Activity Plan

Preliminary Information:

Name of Student Educator: Meaghan Nakamura

Curriculum Area: Gross Motor Developmental Domain: Physical

Descriptive Title of Activity: Under The Night Sky

Indoor: Yes Outdoor: No

Age of Children: 8 Months - 18 Months

Date of Implementation: Thursday, March 23nd 2017

Resources Used to Prepare Plan (in APA format):

Allen, K., & Martoz, L. (2016) . Developmental Profiles: Pre-birth Through

Adolescence. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning

Beechey, J. (2017, February 27th). Gross Motor Class #2. Lecture presented at Durham
College, Oshawa.

Ranson, A. (2011, March 7). Baby Play: Cardboard Box Play Tunnel. In Imagination Tree.
Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http://theimaginationtree.com/2011/03/baby-play-
cardboard-box-play-tunnel.html

Children’s Resource or Storybook (in APA format, to be used as part of activity-

before/after/extend/enhance learning):

Katz, K. (2009). Shake It Up, Baby! New York, NY: Little Simon.

Part I – Planning

Rational for the activity (sentence form):

The children in the classroom have a play tunnel and love it. The ECE’s in the classroom put it
away and bring it out and the children love going through it. This is why I wanted to bring in a
home made tunnel. This way it would be something familiar to the children because they have
seen a tunnel before, but it would be new because they have not seen this tunnel before.

Physical: The general skill is Crawling.

The specific skill is the children crawling through the tunnel.
Cognitive: The general skill is Cause-and-Effect Exploration
The specific skill is the children seeing how they can get through the tunnel. Also if they can
pop the bubbles on the bubble wrap.
Social Emotional: The general skill is Simple Turn Taking.
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The specific skill is the children taking turns in the tunnel. Noticing that the group of 8 can
not all fit in the tunnel at once.

Learning Materials needed:

 Card Board Box
 Blue wrapping paper
 Bubble wrap
 Bowa’s
 Mirrors
 Transparent wrap
 Mop heads

Description of Set-Up:
The tunnel will be set up in the classroom. The children will be invited to the tunnel and be
able to start the warm up.

Guidelines to Foster Self-Regulation:

 One child at a time in the tunnel

Health or Safety Considerations:

 Ensure that the box is stable
 Make sure all the plastic materials are cleaned.

Part II – Implementation

Invitation (aimed at getting children’s attention and interest):

I will walk into the class in the morning with the tunnel. If no children are there I will set it up
and allow the tunnel to be the invitation when the children come in. If there are children there I
will say “Do you want to see the new tunnel I brought today?”

Teaching Steps (detailed and clear):

Warm up: Be a star. I will sing, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”
 Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
and then I will say “We are going to be stars now.” I will demonstrate how we reach our arms
out and up to the sky and then our legs out wide. “Reach your arms all the way to the sky, and
spread your legs out.” For children who need help I will do hand over hand and help reach
their hands up.
Main Workout:
1. The tunnel workout will begin “Now that we are done the warm-up we can go crawl
through the tunnel.”
2. The children will crawl through and see what’s inside.
3. “What do you see inside the tunnel?”
4. The activity will be done when the children lose interest or it has gone on for a over 10
minutes.
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5. “We will now do a cool down.”
Cool Down: Look at the stars will be out cool down. We will lay on the ground on our backs
and I will sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”
 Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
In a slow and soothing way.

Closure:
I like the way everyone participated in the activity with the tunnel. I like how you used the
tunnel and helped other children with the tunnel.

Transition:
If you can crawl through the tunnel to the other side, than you can go to the next activity.

Ways in which the following are incorporated into this activity:

i) Creativity:
(Explain in sentence form how activity promotes creativity)
This activity promotes creativity because the children can use the tunnel as they please. They
can crawl through it, try to walk through it or even just lay in it. They do not have to go
through the tunnel if they do not want to. They can just play with the object that are on the
tunnel. The children are invited to use their bodies in multiple ways and also voices when we
sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” for the warm up.

ii) Inclusiveness:
(Explain in sentence form how activity fosters inclusiveness)

This activity promotes inclusiveness by allowing all the children to participate. Whether the
children are walking or crawling they can still use the tunnel. I will also participate in the
activity so the children can see that everyone is involved. Finally this activity allows for
contributions from the children. I will look to see how long the children are participating and
what else I change for this tunnel.

Wonderment Questions:
1. What was your favourite part of tunnel?
2. Would you like for this tunnel to come back? Why or Why Not?
3. What can I change about the tunnel?
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Part III Reflective Practice

The Learning Story:

Under The Night Sky

The children started off by not being very interested in the tunnel. A few children
went and looked at it, but it wasn’t until they were all at the centre that the
children went for it. One child loved to try and pop the bubble wrap on the bottom
of the tunnel. Two children liked to sit in the tunnel and make funny faces in the
mirror. A younger child enjoyed the bowa’s on his face when he crawled in and
out of the tunnel. 2 children stood outside the tunnel and realized it was wrapped
in wrapping paper and they immediately started ripping it off and laughed when it
was all off. The general physical skill was Crawling. The specific skill was the
children crawling through the tunnel. The cognitive general skill was Cause-and-
Effect Exploration. The specific skill was the children seeing how they can get
through the tunnel. Also the popping of the bubble wrap. The social- emotional
general skill is Simple Turn Taking. The specific skill was the children taking
turns in the tunnel. Noticing that the group of 8 cannot all fit in the tunnel at once.
However 2 children could.

Analysis of Learning:
(What did the child(ren) do and understand during this experience?)

The children enjoyed playing with the tunnel. At the beginning they did not seem to use it at
first. It was a new object so it took a bit to getting used to and how to use it. The children
understood they could go through the tunnel. One child in particular loved how you could pop
the bubbles in the bubble wrap. The children also ripped the wrapping paper off the box which
I thought was interesting that they knew how to do.

Extension of Learning:
(What opportunities will the student educator provide to extend on this experience?)

To begin the experience I brought in a book I made with different materials that were in the
tunnel, so the children could be familiar with them when I brought the tunnel in the next day.
To extend this experience I will leave the book and even add different materials to it.

C –Self-Reflection of Student Educator’s Learning / Performance

**Must be completed before the cooperating teacher’s evaluation
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Strengths:
(how did the student impact the success of the activity minimum of 2)
I was well prepared, I had my tunnel made on the day I wanted to implemented and I also had
the tunnel available to the children before they all arrived at the centre. I also let the children
do as they wanted with the tunnel. I wanted them to have a different experience, rather than
just the ones they have daily at the centre. I also participated in my activity. When the tunnel
fell over I held it up so other children could still use it. I also participated by asking questions
and showing the children how to pop the bubbles and look at themselves in the mirror.

Recommendations:
(what can the student do differently to change, improve, enhance the experience
– minimum of 2)

For recommendations I would re-think my materials. To start off with I would think about
having a more sturdy tunnel. I would try using a container or a material that wouldn’t break as
easy like the cardboard box. I would also use unbreakable mirrors. The mirrors were fine in
the box but as soon as the mirrors fell out of the box, they broke. I would also next time bring
the tunnel in when the children are there. For my other activities the children were intrigued by
just having the activity set out for when they come in. However I believe the children would
have been more engaged at the beginning if I brought it out during free play.
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D - Cooperating Teacher’s Evaluation: (Please include signature and date)

**To be completed after the student has self-reflected.