In 3 YO Nursery the NELI text for the final week before half term was called Dinosaur Rocket. It was all about some dinosaurs who became astronauts and travelled to the moon. During the story we learnt the words moon, rocket, space, splash and astronaut. The story stimulated a lot of interest in rockets and space, with the children asking lots of questions. Following this interest we set up a space themed small world area which was an instant hit.

Our learning about space continued in the outdoor area as we became engineers and the children built their very own rockets to role play travelling to the moon. We talked about the different parts of the rocket, what we would need to wear and how to make our rocket fly. As we role played, we imagined what we could see in outer space and explored some of the planet names.

Indoors the children continued to enjoy role playing with rockets, so we had a go a creating our very own craft rockets using toilet roll tubes and pre cut shapes. As we crafted, the children named the shapes they would use and talked about which part of the rocket they would use them for. The became deeply engrossed in this play, developing a range of skills through it, including fine motor, communication and language, creativity and social skills.