Here's what we did in pictures...
Showing posts with label Communication Friendly Spaces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Communication Friendly Spaces. Show all posts
A Story Cafe | Aliens love Panta Claus
Stories with props | Summer Term II 2022
No props with this one, we used ourselves as props and became all the different birds on the story. The children especially like the pink "flingoes"....
A great going to school story for those little ones leaving us to go to big school 😥
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A Story Cafe | Tiddler
Today's story was Tiddler, the story-telling fish by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
Families who came along today found some fishy resources to explore when they arrived.
Families who came along today found some fishy resources to explore when they arrived.
A Story Cafe | Walking though the Jungle
Today we read Walking through the Jungle by Julie Lacome. This is a perfect story for a Story cafe - it's quite short, each section is repeatable, and children and families can join in with the animal noises or guess which animal is hiding on the next page.
We have a communication friendly space set up for children to explore as they arrive, as always themed to go with the story of the day.
We have a communication friendly space set up for children to explore as they arrive, as always themed to go with the story of the day.
A Story Cafe | Stick Man
Today we read "Stick Man" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. I wanted a story with autumn and winter in it, and maybe also Christmas, and I love all Julia Donaldson stories. Stick Man is perfect for sharing with families as a Story Cafe - children can join in with the repeated refrains - "I'm Stick Man. I'm Stick Man, I'm Stick Man that's me, and I want to go home to the family tree". And there are opportunities for finishing off the rhyming chunks, such as here - "Stick man Oh Stick Man beware of the .....". At this point I get the correct prop out of the bag and the children shout out what Stick man has to beware of.
So, as usual we read the story. And then families go off to sit around the big circle of tables to make their own story props to take home.
A communication friendly space based on the story is as always set up so that children and their families can explore the story before we start. This time I used white cloth (snow), blue cloth (the sea, the river), real sticks and leaves, a cardboard cut out swan, spade, laminated copy of the "family tree", snowman, santa, girl and boy puppets, and some words and pictures related to the story to inspire talk.
So, as usual we read the story. And then families go off to sit around the big circle of tables to make their own story props to take home.
A communication friendly space based on the story is as always set up so that children and their families can explore the story before we start. This time I used white cloth (snow), blue cloth (the sea, the river), real sticks and leaves, a cardboard cut out swan, spade, laminated copy of the "family tree", snowman, santa, girl and boy puppets, and some words and pictures related to the story to inspire talk.
Another Aliens love Panta Claus Story Cafe!
We did Aliens love Panta Claus as our Story Cafe this time last year, It's such as great story, the children love it, the parents love it, and it makes a really good read-aloud story. So I decided this had to be the story to use this year as well.
Play spaces for communication
Today, I put on a workshop session for parents to show how we can create play spaces at home, inside or outside, for little effort and cost, to encourage communication from birth. It's part of a series of workshops we are putting on for parents with 0-3 year olds called Talking Together, and this one was called Chatter and Play. A big part of our inspiring talk and communication initiative is the use of stories in play and extending children's learning by taking stories into other areas of their learning.
I set up a selection of play spaces around the hall at school - I'll go in to how and what in a minute... Families came along and we all sat down on the floor together to talk a bit about why we are doing this.
I set up a selection of play spaces around the hall at school - I'll go in to how and what in a minute... Families came along and we all sat down on the floor together to talk a bit about why we are doing this.
Rainbow Cafe | Aliens love Panta Claus
Rainbow Cafe is a Story Cafe for families at our local Preschool.
We held our first Rainbow Cafe of this school year in November. Rainbow Cafe is based on the Norfolk Story Cafe principle - encouraging families to love stories in a fun and informal way. For more on the Story Cafe principle see the Nursery World article here.
So our theme for this Rainbow Cafe was Aliens love Panta Claus by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort - we know all the children LOVE Aliens in Underpants and as it's Christmas I decided on a Christmassy aliens in Underpants story.
Cafe Society | Inspiring Families
Norfolk Story Cafe's are workshop sessions for parents and children in early years settings to inspire and encourage a love of stories. This week Julie Westrop (who invented and trains practitioners in the Norfolk Story Cafe programme), and I have an article in Nursery World magazine all about the Story Cafe idea.
Here I am telling the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff at our Story Cafe - we call it Rainbow Cafe as our logo includes a rainbow.
Here's a link to the article as a pdf file
and if you are a Nursery World subscriber you can get the article online here
Treasure Basket Play | Family Workshop
This morning I led a lovely workshop session with some families all about treasure baskets.
We all sat around a big basket full of all sorts of treasures - little baskets, pine cone, driftwood, willow balls, wooden comb, sellotape rolls, little teddy, ribbon, magnifying glass, old tin, wooden bowl, wooden napkin ring, wooden bracelet, piece of knitting, metal spoons, little drawstring bag, cork and lots more.
The children soon started investigating the treasures and we were able to see different ages of children exploring the feel, sound, taste, smell and look of the objects. Thanks so much to the person who wrote on their evaluation that this part of the session should have been allowed to go on a bit longer! We learnt an awful lot about the benefits of treasure basket play just by watching the children!
Communication Friendly Spaces for Families
At Magdalen Gates Preschool, for some time now, we have been using the principles of Elizabeth Jarman's "Communication Friendly Spaces" concept. So, staff set up small spaces that encourage communication, between children, or between children and adults.
A good example is our willow wigwam in the garden, or our Step in a Story space which staff and children make into a themed space based on a story.
Or it could be a "Talking Tent" like you can borrow at Rainbow Cafe - a pop-up tent, torch, blanket and books.
Or it could just be the corner under the stairs, or the box the new TV came in!
If you're interested, Elizabeth Jarman has set up a new Facebook page "Communication Friendly Spaces for families" at the link below:
Take a look and tell us which "spaces" your children like to play in at home.
Dear Zoo...
Our first Rainbow Cafe of the year yesterday. A big thanks to all those who attended. We read "Dear Zoo" by Rod Campbell and made a bag of story props to take home to re-tell the story with family. Children and adults played with "Dear Zoo" themed resources set up in a Communication Friendly Space (see http://www.elizabethjarmantraining.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=6 for more on the CFS approach which staff use in our preschool).
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