Enabling Environments: Let's explore ... dragons

Dragons are creatures of myth, fantasy, magic and legend. These amazing winged reptiles have the power to fascinate and inspire tales of adventure, bravery and daring.

Young children's interest in dragons might be aroused by a whole range of stimuli, including books, DVDs, computer games and other media texts. Many practitioners will be aware of the film 'How to Train Your Dragon', based on the books by Cressida Cowell. While the books are aimed at older children, younger children may well be taken to see the animated story and will want to talk about it with their friends and practitioners. Ideas and themes from the film will feed children's play and extend their vocabulary.

Educators in the early years need to respond to such interests positively and with enthusiasm, building bridges for children between one type of text and another. Sensitive adults will ensure that all 'ways in' to an interest are equally valued. For this reason, this article is rooted in quality fiction, offering ways to build on the current interests of children, extending their horizons, yet building on the experiences that they bring with them to the setting (see Book Box, page 19).

Supporting children's thinking about dragons will require adults to familiarise themselves with a wide range of stories. The more stories that you know, the more avenues of interests you will be able to pursue.

Fiction, naturally, will lie at the heart of a dragon theme, inspiring, supporting and enhancing the children's play in a variety of ways. Be aware, however, that a fascination for dragons may also stimulate an interest in reptiles of all kinds, so be prepared to collect some non-fiction texts that will support such an attraction.

Most of the activities outlined below are rooted in quality children's literature. If it is not possible to buy the books, then try to obtain a selection from your local library. Look at those that are most popular with the children, and consider buying these.

You may find that children will bring in texts related to the media - sticker books, comics and 'the book of the film'. Ensure that there is a special place for these. Many children will enjoy browsing through them, and they are likely to promote a lot of talk. Don't worry if you have not experienced the same games and films as the children; let them be the experts, and make the time for them to teach you!

SMALL-WORLD PLAY

- Work with the children to create a special place for dragons to live. Select a group of small-world dragons (see resources below) and chat to the children about the kind of places that dragons might like.

- Gather together resources such as coloured sand, glitter, a range of natural materials, glass nuggets and pebbles.

- Discuss the dragons that the children know about. You may wish to have some storybooks on hand for reference!

- Would they need a cave, perhaps? Some places to hide? Maybe somewhere to lay their eggs? What nesting materials might dragons use?

- If the children have read Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood, then they may want trees too, and perhaps some play people.

- Work with the children's ideas to build the small world. This miniature environment will need to be available to the children for as long as they are interested in dragons, so have it created in an appropriate place.

- Be aware that the small world may change as the children use it - dragons might be added, further resources needed. Assure the children that the dragons are permitted to fly and breathe fire!

Adult role

- Ensure that a wide variety of imaginative resources are available for children to use

- Provide a small collection of dragon stories and poems to be used alongside the miniature environment

- Offer cameras for the children to use so that stories can be created from the photographs taken

- Offer model texts (such as I'm Going on a Dragon Hunt and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?) so that children can easily create their own stories from these simple frameworks

- Prepare some small ready-made books to be kept near the small world for those children who are inspired to write.

- Make sure that some novelty dragon pencils are available, especially for the purpose

- Teach children some dragon poems. Laminate multiple copies of their favourites and keep these near the small world, too.

Learning opportunities

Enjoys listening to the language of story and readily turns to it in their play and their learning

Extends vocabulary

Responds in a variety of ways to what they see, think and feel

Uses the language of mathematics for problem solving

BLOCK PLAY

- Enhance block play to reflect the children's interest in dragons. Children who have seen the film 'How to Train Your Dragon' may wish to turn the block-play area into a dragon training school.

- Make sure that miniature dragon figures are available, along with play people.

- Add a host of dragon-related images - photographs of castles, mysterious mountains and caves, for example.

- Offer large sheets of paper and felt pens for use in the block play so that children can map make and record the adventures of their dragons, or perhaps design 'obstacle courses' or 'training grounds' for them.

Adult role

- Provide a plentiful supply of resources for the children to use, knowing that they can combine small-world play and block play resources.

- Play alongside the children, demonstrating the use of the pens and paper, encouraging open-endedness and creative thinking.

- Add a special dragon trainer's diary to the area. This is simply an exercise book (preferably with plain pages) that you have covered in gorgeous paper so that it looks really attractive. Add some special pens (gel pens or dragon-topped pencils would be great) and explain to the children that you would be really interested to know what had been happening in the dragon training area that day.

- Value all kinds of responses and contributions to the diary - experimental mark making, emergent writing and drawing.

- Offer the children the use of a camera so that they can take photographs of their dragons in training.

- Take photographs of the children individually. Cut around the body shape, laminate the figures and put them in block play, too. In this way children can create narratives about themselves, having all kinds of adventures with the dragons. This is a way to encourage children into block play who might not usually demonstrate an interest in this area of provision.

Learning opportunities

Takes turns, works collaboratively in a group

Has the confidence to try new activities

Creates stories

Writes for a variety of purposes

Describes the properties of solid shape

Uses mathematical language to solve problems

Uses the language of position

Builds and constructs with a wide range of materials

MALLEABLE MATERIALS

- Make some special dragon dough with the children. Discuss the colours with them, and make the widest range of dough possible.

- For a touch of magic, add glitter to the dough mixture as it is cooking.

- Add a wide range of attractive materials to the dough area. This might include pipe cleaners, feathers, jewels, glossy paper and card.

- If you have read There's No Such Thing as a Dragon with the children, it would be fun to make stretchy dough, to explore the notion of the dragon getting bigger and bigger.

- Simply take a bowl of self-raising flour and gradually add warm water until it combines in a consistency similar to pizza dough. Colour can be added if desired. This dough behaves very differently to the usual cooked dough and the more it is played with, the more it stretches. Make sure that you keep it somewhere cool overnight.

