Our Summer Term Project is ‘Our Planet’!
One of the most fascinating and amazing things to teach children about, is our own home planet.
As we educate children about our planet, we cultivate in them a sense of environmental responsibility that will have a positive impact on both their lives, and the planet’s well-being, for generations to come.
Understanding the World is one of the four specific areas of learning in the EYFS framework. It involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community, through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology, and the environment.
Children desire to learn about things they love and have a connection with, and we can develop this by giving them opportunities to interact with the planet in ways that enrich their imaginations and engage their senses, and by providing activities promoting the care of, and responsibility for, our wonderful home.
As part of this project, we can embrace:
- Planting and growing, the life cycles of plants and the food chain.
The summer term always gives us great opportunities for growing and planting activities where the children experience getting their hands dirty in the soil, and learn about what plants need to help them to grow well.
A great way to start is to plant quick-sprouting seeds so that impatient little ones can see the results of their hard work without too much waiting around. Sunflower, cress and salad seeds provide easy results.
Gardening activities are great for our young age group. They…
- Encourage exercise through carrying and digging, developing stronger grip and manual dexterity, bending and stretching.
- Encourage co-operation with peers, and team work as the children learn to help one another in their tasks.
- Encourage sensory development stimulating all five senses. Children will feel different textures in the soil, seeds and plants, they will be able to smell the flowers, hear the bees and birds, see the different colours of the plants and taste any vegetables, herbs or fruits they grow. Ask your child questions to consolidate their learning such as what colour is this flower? What does the leaf feel like? What does the strawberry taste like?
- Get them closer to nature. Children will love planting flowers which attract bees and butterflies into the garden space. Try planting sunflowers, lavender, buddleia and roses to attract pollinators together in your garden at home.
- Gardening is known to improve mood and reduce stress. Spending time outdoors is vital for improving or maintaining positive mental health. Research has shown that by undertaking simple gardening activities, children can reduce their stress levels, and improve their mood and self-esteem.
- Encourage healthy eating. By planting seeds or plants, we teach your child how food is grown and about the lifecycle of a plant. Children are often more willing to try unfamiliar flavours and tastes when they have either grown the food themselves, or understand where the food has grown, what it looks like when it’s growing and what we can use it for in cookery recipes to try ourselves.
Exploring the wonders of water and why it is so important to life. We will be talking about what we use water for every day such as bathing, drinking, cleaning our teeth and of course for play and fun! We will be asking the children to think about ways we can reduce water consumption.
To compliment this topic, we have arranged for the children to have a visit from Wessex Water on the 2nd May.
There are lots of ways to encourage preschoolers to get involved in water science! Setting up a water play station with cups, funnels, droppers, sponges, etc. Allowing the children to grab toys or miscellaneous objects from around the room to see what sinks and what floats.
Best of all, playing with water is fun!
- Minibeasts including their life cycles, the food chain and life underground!
Minibeast is the nickname used to describe all the ‘little creatures’ in the world. The proper more scientific term is ‘Invertebrates’ and it describes all creatures that do not have a back bone. So, this includes, butterflies, bees, woodlice, snails, ladybirds etc.
It is always a very popular topic with our young age group, who will be watching real caterpillars in nursery as they change, and then hatch into butterflies.
A minibeast hunt is a brilliant way for children to get up close to nature. It gets them active in the fresh air, encourages them to use their observation skills, and it gives them a chance to get hands-on with wildlife.
- The environment, and looking after our planet.
Teaching our children about the importance of caring for our planet by..
Being a Green Kid!
- Reduce the amount of stuff you use and throw away.
- Reuse stuff when you can.
- Recycle cans, bottles, paper, books, and even toys. We have recycling bins for the children to use in nursery, and small world toys eg bin lorries and wheelie bins that demonstrate recycling in the community.
- Enjoy the Earth — walk in the woods, help to plant a tree, and eat some of the delicious food it produces.
By thinking about what else can we do at home to help, children start to use their imaginations to think about ways to help save our planet.
We can talk about what we already do in this country to help to slow down climate change. And think about what other countries around the world are also doing to help? This helps the children to think about working collaboratively. How communities can help one another, and work together to make change happen.
- The Oceans
This term we will also be having an ‘Ocean Adventure’ as part of our project looking at our planet. The oceans and the creatures that live there are endlessly fascinating to the young explorer.
Discussions about pollution of our oceans with plastics can also be introduced.
This topic provides some fabulous opportunities for artistic expression, and we’re looking forward to seeing some fabulous creatures of the deep! What child isn’t amazed at the size of an enormous whale, the long tentacles of a jelly fish or the awesome sharpness of a shark’s teeth?!
- Summer safety
As part of talking to the children about our planet, we must also think about global warming, and the hotter temperatures that we’re all having to accustom ourselves to, especially during the summer time.
We will be talking to the children about staying safe in the sun. Staying in the shade during the hottest part of the day, protecting our exposed skin with sun cream, wearing a hat in the sun, and keeping well hydrated.
We feel learning about our planet, even at this young age, is hugely important. Our preschool children hold the future of the planet in their hands. The choices they will make as adult consumers will affect us more than we can ever imagine.
We hope to empower them from the earliest opportunity, not by scaring them with all that’s bad, but by creating awe and wonder about the natural world, so they don’t just want to protect it… they will live at one with it.
