EYFS Best practice: All about ... collections

Young children love to explore and will use whatever they can get their hands on to explore their developing ideas. As soon as a baby is mobile, collecting and transporting objects becomes a growing obsession.

To begin with, this is random, picking up whatever is at hand, moving it, and 'dumping' it somewhere else. Treasure baskets and heuristic play use interesting collections to attract babies and toddlers, and to stimulate and appeal to a child's senses.

As children develop they become more selective, building on previous experiences and using new skills. At different times they may be using resources to explore combinations of enclosure, enveloping, trajectories and other recognisable schemas of thinking.

Providing a collection of objects ensures that there is enough for several children to access them at any one time. Children bring their own experiences and interests to an activity, so each interaction will be different. Keeping a record of what children say and how they use the resources helps practitioners to plan 'what next,' and to develop a collection further.

Based on this knowledge of what children like and need to do, carefully selected collections can be used around the nursery to motivate, extend and develop young learners.

LEARNING

Collections can be powerful motivators for learning.

- They have the potential to stimulate curiosity and imagination, allowing children to learn from first-hand experience.

- They can encourage thinking, experimenting, reflecting and problem-solving and provide starting points for new ideas.

- The resources are open-ended, and so a collection will respond to individual needs and sustain children's interest.

- Speaking, listening and sharing ideas are encouraged as children interact with the selected resources.

- There are opportunities to promote environmental awareness through recycling.

CREATING AND USING COLLECTIONS

- Collections are inexpensive and can be put together gradually over time.

- Parents, families and the community can be involved, providing opportunities for discussion about the early years curriculum and encouraging a greater understanding of how children learn.

- A collection can be presented in many different ways to individuals and small groups - for example, linked to an area of provision, related to a predictable interest or the starting point for a new focus.

- One collection can be combined with others to open up new possibilities and refresh ideas, such as adding tins and a basket of buttons to a collection of spoons.

- Once collections are there they can be dipped into easily, allowing adults to respond spontaneously to a child's interest.

CONTINUOUS PROVISION

Being aware of what children do consistently in the different areas of provision enables practitioners to build up collections of resources that will support those interests.

THE CREATIVE WORKSHOP

What might children choose to do?

- Wrap 'presents', put things inside containers, cover surfaces

- Explore lines, verticality and horizontality

- Investigate pattern, shape and form

- Experiment to make things rotate

- Connect things together

WHAT COLLECTIONS COULD BE BUILT UP?

- Used wrapping paper, paper bags for a constant supply for wrapping

- Containers in different shapes and sizes such as yoghurt pots and margarine tubs

- Straight objects such as lollipop and match sticks, straws, card for making grid and line patterns

- Small items such as buttons, shells, corks, sequins, bottle tops for pattern making

- Small and large boxes for building up and across

- A selection of threads for connecting, for example, string, coloured twine, jute, raffia, ribbon, wool

- Cylinders and tubes, wooden discs, wheel shapes for exploring circles and rotation

- Buttons for making patterns, printing and comparing

- Natural collections such as leaves, twigs, shells for exploring pattern, putting inside containers and covering surfaces

ROLE PLAY/CONSTRUCTION

What might children choose to do?

- Fill bags and cases

- Cover themselves and objects up

- Revisit recent experiences such as going on holiday

- Build enclosures, calling them trains, houses, boats

- Build tall constructions and long tracks

- Fasten and connect things together

WHAT COLLECTIONS COULD BE BUILT UP?

- A collection of bags, suitcases, picnic baskets and purses for filling and transporting

- Drapes in a variety of lengths and widths, textures, patterns and colours can be combined with other materials to make dens and beds

- Props that relate to experiences such as holidays, shopping and props linked to a favourite story for children to act out, such as Whatever Next by Jill Murphy (Macmillan Children's Books)

- Crates and boxes for creating enclosures and building towers

- Carpet squares can be used to make long paths and roads and to cover floor space in constructions

- A collection for joining and connecting - ropes, jute, string, wooden and plastic pegs, belts, chains, etc.

All these additions offer opportunities to develop mathematical ideas about size, shape and fit. They encourage creativity and physical skills, and help children develop knowledge and understanding of the world through exploring a range of materials.

