, and paramedics as real-life superheroes. It suggests using books to facilitate discussions about emergencies, including what constitutes an emergency and the appropriate responses. Recommended readings include titles like "Tosy and Tim met the Ambulance crew" and "The Firefighters / The Police" by Jean and Gareth Anderson. Role play is encouraged as a hands-on approach, allowing children to act out scenarios involving emergency services. Props, uniforms, and creative setups can enhance this experience. The content also aligns with early learning goals, emphasizing observation, discussion, and storytelling as key methods for understanding the immediate environment. |
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Activity 9Celebrations |
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Activity 9Celebrations |
The lesson plan emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural and religious celebrations through hands-on activities that engage children in learning about their environment and community. It advocates for experiential learning as a means to foster appreciation and knowledge of diverse traditions and practices. The lesson plan outlines various cultural and religious celebrations, providing educational activities for children to engage with these traditions. It highlights the significance of birthdays, Chinese New Year, Pancake Day, Easter, Ramadan and Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah, and Christmas, offering creative activities such as making birthday cards, decorating lanterns, and cooking traditional foods. Each celebration is presented with a brief description of its cultural importance and suggested activities that promote learning through observation and participation. The activities aim to enhance children's understanding of their immediate environment and the diverse cultural practices within their community. The content encourages parents and educators to facilitate these experiences to enrich children's knowledge and appreciation of different cultures. |
Early Years Goals
Early Years Goals
Early Years Goals
Early Years Goals
Early Years Goals
Early Years Goals
Early Years Goals
Early Years Goals
Hands-on activities are instrumental in helping reception-aged children understand the world by fostering active engagement, exploration, and sensory experiences. These activities, such as outdoor play, creative projects, and role-playing, make abstract concepts tangible and relatable, encouraging curiosity and deeper comprehension. By physically interacting with materials and their environment, children develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and fine motor skills while building emotional resilience and confidence. Additionally, hands-on learning supports diverse learning styles, enhances memory retention, and promotes collaboration and communication through group tasks. This experiential approach not only aligns with early learning goals but also nurtures a lifelong love for discovery and learning.
Hands-on learning significantly improves social skills in young children by fostering collaboration, communication, and empathy. Many hands-on activities, such as group projects, role-playing, or building tasks, naturally require children to work together, share materials, and solve problems collectively. This interaction helps them practice essential social skills like turn-taking, negotiation, and conflict resolution. For example, activities like constructing a block tower as a team or engaging in dramatic play encourage children to communicate their ideas effectively and listen to others.
Additionally, hands-on learning environments promote peer relationships and emotional understanding. Through activities that involve teamwork, children learn to empathize with their peers' perspectives and develop cooperation skills. For instance, collaborative art projects or science experiments provide opportunities for children to discuss ideas, compromise, and build positive relationships. These interactions not only enhance their social competence but also create a sense of belonging and mutual respect.
Moreover, hands-on learning supports the development of oral language skills as children describe their processes, share thoughts, and ask questions during group tasks. This active engagement strengthens their vocabulary and communication abilities while fostering confidence in social interactions. By integrating these experiences into early education settings, hands-on learning lays the foundation for strong social-emotional growth and prepares children for future collaborative environments.
Hands-on learning supports the "Understanding the World" Early Learning Goal (ELG) by actively engaging children in meaningful, sensory-rich activities that foster curiosity and exploration. For example, activities such as nature walks, bug hunts, or building sandcastles allow children to directly interact with their environment, helping them observe and understand natural processes. These experiences make abstract concepts tangible, encouraging critical thinking and problem-solving skills while nurturing a sense of wonder about the world around them.
Additionally, hands-on activities promote cultural awareness and community understanding by immersing children in real-world experiences. Activities like celebrating festivals, role-playing emergency services, or exploring farm life help children connect with diverse traditions and societal roles. By engaging in these activities, children develop empathy, respect for others, and an appreciation for cultural diversity, aligning with the ELG's focus on understanding their immediate environment and beyond.
Moreover, hands-on learning enhances foundational skills such as literacy, numeracy, and fine motor development. For instance, sorting shells by size or creating leaf prints integrates creativity with early math concepts, while storytelling or phonics games during themed activities reinforce language skills. This approach ensures that children not only acquire knowledge but also build confidence and resilience through experiential learning, fulfilling the holistic objectives of the ELG.
The Early Learning Goals (ELGs) are a set of 17 developmental milestones outlined within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework in England. These goals are grouped into seven key areas of learning: Communication and Language, Physical Development, Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, and Expressive Arts and Design. Each ELG defines the level of progress children are expected to achieve by the end of their reception year, providing a clear benchmark for assessing their knowledge, skills, and understanding.
ELGs are crucial as they support holistic development across cognitive, physical, social, and emotional domains. They help children build foundational skills such as communication, literacy, numeracy, and self-regulation while fostering curiosity and creativity. By addressing these areas, ELGs ensure that children are well-prepared for the transition to Year 1 and beyond. They also encourage educators to tailor learning experiences to individual needs, promoting inclusivity and enabling all children to reach their full potential.
Furthermore, ELGs play a vital role in early childhood education by guiding practitioners in planning activities that align with developmental goals. They emphasize play-based learning and exploration, which are essential for fostering a love of learning and resilience in young children. By achieving these goals, children gain the confidence and skills needed to thrive academically and socially in their future educational journey.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework identifies seven key Areas of Learning and Development, which are divided into three Prime Areas and four Specific Areas. These areas are designed to support the holistic development of children from birth to five years old, laying the foundation for future learning and success.
The Prime Areas are considered essential for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. They provide a strong foundation for development in the Specific Areas. Together, these seven areas ensure a balanced approach to early education by addressing cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and creative growth.
The Prime areas and Specific areas in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) differ in their focus and purpose, but they are interconnected to support a child's holistic development.
Prime areas: These are fundamental and universal aspects of child development that lay the foundation for all other learning. The three Prime areas are:
The Prime areas are particularly crucial during the early years as they underpin all future learning and development. They support children in building the skills needed to access more specific knowledge later on.
Specific areas: These build upon the Prime areas and provide opportunities for children to develop subject-specific knowledge and skills. The four Specific areas are:
The Prime areas provide the essential context for learning in the Specific areas. Without a strong foundation in the Prime areas, children may struggle to fully engage with or benefit from the Specific areas. Together, these areas ensure a balanced approach to early education that supports both foundational skills and subject-specific knowledge.