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Turning to jelly

Areas of learning Personal, social and emotional development
Areas of learning

Personal, social and emotional development

Communication, language and literacy

Mathematical development

Knowledge & understanding of the world

Physical development

Creative development

Differences and similarities between tactile materials inspire descriptive language in more activities from Judith Stevens

The second part of this project on materials encourages children to experience and describe the tactile quality of a range of materials from jelly to ice.

Project guide

The Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (page 11) emphasises the importance of providing children with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated learning opportunities. This project:

* Identifies adult-led activities, to introduce or develop children's understanding of the topic through stimulating, meaningful experiences which offer challenge

* Suggests ways to enhance areas of core provision, to consolidate children's learning about the theme. It is the practitioner's role to make daily observations of children's learning which inform individual child profiles and future planning. Children should be encouraged to use the resources to support their own learning. This means that the possible learning outcomes will be wide-ranging and varied

* Advocates that settings should be organised and resourced using a 'workshop' approach so that children can access resources autonomously and independently.

It is important to recognise that:

* Children need lots of first-hand experiences, time and space to develop knowledge and understanding, skills and attitudes through play

* The practitioner has a key role in supporting and extending children's learning

* It is essential to provide an exciting learning environment indoors and outdoors that stimulates children's interest and curiosity

* Creativity is fundamental to successful learning and children's own ideas should be valued

* The process of learning is central and should not be undermined by an inappropriate emphasis on products or predetermined outcomes.

Adult-led activities

Spheres

Key learning intention

To use language to describe the shape and size of solid shapes

To look closely at similarities and differences

To ask questions about why things happen and how things work

Adult:child ratio 1:up to 4

Resources

Four pieces of A4 coloured card ,wicker basket full of assorted spheres - glass paperweights, paper Christmas baubles, metal chime balls, marbles, wooden beads, plastic beads, oranges, assorted balls including football, tennis, cricket, croquet, boules, snooker, golf, soft touch, soft inflatable, pom pom, squeezie, foam ,digital camera ,fine fibre-tip pens ,speech bubbles

Preparation

* Display the spheres in the basket in the centre of the table.

Activity content

* Gather the children together. Look at the spheres and encourage all the children to investigate them. Discuss what they look and feel like, emphasising similarities and differences. Encourage the children to make predictions about the heaviest or lightest, which ones can be squeezed or which ones bounce.

* Support the children as they make connections with previous experiences and talk about seeing or using similar objects. Help them to come up with hypotheses about the unfamiliar items and their uses.

* Let each child select two spheres and talk about similarities and differences.

* Have children take photographs of each other holding their chosen objects.

* Record the children's comments, using speech bubbles.

* Print out the photographs and mount these on the A4 card with the speech bubbles. Create a display.

Extending learning

Key vocabulary

Soft, hard, squeezy, rubbery, metallic, shiny, smooth, bumpy, holey, spiky, glass, metal, wood, plastic, foam, sphere, ball, paperweight, marble, bauble, golf, tennis, cricket, snooker, feathers

Questions to ask

* Have you seen any of these before? What did you use it for?

* What does that feel like? Is it heavy or light? Rough or smooth? Hard or soft?

* What do you think it could be used for? Why? What sort of game could you play with it? Do you think it will bounce?

* Which two do you like best? Why? What is the same about them? What is different?

Extension activities

* Put some of the objects in a feely box, cover with feathers, and encourage the children to dig beneath, feel an object and describe it.

* Leave some of the spheres in a basket, by the display, for children to revisit and explore independently.

* Carry out an outdoors 'bounce' test, with children predicting which will bounce, and which will bounce highest.

* Carry out a 'floating and sinking' test.

* When the children have had time to investigate the display, laminate the A4 sheets and bind to create a book

* Give the children opportunities to investigate the properties of materials further by giving them other collections to explore - spoons, cubes or buttons.

Making jelly

Key learning intentions

To manage their own personal hygiene

To look closely at similarities, differences and change

To show an awareness of healthy practices with regard to hygiene

Adult:child ratio 1:up to 4

Resources

Orange jelly cubes ,strawberry jelly crystals ,two large mixing bowls/jugs ,individual jelly moulds ,table cover and aprons ,wooden and metal spoons ,covered measuring jug of cold water ,covered jug of hot water (in a safe place) Preparation

* Cover the table with the cover and put one child's apron on the back of each of four chairs.

Activity content

* Discuss the necessity of hygiene when preparing food and support the children as they wash and dry their hands independently.

* Discuss occasions when children have eaten jelly.

* Look carefully at the crystals and the cubes and discuss the similarities and differences.

* Encourage the children to consider what needs to be done to change the crystals and cubes into jelly that is ready to eat.

* Put the crystals in one bowl and jelly in the other.

* Ensure the children watch, without touching, as the lid is removed from the hot water jug to show steam. Discuss what the steam is, and discuss where the children may have seen it before.

* Pour a small amount of hot water into the bowl. Add enough cold water so that it is warm enough to dissolve the jelly, but cool enough to be safe for children to stir and watch the jelly dissolve.

* Discuss what is happening to the jelly crystals and jelly cubes.

* When the jelly is completely dissolved, top up to the correct volume with cold water and support the children as they pour the liquid into the moulds.

* Place in the fridge to set.

* When set, have a tasting session!

Extending learning

Key vocabulary

Hot, cold, warm, crystals, jelly, moulds, cubes, mix, dissolve, cool, set, steam, colour, taste, smell, flavour

Questions to ask

* What do you think is in the boxes? Have you eaten jelly before? When? Which flavour is your favourite? Why?

