The learning that may take place for me
The learning that may take place for me is that I may become more aware of the baby’s developmental stage. Also I may find out if the activity was suitable for E or if the activity was not suitable for him. I may also learn more about health and safety when planning activities.
The learning that may take place for me is that I may learn how to meet a child’s individual needs. I may also learn whether this activity was flexible to meet E’s individual needs. More learning that may take place for my self is that I may learn how activities promote development. I may also learn if I was organised properly. I may learn more about planning. Also I may learn more about The Birth to three mattes framework. By carrying out this play experience with E I may learn if my communication skills were effective or not.
The learning that may take place for the child
The learning that may take place whilst I am carrying out this play experience with E is that this play experience will promote his physical skills, because he will be using his fingers whilst playing with the Cherry
Scented Play dough and his wrists will also strengthen as he is playing with the dough. Also the learning that may take place for E is that he will be practising and refining his fine manipulative skills.
E’s intellectual development will also be promoted while he is carrying out this play experience because he will be concentrating whilst playing with the dough. E’s language development will be another area that can be promoted whilst this play experience is being carried out, because when I interact with him while he is playing, E surely will respond. E’s sensory development also will be promoted because he will be using all his senses whilst playing such as touching, tasting, looking and smelling the dough. Also E’s confidence will develop as he will be using spoons and other tools along with the play dough.
Resource
My resource is cherry scented play dough. The quantity is going to be about 1 cup full. The play dough is going to be red and cherry scented. I will also be providing spoons and chunky play dough tools along with it.
Time
I will allow E to keep the resource for a day and I will observe him to see whether he like the resource or not. The will be no time restrictions when this play experience is being implemented. Meggitt and Sunderland state in their book “Promoting Development: Allow plenty of time for play” (2000, pg43). This statement supports the fact that I will be allowing E to keep the resource for the day.
Method
When I am going implement this activity I will first clear the area were the baby is going to play the activity. I will place the baby on the floor in sitting position. Next I will place a small bowl of play dough in front of the baby and I will also give him some equipment that he can use to play with the play dough.
To involve myself while E is playing I will communicate with him. As, Meggitt and Sunderland state in their book “Promoting Development: Talk constantly to babies” (2000, pg43). I will praise E whilst he is carrying out the activity and reward him after he has finished playing with the resource. Also I will observe him whilst he is playing; I will support and reassure him. I will extend the activity by giving him different coloured play dough to play with. These play dough will also smell different. I will also involve myself by playing with some play dough and I will show E what else he can do with it.
E will be involved in this game because he will be touching, tasting, smelling and looking at the play dough. E will hopefully play with play dough. E will be exploring the play dough by poking it, squeezing it and squashing it. E will learn to be confident whilst playing with the play dough. It will also promote his fine motor skills. E’s involvement will also be him interacting with me and making eye contact with me.
Conclusion
Learning outcomes for the baby
The aim of my plan was to promote the baby’s fine manipulative skills and sensory development and this has been met by carrying out the cherry scented play dough activity. The learning outcomes have also been met because E demonstrated his concentration whilst he was playing with the play dough. I also observed him using his senses because he firstly stared at the play dough as it was being placed in front on him and then he took the play dough near his nose to smell it, he next put it in his mouth and licked it. Forthwith he put the play dough down and poked it and slapped it using his hands. E also pinched pieces of play dough off. He also showed his ability in his fine manipulative skills because he was poking, stretching and pinching pieces of the play dough. He also used the spoon to hit the play dough with and break pieces off with it. E’s has developed in his confidence as he was playing independently with the spoons and play dough.
Meggitt and Sunderland state “at nine months babies can grasp objects between finger and thumb in a pincer grip” (2000, pg40). E at 10 months demonstrated this whilst he was playing with the play dough. Bruce and Meggitt state in their book “between 9 to 12 months babies can poke thing with one finger” (2006, pg313). E has evidently met this milestone as he was poking the play dough with only one finger and he repeated this many times during this play experience.
Learning that has taken place for myself
After implementing this plan with E, the learning that has taken place for my self is that I have become more aware of E’s development stage. I have learnt that my planning has been effective and successful. The organisation of my plan and resource was also extremely good. Another learning outcome is that I have learnt is when to interact with E and when to intervene. Also I have learnt how to adapt activities, because when E started to lose interest in the cherry scented play dough. I adapted this activity by giving E the opportunity to play with vanilla scented play dough which was blue in colour. I have also learnt about health and safety when planning an activity.
