The Beach

For my second post related to this 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside' topic, I'm concentrating on the outdoor space that I've themed as The Beach.

1- The shed
We have a small 'house' shed in our outdoor space. We only have use of 1 half of it as the other side is used to store the portable stage used for productions. I always theme the shed to our topic and this time I've taken my inspiration from the story of 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch' and the shed has become Mrs Grinling's kitchen. One of the trees has been turned into a lighthouse and we have a pulley system set-up between the shed (and the boat that is next to it) and the tree so that Mrs Grinling can send the food to Mr Grinling in the lighthouse.

This kitchen set up is usually in the classroom as a permanent, home themed, role-play area. This term, we've taken it outside to the shed to be Mrs Grinling's kitchen.

The lighthouse was made by laminating strips of white and red A3 paper and full A3 sheets of yellow paper for the light. I simply sellotaped together a few strips and then wrapped them around the tree, sellotaping the ends together to secure it.

The pulley system came from the TTS catalogue and I gave the children a choice of different buckets to use as their basket- unfortunately, a proper Mrs Grinling style basket is very hard to come by.

The children have enjoyed getting food from the kitchen, placing it in the buckets and then moving it to the lighthouse. It's great for teamwork too as the clipping on and movement of the bucket is a 2 person job.

2- The shelter
We have a covered space within our outdoor area, known to us as 'the shelter'. It seems to be a bit of a wind tunnel but it does at least give me the chance to do some things that wouldn't work well in the rain! For this topic, it's an ice cream van...

I used our construction poles (the same as the ones used to build these dark dens) to create the basic van shape and then, with the help of a colleague, covered it in display backing paper. We left a side open so that the children (and adults) could get inside and another section open for the window. I drew a few details on using markers and then added labels and posters from Twinkl. We already had some wooden ice creams and lollies so these were perfect too. I also added a till with real coins to add a money element to the role-play.

3- The tuff spot
I have to admit that I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with tuff spots/builders trays. We have quite a few of them because they can be really useful but sometimes I just don't know what to do with them at all! I look for ideas on Pinterest but never really find anything I love.

We use one as a permanent dinosaur home (maybe another post, another time!) but I then try to do something topic related in at least one of them. This time I've managed 2 so I'm quite happy with myself!

In one, I've used a TTS tuff spot mat with a beach design on it. I added some water to the tuff spot and then places in some blue and green coloured stones and some shape matching boats. As well as role-play, my children this year love water so this had gone down really well with them.

My second tuff spot idea lives under 'the shelter' to provide a bit of protection from the British spring / summer time (e.g. rain) and simply contains some sand. I've placed the tuff spot on the lowest of my tuff spot stands and placed three deckchairs around it. This puts it at the perfect height for the children to be able to take off their shoes and socks and feel the sand between their toes! Even on a slightly chilly day, our beach was very busy!

Some simple, some more complicated ideas- hopefully I've inspired you to want to go to the beach too.

Under the Sea

This week, we started a new topic in my class- 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside'. I have themed the indoor space as 'Under the Sea' and outside as 'The Beach' (post to follow).

Here are my ideas for the 'Under the Sea' theme.

1- the ceiling

One of the best things about teaching in a mobile classroom is the low ceilings. It means that they can become part of the theme too.

For this topic, I've used thin strips of organza, in shades of blue, tied to small hooks in the ceiling for the water, There are also nets and plastic lobsters/crabs stuck in them. I have also used wider strips of organza, hanging under the strip lights, to create a wave/tide effect. Doesn't show in the pictures but there are turtle shapes cut from black card sitting in these strips to look like the turtles are swimming in the rip tide (think Finding Nemo).

2- the book corner

My current class love stories but aren't all that keen at looking at books on their own. They're too busy role-playing! I've tried to combine the two with my book corner for this topic.

I started by using a cheap grey sheet, double bed size cut in half, to cover 2 large beanbags so that they looked like rocks. I then used some old pyjama bottoms to make mermaids tails. These are simply the pyjama bottoms with the top two thirds of the legs sewn together and the bottom third attached with an elastic band. The children have enjoyed wearing them around the classroom and there's plenty of physical challenge in moving whilst wearing them!

3- the small room

We're lucky enough to have a small room, off the main classroom. We always use this as our main indoor role-play space. This term, I was inspired by the children's love of Peter Pan (after a visit to the pantomime last Christmas) so made a desert island.

I started by covering the floor in both blue and yellow display backing paper to create the sea and the sand. I also added a strip (torn to make it wobbly) of the paper up the wall to make the sea in the distance. The children have all decided that they must take their shoes off before going into this room "so we don't get sand in our shoes" so it had the effect I was looking for!

I then took 4 of our room dividers and placed them across the room, where the blue and yellow paper met. I covered them in brown paper and shaped it to look like a pirate ship. I added an Ikea table, plastic anchor, treasure map and Jolly Roger flag & bunting to the space. There's even a plank of wood for them to walk up to get into the boat.

You can also just see the dressing up clothes & accessories and the inflatable crocodile!

The 'island' needed a palm tree so this one was made from old plant pots, stacked from largest to smallest. I put plaster in the base pot to create weight and stability and used bamboo canes to hold everything together. I stuffed newspaper inside each pot to stop it dropping too far down onto the one below.The leaves were made from display backing paper and attached to the tree trunk with sellotape and the wall with pins.

The treasure chest was a brilliant gift from a colleague with connections at a local educational resource supplier. It didn't look quite like this when I got it though! It was originally brown and blue with big logos on it. I started by painting the pale brown 'planks' with an emulsion paint and then painted the dark brown edges and details with standard school water based paint. I then used metallic gold paint for the metal details and a sharpie for the wood grain.

Throughout the room, I've used elements from the Twinkl website such as labels, portholes, number coins and the bunting.

The children love it and their reactions when they first walk into the room are worth all the hard work.

Hello!

Hi, I'm Vikki (craftyteacher) and this blog is dedicated to role-play and classroom themes.

I teach a small Reception class in rural England and I love to make my classroom an exciting place to be. I do this through role-play linked to our topic themes. My topics change roughly each month and so does my classroom. It's hard work but when the children walk in and are amazed by what I've done, it's worth it.

I'll post photos of all my role-play creations to hopefully inspire other people to make their own classrooms a really exciting place to be.

If you're working on a topic and you're stuck for ideas just message me and I'll see what I can come up with.