Nursery World - Animal antics (1)

A project on animals offers huge scope for children's learning across the early years curriculum and a seemingly limitless list of animals on which to focus: pets, farm animals, minibeasts, birds, working animals, animals of the African plains and the rainforests of South America. As with all early years projects, any topic on animals needs to build on children's existing knowledge, experiences and interests. While young children may have seen a wonderful array of animals on TV, video and in books, they may have limited experience of real animals. So, organising visits for children to meet live animals is a good starting point (see 'Visiting hours', page 6). Alternatively, start your project with the minibeasts and birds that live in or visit your outdoor area (see 'It's a bug's life', page 8 and 'On a wing', page 10).

As with all early years projects, any topic on animals needs to build on children's existing knowledge, experiences and interests. While young children may have seen a wonderful array of animals on TV, video and in books, they may have limited experience of real animals. So, organising visits for children to meet live animals is a good starting point (see 'Visiting hours', page 6). Alternatively, start your project with the minibeasts and birds that live in or visit your outdoor area (see 'It's a bug's life', page 8 and 'On a wing', page 10).

Planning

While planning the project, you will need to consider:

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