Implementing this plan has increased my knowledge about Birth to three matters framework. I have developed my understanding on how to meet individual needs in this case it was E. More learning that has taken place is that I have become aware on how various activities’ promote what area of development. I have learnt that during this activity I involved my self appropriately by communicating effectively with the baby.
Recommendations
Firstly I recommend for future practice that E’s mother does and activity where she provides small objects for the baby to pick. She can use pieces of biscuits, but she has to supervise E at all times. I have chosen this recommendation because while I was carrying out my cherry scented play
dough activity I noticed that E was pinching the play dough. So by provided pieces of biscuits in this activity it will enhance his pincer grasp in his fine manipulative skills. Also along with this I recommend that E’s mother praises and encourages him while he is carrying this out.
Secondly I recommend that E’s mother does an activity with E where he has different coloured cubes and then he has to stack them. E’s mother can show him before hand so he knows what to do. By doing this activity it will promote his fine manipulative skills and it will also enhance his hand eye co-ordination. Also along with this E’s mother should praise and encourage him. Ways that she can do this is to talk to E, clap and smile. I have chosen this activity because when E was playing with the play dough he lacked in hand-eye co-ordination, so by stacking cubes it will improve his hand eye co-ordination skills.
I have looked at Jean Piaget for my theorist for my activity. Jean Piaget said that “children are active learners” [Online] Available at:
<> this part of what was said by Jean Piaget supports both of my recommendations, because both of my recommendations consist E to be active. Because my first recommendation is to pick small pieces of biscuits and here E will be active. My second recommendation consist E to be active because he will be stacking some cubes. So you can see that my first and second recommendations are supported by Jean Piaget’s statement. I think that what Jean Piaget said is correct because in my point of view children learn when they are active.
By looking into detail about what Jean Piaget believed in, Teena Kamen states in her book that Jean Piaget believed that “children are actively involved in structuring their own cognitive development through exploration of their environment. Children need real objects and concrete experiences
to discover things for themselves” (2000, pg96). This statement made by Teena Kamen about what Jean Piaget believed supports my recommendations. Because a part of the statement made by Teena Kamen says that “children need real objects and concrete experiences to discover things for themselves” (2000, pg96), and in my first and second recommendation E will be having a concrete experience by picking up small bits of biscuits and stacking cubes. Both of my recommendations made are supported.
In addition I have looked at B.F Skinner to support my recommendations. B.F Skinner stated “positive reinforcement is more precise than that of reward” [Online] Available at: < > this statement made by B.F Skinner also supports my recommendations. Because as part of my recommendations, E’s mother has to encourage E with positive reinforcement. This statement shows us that how important positive reinforcement is, as it says positive reinforcement is more precise than rewards. Positive reinforcement can benefit any child.
D1
Overall the implemented activity plan has been effective. The implemented activity plan has been effective in meeting E’s individual needs. Because his individual needs were to promote his fine manipulative skills and his sensory development and this has been met by carrying out this plan, as E demonstrated his fine manipulative skills by poking, pulling and stretching the dough and his sensory development by smelling, looking, touching and tasting the dough. So the individual needs for E were met.
Learning outcomes set were also met successfully because E demonstrated this by showing confidence when handling the spoons. Also he
demonstrated his concentration ability when he was playing with the dough as he was only focusing on the dough. Also E evidently demonstrated his capability in fine manipulative skills as stretched, pinched and pulled the cherry scented play dough.
My learning has also been effectively met by implementing this detailed activity plan. Because now I know more about what E likes and dislikes. It has also increased my knowledge about The Birth to Three matters and how it used. I have also learnt how to adapt activities. I have more knowledge now of what activity promotes what area of development. Overall this detailed activity plan has been successful.
Activity Plan 2
Chosen Activity
I have chosen the sensory activity cube as a play experience for my 10 month old baby.
Aim
The aim is to promote the baby’s gross and fine manipulative skills and also to promote his sensory development. This will be achieved by providing sensory activity cube as a play experience.
Rationale
The reason why I have chosen the sensory activity cube as a play experience for E is because Birth to Three matters states “Development matters: babies enjoy experimenting, exploring and using sounds” A Skilful Communicator, Finding a Voice (2003). This play experience will involve E to experiment, explore and use sounds. Another reason why I have chosen the sensory activity cube is because Birth to Three matters states “Effective practice: provide opportunities for babies to explore movement and materials which use all the senses” A Competent Learner, Being Imaginative (2003). I will be providing this opportunity by giving E a sensory cube to play with, and he can explore the sensory activity cube through his senses. He can touch it, hear the music. He can also bite the tether that is attached on the cube sides; also he will be looking at it.
