Activity Plan

Preliminary Information:

Name of Student Educator: Britannia MacDonald

Curriculum Area: Sensory/Art Developmental Domain: Social-Emotional

Descriptive Title of Activity: Colour Pop

Indoor: Indoor Activity Outdoor:_________

Age of Children: 11-17 Months

Date of Implementation: February 2nd, 2017

Resources Used to Prepare Plan (in APA format):

Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning. (2007). Early Learning for Every Child Today: A framework
for Ontario early childhood settings. Ontario. Ministry of Child and Youth Services.

Bells, H. (October 2016). Baby Bubble Wrap Art. Arty Crafty Kids. Retrieved from
www.artycraftykids.com/art/baby-bubble-wrap-art/

Children’s Resource or Storybook (in APA format, to be used as part of activity-

before/after/extend/enhance learning):

Nickelodeon. (2014). Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Show your Colors! New York: Random House
LLC.

Part I – Planning

Rational for the activity (sentence form):

The children in my day care enjoy exploring their environment, and are often seen in corners of the
room that feature sensory bags that are secured to the wall. They enjoy using materials on different
surfaces, and experimenting with the different effects that they can have on their surroundings. In
particular, I have seen the children express positive interest and delight upon discovery of the texture
and sounds that they can create with a bubble wrap sensory bag. I have also taken notice of the
children's consistent use of water and soft foods as a base with which they can create designs. Due
to these observations, I have concluded that the children seem to be overall interested in tactile
exploration. For this reason, I have chosen to create a sensory mat that incorporates bubble wrap
and its familiar enjoyment for the children at my daycare. Within the sensory mat I will be placing
primary coloured paint to incorporate the children’s interest of manipulating soft textures.

Overall and Specific Skills

Physical
ELECT 5.3 Tactile Exploration (Pg 33)
Specific Skill: Touching and feeling bubble wrap to produce a sound. Pressing and stepping on
materials to experience sensory stimuli. Rubbing bubble wrap to move the paint underneath.

Cognitive

ELECT 4.3 Cause and Effect Exploration (Pg 28)

Specific Skill: Moving paint beneath mat and pressing hands on bubble wrap to see and repeat the
sound they can produce.

Social/Emotional

ELECT 1.1 Social Interest (pg 24)

Specific Skill: Examining objects with teacher and forming meaningful connections with the educator.

Learning Materials needed:

-4 Bubble Wrap Mats
-3 Tubes of paint (Red, yellow, blue)
-Tape

Description of Set-Up:

In a free space on the floor the mat will be set down, and taped to the ground in order to secure it in
one place. The taped down materials will create four squares on the floor with which the children can
explore in tactile exploration by walking, or crawling over. The four squared will be taped down with
bright red masking tape to grab their attention, and there will be paint inside the bubble wrap squares
that are red, yellow, and blue. The colours and unusual textures will be a sharp contrast from the
normal grey floor, and should easily grab their attention.

Guidelines to Foster Self-Regulation:

-”Only two people at one mat at one time, please.”

-“Please use your walking feet when you’re near the mats.”

Health or Safety Considerations:

-Use non-toxic paint

-Make sure that the mat is properly secured to the floor to avoid slipping accidents.
-Make sure the space is clear and free of obstacles

Part II – Implementation

Invitation (aimed at getting children’s attention and interest):

I will take a loose piece of bubble wrap, sit down, and start popping it. When the children become
interested in what I am doing, I will show them the set-up activity and say, “It’s got lots of colours,
doesn’t it? Red, yellow, and blue. What else can we see on the mats?"

Teaching Steps (detailed and clear):

1. Have the children sit down and then state the guidelines for self regulation.
2. Teacher will press on a spot on the mat where there is no paint and show the child that it pops in
order to gain their natural interest.
3. Allow the child to experiment with the texture and popping sounds that the bubble mat produces.
Tell them what sounds are being produced, and the textures they are feeling. “Is it making a popping
sound?” and “Do you feel that the wrap is bumpy?” are some examples for this step.
4. Allow child to discover that the paint moves underneath. If they do not discover this on their own,
the teacher will point to the colour and press it around, showing the child that it can move around.
“Look, do you see the red paint? Watch how it moves.”
5. Finally, after child has played with the mat for a while, show them other ways that they can use the
mat. “What do you think will happen if we stomp on the mat with our feet?”

3 Wonderment Questions

1. “What else can we do with the mat?”

2. “How does the mat feel?”
3. “Can you tell me what you see?”

Closure:

“Thank you for popping the bubble wrap and painting with me! Let's fold up your painting.” Lift the mat
from its position taped to the floor, and fold the extra tape over the edges. Pop the bubble wrap one
more time, and then place the mat on the table to dry.

