Learning & development: The knight and his lady

Over the past few weeks, the children at Busy Bears in Durham have become fascinated by knights and castles - an interest that began when we added some 'knight' dressing-up costumes to the role-play area.

There was great excitement as they dressed up as knights and princesses and admired themselves and their friends in mirrors. From there, they went on to act out role-play scenarios and to make castles, shields, swords and helmets from everyday resources such as boxes and card.

One boy in particular, Loughlin, continued to pursue his interest at home and asked his parents to help him make a shield. He didn't stop at just one shield, though, and brought in a variety over the next few days. When I commented on how pleased we were with these shields, his mother Simone explained that the family takes part in medieval re-enactments in their free time, and so making the shields had been of great interest to the whole family. To our delight, they offered to share this experience with Loughlin's friends at nursery.

THE BIG DAY

We explained to the children beforehand that a knight and his lady were coming to visit. By the time the big day arrived the children were buzzing with excitement. They put on their knight and princess costumes and waited for their special visitors.

Then the doorbell rang, and a line of excited faces watched in amazement as the knight rode up on his horse, with a tiny knight sitting in front of him and his lady walking beside him. They all looked splendid in their fine costumes. At first it was hard to believe that this was really their friend Loughlin and his Mum and Dad, but the children soon adjusted to the idea.

The father, Paul, invited us all on to the field where the children were able to meet the horse and hear about what it was like to be a knight. They passed around the helmet and asked questions about why he wore it. Paul explained that he was a good knight who chased away 'baddies' and that he needed to wear special armour to protect him when he was fighting.

The children had carrots ready as a treat to feed the knight's horse. It was lovely to see how even the most timid of children gradually gained enough confidence to approach this huge but gentle animal.

Too soon, it was time to make our way back to the nursery. Loughlin was the lucky one, as he had a special ride to nursery with the knight on horseback!

Following the visit, the props that the children created for their play became more complex. For example, they made helmets with foil as well as card, and drew colourful designs on their shields.

To extend the learning opportunities and encourage recall, we created a display area for the children's work and photographs of the knight's visit. We added captions and explanations of the children's learning for their parents to read.

PLANNED LEARNING INTENTIONS

• To respond to significant experiences, showing a range of feelings when appropriate

• To use talk to clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events

• To talk about, recognise and recreate simple patterns

• To find out about past and present events in their own lives, and in other families and other people they know

• To show awareness of space, of themselves and others

• To use their imagination in art and design, music, dance, imaginative and role-play and stories

RESOURCE SUGGESTIONS

Role-play castles

• Cover the sides of a climbing frame with large sheets of card secured with tape. Paint grey stones on the card.

• Make mini-castles with packing cases draped in grey fabric. Create turrets from cardboard cones.

Armour

• Make circular helmets from sheets of cardboard with slits cut into them. Paint them grey or silver.

• Make knee and elbow protectors from aluminium food dishes fastened with string.

• Cut arm holes in white pillow cases to make simple tunics.

Horses

 Cover benches with colourful fabric and sit astride them. Use ribbon or thick wool secured to the end of the bench as reins.

Books

• In the Castle by Anna Milbourne and Benji Davies (Usborne)

• See Inside Castles by Katie Daynes (Usborne)

• Castles, Knights and Dragons by Katie Pike (Rigby)

• The Kiss that Missed and Good Knight, Sleep Tight by David Melling (Hodder Children's Books)

• Small Knight and George series by Ronda Armitage (Orchard Books)

• The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie de Paola (Putnam Publishing)

• Nat Fantastic and the Brave Knights of Old by Giles Andreae and Katherine McEwen (Orchard Books)

Lindsey Noble works with the four-year-olds in the Big Bumbles room at Busy Bears Nursery, Durham. She spoke to Jean Evans