The highlight of our focus on 'houses and homes' was making real building bricks. It came about because I knew someone who worked in a local brick factory and he agreed to come into nursery to show the children the moulding process.
During his visit, Peter Marshall showed the children how to shape the clay and 'throw' it into a brick mould, which had sand in the bottom. Each child moulded and engraved their name in a brick, which was then taken off for firing.
When Peter came back with the fired bricks, he showed the children how to build a wall - how the bricks needed to be layered and fixed with cement, and not simply stacked one on top of the other.
The children's bricks were smaller than the standard size, so they were able to incorporate them into their outdoor role play of a builder's yard.
Making the bricks was definitely the part of project that the children enjoyed the most, because it was so hands-on. Although they had handled clay in nursery before, the children really enjoyed shaping and moulding bricks in this way and with this particular kind of clay.
At the end of term, each child took home their own engraved brick.
It's first-hand experiences that we remember most and hopefully, when the children look at buildings in the future, they will be reminded of how they made their own building bricks in nursery. The activity also gave them a real sense of achievement.
Home from home
We chose this topic because it was something that each child could relate to and talk about, the better for us to capture their interest and help them to learn. During the project, the children were given opportunities to engage in a wide variety of activities and experiences, including the following.
Out and about
- We walked round the village looking at the different buildings.
- We followed the progress of a house being built from stone near the school. The children were able to see the windows going in and compare the stone with cement bricks.
Unfortunately, our planned visit to the brick factory was cancelled because of the owners' concerns about having such young children on site.
Role play
- Indoors, we set up an estate agent's, with a chair, computer keyboard, telephone, appointment books and old photographs and leaflets of houses for sale, provided by a parent who is an estate agent.
- Outdoors, we created a builder's yard, with the real and role-play bricks. In our three-sided house, we set up a work bench and provided safety hats, builders' jackets, tools, a wheelbarrow, planks of wood, a desk telephone, a diary and pencils.
- The children also incorporated the doll's house into their play.
Writing area
The children made books in the shape of a house about their own home, and included their pictures and emergent writing. The adult scribe wrote the children's addresses.
Construction area
We provided various construction sets for the children to use so they could consolidate their learning about the building process and materials.
ICT
We used a video about a house in the days before electricity as a starting point for discussions about appliances old and modern.
Games
We provided lots of games in which the children:
- matched pictures of houses
- sorted old and modern appliances
- matched furniture to the 'correct' room.
Judith Cowley is a nursery teacher at Cockfield Primary School, County Durham. She spoke to Ruth Thomson
THE CHILDREN'S LEARNING
Through the focus on 'houses and homes', the children were able to develop their learning across the Foundation Stage/EYFS curriculum, but particularly in the area of Knowledge and Understanding of the World, where they learned about:
- types of homes (bungalows, flats, detached and so on)
- building materials
- the building process
- houses in past and modern times
Books to support the theme
Whose House? by Colin and Jacqui Hawkins
(Picture Lions) Unravel the rhymes, try to guess whose house is whose, then lift the flap to discover which fairytale character lives inside. Children love these simple rhymes, detailed drawings and the cast of fairytale characters.
My Home (Let's Look At) by Nicola Tuxworth
(Lorenz Books) Photographs and simple text identify the rooms of a house and some of the objects that may be found in each one.
Let's Go Home, Little Bear by Martin Waddell (Walker Books)
A picture story about favourite characters Big Bear and Little Bear.
Also ...
- The Three Little Pigs (traditional)
- The wise man and the foolish man - Bible story
- Home (Touch and Feel) (Dorling Kindersley)
- My Very First Look at Home (Two-Can Publishing)
- Home Sweet Home (Changes) by Liz Gogerly (Hodder Wayland)
- Houses and Homes (My Book About) by Wayne Jackman (Hodder Wayland)
- This Is Our House by Michael Rosen and Bob Graham (Walker Books)
- In the Home (How Things Have Changed) by Jon Richards (Chrysalis Education)
- At Home (What is it like now?) by Tony Pickford (Heinemann Library).