The sleepy firemen

A group of three to six year olds are playing in the nursery garden. They have stared a game about being firemen and the difficulties of getting up when they have to go and put out the fire.

Good for looking at

• COEL - playing and exploring
• Pretend play
• Imagination
• Understanding the world
• Socialising
• Language
• Communicating
• Narratives

A group of three to six year olds are playing in the nursery garden. They have stared a game about being firemen and the difficulties of getting up when they have to go and put out the fire.

Notice

• What cues can you see that show what the children are interested in? (Look out for non-verbal and body language as well as spoken language)
• How are the children learning? Which areas of development, engagement and characteristics of learning can you observe?
• How do the environment and materials support the children’s learning?

Reflect

What are your thoughts about:

• What areas of learning and development were covered in this play?
• Was there a leader of this play?
• Did the children have a joint aim?
• Did they communicate effectively with each other?
• What effects do you think a mixed age range had on the children’s play?
• What effect did the environment and materials have on this play?

Respond

What would you do to:

• Support the children’s play? Would you interact at any point if they are playing happily?

What next:

• What could you do to enable mixed age groups to play together in your setting?
• Could you provide more open ended materials and resources to support children’s imaginations?
• What do you know about the Steiner approach to early education? Could you find out more?