Susan Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 My topic next term is to be "Fantasy" . Within the Fantasy topic will be sub sections on Space, Jungles, Under the Sea, Traditional Tales, Dragons and Mythical creatures to include dinosaurs, Adventurers & Explorers. But my brain is dead. Any ideas gratefully received of activities etc. Thanks Susan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Hi Susan What a lovely topic! Have you got Mick Inkpen's "Lullaby hullabaloo", (if that's how it's spelt!!!)? That's got dragons, knights and princesses in it. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Well there's certainly plenty of scope for your role play areas there. A different one for all those sub-catagories could be done. I've done a role play jungle area and I've seen an underwater one before, with the writing table having things to link them to. THe space one is a good one too, with plenty of role play and creative things (making space suits or models of space in the making area etc etc). As for Mythical creatures and the like, you can't go wrong with a puppet show- they could either use bought puppets or perhaps make their own and maybe add some music to go with it (my class were really good at doing that last year), the same with the traditional tales. We had dress up costumes in the bricks so the kids could do the 3 little pigs (They were so good at that one the head asked us to do it in assembly!) and red riding hood. That meant that by putting the costumes in the bricks (along with a story poster to help with plot) it gave those who didn't usually get dressed up and take part in role play that opportunity. I know these are mostly role-play ideas, but that's my area. I hope that helps a little. Just ask if you want any more help in this area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 The first thing that sprang to mind was how much dance and movement you couldget out of such a great topic! Jean Michel Jarre's Oxygene (showing my age here ) would be great for the space theme, Carnival of the Animals "Aquarium" for the underwater (and lots of those relaxation/hippy-type CDs!) and African or South American music for the jungle themes. I play lots of types of music in the main playroom while the children are arriving, and it really sets the atmosphere. That would be great for you when your role play area is up and running Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 What a fantastic and exciting topic. I wish I were you. I agree with Helen about the music and the art could be equally as wonderful; wax resist crayons and painting black paint over wax crayons and then looking at what's underneath if you scratch the surface... So many stories... Fairy tales, Kings,queens and princesses, knights and castles. Just think what you could do with the role play! Wow! There maust be some good computer games too. I remember one from the days of the BBC computers called Fantasy That where the children could plot characters using pictures on a concept keyboard, to add to a fantasy scene. Science...Lots of sandcastles and water play. My daughter went to something today where there was glitter inthe water. And of course there is nothing more magical than blowing bubbles! Hope some of these are of help/use. Good luck and enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 The first thing that sprang to mind was how much dance and movement you couldget out of such a great topic! Jean Michel Jarre's Oxygene (showing my age here ) would be great for the space theme, Carnival of the Animals "Aquarium" for the underwater (and lots of those relaxation/hippy-type CDs!) and African or South American music for the jungle themes. I play lots of types of music in the main playroom while the children are arriving, and it really sets the atmosphere. That would be great for you when your role play area is up and running I love that piece of music! It's on aCD I often use when I'm on supply and I get told it's PE today! I've used that, and Carnival of the animals in dance lessons. Last year my reception class really enjoyed doing movement work to that, and even asked me to do it again with them when we did a summary lesson where I let them do their favourite thnigs of the yaer in our last week of the summer term. Helen, you sound very like me- I often had music playing in the main classroom as well as at various points around the room. My reception class got really into my classical and jazz music, really enjoying the quieter pieces during snack time or quiet times and loving things like the 1812 overture and other big classical tunes! It's such a good topic Susan, like others have said, you can't beat a good bit of magic and mystery and I definately agree with the glitter in the water (we did it by mistake last year by dropping someone's model which was full of glitter into the water and the kids said leave it cos it sparkled!) we've also put it in the sand, and suddenly, according to 2 of the girls in my class it was magic sand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 Under the Sea topic - the Nemo toys from McDonalds would be brilliant in the water tray - if you have not got any - see if you can persuade them to let you have some if they still have them in stock. I love the way they light up when pressure is applied - provides lots of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted December 19, 2003 Author Share Posted December 19, 2003 Do they do things like that? Susan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 Yup, you usually have to pay for them though. I've done it