Health and Social Care
Activities for health and well being

Introduction

The unit requires me to manage an activity in a health and social care environment which will benefit an individual or a small group of service users, the activity will allow me to work on my communication skills with contrasting age groups. With the activities I have designed I would have to take into account the physical, intellectual, social and emotional side of each child. For this I will be visiting Woodend Preschool where I will be holding an activity to evaluate the children's skills and assessing how well we communicate between each other, by the way our body language comes across. Before making my final decision about the activity, I will have to take into consideration the skills each child has, the facilities, safety implications, equipment and time. Also I have to plan, improve and evaluate my activity; I have also made samples for each of my activities. The preschool and early school years are also full of changes, from three to five the child’s motor skills, language, thinking and social development change dramatically.

A01- Suitable Activities and Reasons for Choice

I have created a range of activities that would be suitable for Pre-schoolers aged between three to four, at this point in their life the child's development is important, it is a time where the child’s world will be dominated by fantasy and vivid imagination. Hopefully the children will be able move around confidently and also to use hand and finger skills, such as; using scissors, drawing circles and squares and beginning to understand some capital letters.

The activity that I am most confident with is the Animal Craft, it allows the child to develop their social, emotional and intellectual skills, as well as being able to learn experientially by becoming visually, aurally and kinaesthetically involved in a subject, when doing this activity it is good to talk about their ideas because it helps children clarify their thinking and develops their reasoning skills (Heath.M, 2014). However before knowing which activity I will be doing I will have to consider the development norms for each individual, developmental norms refer to milestones and stages of physical, cognitive or emotional development expected at any given age. Physical developments refer to changes in the body and the ability to control it. Cognitive developments refer to changes in the mind and psychology and to growth of knowledge. Emotional developments are changes to the ability to handle emotions (Neil J Salkind 2014).At this stage the child should be able to use their physical skills and having better coordination and control; for example, they will learn how to throw and catch a ball and as they get older they get taller and slimmer. The intellectual skills are measured by the interest that the infant displays in their surroundings. This may be looking around rooms trying to understand precisely what all the unusual shapes are.

Many activities designed for early years children will include addressing aspects of social and emotional need. Teachers working with children at Key stage 1 will also be careful to ensure that these important elements are not overlooked, as it is vital not to damage children’s confidence in them as learners. The emotional can develop through the way they act this is often due to the copying of others, and seeing different facial expressions on an individual. Many emotional needs are satisfied by belonging to a group, or by having significant attachment to one or more people, children who feel emotionally secure will be better able to learn.
Social development for each individual would be different because each one of them come from a contrasting backgrounds, this can be learning the values and knowledge that enable children to relate to others, effectively and able to add in positive ways to family, school and also in the community. Group activities give children the opportunity to develop as communicators, and to learn the give and take that forms part of living in society. (Moonie.N, 2014, page 220)

On Monday 22nd September I went to visit Woodend Pre-School to ask for permission to arrange an initial visit with a small group of children, the activity will last at least an hour or two.
Thursday 2nd October I went for my initial visit at Woodend Pre-school, as I arrived I was introduced to the manager who asked me questions about the activity I shall be doing. Also while I was there I met the Pre-school helpers as well as the children I will be doing the activity with; Cassie, Matthew and Zauriel. The information I gained from this visit was helpful, but the initial activity I wanted to do that visit I was unable to carry out due to the children not knowing there alphabet.

Cassie age three, Lithuanian, but was able to communicate in English very well. At first Cassie was uncomfortable with me being presence, because I was someone she had never met before so she would stand far away and her body language would be closed (arms-crossed) but throughout the time I was there she became comfortable with my company, she would be running around while grabbing my hand and asking me to help her with activities such as putting on an apron on so she could play with the water and assisting her on making a sandcastle. Cassie was able to talk to me about what her favourite colour was and to show me items in that colour; she was very active and confident with others, genuinely excited and talkative. For example; I asked Cassie to draw a variety of different shapes for me, unfortunately she was unable to do this, and on the other hand she did use a white colouring pencil on white paper and realising why it wasn’t showing. Being this age they should be able to understand the concepts of ‘same’ and ‘different’ and speak clearly enough for strangers to understand, Cassie is able to do this. She also knows the notion of counting and knows a few numbers; for example, I asked her how old she is and she held up her hand raising three fingers. On the hand by the age of three she should be able to recognise a few basic shapes such as a circle and square but unfortunately she was unable to do so, at this stage the child maybe include lines, dots and curves. This is exciting for the child because they notice the drawing conveys a meaning.

Matthew age three, when I first got introduced to Matthew he was able to talk to me confidently, telling me what he enjoys doing and his favourite colour. When we were sat at the table drawing I asked Matthew if he could draw me a bumblebee, and he did, he got the shapes and colours accurate. At this age the child develops better control over the muscles in their hands and fingers, their scribbles being change and become more controlled. As well as this he was able to communicate confidently, he was asking me questions on the activity we shall be doing, and asking about different colours; at the age children can use words to communicate but they do not understand the logical implications involved in language; children begin to make simple sentences such as ‘I want drink’. This develops into the ability to ask questions, ‘Where we go?’ Knowledge of vocabulary grows very rapidly. Matthew was unable to keep concentration during the activity, he got distracted and bored very easily, I asked him to join us back at the drawing table but he got emotional and sat on his own. When we all went outside, Eddie came to join us while we played in the sandpit with the other children, he seemed very happy being back with his friends. Bonding at this age is very important for their emotional development, they feel safe with adults who care for them, and the first attachments help develop self-esteem and can serve as the basis of a child’s future relationships. (Tran.Daniel, 2014)

Dylan age three, was very quiet. When I first met him he was very shy but when we got drawing he was able to show me a mixture of colours, I asked Dylan to draw a circle for me, but he was only able to draw a few scribbles on the page. Toddlers may make repeated marks on an age; open circles, diagonal, curved, horizontal or vertical lines. However over time, children make the transition to holding the colouring pencil between their thumb and pointer finger. Dylan was keen to show me what activities he enjoyed; he was pretending to be a fireman and trying to save people. He was very active, continuously running around. Children will use a lot of pretend play and carry out early social sequences, playing with other children is also a good way to develop social and language skills; a child may not have all the sounds; however he should be intelligible by the age of three.

