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Hi Niamh, I think using The Darkest Dark as a stimulus is a fantastic idea, especially because knowing that it was written by a real astronaut would make the learning feel even more meaningful and exciting for children. I love how your activity combines literacy, STEM and investigation in such a practical way. The rocket experiment would be a brilliant opportunity for children to make predictions, test their ideas and discuss their findings. I might use this activity idea during Space Week as it would be engaging and accessible for younger children.
During Space Week, I could transform my classroom into a “Space Explorers” hub where children can learn through play, discussion and hands-on investigation. We will begin with a class talk about what we already know about space and what we would like to find out. Throughout the week, children will explore the solar system through stories, videos and simple facts, then move into practical activities such as building rockets from recycled materials, creating astronaut helmets, and making moon craters in sand or flour trays. I also plan to include a role-play space station, where children can dress up as astronauts and use Gaeilge space vocabulary in their play.
To finish the week, the children will present their rockets and artwork, and we will display their questions and discoveries on a Space Week wall. This plan will help make space exciting, interactive and meaningful for the class while encouraging curiosity and teamwork across the classroom.Hi Markey, I really enjoyed reading your post. I think ‘Animals in the Cold’ is such a great topic for infants, especially because children are naturally so curious about animals they don’t see every day. I love how you expanded beyond penguins and included polar bears, as it gives children a great chance to compare different habitats and develop their understanding of the world around them. Your ice cube activity idea is such a simple but engaging way to bring learning into play, and I might steal that idea for my own class. It would be a great interactive experience with lots of opportunities for discussion and exploration. Could be linked to the Hot & Cold activity too.
If I were using the Weather activity set I would cover it over multiple lessons throughout a week or two with a Senior Infants class. I would begin by linking the theme to the children’s prior knowledge of animals in the world and their habitats and their everyday experience of Irish weather, where choosing the right clothes is often part of daily life. I think this set would work very well because it includes familiar, hands-on activities that give children the opportunities to deepen their understandings of an interesting theme and the world they live in. Rather than giving the children answers, I would encourage them to observe, predict and discuss by asking questions like, “Which coat would keep us driest?” or “How do animals stay warm in winter?” The children could test fabrics with water, see how different items respond to hot and cold environments, and compare their own clothing to animal features such as fur or feathers. As I teach in a Gaelscoil, I would use Gaeilge throughout, with words like cóta, ábhar, fuar, te, tirim and uisce. I feel this would support curiosity, oral language and scientific thinking through play and inquiry.
Hi Máiréad, I really enjoyed reading your ideas. I especially like how you use a story as a stimulus to spark the children’s curiosity before beginning the activity. I also love using a story or poem to introduce a lesson or activity, as I find it captures children’s imaginations and encourages rich discussion and questioning from the start. Your idea of creating alien passports and exploring communication through drama is so creative and provides lovely opportunities for oral language, play and inquiry-based learning.
Thinking about the Special Life activity and how I would adapt this for a lesson with my Senior Infants class. I would begin with the ‘What is Special?’ chat and ask some open-ended questions to spark conversation and give the children the opportunity to brainstorm and share. Then I would ask the children to choose something special on Earth they would show a visitor from another planet. They could draw it and act out the interaction with a friend for the class to guess.
I would then share a poem about aliens to spark their imaginations, something like ‘I’d Like To Meet An Alien’ by Kenn Nesbit. This poem is full of descriptive language and doesn’t describe the aliens as anything definitive which I feel is perfect to inspire an open drawing activity. After the poem and a short brainstorm on what their alien might look like, they would design an alien suited to another planet, explaining its features to their table group. As I am in a Gaelscoil, I would use the poem to inspire a lot of descriptive Gaeilge words that I could teach the children before the drawing activity. This activity would support inquiry, creativity and oral language while helping children think like young scientists. It would also link well with drama and art, making the learning playful and meaningful for Senior Infants learners. I also liked the making a martian from play doh activity in the Mars section, I feel the Special Life lesson could be extended into a separate art lesson in which the children make their aliens out of clay or FIMO modelling clay.
Hi Orla, I like the idea of comparing different light sources as this makes the lesson more relatable for children, it helps them make connections between a new concept and what they already understand about light and where it comes from. I also like the art idea, I think being creative is a great way for children to display their understanding in a fun and enjoyable way and reinforce what they are learning!
If I were using the Planets activity set in my S.I. classroom, I would begin by reading a book like ‘Whatever Next!’ by Jill Murphy about a Bear travelling to the moon. I think this story is a wonderful way to spark children’s curiosity about space as it gets them to imagine what it would be like to travel beyond Earth. Instead of just introducing planets facts, I would use the story as a stimulus for discussion, encouraging the children to share their own ideas and wonderings. I could ask questions such as, “What do you think Baby Bear would see if he travelled deeper into space?”, “Do you think there are other places besides the Moon in space?” and “What do we know about those places?” I want to encourage natural curiosity and guide their investigations not just give information.
To build on this interest I could then introduce the planets song provided; Family of The Sun. This would help the children hear the names of the planets in a fun and memorable way. I could use the song as part of the exploration stage of the lesson, asking questions such as, “Which planet names did you hear?” and “Which planet is closest to the Sun?” The children could sing along, dance and use actions to show the planets orbiting the Sun.
I liked the practical activities in this lesson, especially using hoops to represent the planets and allowing the children to become the planets themselves. I think this would help Senior Infants to develop a much deeper understanding of how the planets move around the Sun. You could take this activity outdoors reinforcing the concept through movement and play. Throughout the lesson I would continue to ask open-ended questions to encourage children to make predictions, discuss their thinking and learn from one another. I could extend the learning through art by creating solar systems and through drama by pretending to be astronauts visiting different planets. Overall, I feel this activity reflects the type of playful, integrated and child-centred learning environment I strive to create in my classroom. It nurtures curiosity, collaboration and communication while making a complex scientific concept accessible and enjoyable for young children.Hi Emma, I agree children of all ages seem really interested in learning about space. This year was my first time having Infants and I was shocked at the in depth knowledge some of them had about the universe at such a young age! I can’t wait to cover the topic properly this year with Infants again.
Living in Ireland where it frequently rains, I think an inquiry-based activity exploring which materials are best for keeping things dry would be a meaningful and engaging lesson for my Senior Infants. The activity could begin with a real-life question on a wet day such as “How can we keep our toys safe from the rain?” This would encourage the children to share their own experiences, ask questions and make predictions based on what they already know. Working in small groups, the children could investigate different materials by designing and creating a waterproof shelter for a small toy or character and then testing their designs using man-made ‘rain’ in droppers, we could even bring the shelters outside and test them in real rain too. I would encourage the children to observe carefully, discuss what happened and think about how they could improve or alter their designs. In my Gaelscoil classroom, I would facilitate the activity through Gaeilge, using scientific vocabulary such as “uisce”, “tirim”, “fliuch”, “uisedhíonach” and “ábhar”. This will help develop scientific language alongside communication and collaboration skills. I feel this type of inquiry-based learning suits Infants particularly well as it allows children to be active participants in their learning, follow their curiosity and learn through play, exploration and problem-solving. Rather than simply telling children which materials are waterproof, this approach allows them to discover the answer themselves and develop the confidence to think like young scientists.
Hi, I’m Grace and I will be teaching Senior Infants for the 2nd year. I thought this course would be great as I found this year that younger children are just as interested in space as middle and upper classes!
I think it’s fascinating that even though the planets in our solar system seem huge to us, they are surprisingly small when compared to the vast emptiness of the cosmos and all 7 could fit lined up between Earth and the moon!