Transition:

“Can you find any other bubble wrap in the room? Good job, on the wall near the glass door! You can
go ahead and play with it now.”

Ways in which the following are incorporated into this activity:

i) Creativity:
(Explain in sentence form how activity promotes creativity)

The children will be exploring with their bodies the sounds that they can make with different materials.
They will be free to manipulate the materials in any form they would like. They will also be using their
hands to manipulate the wrap in order to move the paint underneath, therein using a unique tool to
paint with. They will be asked open-ended questions which will allow them to practice and put
emphasis on their knowledge of colours, and their answers will be accepted without criticism or
judgment. This activity also focuses on the process. There is a great deal of freedom with how they
can manipulate the objects as well, as it will be secured to the floor and the paint is secured below the
bubble wrap. Therefore, creativity is never interrupted.

ii) Inclusiveness:
(Explain in sentence form how activity fosters inclusiveness)

The activity presented is able to be successfully conducted by all of the children, regardless of their
developmental progress. The activity is placed on the floor for the infants that are mobile mostly
through crawling. The activity can be manipulated in many ways, so that all children can have some
fun and learn from their experience. They might use fine motor and pop bubbles, or they may just
play with the paint, or they could potentially just feel the bubble wrap and get an experience out of
that. The group size is only two per station so that I can work with both children, but the opposite child
will always have aid and attention from the co-operating early childhood educator.

Part III Reflective Practice

The Learning Story:

Colour Pop

Before I put down the mat, the children had noticed that I grabbed the paint. They
watched me put the paint into the mat and were immediately eager to play with the mats
as I put them down. They moved equally between all three mats, pausing and trying to
pop the bubbles, move the paint, and even feel the texture of the bubble wrap under
their feet, hands, and even with their mouths. Their reactions to the activity showed their
use of the primary developmental milestone I wished to foster in the children, tactile
exploration (ELECT 5.3 Page 33: Tactile Exploration). I was surprised to see some of the
older infants intelligently moving primary colours together and creating secondary
colours. Their pride at their accomplishment validated that the new colour was what they
intended to create. When stomping, pressing the mat, and mixing the paint colours, the
children utilized their cognitive abilities and experimentation in order to better
understand cause and effect (ELECT 4.3 Page 28: Cause and Effect Exploration),
another key ability I aimed to foster with my activity. During the activity, the children also
transitioned from mat to mat at their own pace, interacting with their peers and teachers
to find new ways to manipulate the mat. This shows their ability to seek out familiar
people and share their experiences, effectively revealing how the Colour Pop activity
fostered their social interest (ELECT 1.1 Page 24: Social Interest). When the children
were finished they smoothly transitioned from the activity area, and some even helped
me clean up the mats before going to their regular activities.

Analysis of Learning:
(What did the child(ren) do and understand during this experience?)

The children popped the bubbles, moved the soft materials underneath, and even explored the
bumpy texture with their mouths. They understood that heavy pressure made a popping noise, and
repeated that outcome. They also sought out teacher help to make the noise, as well as create new
effects when they tired of one continuous outcome. They also understood that popping the bubble
wrap moved the paint underneath, and the colours would then mix together and form something
entirely different.

Extension of Learning:
(What opportunities will the student educator provide to extend on this experience?)

I am leaving extra materials with the center, and will be helping my co-operating teacher create brand
new sensory bags. The children are now familiar with the outside materials, but new substances can
be placed inside the mats for them to manipulate with the new methods the activity has taught them. I
will regularly draw attention to the pouches to reinforce their learning.

C –Self-Reflection of Student Educator’s Learning / Performance

**Must be completed before the cooperating teacher’s evaluation

Strengths:
(how did the student impact the success of the activity minimum of 2)

1. I helped children learn about different methods to manipulate objects. By doing this I was
extending the learning that was accomplished throughout the activity.
2. I also accepted all responses to the mats, and used these responses to implement
wonderment questions. This allowed all the children to feel and be included in the activity. It
also allowed the children to express their creativity and curiousity in healthy and
unrestricted ways.

Recommendations:
(what can the student do differently to change, improve, enhance the experience
– minimum of 2)

1. If I’m going to have only a small amount of the children do an activity, I might want to put
up a barrier and try to eliminate extra attention being drawn to the activity other than the
activity I am seeking. This will allow me to have more effectiveness during the activity by
interacting with each child in a more personal way.
2. For future activities I might also want to have my materials completely ready and/or put
all materials down together to avoid confrontation between the students. The children
caught onto the newness of the materials right away, and that made the set up portion
of my activity more difficult than I anticipated.
____________________________________________________________________

D - Cooperating Teacher’s Evaluation: (Please include signature and date)

**To be completed after the student has self-reflected.

(On the Following Page)