When I was there I spoke to the manager asking what facilities I was able to use; there was glue sticks, colouring pens and pencils, plenty of coloured and plain paper. However I am going to bring in the equipment I need to do the activity such as tissue paper, sugar paper, glue and pens just in case they don’t have enough.

Rejected activities
Activity one
Popsicle puppets
Puppets are a fun medium for teaching different skills. The most commonly form of teaching with puppets is using them with literature unit. However, the versatility of puppets makes them useful when teaching manners, socialisation and other basic educational skills. Teaching with puppets requires creativity and quick thinking skills, but overall it requires the ability to engage in the story. It also encourages the children to be more imaginative and physical, movement; moving the thumb so it’s in the bottom portion of the mouth, with you four fingers in the top. Personality; rotating your wrist and arm allowing the puppet to shake or nod his head, showing personality. Voice; providing the puppet with a silly voice so that while you move your hand it appears as if the puppet is talking also as keeping the children interested.

Although a lot of children will associate well with puppets because puppets are visuals and visual learning is the best kind. In some instances, children will react positively to the visual learning through stick puppets, it will help them listen because they will want to pay attention to the puppet and hear what the puppet has to say. On the other hand, it could rebound; children may see the puppets and react negatively towards them. Seeing puppets may distract the student of cause them to now pay attention to what the puppet is saying because they are too busy focusing on the puppets movements and the way the puppet looks.

Activity two
Egg carton caterpillar
Creating an Egg Carton Caterpillar can help with expressing their feeling and emotions in a safe way. By doing this they learn how to control their emotions and recognise that they can express a handle negative as well as joyous feelings through positive action. When doing this activity the children will develop and gain fine muscle control and strengthening eye-hand motor coordination this is also social skills because it is enhancing through cooperation with other children. By holding paintbrushes and learning how to control paint, colouring pens and pencils, scissors and other art material, children gain the skills required for later writing activities as well as a feeling of control over themselves and their world.

Children benefit from interacting with their peers, but in some cases, emphasis on groups can overshadow the individual attention kids need and crave. However, making creative sculptures with children can become bad due to the children seeing what the other children are producing and wanting to do the same thing. This can cause distress within the children and can cause emotions such as; anger and frustrated, by preventing this I didn’t feel like this was the best activity to do.

Activity three
Musical statues
When the music is playing, it expresses different emotions in different situations, it is most happy expressions when the music is playing due to the parents singing to the children when they were little; this is a natural instinct which can directly support growth and learning by building connections within the brain (Music For Babies, 2014). Between the age of zero and four they gain knowledge of all sorts of music if it is offered to them regularly, and people should ensure that the variety of music reflects the range of cultures in our society. Playing games that encourages toddlers to dance, such as musical statues, musical bumps and musical chairs; it doesn’t matter if they don’t follow the rules of the game, because a three year old loves to take part. Musical should be appreciated for the mood it creates and the experiences, feelings and sensations that it promotes. (Engel.L, Nursery World 2 June 2005, 2014)

I didn't pick musical statues as my chosen activity because children become competitive within physical games, for example; if a child got asked to leave the game because they were moving when the music stopped, then they would get upset and could possible try and ruin the game for others. This is not in all cases, musical statutes could cause some physical pain, this can be done by the children getting too excited and moving and jumping around and not seeing where the other children are.

Activity four
Symmetry Art, when a child is seen finger painting over a sheet of paper with both hands, pulling the fingertips through the paint to make squiggles, or drawing spirals with a range of colouring pens. The joyful expression on their faces. Art is important to children of this age because it develops the ability to interact with the world around them and provides a new set of skills for self-expression and communication. When a child draws a picture or a paints a portrait the child is beginning to communicate visually. A child may draw pictures that they have experienced, such as; going to the park, realising the feeling of joy through painting swirls of bright colours, sharing an emotionally charged experience. Fine motor skills enable the child to do things like turning the page or fill a sheet of paper with colour or written words. Holding a paintbrush so that it will make the desired marks, snipping paper with scissors into specific shapes, drawing with pen or pencils, or squeezing glue from bottles in a controlled manner all help develop a child a fine motor skills and control materials. (Moonie.N, 2014, page 212-213) I chose not to do this activity due to the mess it can make and also this activity requires a lot of space and interactions with the children, on my initial visit I saw the room that I would be doing the activity in, due to the results the space was not suitable for this activity. Chosen activity
Animal craft is my chosen activity because while doing the activity the children continue to develop their cognitive abilities. They learn to create meaning through language, to solve puzzles and to realise gradually that other people may see things differently from themselves. All the children crafts are quick and easy; require minimal equipment and materials, and offer satisfyingly instant results because young children learn from everything they do. If their explorations bring pleasure of success, they will want to learn more.
I am hoping the children will be able to design creative pictures, using their knowledge of colours and shapes. This will achieve their satisfaction from both the act of choosing and from the opportunity to make things. Creating their own interpretation of what the animal looks like just using their imagination, the activity is also generating motivation, it is mostly self-sustaining for as long as the children want to continue the activity. (http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/crafts)