Also another reason for the chosen activity is that from the past observations that I carried out on E I noticed that he needs to be encouraged in his gross and fine motor skills as he was born premature. So when E plays with this sensory activity cube, and pulls and pushes it will strengthen the muscles in his arms. Also from past observations I noticed he likes colourful toys and also E like exploring toys, so by me providing him with a sensory activity cube he will enjoy it more.
The learning that may take place for me
The learning that may take place for me is that I may become more aware of the E’s developmental stage. I also may notice if the sensory activity cube pay experience was suitable for E or was not suitable for him. I may also learn more about health and safety when planning activities.
The learning that may take place for me is that I may learn how to meet a child’s individual needs. I may also learn whether this activity was flexible to meet E’s individual needs. More learning that may take place for my self is that I may learn how various activities promote different areas of development. I may also identify whether my plan was organised properly. I may also identify if my detailed activity has been effective. It may extend my knowledge about planning. My knowledge may also be deepened about The Birth to three mattes framework and how it works. By carrying out this play experience with E, I may learn if I was an effective communicator.
The learning that may take place for the child
The learning that may take place whilst I am carrying out this sensory activity cube play experience with E is that this play experience will promote his fine motor skills, because he will be using his fingers whilst playing for poking the squeakers. E’s gross motor skills will also be promoted because he will be pushing, pulling and shaking the sensory activity cube. This activity will also strengthen the muscles in his arms as he was born premature.
Also the learning that may take place for E is that he will be practising and refining his gross and fine motor skills. E’s intellectual development will also be promoted while he is carrying out this play experience because he will be concentrating whilst playing with the sensory cube.
Beaver and Brewster state “Language Development: between 9 to 12 months, babbling begins to reflect the intonation of speech” (2001, pg151). So language development may be promoted, because on one of the cubes side there is music. So when E hears this he will hopefully sing by babbling. E’s sensory development also will be promoted because he will be using all his senses whilst playing such as touching, tasting, looking and listening to the sensory cube. Also E’s confidence will evolve as he will be playing independently. Another learning that may be promoted for E is his self recognition, because on the cube in various places there are mirrors for E to look at and to recognise who he is and what he looks like.
Resource
The resource that I have made and I am going implement with E is a sensory activity cube. The sensory activity cube has 6 sides; each side consists of bright coloured felt. On one side it has a white chunky zip attached to it, the next side has buttons and small mirrors on it. The third side has patch work with a squeaker in it. The next side then has a yellow coloured sun and when you press it, it plays music. Around the sides of the sun it has a crunchy material, so when you squeeze it, it makes a crunching sound.
On another side there is a mirror with petals around it. Each of the petals is either filled a beads or a squeaker. Another side has different shapes on it; each shape is filled with beads, bells and crunchy paper. These shapes can be removed because the have Velcro on them. The last panel a material on it which you can pull and push, this also has Velcro on it. The cube is stuffed with toy stuffing; it also has bells in it. There is also a teething rattle on the side of the cube. The cube is quite large in size.
Time
I will allow E to keep the sensory activity cube for a day and I will observe him to see whether he like the resource or not. The will be no time restrictions when this play experience is being implemented.
Method
When I am going implement this activity I will first clear the area were the baby is going to play the activity. I will check if there is anything hazardous around the room. I will make sure that E plays with the sensory activity cube when he has woken up from his nap, because that is when he is most alert. I will place the baby on the floor in sitting position. Next I will place the sensory activity cube in front of him. Next I will leave him to explore the sensory activity cube.
To involve myself while E is playing I will communicate with him. I will communicate with him by talking, smiling and clapping. I will praise E whilst he is carrying out the activity and reward him after he has finished playing with the sensory activity cube. I will also observe E whilst he is playing, to notice any improvement or difficulty he has while playing with the sensory cube. I will support and reassure him whilst he is playing. If E loses interest in the sensory activity I will provide him some soft beanie balls to play with. He can roll them to me and also he can throw them. I will also involve myself by playing with the cube and showing E if he does not understand what to do.
