january’s hello!
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We hope that you are enjoying our fresh new look magazine
and website – where things are even easier to fi nd and pop into your own individual folder to help your planning later. Water is a lovely theme to engage young children, whether exploring sea creatures or imaginary pirate role play. Investigating the properties of water is always great fun, anticipating which objects will sink and which will fl oat is fascinating, as little learners start wanting to experiment with everything in the world around them! We have created some lovely ‘Talk about... water’ cards to help you introduce the water cycle, too. Simply log on with your subscriber details or using
February’s access code – – to fi nd the supporting materials and resource sheets. Don’t forget to enter our great competition to win £500 worth of art and craft resources for your setting (see page 50 for details) and to be in with a chance of winning £100 worth of children’s books go online to complete our Nursery Education
PLUS readers’ survey.
Tracey Brand,Editor
39 Making marine music: Sea inspiration for songs and rhythm
46 SEN: Positive behaviour management – a step-by-step approach
48 The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch: Recreate this favourite story about Mr Grinling’s struggle to save his lunch from the seagulls
FEBRUARY 2011
Hello!
Features and activitiesOn the cover3mSs
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14 Healthy hearts! Lively activities to celebrate National Heart Month
16 Hot and cold: Three delicious recipes to make with children
20 Big fish fun: Colourful sea creature inspiration
22 Pirate play: Climb aboard for great pirate role play
24 Water work: Investigate the properties of water
33 Outdoor fun: Learning in your environment
35 Float or sink? A range of experiments to try out with little learners
42 Learning along the way: Discover how childminders plan their
own professional development
Two great posters
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PS Our subscriber offer of the month is
Writing Without Pencils – available from the
Scholastic shop for only £8.75 – a huge 50% discount!
3FEBRUARY 2011 NURSERY EDUCATION PLUS
CONTENTSJanuary’s contributors
Subscribe to Nursery Education PLUSCall 0845 850 4411Online www.scholastic.co.uk/magazinesEmail [email protected] Write to Linda Dodd, Scholastic Ltd, Freepost CV1034,
Westfi eld Road, Southam, Leamington Spa CV47 0BR.
Save up to 25% off the cover price when you subscribe. Annual subscription: £42.50 by cheque/credit card or £38.25 by direct debit. Overseas subscription: £60. Airmail £70.
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Students and NQTs save over half price on a Nursery Education PLUS subscription – pay just £24 a year or £8 a term by direct debit. Call 0845 850 4411 and quote reference TO16A and your NUS number. www.nurseryedplus.co.uk
Publishing Director Teacher Community
Paula [email protected]
EditorTracey Brand
Assistant Editor Philippa Richards
Designer Lee Churchill
Picture ResearcherSarah Kane
Marketing enquiriesDulcie Ball
Advertising enquiriesShirley Wylde
© Scholastic Ltd 2011ISSN 1755-8883
Nursery Education PLUS is published monthly by the proprietors, Scholastic Ltd, Book End, Range Road, Witney, Oxfordshire OX29 0YD.
Designed using Adobe InDesign. Printed by St Ives plc, St Austell.
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Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and the publisher apologises for any
inadvertent omissions. Crown copyright material is reproduced under the terms of the Click Use Licence. Due to the nature of the web, the publisher cannot
guarantee the content or links of any websites referred to. It is the responsibility of the reader to
assess the suitability of websites.
Acknowledgement Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for the use of extracts from ‘The Early
Years Foundation Stage’, 2007 © Crown copyright. Reproduced under the terms of the Click Use Licence.
Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations
Regulars and online resources 7 News: Keep up to date
8 Calendar: Don’t miss this month’s key events
11 What’s new: The latest products and resources
12 Readers’ pages: Your letters and stories shared
29 Bookshelf: Stories and music resources exploring daily routines
30 Ten of the best: Fantastic water-themed resources to win!
45 Next month: What’s coming up in our future issues
50 A day in the life of...: Director of Policy, Membership and Communications at NDNA
Louise RichmondTeaching Assistant
Jean EvansEarly Years consultant and author
Dr Hannah MortimerEducational psychologist
Julie SmartEducational writer
Judith HarriesEarly Years teacher and writer
Hilary WhiteEducational and craft writer
Lynne GarnerEducational and craft writer
St– pre
STUDENT OFFER!
Access all of these resources onlineFind the Nursery Education PLUS homepage at www.nurseryedplus.co.uk and enter the code in the space provided
4 NURSERY EDUCATION PLUS FEBRUARY 2011
For more ideas about making healthy snacks with your children, why not download this great ‘Eat healthy food’ resource, full of great activity ideas. It’s free for our subscribers – search www.nurseryedplus.co.uk
PROBLEM SOLVING, REASONING AND NUMERACY
Shape sandwiches Show the children the illustrations of Mr Grinling’s sandwiches. Identify the triangular shape and ask the children if sandwiches are always this shape. Explain that you are going to make ‘shape’ sandwiches to share and write a list of possible shapes to create; for example, ‘square’, ‘triangle’, ‘rectangle’ and ‘circle’. Gather together square loaves, sandwich fillings, aprons, chopping boards and children’s knives. Demonstrate how to choose a filling, make the sandwich and then cut it into your chosen shape. The children can then work in pairs to make their own sandwiches. When they have finished, ask each pair to describe the shape/s of their sandwiches and what they have put inside them. Decide together which shape was the easiest to cut out and which was the most difficult. Enjoy a tasty ‘shape’ snack together!
