Sue Durant - Practical Pre-School Books

can leave their cards in a central place and find their letters
by remembering the letter shape they want next.
Give the children time to do this, helping them at first.
Some children especially like playing the game against a
timer. How quickly can they find their letters Has the timer
run out
Extension ideas
• The game can be extended to include looking for
significant words – perhaps linked to the theme.
• Older children enjoy finding words and rearranging
them into a sentence that may relate to a story/theme.
Writing in mud/sand
What you want the children to learn or develop
To use writing as a means of recording and communicating
Linked areas of learning
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
Themed links
Shapes, Materials, Earth, Counting, Transport
Resources
Large shallow tray
Damp earth/mud/sand
Variety of writing implements, for example sticks,
twigs, feathers
An activity for the child to record
This activity is used widely as an open-ended play activity
but it can also be used in a more focused way. Prepare a
large tray – builders’ trays are wonderful for this – and fill
it with wet sand/mud. Provide a wide variety of writing
implements such as twigs and feathers of different
thicknesses and sizes.
Decide which child will be the writer and agree on an
activity. This can be how many times a child can complete
a course on their bike without knocking something over,
or how many times they can throw a bean bag into a box
– simple activities that can easily be counted.
Outdoor Play 35