This week’s activities
Economics – part 1
A group of children wanted to play shops. One child held the till, two others held calculators, pretending that they were tills. They looked at the numbers on their ’tills’. They wanted to sell the teacher some Duplo bricks. The teacher asked “how many bricks am I buying?” The children counted the bricks along with the teacher; 1-4. She asked if they were able to show her the number 4 on their ’tills’. Some of the children recognised the number 4 but not all of them. The teacher explained which one was 4 on both the till and the calculator, noticing that a 4 can be written in different ways. One of the children said “that’s £4.00”. They then counted the pretend money into another child’s hand. One child put the money in the till and another handed the teacher the receipt.
They then added another brick to the pile. The teacher asked “how much do I need to pay now?” One of the children said £10.00. The children joined the teacher in counting out pretend coins to 10. The teacher distributed the coins, which they then put in the till. Another child handed the teacher the receipt. The teacher went on to explain that the receipt is our proof of purchase (what we have bought from the shop), when we were there (the date) and how much we spent. She explained that we keep receipts in case we want to return things to the shop (if they don’t fit, if they are broken, etc). One of the children commented “I don’t want to take things back to the shop!”
Through these simple role play scenarios, the children are learning not only numbers, but simple economics. To be able to get goods, we need to exchange money to pay for them. We will further develop their understanding of how we get money, through looking at employment.
Economics – Part 2
The children were standing by the puppet theatre in Wren Garden. It had been set-up as an ice-cream shop. For some reason, no matter the weather, the children love to buy and sell ice-cream! “Ice-cream, ice-cream, ice-cream” they shouted. One child came over to the shop to purchase an ice-cream “What flaovour?” he asked. The other child replied “Blackberry, blueberry, raspberry and strawberry”. “Which one would you like?” the teacher asked. The child replied “blueberry”. The teacher asked the ice-cream seller “how much are your ice-creams?” The ice-cream seller replied “$3.00”. The teacher responded “we don’t pay for things with dollars in the UK. They use dollars in America. Do you know what we pay with in this country?” A further child said “pounds”. The teacher replied “yes, so how many pounds do we need to pay?” The ice-cream seller replied £3.00. Through this simple activity the children are learning that to buy goods you have to exchange money for them. They also learnt that money/currencies are different depending on where in the world you are making your purchases.
Collecting strawberries
This week the children have been reaping the benefits of our allotment garden by picking and eating some of the scrummy strawberries that have been growing in abundance near the entrance to the Pre-school. They continue to learn what plants need to thrive and survive and how food is grown and where it originally comes from – not in a plastic box with cling film from Sainsburys. As some of our other produce is nearly ready to harvest, we will be picking some next week and will be selling them at the end of the day for you to purchase (for a small donation). They are all organic and freshly picked – what could be nicer.
As always, there are photos on our website, www.anthonyropernursery.co.uk, and on our Facebook page.
We hope you manage to keep cool and stay safe in this uncomfortable weather and have a lovely weekend. We receive guidance on how to keep the children as safe as possible at Pre-school but it equally applies to home. The link to follow if you would like further information is https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heatwave-plan-for-england/looking-after-children-and-those-in-early-years-settings-during-heatwaves-for-teachers-and-professionals?fs=e&s=cl&fbclid=IwAR0iPgORJE-F0cKHVEGoji1ILgxGfAWJUIq_Y5BbHXw7aympJ4_Bl3esINI&fs=e&s=cl
The Pre-school Team