A02

The activity I have chosen to do is Animal Craft, it is an activity that develops learning; such as educating in other areas like language, music, art, social studies, science and maths. It can also extend a child’s fine motor skills, develop concepts like colour or numbers and see scientific processes like gluing and sticking. The children I will be carrying out the activity with will be the age between three and four, and this activity is a great way for pre-schoolers to explore ideas of concepts and then express it by making something to keep, entertain others with or simply look at visual pleasure as well engaging the pre-schoolers in ideas that provide support for future learning. This could include; extending their thinking across multiple patterns of intelligence, developing thinking skills, gaining positive emotional responses to learning as well as building their self-esteem.

Animal craft is very encouraging with the child’s imagination which is developing their intellectual skills, by creating their own entertainment and making something on their own enables them the confidence in their abilities to make individual decisions and choices. However there are some aspects to avoid with animal craft; you can never force a child to complete a project they are not interested in, all this will do is divide them from ever trying craft again. Simply encouraging them and rewarding them when they do finish something.

For this activity I shall need: * Coloured paper (different colours) * Tissue Paper (different colours) * Glue sticks (4) * Markers (black, so it’s clear to see the lines)

For the first part of my activity I shall sit the children down at a table where we would discuss what animals they like, and then I am planning to draw the different animals on different coloured paper, making sure the lines are clear to see. Art offers a chance for creativity and personal expression. Learning to draw comes with a variety of developmental benefits for children. Drawing helps stimulate their imaginations, improve fine confidence in their ability to master new crafts, it also teaches children to make decisions and can improve visual and emotional skills as well.
(http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/benefits-kids-learning-draw-10618.html)

The children will be using tissue paper to decorate the animals, at this point I am hoping the children will be able to compare colours and recognise colours of various objects, they can usually point to a colour when asked and may be able to name four or more by midyear. When I’m carrying out this activity I shall ask them questions like; ‘What colour do you like the most? Hold up different colour tissue paper and ask them, what colour is it? This will develop their social development by be asking them questions will encourage them to become more confident in their talking.

Evaluating each individual child on their knowledge of colours, most children like crafts and take pride in their creations. It’s often surprising how original and creative children can be when given the opportunity. Those thinking about the activity and thinking about what colours and shapes to use will develop their intellectual development. Whilst this activity is going head the children will being using fine motor skills that involve fingers, hands and wrists, which in the activity they shall be doing, for example; tearing the tissue paper and then crumple it up in a little ball involves using the pincer grasp which is also developing their physical skills. At this age the children should be able to handle small objects, such as; the tissue paper and the glue, use age appropriate scissors, copy circles and squares and write some capital letters. However when I went for my initial visit I found out that the children did not know their alphabet so I couldn’t carry out the initial activity as wanted, also when I asked one of the children what a certain shape is she didn’t know.

This activity can involve social development, when children are allowed to make their own art without the fear of being told it is wrong, this builds confidence. In a preschool, using art shows children that they are all different and unique and free to express their views on what other objects look like. They can compare and contrast with their friends which are developing their social skills. As well as physical development, crafts also have emotional benefits, for children who draw may begin to feel more confident about their abilities over time. Learning the importance of life lessons about how practice helps improve skills.

On my initial visit I found out that each one of the pre-schoolers were able to tell me what colour it was, for example; Cassie was able to find all the pink pencils and place them in a line on the table. Dylan was unsure on some colours but in the end he got them all, he was able to stop and think before telling what colour it was, on the other hand Matthew was very confident with naming colours, I asked him if he could find me three orange objects, so he ran off and then came back with three objects; a pencil, a toy brick and a toy car, while doing this I was encouraging their intellectual development. Shapes and textures, quantities, sizes, and proportions, art can also aid children’s intellectual development. It helps them to grasp the concepts they will need in learning to read, write, add, and subtract; it stimulates inquisitiveness, critical thinking, and a healthy self-confidence. Physically, it develops fine motor control and hand-eye coordination. In short, art is a window to new horizons in every sphere of life.

Throughout the initial visit the children will be interacting with each other as well as me, this will help them become more confident with others, communicating with the children shows that I am genuinely interested in the children’s well-being. As the children get older, they develop friendships with other children through talking and playing together. They about their world by listening to other children adults and by talking about what they see and what they are doing, this develops their social skills. As well as developing their social it can help children to develop emotionally, too. When they are encouraged to give form to their ideas, they learn the value of self-expression. In discovering their ability to create, they become conscious of their imagination and their freedom to make choices. And in mixing colours or combining materials to make new ones, they can learn to think in terms of change.

At the end of the activity, there will be mess so I will ask the children to help tidy up. To make the tidying up more fun I will ask them to put the tissue paper into coloured piles; Eddie will have blue and green, Dylan will have orange and yellow and Cassie will have pink and purple. Each child will hopefully be able to do. It will also help development their knowledge of colours, as well as knowing colours, they will also be able to recognise shape, size and texture.
Benefits for my activities

Activity one: Popsicle Puppets, puppetry is an old, traditional art, which is still active in almost every culture, used in many different contexts, for spiritual, cultural and educational. All puppets come to life as characters. They can portray different personalities and various traits and they cross all cultures. Puppets can share joy or sadness; they can be naughty or good, cheeky or shy; and when a child is engaged by a puppet they can learn lessons without even realising. They are a great way they provide an excellent way for children to work through their fears and vocalise their feelings, allowing children to learn experientially by becoming visually, listening and movement involved in a subject (Heath.M, 2014).

