Who ever imagined that crocodiles lurk in a river in West Sussex? Children at Pumpkin Patch Nursery Steyning speculated that they did as they built their own river inspired by one they saw on a local map.
The three- and four-year-olds’ interest in the big semi-aquatic reptiles led them to exploring not only what crocodiles look like on the outside, but also internally and how they could represent them creatively using intelligent materials.
What they gained
The Steyning nursery opened in January and the children were all getting to know a new environment when they started to explore crocodiles. ‘I particularly noticed how the children learned to work collaboratively and communicate with each other,’ says Arris. ‘At the beginning they were very much exploring their own ideas – referring to “my” crocodile – and then they started to learn from what the others were doing and from each other’s skills.
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