Extending children’s EYFS activity

How to extend an EYFS activity to create further learning opportunities

Being creative and using your imagination to help extend activities can provide children with further learning opportunities. As some children absorb and internalize information in different ways it is important to provide children with the opportunities to allow them to develop skills the same way as other children. Thinking of how to extend activities is where practitioners need to use their skills and knowledge to think how best to extend it and what the learning intention may be.

Here is an example of how to extend the story of the Three Little Pigs

As this story is a top favourite, there are many ways you can extend this further and bring the story alive. Why not try this tuff spot activity?

Resources needed;

• #Tuffspot
• Wolf puppet
• 3 pigs
• Straw
• Sticks
• Bricks or resources to reflect these

Initially, prepare the activity by setting the scene with the resource and ask the children questions about what story they think this is about. Getting children’s attention will draw children into the activity; furthermore, this will create anticipation amongst the children.

Either read the story and use props to re-enact the story, or allow the children to retell the story using the resources. Why not complete an observation during this activity as the children will displaying many areas of learning.

Using props is a great way for children to fully embrace the story and play a character or part in the story. As previously mentioned some children learn in different ways and by bringing the story alive opens up the opportunities for children to internalize the information.

By extending this EYFS activity further, you will see how many areas of the EYFS you are covering. It is important to think when offering children activities what the learning intentions are and other areas of learning can be incorporated. Many practitioners will often read children a story but then either move onto the next one or put this back on the shelf, when why not discuss with the children or with other colleagues of how to extend the story further. Ideas can be simple as taking the story outside and retelling the story or it can be about using dressing up clothes to re-enact the story in the role play area.

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