Activity two: Egg Carton Caterpillar, this caterpillar craft is crawling with creativity and is sure to bring fun to the pre-schoolers as they transform a regular egg carton into a fuzzy friend. This can show the children how to reuse empty egg cartons to create this fun, silly caterpillar. Presenting to them to them how something seemingly boring can be turned into something magical and fun sets creativity. The imagination also gets triggered when the children are able to transform regular boxes into trains or spaceships. For young children art making, looking at and talking about their own artwork.

Activity three: Musical Statues, getting the children active is a great way to physical development needs, especially gross motor skills. They help a child to gain control of the body and acquire physical skills. The development should be encouraged through a supply of opportunities for them to be active and interactive and to improve their skills of coordination, control, manipulation and movement. (Bromley Child-minding Association, 2014)

Activity four: Symmetry art, visual interest is what you balance in design. Different colours, shapes sizes, etc. Create different degrees of interest. It is the distribution of this interest that you need to control. There are number of reasons why Symmetry benefits development within children, children have an innate sense of symmetry, in that they look for balance and offer in the real world naturally. Within preschools, as teachers, it is important to build on this inner ability, as it is appealing to students. In addition students are better able to learn a concept when they can relate to it, therefore teaching symmetry gives all students a chance for success.
Learning about symmetry aids students in learning how to classify objects, ordering and classification are skills that are used throughout many daily tasks, and the ability to notice patterns or similarities will make these tasks much easier to carry out. Symmetry in schools looks beyond geometric forms to organic shapes, meaning animals, plants, everyday items; learning about symmetry encourages this interest as well as intellectual development. (http://symmetryinquiry.blogspot.co.uk/2007/03/why-teach-symmetry.html)
A03

Choosing a suitable activity for your clients.
Before I visited the Preschool, I was able to research the norms of development for the age group I shall be doing the activity with, which is 3-4 years of age. This will allow me to have a clear view of the skills they are supposed to acquire, which will include physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. * To get the information about development skills, I used a range of sources; reference works which is a reference material (dictionaries, dictionaries and biographies) to find facts, figures, addresses, statistics, definitions and dates. It’s a good source of factual and statistical information. * Books will provide in depth coverage of a certain subject. The books I used included The Green Class Assignment Book, Health and Social Care Book by N.Moonie. * Using the internet is a vast array of information (such as government reports and conference papers) is freely available on the internet.

As well as this on my initial visit I observed them while they were playing in the schoolyard, by doing this I got an insight into what activities they enjoy such as playing in the sand pit and making towers out of play bricks. All this research will allow be to have an understanding of the skills for each child of this age is helping me to think of a range of relevant questions such as; Could you tell me what colour this is? What is your favourite colour? And what their favourite was? This will help the children to gain confidence and an increased knowledge in colours. Also with knowing their favourite animal will allow me to draw them animals and paper so on the activity day they shall be able to decorate their animal in any colour they like.

Collecting the correct information needed to carry out the activity was easy to collect due to observing the children and seeing how they behave without feeling uncomfortable with my presence. Before being introduced to the children I asked the preschool teacher to inform me on the likes, dislikes and skills for each child. At the initial visit I brought some activity sheets with me to give to give to the children, the sheets involved the lower case alphabet and the upper case alphabet which the children had to match up. But due to the children not knowing their alphabet I knew it would be difficult to teach them, so I improvised and thought about colouring, we sat at a table and started to draw. The children attempted to write their names and were able to draw smiley faces. (see attached page 1)

This would help them to development their; physical skills by using the pincer grasp, in response to an object pressed against its palm, its allowing them to attempt to grasp the object.
Emotional and social, during this time, children can also increase their social competence and emotional maturity. Learning to play and interact with other children their age, this is a skill. Responding to their peer’s feelings while waiting for their turn and sharing materials and experiences, learning supports emotional development by providing a way to express feelings, children also learn to cope with their feelings as they act out being angry, sad, or worried in a situation they control. This can also help me understand each child, by learning how each individual learns and acts within an activity.

At my initial visit one of the girls I had met, Cassie was Lithuanian but she spoke English very well. Throughout the visit she would show me an object and tell me what colour it was. As well as Cassie I was introduced to other children that had different cultures and religions, but they spoke English very well and therefore this did not present a barrier to the activity as she would be able to fully understand any instructions.

With the activity I chose to carry out I had to keep in mind the different skills each child had, some could count and some couldn’t but all could name the animals and the colours that were used. On my initial visit I was able to talk to the children and show them a selection of activities and each child liked at least one of them, which was the Animal Craft. For this activity I asked each child, which animal they wanted me to draw, for example I had to draw a fish, cat, dog, monkey, elephant, bumblebee, lion and a tiger, and when it came to the activity day the children were able to decorate the animals in different coloured tissue paper.

On the day of the activity I asked one of the managers at the Pre-school to evaluate the activity, I asked her to complete a witness testimony sheet (see attached sheet 2) which she could answer truthfully about the activity. Having one of the managers there was necessary because I was not a qualified member of staff and therefore required someone qualified to supervise and assist should any emergency procedures need to be followed.

Prior to completing the activity I did a trial with my little sister who is a similar age and she enjoyed it very much. However I made a few changes, at first I was going to use a wide variety of material, but with paints and glitter it wasn’t suitable due to not having a big enough space and the mess it could create.

