Adult-led activities
In shape
Exploring shapes is much more important than merely naming them. Giving children opportunities to identify similarities of shape in the environment and to describe what they see and feel while at play contributes to a sound understanding of the mathematical concept of shape. Although it is important for practitioners to use correct mathematical terminology, it is equally important to encourage children to describe what they see and touch in their own words. Responding to children's interest in 'corners', 'pointy' and 'round' things and trajectory, core and radial schemas is an ideal way to make the exploration of shape purposeful and meaningful to young mathematicians.
Key learning intention
To begin to talk about and show an awareness of similarities of shape in the environment
Adult:child ratio 1: up to 6
Resources
Camera ,tape recorder/dictaphone to record the children's comments (optional)
Preparation
* Find obvious and less obvious corners in the settings, particularly where an angle is created in 'empty' space, for example, the space between an open door and the door frame.
Activity content
* Presenting familiar things in novel ways can give children valuable new insights. Start by accompanying the children on a walk around the setting, including the outdoors.
* Draw their attention to 'corners', sharp edges and 'pointy' shapes and ask them to find some more. Look at 2D and 3D shapes, such as table tops, books, bricks, walls, windows and doors as well as flat pictures and conventional shape resources.
* Get the children to touch and talk about the corners, points and edges of the items that they find. Encourage them to use their own descriptive language, which may incorporate conventional shape terminology, but which is also likely to include representational language - for example, 'It's like a box' accompanied by lots of arm waving and drawing in the air! Be accurate in the mathematical terms you use, but also be as imaginative and descriptive as the children.
* Count groups of corners, for example, the four corners of a window.
* Compare rounded and angled corners and discuss why they may be different, for example, the rounded corners of a children's table as a safety measure.
* Consider 'empty corners', for example, the space or angle where a plank meets the floor.
* Take photographs of objects from both the adult and the children's perspective and from different angles.
Extending learning
Use key vocabulary
Corner, edge, side, angle, rounded, circular, rectangular, pointed, sharp, as well as shape names.
(NB A rectangle is the mathematical term for any shape with four right-angled corners. An oblong is the correct name for a right-angled shape with two long and two short sides - often wrongly referred to as a rectangle).
Use the correct names for common 3D shapes, for example:
* a box shape with square sides is a cube
* a box shape with oblong (and possibly some square) sides is a cuboid
* a ball shape is a sphere
* a tube shape is a cylinder.
Also use representational and imaginative terms to help understanding.
Questions to ask
Why do you think there are no corners on a ball? Why do some shapes fit together and some don't? Do people have 'corners'? Is the space inside a corner always the same shape and size?
Follow-up activities
* Make a display using photographs taken during the activity and children's drawings, captioned with their comments.
* Use shape and tessellation resources for free exploration. Sort shapes. Ask the children if they can cover an entire surface, such as a tabletop, with shapes, or create a track with them.
* Talk about how sharp corners can be adapted as a safety measure. Suggest that the children make warning signs for sharp-edged tables and shelves.
* Give the children shapes made from sturdy card (or use conventional shape resources) with a variety of angles and ask them to find corners with the same angle. Alternatively, provide paper shapes and a suitable mounting media, such as masking tape, and ask the children to stick the shapes on to corners with matching angles.
* Create a corner full of corners, in a corner of the setting! Fill it with boxes; shape resources; books; mobiles and hanging displays; tessellation materials; patchwork; fabric, wallpaper and wrapping paper paper with lines, corners and grids, for example, tartan.
By the rules
Create paintings using rulers.
Key learning intention
Creative development
To explore colour, shape, form and space in 2 (or 3) dimensions Adult:child ratio 1: up to 4
Resources
Paper ,paint ,trays ,rulers or strips of wood of varying lengths ,sponges Preparation
* Provide enough space for children to work comfortably. Encourage children to stand rather than sit, as this can inhibit their larger movements, and ensure the table is a suitable height.
Activity content
* Create artwork by dipping the rulers or strips of wood into paint trays and then printing on to paper.
* Encourage children to talk about the patterns and shapes they can see appearing in their work as they print.
* Use the sponges for cleaning rulers when changing colours.
* This activity can tell you a lot about children's current preoccupations and schemas (see below). Some may print connecting lines, horizontally or vertically, in an ordered way, or randomly, radiating out from a core point. Others may try to create something representational, for example, a house or boat shape.
* Some children may like to add to the work once the paint has dried, for example, by colouring in the shapes or corners that have been created or by adding 3D lines with string, straw or strips of paper.
Extending learning
Use key vocabulary
Straight, line, print, ruler, strip, pattern, positional words and phrases such as above, underneath, on top, next to, side by side. Use terms such as horizontal and vertical, but make them meaningful with signs, actions and descriptive language such as 'lying down' and 'standing up'.
Think of a shape
Encourage the children to try some mental maths.
Key learning intention
To begin to explore 'mental maths' by holding a mathematical image in the head Adult:child ratio 1:small or large group, depending on children's experience level and readiness to sit in a group
Resources
A cornered shape with which the children are familiar, such as a triangle or square
Preparation
* Ensure the children are comfortable and that there are few distractions.
