Bringing large oceans to small world play
Hopefully your little ones enjoyed the pirate ship activity from the last issue, looking for treasures on the wide open seas. The reality is that they are most likely to encounter pollution on a scale greater than you or they could imagine! Let’s scale it down to small world play and introduce a range of activities to help them understand the world and allow them to express what they know in an imaginative way.
Oil spill experiment
This hands-on activity is a good way to introduce your little learners to the topic of sea pollution. They will be oceans and the animls that live there.
What you’ll need
• A deep clear container or tray • • Vegetable oil • Cocoa powder • 832006 - Ocean Animals • 801983 - Sand and Water Boat Fleet
• 800162 - River Pebbles 1kg • Washing up liquid • Clean up tools (old toothbrushes, sponges and cotton wool balls)
Method
1. Fill the tray half full of water and add 1-2 drops of blue food colouring.
2. In a small plastic cup mix a spoon of cocoa powder into half a cup of vegetable oil to create your ‘crude oil’.
3. Invite your little learners to create their own underwater habitat by adding the rocks and plastic ocean animals before adding the boats to the tray.
4. Pour the oil mixture into the rim of one of the boats to represent an oil tanker transporting oil across the ocean and then tip the boat over so the oil spills into the water.
Now the clean-up begins! Let your little learners try to clean up the rocks and animals using the clean-up tools and washing up liquid.
6. You could also do this experiment using feathers instead have on our sea birds or add pieces of plastic bag for the children to try and remove using tongs.
6 Shop Little Learners
ypo.co.uk/earlyyears
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