Nursery job interview tomorrow!?

Question

I am going for a job as an unqualifed Nursery assistant where I will study for a qualification whilst working.

As part of the interview I will be asked to lead 3 children aged 2-3yrs in an activity lasting around 20 mins.

I think the interviewers will mainly be looking at how well I interact with the children but I would like to do a really nice activity with them so they can have some fun and get something out of it.

I thought about reading a story which would require them to get up and do actions with me, like 'we're going on a bear hunt', but that probably won't last long enough. Do you think it would be better to get them to paint pictures of something like some sun flowers? or some summer fruits? I am new to this and would appreciate any ideas you might have.

Answer 1

OK i ve worked in nurseries for years...and what u could do is..start with a story with puppets or role play...or u could do drawings ...working with different pens,pencils,shapes..but only use one resource at time..to make it last longer

the story i would recommend is the three billy goats gruff,...and if u can use big blocks for the bridge and blue material for the river...after u have read story twice..ask them to recall some basics ...and then build the bridge with children and do the story again ....its great fun...remember u know what ur doing and if u enjoy it the children will relax and enjoy it too...don't be to worried if it does NT go exactly to plan ..its about how u interact with the children that matters ...everything else comes with experience.....good luck

Answer 2

Your ideas are good. Remember to make eye-contact with the children and smile with them as they act out the story. Use their names and praise them for their good ideas. You wil be judged not only on what you do, but the way you interact with the children. Good luck

Answer 3

Stick with the bear hunt story, bittersweet has already made some good suggestions about stretching it out. Really emphasise the language of can't go over it , can't go under it, we have to go through it and perhaps do some accompanying hand movements to visualise this positional vocabulary. Make a real emphasis on the sounds swish, swash, squelch squelch, hoo woo etc. After the story lead the children around the room in a pretend bear hunt trying to get them to remember the grass, mud, river, snowstorm and forest sounds. This will easily last 20 mins. Good luck with the interview. I interview people all the time for nurseries and if you were to deliver a session like this and answer your questions well i would definately give you  the job. Be confident.

Answer 4

wow I think that 20mins for 2-3 year olds is a bit harsh most would only concerntrate for 10-15mins TOPS! I think your Bear Hunt story would be great-just stretch it out a bit-encourage children to join in actions and say words...when you get to the cave page and they "tiptoe" close the book and be cheeky like "Oh my goodness do you know what is hiding on the next page...do you want to see?" it will build their excitement and stretch it out a bit!

Then when you've read story you can do a recall where you start at the beginning and ask the children "what happens next?".

But if the younger ones get up and walk off dont get disheartened just be smily and cheerful!

Good Luck!

(Other ideas: music and movements to a CD, finger painting or hand printing at a table top, playdough activities are always good ones!)

Answer 5

Art  is about the child what it wants to do with what you gave. I think if you sit on the floor with a book and look at the pages the children will come to you. Make sure it is a book that is very high contrast and interesting to look at with big enough pages that they will all see. if reading and acting out the story does not fill the time have the colors of the main character available for the to make a picture with out telling them how it should look.

Answer 6

I think

http://www.infyjobs.com/?p=215 this may be useful.

Here you can download school teacher resumes which might be useful for your preschool interviews.

Answer 7

I like the Bear Hunt story/chant, too.  If you are comfortable with the story, you should definitely go with it, because you won't be second-guessing yourself.  If you decide to stick with the bear theme, visit my website http://www.quality-kids-crafts.com for some free printable resources.

Here is the direct link for a bear puppet:

http://www.quality-kids-crafts.com/suppo...

This link:

http://www.quality-kids-crafts.com/anima...

will take you to the alphabet zoo, one animal for each letter of the alphabet.

Here is a link for fruits:

http://www.quality-kids-crafts.com/color...

A cute idea for painting fruits is to mix a packet of drink mix with a small amount of water to make a fruity smelling "paint" like a scratch and sniff kind.  

If you don't want to go all out with a painting activity, use the strawberry and have the children use a black stamp pad to make the seeds with fingerprints.

Bears eat berries, and the fruit coloring pages include strawberry, blueberries, blackberries, etc. so if you want to tie that in with your bear theme, kids usually enjoy knowing what type of foods animals eat, and can comprehend it well.

You could also do a collage activity with any of the printables.

Good luck at your interview.  Have fun!

Answer 8

painting is always a good idea for children of that age.

you could always get the children to make a collage of summery things e.g flowers by using a wide range of materials and textures to keep them interested.

have a few back up plans because kids can be pretty stubborn if they don't want to do something!