* What is different about the jelly cubes and the jelly crystals? What is the same?

* Where do you think is a good place for the jelly to set? Why?

Extension activities

* Use quick-set jelly crystals to make fruit flans.

* Make ice cubes and ice lollies to enable the children to explore how water can be changed to ice.

* Provide opportunities for water play in which children can explore materials that dissolve and those that don't.

* Provide jelly moulds and bowls, with empty jelly boxes and party props to enhance home-corner role play.

* Use rubber moulds to make quick-set plaster casts. As children make their own moulds, press everyday objects such as keys or small toys into Plasticene.

Child-initiated learning

Small world play - ice world

Additional resources and adult support

* Place small plastic animals in small assorted plastic containers, fill with blue water and freeze.

* Make contact with a food outlet which has an ice-making machine and collect carrier bags full of ice, or buy ready-made ice cubes from a freezer shop.

* Provide a Tuff Spot full of ice cubes, animals frozen in ice blocks, other sea life creatures, pebbles and boulders.

Play possibilities

* Exploring the way the ice begins to melt

* Imagining why the animals are trapped in the ice

* Hiding the sea life creatures under ice cubes

* Developing imaginative play scenarios for the animals

* Working as part of a group, co-operating and negotiating Possible learning outcomes

Works as part of a group, co-operating and negotiating

Is interested, excited and motivated to learn

Enjoys using spoken language and turns readily to it during play

Shows curiosity, observes and manipulates objects

Water - floating and sinking

Additional resources and adult support

* Provide objects that float and objects that sink - plastic ducks, boats, balls, keys, loofahs, wooden blocks, metal cars, pebbles, conkers, fir cones, shells and fishing nets.

* Laminate two A4 cards, one with a photo of a floating boat and a tick and another with a rock under water and a cross. Place the cards in the centre of two sorting circles or trays.

* Support the children's discussions of what they are doing and why.

* Ask questions: Which objects to you think will float? Which will sink? What do you think this sign means? So where does the boat belong?

Play possibilities

* Fishing for objects

* Predicting which item will be caught

* Removing all the objects from the water, predicting which ones will float, testing theories

* Making collections of objects which float and counting them

* Telling stories about the objects

* Recalling favourite rhymes and songs such as 'five little ducks' or 'row, row, row the boat'

Possible learning outcomes

Displays high levels of involvement in activities

Recalls favourite songs or rhymes

Counts reliably up to 10 everyday objects

Uses language such as 'more' or 'less' to compare two numbers

Notices similarities and differences

Sorts objects by one function

Magnets and cars

Additional resources and adult support

* Provide a small table, covered in sugar paper, with some roads drawn on, assorted thick fibre pens, strong magnets and metal and plastic cars.

* Encourage the children to use the magnets to move the car

* Ask questions:Which cars move with the magnets? Which ones don't? Why do you think that is? What is the same about the ones that move?

* Support the children as they explore the use of magnets - if the magnets are moved under the table, do the cars move?

* Discuss what is happening and why.

Play possibilities

* Drawing roads, buildings and signs

* Making collections of cars using own criteria

* Lining up cars and counting them

* Driving cars along the roads

* Exploring the use of magnets Possible learning outcomes

Has a strong exploratory impulse

Has emerging self-confidence to speak to others about interests

Willingly attempts to count, with some numbers in the correct order

Examines objects to find out more about them

Sorts objects by one function

Malleable - pasta

Additional resources and adult support

* Provide a Tuff Spot full of cooked spaghetti or pasta shapes and saucepans, wooden and metal spoons and mixing bowls.

* On a nearby, separate table, provide shallow trays of dry pasta and spaghetti.

* Urge the children to use their senses to explore the properties of the materials.

* Observe their investigations and plan to extend their learning appropriately.

Play possibilities

* Exploring the properties of the cooked and dry pasta; combining them

* Mixing and 'cooking'

* Dripping cooked spaghetti through fingers, making piles of spaghetti and then flattening them

Possible learning outcomes

Shows curiosity

Has a positive approach to new experiences

Experiments with new vocabulary

Explores malleable materials by patting, stroking, poking, squeezing, pinching and twisting them

The importance of open-ended questioning

One of the key findings of recent EPPE research (Technical paper 10 - DfES/Institute of Education, 2003, London) is that:

* 'Good outcomes for children are linked to early years settings that provide adult-child interactions that involve open-ended questioning to extend children's thinking.'

However, the majority of questions that practitioners ask are 'closed'

questions: What colour is your jumper? How many cars are there? Do you want milk or water?

It is vital that practitioners plan to increase opportunities to ask open-ended questions:How do you think we could dry the clothes? What will happen if we add water? Why do you think Nikki isn't at nursery today? Can you think of a way to fix the boxes together?

(page 51, Focus on Planning - Effective Planning and Assessment in the Foundation Stage, LEARN, 2004 (020 8695 9806) Resources to support the theme

* First Play small ball pack, 48 assorted balls 38.50, Soft Touch balls (4)

* 3.99, three horseshoe magnets 6.50, Very First Magnet kit 10.00.

From GLS Educational Supplies (tel: 020 8805 8333 www.glsed.co.uk )

* My World of Science, by Angela Royston (Heinemann, 6.25). Titles include:

* Magnetic and non-magnetic

* Natural and manmade

* Light and heavy

* Materials

* Rigid and bendy

* Shiny and dull

* Opaque and transparent

* Hard and soft