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD
Lines and pulleys Focus on the pictures of Mr Grinling’s lunch travelling to the lighthouse using a pulley system. Set up a small world version of this scene, using a doll’s house and a cone to represent the lighthouse. Ask children for ideas about how to get the basket from the house to the lighthouse and try out their ideas – for example, you could tie string around the chimney of the house and in a loop over the top of the cone, and suspend the basket from it. Explore the book image of a pulley (or a real one, if possible) and talk about how it works. Discuss how this would make moving the basket easier.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Here come the seagulls Draw the children’s attention to the images in the book of the seagulls swooping down on the basket. Play a game of ‘Here come the seagulls’ in the same manner as ‘Grandmother’s footsteps’. The children play the part of seagulls flying quietly to a lunch basket to try to steal the contents, while another child takes on the role of Mr Grinling sitting with his back to the basket. If he hears someone, he must turn and shout ‘Clear off!’ and that child must return to the start. The first child to reach the food squawks proudly and swaps places with Mr Grinling.
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT
Off to the lighthouse Talk with the children about how Mr Grinling travels to the lighthouse in his boat. Set up a small world version of this in a water tray, making a lighthouse from a washing-up liquid bottle filled with sand and painted with red and white paint mixed with PVA glue. Surround the lighthouse with pebbles and pour water into the tray. Add a small world boat, cat and man, and have fun putting Mr Grinling and Hamish into the boat to sail to the lighthouse.
You could win one of fi ve copies of The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch (Scholastic). Enter right now online at www.nurseryedplus.co.uk or you can send your name and address on a postcard, quoting the book title, to: Nursery Education PLUS, Book End, Range Road, Witney, OX29 0YD.Draw will take place on 1 March 2011.
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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
My ideal lunchExplore the pages depicting the contents of Mr Grinling’s lunch basket and ask the children which foods they like or dislike. Ask them what would be in their ideal lunch basket and suggest that they make a picture of it. Provide brown paper basket-shapes, food magazines, mark-making materials and glue sticks so that they can choose how to do this. Invite those who are developmentally ready to write a list of their basket’s contents. Display the baskets in a book entitled ‘My ideal lunch’.
At work in a lighthouse Read the story and discuss the things that Mr Grinling does as part of his work, such as cleaning the lighthouse lamp and swilling the floors. Invite the children to help set up a lighthouse role play area using a large torch, duster, brush, bucket, telescope, lunch basket, imitation food, soft toy cat, woolly hats, scarves and any other items that they suggest. Position the torch so that it represents the lamp shining ‘out to sea’. The children can then have fun pretending to be a busy lighthouse keeper.
THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER’S LUNCHChildren will love to recreate the events of this favourite story by Ronda and David Armitage about Mr Grinling’s struggle to save his lunch from the seagulls
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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Changing moodsRead the story to the children and then look at the contented images of Mr Grinling at the beginning. Invite the children to think of words to describe how he is feeling. Follow the story again, this time exploring Mr Grinling’s changing faces as he shows anger, worry, disappointment and pleasure. Discuss the reasons for his changing moods. Talk with the children about what makes their moods change.
Mr Grinling’s lunch basketFocus on the spread in the book that depicts the contents of Mr Grinling’s lunch basket. Invite the children to take turns to choose an item from a selection of imitation food, put it into the lunch basket and cover the basket with a cloth, saying, for example, ‘When I packed Mr Grinling’s lunch basket I put in a pear.’ As each child adds something they must try to repeat the rest of the items in the basket in order. For those who have difficulty, introduce the option of peeping under the cloth.
48 NURSERY EDUCATION PLUS FEBRUARY 2011 49FEBRUARY 2011 NURSERY EDUCATION PLUS
ACTIVITIESJean Evans is an Early Years consultant and author
19FEBRUARY 2011 NURSERY EDUCATION PLUS
WATER
Big fish funThe Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister provides a stimulating focus for exploring emotions and creating inspired artwork. This is a beautifully illustrated story and there are some lovely sequels to further explore the characters during storytimes. Another personal favourite is Gary Blythe and Dyan Sheldon’s The Whale Song. It is a magical tale that will inspire music making and further thoughts about special items that can be shared. Children will love catching ‘Fishes in the pond’ and counting them all back into their watery home. Who can catch the most fish? Why not keep a simple tally chart by the computer?
ACTIVITIES
Pirate playAll children love the excitement of maps and hidden treasure and there is role play galore with this theme! Pat Hutchins’ One-Eyed Jake is a great story starter for this themed spread and provides boundless opportunities for exploring Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy as the loads are added to the nasty pirate’s ship. Create individual ‘Pirate passports’ with our online resource and reward supportive teamwork with the themed ‘Pirate certificates’. Remember to print out ‘At home with childminder and parents’ to consolidate your children’s learning and fun around this theme.
Water worksExplore capacity and the properties of different materials with water in the main activities. Don’t forget to look at pages 35–36 for some great floating and sinking experiments, too. Children always love playing with water, whatever the weather, inside and outside. Supporting play with gentle, intervening questions will help further understanding and develop the potential of investigations. Remember to talk with children about water safety, and the importance of water within their own lives and having regular drinks whatever the time of year, too.
activitiesEditor of Nursery Education PLUS, Tracey, introduces our ‘WATER’ theme and more ideas for exploring the topic with your children
‘This month Louise Richmond brings you great activity ideas to cover all areas of learning and development within each of the themed spreads. Each spread focuses upon a different aspect linked to the theme to provide an enriched topic. Subscribers to Nursery Education PLUS will find a wealth of water activities, resources and display ideas to download, too.’
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