For this activity I made an example of a fish and it worked really well. (see attached page 3)

Choosing a suitable activity for the setting
The setting I chose was a Pre-school, and initially I thought I would have a large space to work in, but when I did the activity we had one small table in a classroom where the teacher was teaching and the children were playing. I chose to work with a group of 3 because I was able to talk to each of the children and to get to know them more. Through working with others you can learn new skills, draw on other people's talents, experiences and perspectives, and support others. When you’ve got a small group, you don’t need to constantly formalise things. You communicate and you know what’s going on. Working with more than one child allows me to get a variety of reactions from each individual child and also to evaluate each child to see how they communicate with others around them, for example; a child will act differently with other children then they do with adults.

Within the Pre-school I was able to use glue sticks, on the other hand I felt comfortable with bringing my own equipment like the tissue paper and drawings of animals, during my visit I learnt that there was some barriers such as language and cultural barriers, for example; if a child wasn’t capable to speak English then that child would require a translation or interpreting service from a member of that service area. Also the class room I was in, wasn’t suitable for my activity, due to it being very small and crowded, the activity didn’t require a lot of space, but there was other children in the room and this made the children I was working with distracted.

At a pre-school the health and safety issues would be unauthorised access to children; doors and gates should be locked, except when they are directly patrolled by a staff member (for example at the beginning and the end of the day).
Children’s arrivals are supposed to be logged by a member of staff as well as the departure, otherwise this would be an unauthorised exit/entry.
I maintained the children’s safety by ensuring I was supervising them during the activity, the activity involved glue; this is a health risk due the children being able to intoxicate themselves as well as eating the glue.
Hazards of glue; * The fumes can be dangerous * Some glue will irritate it touches the skin and all glue will irritate or worse if they get into the eyes or other sensitive parts. * Many glues contains components that would be bad for humans if ingested * some glues won’t come out of clothing for anything and both change the colour of the material and make it stiff * glue can discolour what you’re trying to glue and or ruin it

I overcame these dangers by keeping a close eye on each child, by doing this I understood why is was important for children not to use glue in an inappropriate way.

The children enjoyed the practical element of the arts and crafts activity; they’re learning and developing in essential ways while they were making a mess in a controlled environment. Children acquire many important benefits from the opportunity of working with arts and crafts activities, making creative activities worthwhile in the pre-school. Although art and crafts often fit together, they are different processes; art involves unstructured activities in which children can explore with their imagination, whereas crafts involve structural activities with a specific goal in mind.
Within this activity it can provide additional benefits such as; literacy and mathematical concepts can become easier to comprehend and even more interesting with the addition of art. For example; one of the boys in my activity group drew a picture of a character from a book, this links to interest in literature. As well as using paper materials to create a shape such as a tissue paper ball can gain mastery of mathematical concepts due to the hands on nature of the items.

As the children were working, they had begun the process of communicating visually; the children also build problem-solving skills, fine motor skills and even social skills as they work with artistic media. The process of making their own creations and noticing other people’s creations provides important opportunities for the appreciation of other people’s strengths and acceptance of their own abilities. A child also learns that the ability to follow directions is an integral part of the satisfaction of seeing the final result when making a craft. (http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=113)

My activity didn’t really involve any seasonal event, but it did involve different animals that could to relate to a different seasonal time in the year, such as the tiger, dog and monkey representing the months on the Chinese Zodiac Calendar. The bee could represent the spring and summer. However, the other animals don’t represent anything.

The activity lasted about 1 hour, enough time for me introduce myself again and explain what activity we did. I arrived at the preschool at 10.00am and left at 11.00am, this was a suitable time for the children as well as the preschool because it was after the children’s break time and before their snack time.

Planning the activity
Before I was allowed to go ahead with the activity I had to produce a letter of acceptance, which I gave to the manager to hand out to give to the parents of the children I did the activity with. (see attached booklet 1) Before carry out this activity I created a sample piece and I also carried out the activity with a child a similar age to the ones I shall be working with, this helped a lot because I knew what to expect from carrying out the activity. The activity involved glue and tissue paper and with little children this can get very messy. For example; I created a fish with my little sister (see attached page 3) Throughout the activity I had one of the children putting glue all over their hands and then placing their hand into a pile of tissue paper. To make sure this doesn’t get any worse, I watched her closely just making sure she doesn’t out her hands in her mouth, as well as this, I asked the supervisor if I could go and help Cassie wash her hands.

Before going to the preschool I had to make a risk assessment with all the risks that can happen while I’m there or what can happen at any time (see attached sheet 4). The purpose of doing a risk assessment is while both the risk assessment and safety statement are legally required, from an ethical perspective, the main reason to carry out a risk assessments and prepare a safety statement to make sure that appropriate measures are taken to ensure safety throughout an activity. Carrying out risk assessments and preparing a safety statement will not in themselves prevent accidents and ill health but they play a crucial part in reducing their likelihood. (see attached sheet 4) Writing a time plan is to make the activity seem more organised, it doesn’t have to be followed but it’s just a guideline to keep the activity in order. Writing a plan down gives a chance for review, self- analysis and thinking up additional scenarios, it also makes it easier to share the plan with other people and quickly recall all the details. (see attached sheet 5)

This activity was easy enough for me to teach the children with no help required, it doesn’t involve any sharp equipment such as scissors or anything hot like baking in ovens. Although I did insist having a helper nearby for support and supervision if required, I also asked the helper to complete a witness testimony. During the activity there were no moments where I needed assistance, communicating with the children was something I was comfortable with due to having younger siblings myself.

