Curiosity Approach Inspired Tuff Tray Ideas - Learning about animals native to the UK...
Curiosity Approach Inspired Tuff Tray Ideas can be pre-planned or can come into play as an extention to conversations or children's curiosity about a subject that may stem from a book we're reading or picture drawn, food prepared, or activity carried out.
Tuff trays are the perfect host for varying and adaptive learning, exploration and messy play. Here you will see pictured a forest setup, this was not a planned activity but came from an extension of children’s interest is The Gruffalo story. Conversations evolved into talking about children’s adventures to the woods. On this topic children shared stories of the animals they had seen and heard. Children’s curiosity led us to talking about different types of animals and discussing how animals from across the world may live in very different conditions, such as in hot weather. It was through these vibrant conversations that we realised children were often more familiar with exotic animals (lions, tigers, crocodiles and giraffes, for example) than with animals native to the UK.
So we decided to set up a tuff tray and use the setting as inspiration to talk about animals native to the UK. The types of things we taught children about each animal were things such as places they sleep, things they eat, and the sounds they make.
At Keeley's we're proud to be embarking on implementing The Curiosity Approach in our nurseries.
The Curiosity Approach is an inspirational "modern day approach to Early Childhood" that is underpinned by the Early Years Foundation Stage. It takes lessons from a number of earlier education methods, including Reggio, Steiner, Te Whariki and Montessori, uniquely woven together to fit the 21st century.
The Curiosity Approach is at the heart of everything we do.