E will be involved in this game because he will be touching, tasting, listening and looking at the sensory activity cube. E will hopefully play with the cube and enjoy himself. E will be exploring the sensory cube by poking it, squeezing it, pulling it and pushing it. E will learn to be confident whilst playing with the cube because he will be discovering new things for himself. It will also promote his gross and fine motor skills. The Birth to Three matters “Development Matters: babies use their developing physical skills to make social contact” A Skilful Communicator, Being Together (2003). E will be using his developing physical skills to interact with me and make eye contact with me.
Conclusion
Learning outcomes for the baby
The aim of my plan was to promote the E’s gross and fine motor skills and sensory development and this has been met by carrying out the sensory activity cube play experience. The learning outcomes have also been met because E evidently demonstrated using his fingers to pull the zip and push the squeakers. He used his gross motor skills to pick the cube up and shake it to hear the bells. E found it hard to concentrate whilst he was playing with cube. I also observed him using his senses, because he firstly stared at the cube as it was being placed in front on him. He next started to bite the teething rattle which was attached on the side of the cube.
I showed how to press the button for the music to come on. When the music played E was babbling in a tune. Forthwith he gazed at himself when looking at the mirrors around the cube. He also showed his ability in his fine manipulative skills because he was poking, pulling and pushing the sensory cube. His confidence has also progressed as he was discovering new things independently.
Beaver and Brewster state “Social and emotional development: babies at 12 months enjoy looking at themselves in the mirror” (2001, pg209). E at 10 months demonstrated this whilst he was playing with the cube, when he was showing enjoyment whilst looking at him self in the mirror. Meggitt and Sunderland state in their book “Fine motor skills: babies at nine months move arms up and down together when excited” (2000, pg40). E has evidently met this milestone as he moving his arms up and with excitement when the music was playing. He repeated this many times during the play experience.
Learning that has taken place for myself
After implementing this detailed activity plan with E, the learning that has taken place for my self is that I have become more aware of E’s development stage. I have become more knowledgeable of E’s individual needs. I have learnt that E was finding it very hard to concentrate. More learning that has taken place is that I have learnt that my planning has been effective and successful. The organisation of my plan and resource was also extremely good. Another learning outcome is that I have learnt when it is
important for me to interact with E. Also I have learnt how to adapt activities, because when E started to lose interest in the sensory cube. I adapted this activity by giving E the opportunity to play beanie balls. He threw the beanie balls around and he also rolled them to me. I have also learnt about health and safety when planning an activity.
Implementing this plan has increased my knowledge about Birth to three matters framework and how it is used. More learning that has taken place is that I have become aware on how various activities’ promote what area of development. I have learnt that during this activity I involved my self appropriately by communicating effectively with the baby. I have also learnt that each child is an individual and that they develop at their own pace.
Recommendations
Firstly I recommend that when ever E’s mother is about to carry out a play experience or activity with E she does a small brain gym activity. This can be a form of some physical exercise with some music on. So that E can imitate the actions that his mum is doing such as clapping and bouncing. By doing this brain gym activity E will be concentrating and focusing on a specific activity much better. The reason that I have made this recommendation is that after implementing the sensory cube activity, I observed that E was finding it very difficult to concentrate. So by doing a brain gym activity it will promote his concentration. Current research on brain gym states “brain movements benefit concentration, memory and focus” (Online) Available at: < >. This statement on current research supports my recommendation. Brain gym exercises can be carried out with any child.
My second recommendation is that E’s mother plays hide and seek with him. This will promote his social and emotional development as he will be interacting with his mother and enjoying himself. This will also enhance his gross and fine motor skills because he will be moving to find his mother. I have chosen this recommendation because while I observed E playing with the sensory cube he loved making interaction with me.
I have looked at Albert Bandura’s social learning theory to support my recommendation. In a part of Albert Bandura’s Social learning theory it says “children learn by interacting” (Online) Available at: <>. This supports my recommendation, because E will be interacting with his mother while he is playing hide and seek. This will lead to his social and emotional development to be promoted.
D1
Overall the implemented activity plan has been effective. The implemented activity plan has been effective in meeting all of E’s individual needs. Because his individual needs were to promote his gross and fine motor skills and his sensory development and this has been met by carrying out this plan, as E demonstrated his fine manipulative skills by poking the squeakers. Also he demonstrated his fine motor skills by opening and closing the whit chunky zip on the cube. His sensory development has been promoted because he was looking, touching, tasting the sensory cube. E was also listening to the music on the cube. So the learning outcomes for E were met.
