Placements help???

Question

im doing my placements at a child care for my early childhood development class and i need help beacause my teacher is coming to assess me at how i can provide a different activity for the children. i dont want anything messy as they are young. thier ages are 3-5 yrs and i need to organise an activity for them to chose from. usually there are 3-4 activities for them to choose from and i hav to make one up. one that theyre not too familiar with. something that will help them with thier development and learning. please help!!! i need it by fridey. eeek!

Answer 1

Is this going to be an activity you are leading or something for them to do independently?  And do you have a particular focus in mind or can it be anything?  

For something independent maybe set up;

-Communication, Language and Literacy: 'post office' with paper, stamps, envelopes, postcards and a 'postbox' (cut a hole in a box and paint it red, could do just a small one with a shoe box)

-Knowledge and Understanding of the World: cars and ramps, to encourage the children to experiment (which car will go the furthest/fastest/slowest/shortest etc?  Why?)

-Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy: some kind of sorting activity (e.g. different coloured toys/beads/shapes to appropriate dishes, or for chn to sort according to their own criteria)

-Creative Development: different materials for drawing/mark making (crayons, charcoal, chalk, oil pastels) on different sizes and shapes of paper

-Physical Development: paper or card, possibly with lines drawn on (straight, wavy, zig zag) with scissors for children to develop their fine motor control

-Personal, Social and Emotional Development: 'paper dolls' with different sets of clothes for children to dress them, or a dollies or teddies with different items of clothing, this would help to develop their self care skills.

You might find it helpful to have a look at the EYFS curriculum for more ideas of activities and the areas you could be looking to develop.

http://www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/eyfs/

Answer 2

there are so many things you can set up for your preschoolers to do that are fun and educational. i like the ideas mentioned by the person above. she's got some good ones. i don't think you should hesitate to get messy! that's part of the fun of teaching in early childhood education and it's a HUGE part of the fun of being a KID! basically, messy=fun. 3, 4, and 5 year olds should be able to do things that involve getting messy.

some things my classes have liked that are easy to set up and almost always a hit:

-making play dough. kids love to get messy and they get to play with it when they're done.

- use non-toxic shaving cream or bath foam. put it right on the table. let the children draw pictures in it, write letters in it, etc...

- beading- you could use beading to do an activity on patterning or sorting.

- a big time LOVE of my kids- a bucket of worms and dirt, magnifying glasses, rulers, kid tweezers. let the kids explore the worms and how long they are, how they feel, etc...

- floating and sinking activities- have a tub of water and different items for them to explore with. buckets, eye droppers, marbles, apples, etc...

- paint with colored ice cubes

- collect different items for the children to do rubbings with. like bark from a tree, a flower, etc...

- make oobleck

- bubble prints are fun

- set up a magnet exploring type of station with magnets and items for the children play with and see if they are magnetic or not.

these are all things that i have done with my 3-5 year olds...so don't be scared to do any of them!