The resources required were: * Tissue paper * Glue * Paper with different animals drawn on them
On the initial visit I asked the manager if I was able to use the resources at the preschool, due to her answer ‘yes’ I was allowed. I was required to bring my own equipment with me, except the glue.
Before I went to do my activity at the preschool I got my peer group to do an evaluation of my activity which will tell me what I have to improve and what I have done is right. The feedback I got was very helpful and it allowed me to improve the activity I shall be carrying out. (see attached sheet 6)

When arriving at the preschool that morning I had asked the manager if it was possible to go into a room with a wide space and no other children, however, there were no spare rooms so my activity was held in a room with other children who were making noises and kept on distracting the children who I was the activity with which was a huge barrier. This made it harder for the children to concentrate on the activity, one child saw some other children playing with building blocks and got up and left the table, but then came back to the table once he got bored of building blocks. The area wasn’t very big, it was a small class room with 3 big round tables placed around the room with little chairs seated around the tables, I was placed in a corner where the activity was held, and the children who joined me filled the chairs around the table. I placed all the tissue paper into the middle of the table so the children could rummage for the colour they wanted, before going to the pre-school I drew the a variety of animals on different coloured paper; this was allowing the children to choose an animal they wanted. Colour provides a bright side to childhood and it’s fascinating to understand why they are so fascinated with it. Colour is a big part of their world. The playful, visually stimulating variations of ‘reflected light’ that we see as ‘colour’ provides a dose of happy energy like that of a child. Bright colour aligns with their energy - young kids are drawn to it and desire playful interaction with it.

Implementing the activity
Before doing the activity I explained to the children what the activity involved, I did this by showing them the examples I had produced and asked questions to see if they had any concerns. Throughout the activity I had to make sure I maintained safety by observing each child, because my activity involved glue I had to keep a close eye on each child making sure they use it appropriately. It is important to monitor each child for the duration due to the risk of choking; with glue it can be highly dangerous, due to its fumes.

While being at the preschool I interacted with the teachers, just asking those questions about the job they do and why they enjoy working with children, their answers were very truthful and helped me understand that it is an important job. While walking round I started communicating with a few children that needed help doing a certain activity, while talking to them I ask them what activities they like to take part in and they seemed pretty enthusiastic about painting. Communicating is very important especially in children, this allows them develop their social skills; in a learning environment children may respond more to other forms of communication such as non-verbal types using pictures, sounds, shapes or visual aids is often helpful to keep young children’s attention. Children are ‘social learners’(http://www.childtrends.org/dual-language-learners-and-social-emotional-development-understanding-the-benefits-for-young-children/) and learn by copying other people, so any adults working with them should model good communication , both speaking and listening, so that children will learn from them. Children need to know that they are being listened to and heard. This helps them to build up a rapport and trust with adults and promoted better relationships, the more you learn how to listen to children, the better you will be able to assess their abilities and interests and plan for their next steps in learning and development.

When the activity was being carried out I sat there observing each individual child, this was for me to evaluate on how well the activity is going and see if any if any of the children wasn’t enjoying themselves. Fortunately due to their reactions it went well and each child enjoyed themselves. When the activity was being carried out I recognised that each child had a different technique with the glue stick and tissue paper, for example; one child put the glue down on the paper first and then rolled up the tissue paper in a ball and placed it on the paper, however, another child got some issue paper, put the glue on the tissue paper and then slammed it on the piece of paper.

Each child needed guidance at some point during the activity; when they did need help they spoke to me quietly so when I helped them I spoke to them clearly asking what they think they could do to solve the problem. Many puzzles require other individuals and can encourage people to work and play together. Trying to solve puzzles as a group can help children understand patience, teamwork and taking turns, this will be developing their social skills as well.
Maintaining detachment throughout the activity was easy because i put myself in a professional place, where I only saw the children as service users, just acting like a friend or a helper. On my initial visit Cassie was attached to me by not letting me help other kids or leave her doing an activity by herself. When the activity finished the children helped me tidy up, I applied this by asking the children to collect all the matching colours and place them in a pile and then it was time for their snack break, due to this it was easy enough for me to say good bye and then leave the preschool without the children being too attached.

Before I left I asked the manager to complete an evaluation sheet, which would show me how well I did with the children and how the activity went. As well as this I asked the children to fill out evaluation sheets, this included them colouring in a smiley face or an unhappy face based on how they felt about the activity. (see attached booklet 2)
A04- Evaluation

The first part of my activity was to introduce the activity, this will benefit their intellectual development by having an understanding of what the activity shall involve, as well as this it will benefit their social development because by me talking to them it gave them a positive communication which affects the extent and quality of the children’s learning. At first I thought it would hard for the children to understand due to the use of different colours but their knowledge on colours was very good and would’ve improved throughout this activity.

The second part of my activity was carrying it out, this involved me showing them the examples I previously created, and giving them the equipment they needed to do the activity then doing the activity. This will benefit within their physical development by using fine motor coordination in order to draw shapes, cut patterns and hand writing. Their skills similarly translate to other areas of their lives such as dressing, eating and in the academic setting. Practicing and gaining fine muscle control and strengthening eye-hand motor coordination is beneficial. For example; by holding paintbrushes and learning how to control paint, crayons, scissors, and other art tools, children gain the skills necessary for later writing activities as well as a feeling of control over themselves and their world. However, this wasn’t the case, the children I did the activity with they did not have the ability to write or draw any shapes.
It will also benefit their emotional development because its building self-esteem, it is important to initially choose arts and crafts that are at the children’s skill level. Completing the crafts successfully will give them a great sense of accomplishment and pride which is an emotional benefit.
It also develops their social skills by bonding with children their own age and creating something together. They also saw that others have differing points of view and ways of expressing these than they do. Comparing children’s drawings, paintings, or models gives children concrete, dramatic examples of how different people express the same thing in different ways. While learning that their way is not the only way, they learn to value diversity.