ENHANCING PROVISION

Collections can be added to basic provision around the setting to support an idea or introduce new learning.

Home area - A collection of teddy bears for children to fit into beds, dress in dolls clothes and read stories to

Creative workshop - Postcards linked to colour or pattern to display and browse through

Small-world area - Small boxes of various shapes, patterned, plain and fabric pieces for making beds and houses for small-world figures

Malleable play area - Chocolate boxes and sweet wrappers for wrapping, counting and fitting

Sand and water areas - Pattern makers for the wet sand, 'holey' collection for the dry sand and teapots for the water area

INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS

Interactive displays add interest and variety to the early years curriculum, and can stimulate ideas.

Resources checklist

Interactive displays can be time- consuming to put together and dismantle, so building up collections of resources that can be drawn on quickly and used in lots of different ways is time well spent. In this way, a display can be put together for a day, a week or as long as there is an interest. Gather together collections of:

- Quick backdrops that can be put on the floor in a quiet corner, such as small rugs in different shapes and plain colours, or large table mats in different shapes and natural materials

- Small trays (circular, square, oblong, available from gardening stores) for sorting collections

- A4 and A5 trays for miniature small-world collections

- Beautiful baskets, sets of boxes and tins

- Table cloths - large, small, square, silky, velvety, pastel and primary colours to throw over a crate or low table

- Stands/frames for displaying images

- A collection of postcard images that can be easily slipped into a frame

- Laminated captions, labels and signs, for example, 'Can you make a pattern with the shells?'

- Drawstring bags for housing collections or a special book and props to reveal at small group times (a lovely variety is available inexpensively from chemists)

- 'Finding out' collections such as magnifying glasses, mirrors, magnets, colour paddles

- Laminated action songs and games

- Carefully selected non-fiction/picture/storybooks

- Laminated large squared paper for children's invented games

EXAMPLES OF COLLECTIONS

Although all collections have the potential to develop many areas of the curriculum, some can be put together with the specific purpose of supporting a particular aspect.

Collections that develop mathematical learning (sorting, classifying, ordering and comparing, problem-solving)

- Fitting lids to boxes and tins

- Collections of a particular shape

- Story table for a book such as My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes by Eve Sutton (Picture Puffin) using a collection of boxes of different shapes and sizes and a collection of toy cats

- Gloves to match into pairs

- Counting and estimating, for example, guessing how many buttons in a jar, shells to order, sort and count

- Make up a counting game with small-world ladybirds, dice and squared paper

Collections that develop scientific and technological learning (K&UW)

- Objects that fit together

- Collections that rotate/roll/move

- Things that are made of wood/metal/plastic

- Natural objects such as leaves/feathers/cones

- Magnets and objects to investigate

Collections that foster creative development

- Collections that focus on pattern, colour and texture

- Natural collections

- Sound-making objects - for example, things to pluck, blow, tap, quiet and loud sounds

- Collections linked to the senses

- Posters, postcards and books linked to a particular artist

Collections that develop children's patterns of thinking (schema)

Objects that:

- rotate and spin

- fit inside each other

- are shaped like circles and semi-circles

- are joined or join together

- fit together in a particular way

- fit into holes

- are made up of lines and grids

USING COLLECTIONS TO THEIR BEST ADVANTAGE

Selective collecting

Making requests from time to time for specific resources for use in the setting can be a more manageable way of building up useful collections. Ask parents to save paper bags and wrapping paper for children to use in the creative workshop to ensure there is a plentiful supply for the constant wrapping and containing that takes place in this area.

This is also a chance to share valuable information about what children are learning from this activity, alongside examples of their work.

Explaining how a child is developing ideas of size and shape, estimating skills and fine finger movements essential for holding a pencil and writing later on as they wrap, will help parents to really value how a child is spending their time at nursery.

Photographing a child's developing work from an untidy bundle to a sophisticated parcel demonstrates the importance of access to these collections to practise and refine skills.

Storage

Planning where to organise collections is essential to avoid chaos. Being selective about what is gathered helps to make the project more practical.

Only collect what you believe to be of sound educational value and that supports children's play. Base this on a knowledge of what children like and need to do.

Avoid saying yes to everything that is offered. Instead, give out clear messages about what can be used safely and creatively to support children's development.