Adult role

- Suggest to the children that the dough can be used to create their own personal dragons. Don't prescribe the way that this might happen - let the children's imagination be their starting point. Tell Me a Dragon (see Book Box), with its beautiful illustrations and unusual range of dragons, might be the perfect inspiration for some children.

- Be aware that some children will want to keep their dragon, or at very least display it for a while. Make sure that there is an adequate supply of dough. It is extremely disheartening for young children to have to deconstruct a model in order to allow others to participate in an activity.

- Listen for stories that the children might create about their dragons and offer to write some of them down for them.

Possible learning outcomes

Extends vocabulary

Uses their imagination in a range of activities

Builds and constructs with a wide range of materials

Selects and uses resources appropriately

GRAPHICS AREA

- Provide a range of shiny papers, ready-made small books in which to write dragon facts or dragon stories. Some children may want to produce dragon training manuals here as well as in block play.

- Make sure that there is a plentiful supply of ready-made books and a range of papers, staplers and glue sticks.

- Celebrate the children's work by sharing it in both small and large groups.

OUTDOORS

Create a 'dragon's nest' for the children to explore. You will need to prepare some dragon eggs initially. Simply glue layers of tissue to an inflated balloon and allow it to dry. When dry, burst the balloon, and you will be left with a perfect dragon's egg.

Create a 'nest' in the outdoor area, using natural materials, and place the eggs in the nest.

You might discover that an ice dragon has laid their eggs in the nest. Fill a balloon (or two, or three) with coloured water and glitter, and before freezing, put a small dragon toy into the balloon. Tie the neck of the balloon tightly and place in a freezer overnight, or until solid. Peel the balloon away, leaving a large 'egg'.

Let the children discover the ice eggs, and watch the tiny dragons 'hatch' as the balloon melts.

Children may wish to decorate stones and pebbles to look like dragons' eggs, particularly if they have read Tell Me a Dragon. These can, of course, be added to the existing nest, or children can create their own.

Use this activity as a focus for questioning, developing the imagination and making stories.

RESOURCES

• A range of dragon puppets are available from www.puppetsbypost.com
• Red Dragon 'Top Knob' Pencils are ideal for use in the graphics area, or to incorporate in small-world play. £1.75 from www.educational-kids-toys.co.uk
• Schleich makes excellent dragon figures, available from a range of sources including www.amazon.co.uk
• Small-world resources to support play with dragons and other fantasy creatures can also be obtained from www.earlyexcellence.com
• www.luckycatgiftshop.com sells a wide range of authentic Chinese artefacts with a dragon theme, including concertina paper dragons for £1. Other items include dragon artwork on a paper scroll and a Chinese dragon lantern
• Wicker rings, perfect for dragon's nests, are available from www.mindstretchers.co.uk

RESOURCE BOX

• Small-world dragons and knights
• Dragon-topped pencils
• Dragon puppets, in a range of sizes
• Images of dragons from a variety of cultures, including St George and the Dragon, Chinese dragons and Welsh dragons
• Images of castles, from a variety of sources

BOOK BOX

It seems to me that there are almost as many picture books about dragons as there are about bears, so the selection below just begins to scratch the surface of possibilities that abound.

Tell Me A Dragon by Jackie Morris (Frances Lincoln) This stunningly beautiful book would undoubtedly enchant many children. It introduces a whole range of dragons, hot, cold, huge and tiny - even those who curl around the ear. The beautiful illustrations are packed full of detail; each dragon inhabits a different environment. Look carefully at the illustration to discover where it might be. The language is rich and poetic and would promote a wide range of discussions with the children. Which dragon would they like to own? It offers an invitation to create dragons for yourself. Take a look at the endpapers, where you will see dragon eggs (could it be a nest?) and a wide range of dragon eggs hatching out.

Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood by Timothy Knapman and Gwen Millward (Puffin Books) The expected plot in this book gets turned on its head. It tells the story of a little dragon who finds a small boy called Benjamin in the woods. He doesn't quite know what to make of him, but they discover a mutual interest in football. This story would really promote looking at life from different points of view.

The Trouble With Dragons by Debi Gliori (Bloomsbury) Aa story about global warming for the under-fives. It shows the problems that dragons cause with their fire-breathing habits. The text rhymes, so it is highly memorable, and the illustrations are colourful, vibrant and appealing. It could be the perfect springboard for a whole range of problem-solving activities.

George and The Dragon and George, The Dragon and The Princess by Christopher Wormell (Red Fox) Both of these books tell stories about George, who is a mouse, and his encounters with the dragon. The theme that runs through them both is the potential for tiny creatures to overcome those larger than themselves with inventiveness and trickery (a similar theme to both Aesop's fable of The Lion and The Mouse, and Julia Donaldson's The Gruffalo).

Dragon Poems by John Foster and Korky Paul (Oxford University Press) A collection of fabulously funny poems by a range of authors about dragons in all sorts of situations - chasing teachers, playing the banjo, fighting knights, or being taken home as pets.

There's No Such Thing as a Dragon by Jack Kent (Dragonfly Books) This is a terrific story about a little boy who discovers a dragon in his house and tries to tell his parents about it. The more he tries to tell his parents, the more they disbelieve him, and the more the dragon grows, with fascinating consequences.

I'm Going on a Dragon Hunt by Maurice Jones and Charlotte Firmin (Picture Puffin) This book is out of print, but copies are available from www.alibris.com for very low cost. It has the same pattern of words as We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. As such, it would be inspirational for creating new dragon adventures with the children.

Reptiles (Eye Wonder - Dorling Kindersley) Full of fascinating photographs of reptiles of all kinds, this book would offer young children a context in which to discuss what they already know and to ask questions among themselves and with adults.