Encourage children to pick up their pens with theseactivities from Linda Mort...

A gap between boys’ and girls’ levels of enjoyment and achievement inwriting has been revealed by the first statistics from the Early YearsFoundation Stage. In its online guidance, Gateway to Writing, theprevious government recommended that a key strategy to encourage

young boys to write is through role-play, tailored to their interests and whichmaximises their love of active, adventurous play, especially outside. Here aresome ideas which will appeal not only to boys but to girls too...

Provide inspirationOrganise visits from ‘people who help

us’ and ask them to talk about how theywrite at work – perhaps involving themselvesin a little role-play with your children – anduse books. Also, use appropriate videoresources which show exactly how, where,when and why grown-ups use writing aspart of their work.

Write that message down!

Talk about how a very important part of thework ‘people who help us’ do is writing downimportant phone messages about peoplewho need help. Say that the person who‘takes the call’ must listen carefully to themessage, write it down straightaway sothey don’t forget it, and then either tellthe person who will ‘solve the

three ‘people who help us’ props – for examplea police helmet, a stethoscope, plastic builder’strowel, plumber’s wrench, car rescuer’s/vet’sjacket etc.

Ask children to sit on chairs in a circlearound the ‘operator’, then ask the ‘operator’to hold up a prop and announce who they are– for example, a firefighter. Pass another toyphone around the circle as you play music, oras children sing the song below. When themusic or song stops, the child holding thephone must look and see what kind of ‘personwho helps us’ is sitting on the chair, and‘phone’ them, with an emergency message –for example: ‘Hello, please send a plumberquickly! Water is spurting up from my kitchen

learning &development

problem’ (if they are in the same building,such as a doctor who may need to visit apatient) or phone them. It could be, forexample, a builder who may need to comeand rebuild, say, a garden wall that hasblown down. Say also that emergencyservices phone operators can send details ofthe messages, for example to the police,firefighters or ambulance crews, bycomputer. The messages will then be printed out.

Phone message circle

This game may be played at ‘circle time’. Aska child to be the ‘phone operator’ and to siton a chair in the centre of the circle, next to asmall table. Put a toy phone on the table,plus a clipboard, paper and pencil. On a trayon the floor next to the chair, display up to

(Sung to the tune of Twinkle,Twinkle, Little Star)

The phone is ringing,What must we do?Get our pad and a pen, too!Then we listen to what they say,And write down the messagestraightaway!Now we’ll remembervery well,And we’ll know just who to tell!

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sink!’ or ‘I’ve just seen a shed on fire!’ The ‘operator’ must ‘jot the message

down’, then make another quick call to theperson or team who will get the problemsolved.

Looking forGoldilocks

Brainstorm ideas about how the policewould need to write things down in their‘police search’ for Goldilocks – an idealscenario for an outdoor rescue adventure!Goldilocks’ mum or dad could make a 999call to report Goldilocks missing.(Emphasise that children must never call thepolice themselves.) A police officer wouldvisit Goldilocks’ house and write a report,with a description of Goldilocks, and whereshe was last seen etc. The officer couldthen call other officers in their patrol cars or‘on the beat’, who would then write downwhat Goldilocks looked like in theirnotebooks. Meanwhile, Mummy Bear orDaddy Bear, having just found Goldilocksasleep in Baby Bear’s bed, could call thepolice to report an unknown girl havingturned up at their house. The policeheadquarters could then call the nearestofficer to the forest where the Three Bearslive, to collect Goldilocks and take her backhome. The chief detective would then writea report about the investigation in the policelogbook, and Goldilocks and her parentscould write ‘thank you’ letters to the ThreeBears and to the police.

Search and rescueLook on the internet for the websites

of emergency services and organisations forstories of real-life rescues which will inspireyour children’s role-play. Talk about ‘searchand rescue operations’, which often involvehelicopters looking for people who may belost, up mountains, in rivers, canals, or in thesea. The police, mountain rescue teams,coastguard service and air ambulances, allmake use of helicopters. Helicopter rescuecrews often write their important informationon special write-on-the-pocket trousers ontheir flight suits.

Children could devise their own ‘missions’outside, using ‘play people’ or miniaturebears. A bear could, for example, ‘fall out of aboat’ (in your outside water tray or canalsystem), and have to be ‘winched up’ by asmall world helicopter. Use the emergentwriting messages and notes children writeduring their rescue play to help the childrendictate rescue stories, which could be scribedin a Big Book of Rescues, illustrated by the children.

Just in timeA ‘car rescuers’ theme provides lots of

scope for writing down ‘car rescue cardmembership numbers’, registration numbers

THREE RESOURCES TO HELP YOUENCOURAGE YOUNG WRITERS...

Gateway to Writing –http://nationalstrategies.standardsdcsf.gov.uk/node254237Our helpers series, Evans Books –www.evansbooks.co.ukPeople who help us DVDs, Child’sEye Media –www.childsyemedia.com

and mobile phone numbers, as well asdetails of the location of the broken-downvehicles, etc. Once the vehicle has beentransported on a breakdown truck to thecar repair shop, there will also be theneed for writing a ‘repair report’, bill(invoice) and receipt. Perhaps childrenmight like to explore in role-play whathappens when a member of staff breaksdown on their way to nursery/school andhas to call the car rescue service. Willthey get to school in time?

findoutmoreLinda Mort is educational

director of Child’s Eye Media,

producers of the Young Writers’

Role Play Pack (films featuring

adults writing as part of their

work and children’s role-play),

related children’s writing

through role-play sheets,

teaching ideas and outfits.