There has been a lot of discussion recently on the Childminding Forum about whether it is a good thing to do themed activities with children... and whether these are at odds with the ethos of the Eyfs.
At Knutsford Childminding, we have just finished a month of themed activities based around the children's interest in minibeasts.
I want to show you that there is a big difference between making children take part in a theme they do not enjoy and engaging them with activities that interest and excite them.
I have 9 children through the week - these activities have been followed with 7 of them - the youngest is 2 years 4 months and the oldest is 9. The 2 babies have had fun times of their own.
When planning the activities I have made sure that each child has been stretched while also consolidating what they can already do.
So, for example, the 9 year old helped little ones counting legs on spiders... and then made the spider's web with help from my dd.
Meanwhile the 5 year old had fun making the spider, helped (or hindered maybe!!) by the 2 year old
During our mini beasts activities we have...
• Counted bees – PSR&N;
• Learned about black and yellow patterns – PSR&N;
• All made a ladybird on a stick as a puppet and used it to sing songs – PSED;
• Sung songs about spiders, bees, worms and caterpillars - CD;
• Read books about all kinds of minibeasts – CD;
• Visited the library for more books – KUW;
• Counted legs on lots of minibeasts – PSR&N;
• Used magnifying glasses in the garden – KUW;
• Found out how caterpillars turn into butterflies – KUW;
• Made worms from playdough – PD;
• Made insects using quick drying clay and painted them – CD;
• Pretended to be slugs and snails – PSED;
• Explored snail shells – KUW;
• Found out why worms make casts in the grass – KUW;
• Counted and drawn leaves – PSR&N / CD;
• Used glitter and glue to make a huge sunflower – CD;
• Looked for spiders webs on the fence – KUW;
• Found snails at the park – KUW;
• Danced around the garden like butterflies, bees and wasps – PD;
• Learned about the sounds minibeasts make during a listening walk – PD / KUW;
• Made a spiders web from string and lots of sellotape – PD / CD;
• Used ladybird sewing cards – PD;
• Added feelers to fingerprint flies – PD;
• Found pictures of butterflies on Google images – KUW;
• Explored small world minibeasts in the sand tray – KUW;
• Used the story box with small world spiders – PSED;
• Fed worms in our wormery – PD;
• Discussed shapes and sizes of minibeasts – PSR&N;
• Joined dots to make snail shells – PD;
• Made and painted bugs using a rectangle of card, 2 eyes and 6 legs (8 for spiders) – CD / PSR&N);
• Chalked spiders on the fence – PD;
• Bent pipe cleaners to make legs for spiders – PD;
• Grown flowers and looked at how the snails and slugs eat them – KUW;
• Found snail trails on the patio and copied them with chalk – KUW / PD;
• Learned about being safe round stinging insects – PD;
• Looked at ant hills and nests – KUW - to follow a specific interest;
• Found pictures on Google images about ants and ant hills and compared their sizes and shapes – PSR&N.
We have had great fun, followed children's interests, learned a lot, covered all 6 areas of learning and development of the Eyfs and engaged all the children for extended periods of time doing things they enjoy.
How can this be wrong?
I hope it inspires you to plan interesting and exciting adventures with the children.
You can find lots and lots of planning ideas in my wide range of planning e-books on my website www.knutsfordchildminding.co.uk.
Talk soon! :-)
