ACTIVITIES

[These are only samples of activities - there are many more].

For Objective 1

E.g. Talk about items in a display and ask children to add to display. Demonstrate with toys etc the position of things, e.g. in front of me, on my knee, beside the door. In PE pass the ball to the person, behind, above your head.

For Objective 2

E.g. To look for pairs, choose a partner, find two hands, two feet, do they match?

Look for things which are the same colour - shape - kind .

2 red things

2 buttons

2 animals

Mapping pairs - knife and fork, table and chair.

For Objective 3

E.g. Let the children find a partner and say how they are alike and how they are different.

Odd one out and why.

Difference in wet/dry sand.

For Objective 4

E.g. Big is opposite to little - compare the toys - look at big and little fingers.

Ask the children to show ‘open’ and ‘closed’ with their hands, eyes and mouths.

Compare long/short hair.

Run quickly/slowly, long and curl up small, full and empty in sand! water tray.

For Objective 5

E.g. One coat on one peg, one chair for one child, one apron, one pencil etc.

Mappings. Recorded activities - 3 pigs - houses. These will coincide with topics, e.g. homes - types of houses they live in, etc.

For Objective 6

E.g. Children say who belongs to their family and draw all the people who live in their home. Sets which go together - sort the building bricks by colour- build something with blue bricks, yellow bricks.

Sort out the farm animals, the paint brushes etc, etc.

For Objective 7

E.g. Ask 2 boys and 2 girls to stand up - count them and talk about the number of boys being the same as the number of girls.

Put out 4 chairs, count them. Count 5 children, and ask them to sit on chairs - plenty of discussion, one more child, not enough chairs, one child left over, two few chairs.

Repeat with 5 chairs and 4 children. Play musical chairs.

For Objective 8

E.g. Order the events of the day, breakfast, school, teatime etc.

Discuss the order of children standing in a line. Ask the first child to kneel down, the second to sit up etc.

For Objective 9

E.g. Shape table display - include cubes, cuboids, cylinders - also everyday things, toothpaste boxes, cereal boxes, coffee tins etc.

Children handle materials and explore their properties.

Q. Does it roll/slide when you push it?

Will these two shapes build on top of each other?

Encourage children to select shape for different criteria - and place in sets. Talk about sides/edges, corners, curves.

For Objective 10

E.g. Form the children into a repeating pattern, one standing, one standing, one sitting, one standing etc.

Clapping to copy simple patterns - make repeating patterns in colour, with counters, beads, buttons.

Talk about number patterns in bricks for e.g. - Printing patterns - look for patterns in leaves, fruit and vegetables.

For Objective 11

E.g. Name and discuss things smaller/larger than themselves. Find something in the classroom smaller/larger. Discuss how clothes are too big to wear/about how children grow and clothes become too small.

Using cubes make 2 towers, one larger than the other. Sand play using large and small containers.

For Objective 12

E.g. Put 3/4 children in order of height. Compare two animals and say which one is taller and which is shorter.

Data collection of long/short hair in the class and display.

Measure their reach - Has the tallest child the longest reach?

Children find things in the classroom longer/shorter than their pencil, and display.

For Objective 13

E.g. Two grocery bags, one heavy, one light, compare - discuss. Examine contents of bag, compare size of groceries, cornflakes, bag of flour, cornflakes much bigger but lighter

Introduce a pan balance to the children. Plenty of free play with balance. Select objects - say if they are heavier/lighter than a bean bag/shoe. Find objects which balance - weighing table, classroom shop with a balance.

For Objective 14

E.g. Children work with full / empty concepts. Select 2 bottles - how can we find out which holds more. Encourage the children to fill one bottle from the other and see it overflow - ‘it won’t all ‘fit’ in’. Repeat, also using sand. Plenty of free activity - children explore for themselves. Provide 2 containers which hold the same amount. How could we find this out.

Plasticine - encourage them to roll plasticine into a sausage, then into a ball, have the, the same amount of plasticine.

For Objective 15

E.g. Prepare a day wheel - days written in the form of a circle - children will Develop the sense of one day following the next - talk about things they will do today, before school, after school, chart the weather, discuss, seasons. Favourite days, Christmas, Easter, Sundays.

Ask the children to complete various activities before the sand runs through a sand-timer.

E.g. - make a jigsaw puzzle,

Put on socks and shoes - display using charts

Sort all the red bricks

For Objective 16

E.g. How do we travel to school?

What is the fastest way to travel - walk/car/bus.

Describe their journey to school - any special markings on their way.

Draw a plan of the classroom - ask the children to imagine there is a ladybird on the ceiling looking down.

Which is nearer to you - the clock or the window?

Spacing and direction in PE.