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I’m really looking forward to bringing the Rockets activity set into my Infants–2nd multigrade classroom this term. I’ll start with “Whatever Next” to spark curiosity about the moon and how we’d actually get there, then show a real rocket launch video to hook them further — hoping for a few gasps! From there we’ll make rocket mice and balloon rockets, with each age group finding their own level: Junior/Senior Infants exploring through play and talk, while 1st/2nd class move into predicting, measuring distances, and recording results.
Once they’ve had time to explore, I’ll set them investigating their own starter question — does the rocket go further if I squeeze harder or faster — and I’m excited to see what predictions and surprises come up. Linking it afterwards to everyday examples like kicking a football or blowing bubbles should help them see force and flight all around them, not just in a rocket.
For our next SSE cycle, I’d like to build in a proper design-test-improve loop across all levels, pair older children with infants for peer teaching during launches, and capture more photo and voice evidence, since so much of infant scientific thinking comes through talk rather than writing.
love your lesson idea and the investigation of fair testing, i think sometimes class is so busy that that part can get forgotten in the throws of it! love the way you explained it step by step- one for me for next term!
love this activity Juliette, it really is an eye opener for the children. I’ve done this in the past and children step up so confidently with their designs and are genuinely shocked if they sink! it’s a great learning process for them, practical activities like this bring out so much in the junior end of school.
Hands on classroom themed activities
Working with an Infants–2nd multigrade group, I’ve learned that hands-on science themes are a winner— everyone can dip in at their own level around the same table. In the past, we did a “Growing Things” theme: Junior/Senior Infants planted seeds and drew what they saw, while 1st/2nd class measured growth, kept simple charts, and started asking “why” questions about light and water. Same activity, different depth — that’s the beauty of it for mixed ages.
What struck me was how naturally the STEM strands wove in without me forcing them: the seed planting became engineering when we problem-solved poor drainage in our pots, and maths crept in through measuring and comparing.
For our next SSE cycle, I’d like to build on this by:
Mapping our science themes explicitly against STEM outcomes so it’s not accidental
Introducing a simple “planning, testing, improving” cycle even for the little ones (draw it, try it, fix it)
Building in more peer-teaching, where older children explain their thinking to the infants
Gathering photo/talk evidence across all levels for our SSE report, since so much of infant learning is oral rather than written
Small changes, but I think they’d deepen the inquiry focus considerably. Our school actually won a platinum award this year for curious minds so we love working whole school to deliver fun and interactive STEM lessons.Activity set: Space and aliens
I’ve learned that giving children a bit of creative freedom alongside science really gets them thinking. For this lesson I’d start by looking at the planets in our solar system, talking through what conditions might be like on each one – hot, cold, icy, rocky, gas-filled – and comparing them to Earth.
I’d then ask the children to pick a planet and design an alien that could actually survive there, thinking about what features it might need. We’d chat about animals here on Earth first – how a polar bear survives the cold or a camel copes with heat – and then imagine how a similar creature might look and adapt if it lived on a freezing or fiery planet instead.
The older children would explain their reasoning behind their alien’s features, while the infants would focus on describing colours, shapes and simple ideas like “it has fur to keep warm.” It’s a lovely way to blend science and imagination, letting every child engage at their own level while thinking about environments and adaptation. Love how Science can be so cross curricular and invites us to explore countries etc through Geography.
It would create a fun, colourful display in the hallway to get everyone talking!this sounds like such a fun lesson, it’s really allowing children to be imaginative and creative. my class would love this and it would make a great display.
Reflection: Our Solar System Lesson – Multigrade Junior Infants to 2nd Class
For this lesson I’d use the ESERO “Planets” resource alongside two songs – “The Family of the Sun” and StoryBots’ “We Are the Planets.” Songs work really well in a multigrade class because every child can join in regardless of age or reading ability. I also have a lot of children with EAL and additional needs to feel songs and youtube videos really help reinforce language and learning.
I’d start on the mat with the pupils and discuss what we already know about the planets- trying to find children’s prior knowledge, i’d brainstorm their ideas together. Then listen to “We Are the Planets,” getting the children up and moving when they hear a planet name – great for the infants who learn best through movement and repetition. Then we’d listen to “The Family of the Sun,” pausing to chat about what each planet is like, using the ESERO i’d play the planet game outdoors.
The older children would then work on sequencing the planets and noting a fact or two about each, while the infants would focus on naming and ordering them using picture cards. I’d finish by singing both songs again, so they’d have much more confidence the second time round.
It would be a lovely, low-pressure way to introduce space, with music doing a lot of the heavy lifting for engagement and memory across all the age groups.this is sounds like a lovely activity Ciara, also saw an idea before of lining up toys such as farm/safari animals and letting the children draw around their shadows. Think practical activities are so important for all ages and being able to take photographs of their work is great evidence for assessment.
In my 20 years teaching, this is one of those activities that just works across every age group. Using ideas from Curious Minds and tying into the Irish Curriculum’s Forces strand, I got my multigrade class (Junior Infants to 2nd Class) building their own catapults from bits and bobs we had lying around school – Lego, Kapla blocks, elastic bands, and spoons.
The children paired up across age groups, which I loved, as the older ones naturally took the lead in measuring how far a pom-pom launched, while the little ones focused on words like “far,” “near,” “push” and “pull.” Everyone used the same pom-pom each time so it was a fair test, and we measured distances with metre sticks, marking the launch line with tape.
It was messy, noisy, and brilliant – real hands-on learning where every child, no matter their age, was thinking, predicting, and testing like a scientist.
We’ve also done this across the school as we are a small school so all ages really enjoy it, especially fun if you can facilitate some of it outdoors.Resources Used:
Lego
Kapla blocks
Elastic bands
Plastic spoons
Pom-poms (kept the same each time)
Metre sticks/tape measure
Masking tape (for launch line/marking distances)
Recording sheet or whiteboardThis is a lovely activity, i’ve done a similar activity with my multigrade class and they love it. Great to link with other subjects and make cross curricular, we did it as part of gaeilge. I love the idea of the fan though that would be great fun!
My name is Michelle, I taught multigrade Junior infants- 2nd class for 10 years and i’m moving into SET/EAL in September, excited for the change. My favourite space fact is that there are more stars in space than grains of sand on Earth’s beaches!
Hi Avril, upon researching local supports I too was surprised to learn how may there were here in Donegal. I think I was quite clueless before now. our local library were very supportive too and encouraged families to get library cards and avail of the multi lingual resources there. I think our Irish pupils learn lots form have intercultural days and it is something we organize in school presently- sharing music, food, art and other cultural things in fun and positive ways.
Was really interested reading your post Yvonne, although we are not in a city some of our pupils have been affected by the housing crisis, particularly the families who moved from Ukraine and originally lived in hotels and then had to find alternative accommodation in the past year. For the Irish pupils it has been a real ‘eye opener’ in terms of realising different backgrounds and circumstances.
Enjoyed reading your ideas Sarah and feel the ‘red warnings’ and more severe storms leave more of a talking point for our pupils and make it relatable to teach more about climate, weather, etc. I think i’ll be nabbing your weather diary idea also! Even using ipads to take photos and have a digital log of how certain weathers have impacted our school community and local farms in the area.