Our project for the Summer term is ‘Holidays!’
It’s the time of year when many of our children will experience going on holiday with their family. Whether this is visiting family and friends who live in other parts of the country, camping trips, or visiting somewhere that needs to be travelled to on a ship, train or plane.
Packing suitcases and making plans are exciting and fun!
Taking a break from regular routines and enjoying a holiday can have a positive impact on mental well-being. It can help reduce any stress or anxiety, and can improve overall mood. Holidays are a time when families can connect away from normal busy lives, and focus on what makes them happy.
Teaching children about the different types of holidays that families might take, helps them to expand their view of the world, and understand that the differences are what make the world we live in such an exciting and amazing place.
A holiday is great for meeting new people and improving social and communication skills. Children love to make new friends on holiday and these social skills learned now will put them in good stead for later life when communication is key to everyday life and careers. Talking about theirs and friend’s holidays in nursery helps them to expand their vocabulary and develop self-confidence in sharing their experiences with others.
When on holiday there are opportunities for children to learn how to adapt and be more self-reliant. Travel involves getting used to different environments and different cultural norms, so it’s a great way to teach children how to adjust. Travel can also teach children to be patient—after all, even the most well-organised plans can be hit by the unexpected! Successfully navigating new situations and challenges during a holiday can boost a child’s self-esteem and sense of accomplishment.
New skills might be learnt such as outdoor cooking, swimming in the sea, pony rides or even trying out words in another language.
This far-reaching project allows us to incorporate many different areas of learning with the children in nursery.
These can include:
Looking on a world map to see where the countries that they have visited are located….
Talking about the different types of transport they might use to get there…
Learning about whether different countries are hot or cold, and the animals that might live there…
Cooking and tasting different foods from around the world…
Role play opportunities including making lists and packing bags for a holiday, buying and selling in an ice cream parlour, or pitching a tent and cooking over an open fire in a camp site…
We can also incorporate important water and sun safety information, helping to make our little ones aware of potential dangers and how to keep themselves safe…
Going away on holiday enables families and their children to create meaningful family traditions. We will be encouraging our children to share these with their friends and teachers in nursery.
If any parents or family members would be willing to come into nursery to talk about any interesting holidays they have taken, we are certain that the children would love to hear about them in class. Please bring along any souvenirs or photographs that would help to bring this alive! If this is something that might interest you, please speak to a teacher for us to arrange a convenient time for you to visit.
Stepping away from everyday life and realising that there is a big world out there can help children to gain a positive perspective on their own life. We hope that this project will help them to reflect on their own happy memories of times shared with their families and friends!
