TITLE OF ACTIVITY: The Very Hungry Caterpillar 

AREA OF PROVISION: After researching different areas of continuous provision, as a group we decided to focus on an area of professional learning; mathematics. We chose to focus on numeracy as we believe it is a challenging area to engage children in.

MATERIALS: > Cardboard box
> Craft paper and card
> Textures (buttons, cotton wool etc.)
> Glue, velcro and scissors
> The Very Hungry Caterpillar Book
> Access to computers
> Large sheet of paper

OBJECTIVES: o Improving numeracy skills through fun activities in relation to a popular book e.g. feeding the caterpillar the right number of food.
o Extending children’s learning based on their abilities by developing the activity further e.g. changing the order of the days of the week to eliminate the risk or memorisation.

VOCABULARY: We would like the children to view the activity as a fun way of learning rather than purely learning numeracy. This is why we would use informal language whilst presenting the activity to engage their learning. We would also introduce different names of fruits/foods that they may not have heard of before.
STAGE:
Our activity can be altered to suit children from various stages such as from the ages of 30-60 months.

PRESENTATION: 1. Firstly we will need everyone to sit down on the carpet so that we can see the book in clear view. Everyone will need to sit closely to ensure they can hear the adult reading to them.
2. Whilst reading, the adult will ask the children questions such as “How many plums did the Caterpillar eat on ____?” or “What did the Caterpillar eat on Tuesday?”. This will be done so that the children can gain deeper understanding on the book. After the child answers, they will be asked to “feed” the caterpillar the correct fruit. For a child to be selected, we will pick names out of a pot so that the activity is fair and equal for every child.
3. Alternatively, the adult may select children to “feed” the caterpillar whilst she goes along reading the book. This can be done if the children seem disengaged with the activity.
4. Towards the end of the book, the adult will ask the children what they believe the Caterpillar turned into. This is done just to grab the children’s attention at the end of the book.
5. After reading the book, a child will be asked to select a fruit the adult asks for, or collect the correct numbers of fruit for a certain day. The questions will be varied depending on the ages of the children. The children will find it enjoyable to stick the different foods or days on the chart.
6. After we have conducted our activity, we will allow the children to have time amongst them-selves to enjoy playing with the objects as it is a continuous activity without the need of provision.

ACTIVITY:
The children will be likely to use the provisional activity independently as it is fun for them to feed the caterpillar the food/fruits. They will also enjoy sticking the velcro foods onto the daily chart as well as changing the day of the week.

POINT OF INTEREST:
A point of interest throughout our activity is once again; numeracy. We believe the mathematic area of continuous provision often lacks entertainment for the children, resulting in poor input/effort from them. However, once the children are interested in the activity their actual skills and abilities begin to emerge.

FURTHER ACTIVITIES: Our activity can be developed to suit the needs of younger children to older children, or even those who are more/less developed for their age. This will be done by either keeping the days of the week in order so the children who are at a lower development stage will find the activity easier to do, whereas the children who are in the higher development stage will find the activity more challenging as the days of the week will be mixed up.

EXPLORATION: o Role play with the caterpillar and the different foods/fruits
o Playing with the daily chart and the days of the week labels

LINKS TO THE EYFS:
> This activity links to the EYFS Developmental Matters (BAECE, 2012) in the area of Mathematics. For example it states that a Unique Child aged 30 – 50 months “shows interest in shapes in the environment” (BAECE, 2012; p36).
> Our activity is also supported by the EYFS Communication and Language; Speaking area as it states that a Unique Child aged 30-50 months “can retell a simple past event in correct order” (BAECE, 2012; p20).– meaning retelling a story in order should not be too challenging for them.
> According to the EYFS, a Unique Child aged 30-50 months can listen “to stories with increasing attention and recall” and can also describe “main story settings, events and principal characters” (BAECE, 2012; p.29). This relates well to our activity as we read the story book to begin with.
> Lastly, the EYFS Mathematics; Numbers area supports our activity as it is understood that a Unique Child aged 30-60 months typically “Counts objects to 10, and beginning to count beyond 10” whereas for the younger ones, it is stated that the child can recite “ numbers in order to 10” (BAECE, 2012; 33).

DIFFERENTIATION:
Our activity includes a story book which is read out to the children. If a child had a hearing impairment for example, we could use sign language to show the amount of fruit the caterpillar ate each day. As we read the story, the images will be clearly visible to the children so they can relate the words to the page of the story and gain better understanding of the book. On the other hand, if we had a child with a visual impairment, we have included textures on the fruit which can help with sensory development. There are many ways to adjust this activity to meet the needs of individual children.

REFLECTION ON WORK WITH CHILDREN: As we were busy creating our activity, we did not have the chance to try it out on the children in our settings. However, whilst planning which area of provision to focus on, we took note on which areas of development are used the least or interest the children the least. This is how we came to the result of focusing on mathematics as our area of provision as we thought it would be interesting and challenging. Whilst in our settings, we also observed which types of activity children within our selected age range enjoy the most. We found that interactive play, involving a small group of children and interactive displays, interested the children the most. Hence, we decided to create an interactive activity which we believe children will continue to enjoy whether adults are nearby or not.