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How many can play?

Staff at Cockfield Primary School nursery class have found several ways to encourage children to share its spaces and resources, says Jayne Brown At the start of the school year, our youngest children often have difficulty understanding that there are limitations on the number who can play in any area at the same time. We explain to them about the lack of space and the need to share resources, but they respond more readily if something visual is used to clarify this message. We have always created signs for play areas to indicate the name of the area and the number of children who can play at any given time. Appropriate clip art images of children are printed under the text, which helps the youngest children to count and to link the visual signs with play activities.

We have always created signs for play areas to indicate the name of the area and the number of children who can play at any given time. Appropriate clip art images of children are printed under the text, which helps the youngest children to count and to link the visual signs with play activities.

This term we have extended our signs in some areas, such as sand and role play, by sticking the relevant number of plastic hooks above them and hanging a child's hair scrunchie on each one. The scrunchies, in different colours for each area, are soft and can easily be washed. Even the youngest children find them easy to handle and are keen to wear them on their wrists while they are playing. They have no difficulty remembering to return them to a hook when they leave the area.

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