Activity content
* Show the children the shape and remind them of its name.
* Let the children have time to handle and feel the shape and to draw it in the air.
* Tell them that they are going to think about the shape and play a game with it in their heads. Talk about how we can visualise and 'see things'
when we are thinking and how it can be fun to exercise our brains.
* Ask the children to close their eyes and relax for a few seconds.
* Ask them to see the shape in their mind, and to 'look' at it carefully.
* Suggest that they make the shape grow bigger, then smaller, turn it around, make it move sideways and make it jiggle up and down.
* Allow adequate time for the children to do each 'action' and to talk about the experience. Keep the session brief and focused. Have a few moments' relaxation or energetic physical activity afterwards.
* Repeat the activity at suitable times, incorporating new and more complex shapes.
Extending learning
Use key vocabulary
Shape names, thinking, brain, mind, comparison and positional language appropriate to the children's experience.
Child initiated learning
A project about 'corners' can provide practitioners with valuable opportunities to observe and draw upon children's schemas, to enhance their learning and inform planning for particular children.
'The study of schemas, which is the study of biologically determined patterns in the way children behave, helps adults to understand children better... to relate to children more easily... to enjoy their company more, as well as helping the children to learn in deep and thorough ways' (Tina Bruce, Early Childhood Education, p65).
A schema is 'a pattern or repeatable behaviour into which experiences are assimilated and that are gradually co-ordinated. Co-ordinations lead to higher level and more powerful schemas' (Chris Athey, Extending Thought in Young Children, p37).
Some examples of early schema are vertical, horizontal and lateral trajectories, enclosure, envelopment and core and radial. Schematic behaviour that might be exhibited during the project activities include building and organising shape materials in a particular fashion, noticing and being interested in specific kinds of angles, filling in empty spaces and shapes, creating enclosures and enveloping oneself in a corner area.
Encourage children to develop their own interests across the curriculum by adding topic resources to the basic provision. Some ideas will naturally cover more than one area of the curriculum and might well take place anywhere in the setting.
The outdoor area
Additional resources
Drapes ,screens ,cushions ,tapes and books ,shape resources ,pictures ,snacks ,large and small blocks ,writing materials Possible learning experiences/activities
* Adapting or enclosing the environment for specific purposes. Creating 'corners' for various activities, for example, book, building or snack corners.
* Creating corners and enclosures for personal purposes and interests for example, hiding, envelopment, role play or large block play.
* Writing and drawing labels and signs for 'corner' areas.
The practitioner role
* Empower the children to create their own 'corners' or enclosures and adapt and label them as necessary.
* Observe children's initiative, persistence, creativity, collaborative skills and personal schemas.
Maths area
Additional resources
2D and 3D shapes of varying sizes ,feely bags and boxes ,tessellating materials (include non-tessellating shapes, such as circles) ,materials, such as paper, card and fabric, for making own shapes ,junk and recycled packaging ,straws and pipe cleaners ,construction toys such as Duplo, Clixi, Polydron, large and small blocks ,Elmer the Elephant stories by David McKee ,examples of patchwork
Possible learning experiences
* Handling shapes and guessing and describing their properties from touch.
* Exploring tessellation, finding out which shapes fit together and the link with patchwork and the built environment, such as brickwork.
* Drawing and making shapes. Although templates are useful when accuracy is required, it is far better that children have lots of opportunities to explore drawing shapes freehand. This increases their awareness of the properties of shapes, builds confidence in their skills and prevents over-reliance on templates.
* Creating 3D junk shapes. Flattening and opening out cardboard boxes heightens awareness of the composition of 3D shape, for example, a cereal box comprises six oblongs, a Toblerone chocolate carton comprises two triangles and three oblongs. Turn the boxes inside out before taping them back together for a primed surface to draw or paint on.
* Create corners and angled shapes with straws and pipe cleaners. Link them together to make shape chains.
* Construct flat and solid shapes with construction toys.
The practitioner role
* Model exploration of materials and experimentation when drawing shapes.
* Ask open-ended questions, such as 'What do you think might fit in this gap?', and pose problems with a variety of outcomes, for example, 'How can we make a box out of triangle shapes?' Encourage constructing for a purpose, for example, 'Can you make me a container to keep conkers?'
* Observe and assess children's developing concepts of shape and space and plan accordingly.
Art area
Additional resources
Boxes, cartons and packaging ,Printing materials ,Paper shapes Possible learning experiences/activities
* Designing and modelling with junk.
* Creating artwork with shape materials.
The practitioner role
* Collect packaging in unusual shapes.
* Provide paper of various shapes.
* Encourage children to evaluate and adapt their designs for junk modelling.
* Encourage children to draw and paint shapes freehand.
Further reading
* Extending Thought in Young Children: a parent-teacher partnership by Chris Athey (Paul Chapman Publishing, 15.99)
* Early Childhood Education by Professor Tina Bruce (Hodder and Stoughton, 14.99)