The last part of my activity was tidying up this involved the children gathering all the different coloured tissue paper in separate piles due to their assigned colours. This benefitted their social and intellectual development by taking responsibility within their actions and being able to follow instructions, the children didn’t show all their abilities in this, some of them just walked away and didn’t come and help. As well as tidying up I asked the children to sit around the table again and fill in an evaluation sheet, this is so they could assess my activity, this benefited the children because it gave them a responsibility also emotionally because they were given a mature task.

By sharing paints and paper, cooperating to create a group mural or other project, and assuming responsibility for cleaning up, children gain valuable social skills through making art.

During the activity I did feel like there were unforeseen abilities that were unexpected, for example there was one boy that rolled up the tissue paper and glued it into coloured piles on to his work. This was unexpected because on my initial visit I got the impression that the children I was doing the activity with did not know a lot about colours, at the age of three children may know some of their colours but get can often get confused. At this point I encourage them to keep guessing, this would help them with their intellectual development.

For each child, the activity suited the interests, due to all of them having an interest in arts and crafts, this allowed me to ask them questions based on arts and crafts such as; what do you like most about doing arts and crafts? What’s your favourite colour? What would you like to be when you're older? As every child is different, it is important to think about and interact with the individual, as well as the group as a whole. Considering the range of children’s styles, social interactions and personalities: * some are quiet; others are noisy * some like to spend time by themselves; others are the life of the party * some are shy; others are outgoing * some are active; others are quiet * some enter into new situations easily; others like to stand back and watch
For example: there was a quiet little boy who got on with activity while the little girl next to him was loud and talkative. Each child enjoyed the activity, this was benefiting them in emotional development by making themselves proud of their creation and they finished an activity.

Before going to the preschool I took sometime planning each step of my activity making sure I had each part of the activity was separated equally. Prior to this I was hoping the children knew a lot of the subjects in my activity before I went, however, the activity developed the children’s skills more than I thought. Some of the children didn’t know many colours, so this activity taught them this, as well as shapes and sizes. From this experience I wouldn’t change anything major except having a bigger group to work with, the children I worked with were great but their abilities were similar to each other.
Bringing my own resources didn’t cost anything because I had all the resources at home due to being into arts and crafts myself and having younger siblings.

Planning
The activity I chose was suitable for the setting, the arts and crafts fit in well with the preschool surroundings, having paintings and drawings dotted around the walls. The room I did the activity in was really small and there was no room for me or the children to move around in. If I went to this preschool again I would change that. Even though my activity group wasn’t big, it was a good size group to carry out the activity; this allowed me to keep an interaction with each child. If I was talking to one of the children, the most important thing for me to do is to pay attention; however, this was a challenge due to maintaining supervision on what the other children are doing.
My choice of activity was suitable for the facilities, equipment and resources because arts and crafts involve using different kinds of materials which the children was interested in because of the texture, also the variety of colours.

While being at the preschool I had identified some barriers, such as one little girl in my group was from Lithuania, this would be a language barrier which before I thought it would a problem but it wasn’t because she spoke perfect English. Foreign languages can be a barrier to communication, in this case, I might speak to someone in English but the other person may speak in Lithuanian with you so you wouldn't be able to communicate with them due to the language you speak in, this is a barrier to communication. However, if Cassie was not able to talk much English, I would ask for your help to communicate with her, or I could just talk to her and encourage her to tell me objects. Doing a risk assessment before going to the preschool was allowing me to understand the hazards that occur while I’m carrying out my activity, for example; if there was a fire I would have to understand where the fire safety point is and to get the children to safety in a safe way. However, when I was at the preschool there wasn’t a fire, but there was a safety issue with glue, if any of the children had an allergic reaction with the glue or sniffed it, that would be an issue. There for I carried out a risk assessment which was able to tell me and others where the hazards were. (see attached page 4)

For my activity, I took into consideration the curriculum at the preschool; which was to encourage the child's speaking and listening, the children I was working with talked with enthusiasm, while we were carrying out the activity I encouraged them all to speak, i did this by: * Using good speech that is clear and simple for the children to model * Repeating what the children have said indicating that I have understood * Expanding on what they have said, for example: ‘Want juice? I have juice. I have apple juice. Do you want apple juice?’ * Helping the children to understand and ask questions. Asking yes or no questions. Encouraging them to make up questions and trying to fool me.
Three to four year olds are considered as thinkers, which mean that they rely solely on the concrete appearance of objects rather than ideas, they focus on only one relationship at a time, and they often see things from only one point of view (their own). (http://www.education.com/reference/article/cognitive-development-preschoolers/)
But by encouraging those to talk it will benefit them in their social development due to it building their confidence, it can also benefit them in their emotional development allowing them to express their feelings to others around them other than just hiding it.