with Winnie-the-pooh toys inthe past. I've bought them and not bought the food! I now have a couple of full collections (god aren't I sad, this was only about 2 years ago!) Give your local ones a try, see what they have left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 29, 2003 Share Posted December 29, 2003 Snap - we're doing a similar topic but just with a focus on Fantasy and Fairy Tales - we've created a story castle role play area with dressing up clothes and props such as wands, tiaras, wings, wizard hats, dragon masks etc (we're planning to get the children involved in making other props as the topic develops over the term) - we have two thrones and a giant story book and spell book all ready to be written in with quill pens (a lucky find in a cheap shop - biros with a feather on the end!) We have also put the puppet theatre in the same area with a selection of puppets for story-telling. We got lots of display ideas and activites from Themes on Display for early years - Language displays (Scholastic ISBN 0439016355). You might like to use "Whatever Next" as a stimulus for the space idea - we did a lovely week last term as part of our Journeys theme. Moonscapes made from clay, painted black and then glitter added liberally, along with splashes of red and yellow paint made a very effective display. We also planned a moon picnic - lots of list writing, cooking etc from that. Have fun with the topic - we can't wait for this one - how sad are we!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 29, 2003 Share Posted December 29, 2003 Hello Angela C Just read your post above - i am currently writing a new topic for JOURNEYS - starting with Whatever next and moving on from there - any other ideas for activites/ role play etc would be greatly appreciated - feel as though i am forever planning at the moment - but then again I AM?!?!?! Thanks Sarah x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted December 29, 2003 Author Share Posted December 29, 2003 Hi All, Thanks for the ideas. We actually came up with alot of it when we brainstormed but I'm still unsure how to pace it all. Seems to be an awful lot. At the moment for various reasons, I can't get enthused! I'd like to concentrate on the stories and cover the rest from there so any other ideas, please? Any sources of inspiration most appreciated. "Whatever next" has to be a good way in to the space subtheme. When we did a topic of journeys, we included a very successful bit on road safety. Susan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 My topic next term is to be "Fantasy" . Within the Fantasy topic will be sub sections on Space, Jungles, Under the Sea, Traditional Tales, Dragons and Mythical creatures to include dinosaurs, Adventurers & Explorers. But my brain is dead. Any ideas gratefully received of activities etc. Thanks Susan. Hi Susan I am trying to sort out new topic ideas and came acoss your ideas on a fantasy topic which i thought sounded great. Did it go well and have you got any mtp ? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Susan, your new topic sounds great. I too like to have a book as a starting point and cover everything through that. My new topic this term is Favourite stories so we are covering everything from 'One Snowy Night' (doing this from tomorrow and really looking forward to it) to Jack and Jim and the Beanstalk. We are also looking at Whatever Next for one or possibly two weeks depending on how much the children enjoy it. I have attached my medium term planning for Whatever Next! - hope it is of some use to you. whatever_next.doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rea Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 George and the Dragon by Chris Wormell is a great book, but buy it with the CD read by Brian Blessed, the music is fab. There are some lovely words and pictures to explore too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 Hi Pencraig This was several years ago now as you spotted. It moved very fast, too fast for me as it seemed to be hardly set up and underway and it was time for the next sub theme, so personally I didnt like it although individually subthemes were generally successful, I eventually slowed down the delivery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacquieL Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Ah I did get a bit confused here but understand now I know it was 2003. Didn't sound like the present day Susan. Years ago our EY advisor ( Mike Morrin, fantastic chap and taught me so much) emphasised quality not quantity, and that has always stuck with me, and with that in mind you cqn't go far wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 Ah I did get a bit confused here but understand now I know it was 2003. Didn't sound like the present day Susan.Years ago our EY advisor ( Mike Morrin, fantastic chap and taught me so much) emphasised quality not quantity, and that has always stuck with me, and with that in mind you cqn't go far wrong. I'll take that as a vote of confidence then Jacquie! Thanks. That was a bad patch back then and I found that topic quite difficult as a result. It certainly felt like quantity rather than quality. I used a lot of stories as starting points which helped and I like starting with stories as you can go in so many different ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacquieL Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Yes I agree starting with stories is a really good way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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