Learning outcomes set were also met successfully because E demonstrated this by showing confidence in discovering new things on the cube sides. Also E evidently demonstrated his capability in fine manipulative skills as he poked and pulled the sensory activity cube.
My learning has also been effectively met by implementing this detailed activity plan. Because now I know more about what E likes and dislikes. It has also increased my knowledge about The Birth to Three matters and how it used. I have also learnt how to adapt activities, as I had to adapt this activity because E had lost interest in it. I now have more knowledge on a variety of activities and I know what area of development is promoted by these activities. Overall this detailed activity plan has been effective.
D2
This resource has been effective because when I placed it in front of E, he was fascinated and he gazed at it for a couple of minutes. The sensory activity cube supported E development because it gave him a chance to develop his gross and fine motor skill. This resource also gave him the chance to progress his hand eye co-ordination.
This resource also encouraged E to practice and refine his gross and fine motor skills. The sensory activity cube had mirrors which gave E the chance to see who he is and what he looks like. This resource was also effective in promoting E’s language development, because the resource had music and this encouraged E to babble along with it. Overall this resource has effective in supporting E’s development and also the learning outcomes that were set for E.
E14 – Bibliography
Bandura, A. (1977) Social Learning Theory (A. Bandura) (Online) December 2nd. Available at: <> Accessed 2.12.06
Beaver, M . and Brewster, J . and Jones, P. and Keene, A. and Neaum, S . and Tallack, J . (2001) Babies and Young Children. Cheltenham: Nelson Thomas Ltd.
Birth to Three Matters Framework (Surestart) – Crown Copyright 2003. DFES Publications.
(2000) Birth to Three Years Matters Framework. (Online) December 2nd. Available at: < > Accessed 2.12.06
Bruce, T. and Meggitt, C. (2006) Child Care & Education. London: Hodder Arnold.
Ginn, W. (1999) Jean Piaget – Intellectual Development. (Online) December 2nd. Available at: <> Accessed 2.12.06
Kamen, T. (2000) Psychology for Childhood Studies. London: Hodder & Stoughton Educational.
Meggitt, C . and Sunderland, G . (2000) Child Development Birth to 8 years. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers.
(2006) The Official Brain Gym Web site. (Online) December 2nd. Available at: < > Accessed 2.12.06
B1
The learning that has taken place for me after planning my activity plans is that I have learnt to be well organised, so available time is not wasted and also that the children do not feel bored waiting for a activity to be set out to play. I have learnt that being well organised will benefit me and the children as they can go and get the resources themselves of their own choice for example toys off the shelf. Also by being well organised you know were the everything is kept. In future I would ensure that I am well organised so I don’t make errors or mistakes also so that I don not waste my time or the children’s.
More learning that has taken place for me is that I now understand how important communication is. I have recognised that good communication skills are vital in order for you to interact with the children you play. Also by speaking in a calm way and supporting the children whilst they play may boost their self esteem. Also I have learnt that children have differentiated learning styles such as visual and auditory. This is vital to keep in mind when planning. Some children learn differently, this may be because they have difficulties or illnesses. Therefore they will need more support. These children should not feel isolation and they should feel involved within the setting. In future practice, I will find out in advance what learning style the children have. Because then I can explain the activities appropriately to them in their style of learning.
I have also realised that team work is important. Because you may need a piece of information that is crucial about the child, and by having good team work you may gain that crucial piece of information about the child. I have learnt that good team work benefits everyone within the setting and also the children’s parents. The resource that I made deepened my knowledge on how children play and make use of a resource that is given to them. Also by making the resource it has developed my knowledge on how children explore a new toy.
More that I have learnt about planning is how to plan for a child’s individual needs. To meet a child’s individual needs is important because if you don’t this may be the reason why your plan was unsuccessful. In future practice I will ensure that I have planned to meet the children’s individual needs. More knowledge that I have gained about curriculum planning is that deepened my understanding about the planning cycle which is planning,
implementing and reviewing/evaluating. I can use this knowledge of the planning cycle in the future by planning according to the planning cycle. My knowledge of the Birth to Three Matters Framework has also deepened as I used it to relate my activities to. In future I will ensure to keep up to date with relevant curriculum. In order to have effective planning in future, I will support the children’s individual needs, including special educational needs and English as an additional language (EAL). I will also take into account the interests of children and encourage equality of opportunity and diversity.
