Each week I will give you an idea for an activity that I have used in my Forest School sessions. I will try to link it to the EYFS (2014) and schematic play if appropriate.
This week I tried a Rainbow Scavenger Hunt.
Intent
In a previous session, the children spotted some red cherries on the floor and had found some really yellow leaves and were fascinated by the colours. I wondered if the children would benefit from looking more deeply at the different colours in the forest and enjoy the thrill of a treasure hunt.
Implementation
In the nursery, we had a wooden rainbow (donated by a parent but can be found on eBay and Amazon with a quick search) which the children used (amongst other things) as phones, funny hats and to build with. In a session with older children, I laid the rainbow out in a line and waited to see what happened. The children were curious and tried to stand it up, I noticed that a child had placed the green arch on some grass and said 'That green arch matches the green grass'. The children then decided to find other things that matched. We had trouble finding something blue so we had to go for a long walk through the beck and over the 'pirate bridge' (named by the children). We found some bluish flints and some sloes.
In a schematic outdoor learning session with some 2 year olds, I gave them each a piece of the rainbow and asked them to find a matching item. It was more adult-led at the beginning but they were still free to choose objects and wander where they wanted.
Impact
Below are some of the ways you can link a Rainbow Scavenger Hunt to the EYFS and to your children's development. There maybe more or less, depending on the level of involvement in your session and the approach your children take and how they respond, sometimes they just want to do their own thing!
Listening and attention (40-60) - Two-channelled attention.
The World (40-60) - Looks closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change.
A child's transporting schema can be supported as the younger children carried huge amounts of items around with them.
The World (30-50) - Can talk about some of the things they have observed.
Making relationships (22-36) - Seeks out others to share experiences.
Moving and handling (22-36) - Squats with steadiness to rest or play with object on the ground, and rises to feet without using hands.
Shape, space and measure (22-36) - Beginning to categorise objects according to properties.
The World (22-36) - Notices detailed features of objects in their environment.
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