Albert Einstein once said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
With that in mind, The Burrow practitioners have been focusing on the children's imaginations and really allowing them to follow and act out their thoughts.
During song box a little boy asked if we could sing "Wheels on the bus" which then made me think….. Let's go to Weston Super Mare on a bus!
So we set out the chairs into a 'bus' and I told the children we were off to the seaside! We all sat down and put our seat belts on ready for the long journey to the coast and then we were off! One child started to sing "Wheels on the bus" so I joined in the singing, which then encouraged other children. I used lots of different words and expression to encourage the children's emergent language. M then said "I see lots of clouds, it might rain."
We then arrived at the seaside and I asked the children what they normally do at the coast.
"I eat ice cream" W said, so that was it, off we went to the ice cream van where Nic was standing behind the gate! We all ordered chocolate ice cream followed by a splash in the sea and making sandcastles.
On Wednesday we had a mixture of younger and older children in so I gave the children an option of where to go. "Moon, Moon" W said. We counted down to ten and BLAST OFF we were flying through the clouds. I started to shake as we took off and H joined in who is not even two yet! When we landed on the moon I asked what we could see, "Aliens" J answered. So off we went, looking for them!
On both trips the children acted out and commented on the weather, the scenery and the customs relevant to them and their families, as well as developing concepts totally alien to them (excuse the pun!)
Our adventures to the seaside and moon, were initiated by the children and as practitioners we simply facilitated and modelled their learning. The children had the time to play and explore their lines of thought, which at their age is crucial in making sense of the world around them and embedding deep learning.
All we really needed were some chairs and our imaginations! So seeing as this wet weather is set to stay, I wonder where your imaginations will take you this weekend. I don't know about you, but I'm off to the sun!
Lauren