Our Current Topic

I find that following a topic based on the interests and development of the children, helps to embed what they are learning,

challenges them to explore and find out what else is possible and encourages them to acquire new skills.

Mini Beasts

Personal, Social and Emotional development

Vary activities so that children are introduced to different materials and new experiences.
Make sure that children have opportunity to move outside, choosing the right outdoor clothing for the weather: talk about how now it is colder, we need to wear warmer clothes outside.
Sing the hello song every day and allow time for everyone to say how they feel, using our emotions mirror.
Talk about people we love and those who love us.
Look at kindness; explain the importance of being kind to the creatures we find.

This is just a snap shot of what we are doing, my planned activities simply provide a spring board for children to come come up with their own ideas. The children will also follow their own interests and investigations.

Communication and Language

New vocabulary: Ladybird, insect, etc.
Learn new rhymes- Lady bird, lady bird, There's a worm at The Bottom of The Garden.
Role play- make a bug den.
Make up nonses rhymes about mini beasts.
Display pictures of minbeasts at child eye level to encourage conversation.

Physical Development

Draw snails outside using chalk to encourage gross motor movement.
Provide lots of opportunities for mine motor practice- drawing caterpillars etc.
Provide stubby crayons and pencils that need to be held using a tripod grip.
Set physical challenges when playing outside- who can wiggle like a worm

Prime areas

Understanding the world

Discover mini beasts in the garden and spend time observing them.
Obtain caterpillars and watch as they transform into butterflies.
Make a wormery and observe the worms as they move through the compost.
Observe snails moving on Perspex so the children can see how they move.

Specific areas

Expressive Arts and Design

Provide props for story themed role play
Provide materials and encourage children to make their own representations of mini beasts using paint, playdough etc
Have an "Ugly Bug Ball" make minibeast headwear and dance to the Ugly Bug Ball music. . .

Literacy

Books- The Very hungry Caterpillar. The very Busy Spider. What the Ladybird Heard

Lots of threading and playdough activities to strengthen little fingers in readiness for writing.
Markmaking - Always ensure there are materials out to encourage mark making.
Provide a text rich environment. Encourage interaction with these resources.
Make our own minibeast themed book.

Mathematical Development

Count everything
Look at honeycombs and hexagons.
Provide bug themed number lines.
Make spiders with eight legs and insects with six legs.
Look at positional language. The bee is in the hive, the worm is under the ground.
Look at shapes and use the language of shapes. Use shapes to make minibeasts.