Organise storage facilities before you start collecting. Clear plastic boxes with lids can be stacked, clearly labelled, in a cupboard or stockroom. Resources for setting up quick interactive displays need to be similarly organised and labelled.

Adult role

Adults need to spend time with collections alongside children if the learning potential is to be extended and developed.

- Build up exciting collections and organise for easy access.

- Follow the health and safety policy at all times and do appropriate risk assessments.

- Observe the children as they interact with the collections.

- Play alongside, wondering out loud and putting into words what is being observed and experienced.

- Ask open-ended questions and introduce descriptive vocabulary.

- Note individual children's responses to plan 'what next'.

- Document experiences to share with parents and use this to revisit the collections often and to demonstrate learning in profiles.

- Revisit experiences on a regular basis using the documentation and share with parents and carers.

Presenting the collections

A collection can be presented on the floor, on a table, or on an overturned box or crate. Draw from the display resources to provide rugs, mats, cloths or trays as a backdrop. Keep the presentations simple and uncluttered, and enlist children's help in setting them up.

Use beautiful baskets or boxes to sort and hold collections. Add a caption, rhyme, story or finding-out book or a relevant image.

At different times, include something from the finding-out collection such as magnets, mirrors, magnifying glasses, colour paddles.

Putting a collection in an attractive drawstring bag immediately catches a child's interest. The idea of 'what's inside' adds excitement and anticipation as children gather round. The bag can be passed to feel, shake and prompt discussions about what might be hidden. Tip the contents on to a small rug or mat, or let children put a hand inside and draw something out.

Arrange the collection on the background for further investigations before placing it all back inside the container for another time.

Move collections around - for example, shells near the creative workshop, then presented near the sand area with a tray of damp sand. A collection of frogs in the book area plus a frog number rhyme and line could be moved into a tray by the water area with a collection of natural materials and a finding-out book about frogs.

A basket of little bears and little books about bears in the book area can later be presented near the creative workshop with a caption, 'Can you make a bed for a little bear?' This reinvigorates a collection and draws in children who may not have noticed it when it was somewhere else.

Diana Lawton is an early years consultant

CASE STUDY: A COLLECTION OF SPOONS

In one nursery a collection of spoons had been put together with the help of parents and visits to car boot markets and local charity shops.

The collection included wooden spoons in different sizes, teaspoons, tiny salt spoons, various spoons with holes including sugar sprinklers, ladles, plastic and metal varieties and measuring sets. Over the year the collection was drawn on to support learning in many different ways.

At times it was offered as a complete collection in an interactive display.

Children were observed sorting the spoons in a variety of ways, for example, small spoons and big spoons, all the metal spoons together, ordering from smallest to largest (MD).

Adults interacted to encourage counting and comparing, and there were discussions about the different materials spoons were made from and their different uses (K&UW).

On another occasion, the collection was drawn on to develop learning opportunities related to an area of provision. Observations had shown that several children were absorbed in filling containers in the dry sand area.

The practitioners wanted to extend the experience and develop fine motor skills through the interest in containing (PD). A selection of spoons was added to the provision and a focus table was set up alongside the area. This consisted of a tray of coloured dry sand, some tiny spoons, small plastic bottles of different shapes and tiny funnels (MD).

Several children were drawn to the focus table and there was sustained play for long periods. The children were highly involved with the activity. Adults were able to intervene in appropriate ways for individual children to take them on in their thinking.

A selection of spoons from the collection were added to the outside role-play area. These included wooden spoons in different sizes, kitchen utensils with specific uses such as a ladle, a set of measuring spoons and various spoons with holes. At different times the spoons were incorporated into the Three Bears' house, a cafe, a sweet shop and a kitchen.

Access to sand, water and gravel made the experiences more realistic and encouraged investigations(CD). From time to time, different selections were made available from the main collection.

FREE POSTERS

Nursery World will be running a six-part series of posters focusing on collections and including themes such as leaves, shells and feathers.

Each A2 poster will give guidance on how to build up and use a collection within your early years setting to spark children's curiosity and promote their learning across the early years curriculum.

The series, written by early years consultant Helen Bromley, will be monthly and the first poster will be published in next week's magazine (10 September).