My activity did not have a specific seasonal theme to it; however, it did involve some animals from seasons such as: the bee can relate to spring and summer. But the other animals don’t relate to any seasons. The time of my activity was 10:00 am until 11:00 am; this was the perfect time for me to do my activity because it was just after the children have finished their break time and before their snack time. Doing my activity after break was good because it meant the children would have a lot of enthusiasm and energy to do my activity. While i was there having a supervisor around helped me a lot just in case something went wrong, for example if there was no supervisor around and a child ate glue or started choking then I wouldn’t know what to do. This was important because it made me feel more relaxed in doing my activity but it did feel like I was under pressure. The supervisor was close enough for me to ask her questions but far away enough for me to talk to the children not feeling like she is watching my every step. I also asked the supervisor to fill in an evaluation sheet to access on how well my activity went on. (see attached sheet 2)

Accidental injuries are common in a preschool this is why I had to consider to doing a health and safety check at the preschool, making sure there were no obstacles in anyway. Reducing the injuries with this age group is a major concern, it is important to be continually alert for safety dangers in the environment, such as: to protect against falls, stairways, windows and elevated surfaces. At the preschool, there were no stairs but there were windows however, they were locked. Children should be protected from electrical outlets with specially designed outlets of safety caps; this was shown at the preschool.

The plan I made was helping me out a lot, before I arrived at the preschool I double checked every step of the activity and checklist making sure I had everything ready. (see attached sheet 5) Having a time plan was allowing me to control the activity within the time given, I was given an hour to do my activity so my time plan had been divided into sections.

Throughout the activity the children were able to participate without any major assistance, there was one girl who had difficulty putting the glue down on the paper and then sticking the tissue paper down because the tissue paper kept on sticking to her finger, so I assisted her with this, other than that the children engaged in the activity with great enthusiasm and during this there were no omissions, everyone joined in were having fun doing this activity. On my initial visit I asked the manager if I was able to use any of the schools resources, due to her answer being yes I still felt uncomfortable using the school resources so I bought the resources I needed for the activity with me. The activity was based in a small corner in a busy classroom this was hard for me to talk to each child due to having the children playing in the back ground. I would say the biggest weakness out of the activity was the space, it would’ve been easier in a classroom where I would talk to the children without raising my voice so they could hear me, in that case, this would be one of the improvements I would make, asking the supervisor if I was able to move into a different room without any other children distracting the children I was doing the activity with.

Implementing the Activity
At the beginning before I started the activity I introduced myself and explained the activity, this was done by showing examples while speaking clearly, going through each step of the activity. Fortunately each child understood what to do, I made sure everyone understood by asking them ‘raise your hands if you know what to do’. If I could make any improvements, I would make more examples and let them keep them. Maintaining safety through the activity was a struggle due to each child having a glue stick, the glue sticks contain fumes that can be toxic, and this is a safety hazard if a child decided to eat or sniff the glue. I maintained this by keeping a close eye on each child throughout the activity. I could improve anything because what I did was all I was able to do.

Throughout the activity I was observing each child and making sure they had a positive attitude towards the activity, for example there was boy that knew what to do but another boy looked bored so I encouraged him to add more colour and see if he could make a shape. My communication skills with the children were adequate because between me and the children it helps manage, create and sustain a good atmosphere, as a child learns language they learn to communicate in increasingly complex ways; as still relatively young ages children know how to communicate differently to different people (parents, siblings, grandparents teachers and other people). My communication skills with the children were talking to them like a friend, getting to know them and asking about their interests, as the children develop communication skills so their interpersonal and social skills also mature. However, when speaking with the care workers, I spoke with manners, non-verbal signals such as, shaking the manager's hand as soon as I arrive this will be showing them I am a mature student willing to carry out my activity.

Before and during the activity I made sure I explained the activity thoroughly making sure everyone understood what to do. But by doing this I put me in their shoes, giving them guidance slowly and clearly. While the activity was being carried out I kept a professional attachment between client (children) and teacher (me), I was there to guide them and help them develop physical, intellectual, emotional and social skills. Although I was just a teacher to them, I was acting like a friend, even though humour wasn’t clear to them I had tried to make jokes and make the activity seem more fun, this made the duration of the activity go a lot faster, but it was enough time for the introduction, main activity and tidying up to be complete, to make the activity more interesting I wouldn’t got the children to draw their own animals and then get them to decorate them with a wide variety of other materials. However, when there was mess, I got the children to join in with the cleaning up; this would benefit the children within the social and emotional development because working within a team to would create friendship and will also make them happy and proud of what they have achieved.

Views of others
When observing the service users, I noticed all of them had reaction that was pleasing to see, happy facial expressions and laughing, none of them were upset or angry. Three to four year olds are beginning to understand their emotions and feelings, still trying to control them. At this age, the pre-schoolers still haven't developed much impulse control, if the child feels something; they are more likely to act on it. This may mean snatching a toy away from another child I he want to play with it, or getting upset when he wants a snack after being told he has to wait until after break. Three and four year olds may use hitting, biting or pushing as a way to solve conflicts. They simple don’t understand the difference between appropriate and inappropriate interactions yet. I got the children to fill out an evaluation sheet to see if they enjoyed the activity or not (see attached booklet 2)

As well as asking the children, I asked one of the teachers that was supervising me throughout the activity. (see attached sheet 2)

If I could develop my activity in any way, I would use a lot more materials, so the children could get an idea of different textures, such as using foam which is soft or sandpaper which is rough. However, sand paper would be a bad material to use because in some ways it can be painful, but it depends in how the material is being used.

Over all, if I had to make any improvements I would make my activity more interesting by, creating a seasonal adventure which would include the group of clients and I going on a leaf hunt, but I would also read the book ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’.

If I could do my activity in a different setting, such as; a care home, I would adapt it by getting the resident to draw the pictures and then designing the picture themselves. This will make them feel proud of their achievements.

Results from my activity at the preschool (see attached booklet 3)

Letter to pre-school (see attached page 7)

Response from the pre-school (see attached page 8)