Learning and development: Castles - Royal request

The idea for our castle project came up after staff noticed that the children were losing enthusiasm for the role-play area, which at that time was based on the theme of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

At Harlequin, all of the children help to decide on the theme of the role-play area, which we feel is essential to maintaining their interest and supporting their learning. It also fits in well with the EYFS, which says that children should be provided with opportunities to explore and share their thoughts, ideas and feelings through imaginative and role-play activities.

We asked the children if there was anything new they would like to incorporate into their role play. One girl said she would like the area to be a castle. I think she had been reading I Want My Potty by Tony Ross (Little Princess board books (Andersen Press), which is about a young princess who is toilet training and who, after a series of mishaps, becomes very attached to her potty.

Her idea met with an enthusiastic reception from the rest of the children and as a group we began to discuss who would live in a castle.

Many of the children said princesses, but all sorts of other ideas came up, including dragons, horses, kings, queens, knights - even a jester!

KINGS AND QUEENS

The children were very excited about these ideas and we followed this up with a brainstorming session on how a castle could be made and what materials we could use. We discussed what a real castle would be made of, and the children came up with suggestions such as bricks, paper and mud. We also discussed what princesses and knights wear and what we could use to make some costumes.

We researched the children's ideas by looking at pictures and books that featured castles. We also talked about how most castles in Britain were built many years ago, and we looked at writing tools that were used before pens were invented.

The children enjoyed writing and mark-making with feathers. We extended their learning by discussing how castles were once home to kings and queens and then talked about other types of home, such as our own houses, and teepees.

HOUSES AND HOMES

After the castle project, which ran for three and a half weeks, we moved on to a houses and homes theme. The children built a tepee in the garden that has become a permanent feature of our nursery's outdoor area. We used a white cloth, which the children decorated with paints and crayons, and bamboo canes.

After we had researched all of the children's ideas we began making a castle fit for princesses, knights, horses and dragons! Over a period of around two days, every child within our 'Marmalade Room', for those aged between three and four years, had contributed to the castle. Each child either had ownership of a particular area or was in charge of making some props.

The role-play area is made up of large cardboard boxes, which we can take apart or flatten and paint, as required. We found cardboard was the most convenient material to use to make the children's ideas come to life.

For the castle we painted the cardboard and stuck twigs and small stones on to it. The children were very inventive. They made crowns and masks out of paper plates, cloaks from wallpaper, and horses out of the cardboard boxes, together with some sticks and branches.

One little boy had talked about castles and jesters, so children used a branch from a tree and stuck tissue paper and glitter on it, and then went around the nursery making jingling noises. They also made a moat, which turned into more of a mud pit, and a mirror out of shiny wallpaper.

OWNING THE ACTIVITY

The children were excited to keep playing with the castle scenario. They took pride in making the role-play area and the costumes because they had ownership of the activity. Everything was child-initiated and we supported their ideas. This gave the children a real sense of achievement. We had some children who had just started nursery and the castle project helped them to socialise over this shared interest.

We tried to relate the activity to children and their own experiences. For example, one girl went to Disney World and showed us her photographs of Snow White and the Disney princesses. She brought back some princess outfits to the nursery.

Another child talked about making sandcastles while visiting the beach with their grandparents, so we made some sand castles at nursery. This led to talking about children's trips to the beach and other holidays.

Dressing up as princesses was very popular with the girls - and some of the boys. They happily dressed up as princesses, donning tiaras, skirts and dresses, and not one of the children questioned it. The boys were just as excited about it as the girls and asked the staff if they looked pretty too. They are a very creative group of children.

The castle role-play led to many extension activities, such as looking at stories and fairy tales. We had music playing in the background to try to support how children imagined the castle to be; sometimes we played dramatic music and sometimes the music was more mellow.

LEARNING JOURNEY

The parents were able to learn about the castle role play from the Learning Journey wall. One parent had some Henry VIII memorabilia that she photographed and her daughter brought the pictures in to talk about. Lots of children brought in their own fancy dress costumes.

The children enjoyed role-playing games. A particular favourite they kept returning to was one about stealing a dragon's egg and being scared that the dragon would eat them. They linked this game to other activities, including one where a boy began digging for dragon bones in the mud pit in the garden. Through this the role-play was extended to the outdoor area.

Lianne Grace is early years and childcare manager at Harlequin day nursery, which is based at Harlequin Children's Centre in Witham, Essex, and operated by the charity 4Children.