Learning & Development: Our bright idea - Dora's adventure

Dora the Explorer is a favourite with the children in our pre-school, so staff devised a treasure hunt based on this popular cartoon character to help develop the children's communication and language skills.

Planned learning intentions
Through this activity we hoped to develop children's:
impulse to explore and willingness to take risks
readiness to adopt a positive approach to new experiences
confidence in linking up with others for support and guidance
use of simple statements and questions often linked to gestures
ability to talk through and reflect on what they are doing
ability to link statements and stick to the main theme or intention

Resources

Letter from Dora (prepared by staff), photographic clues with clues in English and Spanish to tie in with the Dora DVDs, Dora's star friends (again tying in with the DVDs), large and unusual key, torches, cameras, binoculars, telephones, collecting bag, magnifying glasses, backpack, treasure box and treasure (we filled a box with Dora-related resources)

Preparation

- We prepared a letter from 'Dora' to the children and the visual clues.

- We hid the box of treasure under a bush in the garden and laid out a trail of Dora's star friends and clues.

Step by step

- We hid the key in a place where the children would find it to initiate a discussion about what the key might be for. As none of the children knew, we placed it somewhere safe - in a child's pocket - until the children were able to discover its purpose.

- 'Dora' then sent the children a letter, explaining that they were going to go on an adventure to find something exciting and listing the equipment that they would need to take with them. The list included a large key and prompted the children to search out the rest of the equipment.

- The children asked if they could bring along a picnic, which they then planned, helped prepare and put in the backpack with the spare equipment.

- Each of the children chose some equipment that they felt would be useful for their adventure and headed outdoors into our nursery garden.

- After an animated discussion, it was agreed to start the hunt from a star friend that one of the children had spotted. The children then followed the clues around the garden to the hidden treasure.

Extension idea

We made a book from all the photographs, clues, star friends and Dora's letter, which again helped to develop discussion and the children's communication skills.

Emma Austin and Sue Milburn are practitioners at Wetherby Day Nursery in Wetherby, North Yorkshire.