Unit 3.

9 - Develop Children’s Cognitive Skills

AC 1.1 https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/article?contentid=3881&language=english

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S0jKbh6R1I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0fiu2S0_3M

Neural Pruning - involves the loss of unused neurons (by removing excess axons and
eliminating their synaptic connections)

Synaptic Formation and Neural Pruning

The neural connections(synapses) proliferate after birth, reaching twice at 2 years and
then decrease.
Myelination – Myelin is a fatty substance that surrounds nerve cells axons to insulate
them and increase the rate at which electrical impulses are passed through them.

https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/experiences-build-brain-architecture/

AC 1.4
Social Interaction

Social activities where a child is actively engaged by their parents, teachers or other children
help encourage healthy brain development and social skills and are one of the most effective
ways your little one learns. Talking to little ones directly not only encourages growth in the
language center of their brain, but it also helps them become a better learner through making
and strengthening connections in their brains.

Diet

Although the brain’s relationship with food is complex, it is clear that proper nutrition during
early childhood is an important part of proper brain development. Our brains require
immense amounts of energy and nutrients in order to develop and run properly, and at no
time is this more important than during the rapid development period of early childhood. A
diverse, healthy diet full of things like irons, proteins, vitamins and minerals helps leave
lasting effects on your child’s brain.

Physical Activity

The health of the brain is tied to the health of the rest of the body, and vice versa. Studies
suggest that exercise in early childhood can improve cognitive function. You can exercise
with baby from a young age with activities like tummy time, which also help him develop
muscle strength in his stomach and neck muscles and improve head control. You can
encourage a more active lifestyle in children by getting them involved in sports and other
play activities that they’ll enjoy. Fun summer activities and fun outdoor activities are great
places to start.

Novel Experiences

A creative environment where children are exposed to a variety of new ideas, objects,
and experiences helps them develop healthy, curious baby brains. In animal studies, the effect
of a more experience rich environment was most prominent when the subjects were exposed
earlier in life. Interactive experiences that are appropriate for a child’s age are most effective
and enriching.

Key Person Role

Stimulation

Avoiding Toxic Stress and Developing Positive Relationships

AC 2.1
Piaget’s Four Stages

 Assimilation- The child constructing a theory or schema. (All cats are four legged
animals as he has just seen a four legged animal was told that it was a cat.)
 Equilibrium- There is a balance to his thinking as all of his experiences thus far seem
to fit into his thinking correctly. (He notices that there are many cats around him and
all are four legged and continues to believe this is so.)
 Disequilibrium- A new encounter suggests something is amiss and his current
thinking doesn’t quite add up any longer. (A four legged animal he sees is called a
dog by another adult.)
 Accomodation- The child now changes his thought process according to his
experience. (He realizes that four-legged animals could be cats and dogs both.)
Thus a new schema emerges.

Piaget’s theory supports the fact that a child is an active learner. He documented his
theories based on the age and stage of the child as well. He looked at 4 different stages
specifically. These were, Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational and Formal
operational.
Bruner’s theory in EYFS:

For example, we see many situations where Bruner’s theories are put into practice. One such
area that draws inspiration from Bruner is when we do our topic on ‘Healthy Eating.’
Here we do role plays surrounding a supermarket with fruits and vegetables. Children
learn that certain types of objects they see represent fruits, while others represent
vegetables. When they are asked what they may enjoy eating they pick out these fruits
and vegetables with the help of an adult, placing it in their baskets for role play. Once
they are confident with this we realize they have developed an image in their mind for
each fruit and vegetable they played with as they begin to name them, gradually growing
in confidence. The adult does not need to support them in terms of this learning process
any further as the children have mastered the names of all these fruits and vegetables in
their role play area. To progress further in this area however the Practitioner will
introduce the term ‘Healthy Foods’ and what they mean, progressing a little deeper into
the topic, beginning to introduce the food pyramid to the children as well. This ensures
that children are given a chance to learn first through play, then commit what they play
with to memory and finally give these resources names and understand what they are
used for. The Practitioner continues to allow them to become independent in one area,
moving onto more complex thought processes of that same topic in another until children
can confidently link their learning and continue their development even when they are
not within the setting.
Context of Activity: Unit 3.9 AC 3.1 Supporting Sustained Shared Thinking
Name of the activity: Sensory play with sand
Age Group: 3-5 years
Number of children- 10
Number of adults- 2 (Teacher and Teaching Assistant)

Resources Required:
Sand box, spades, small buckets, plastic animal toys, toilet rolls, toy cars.
Duration of the Activity
20 – 30minutes
Step by Step Process:
Firstly, I will set up the sand play area, concealing all the toys and objects within the sand
ensure I have the appropriate number of aprons ready. I will then ensure the children put on
their aprons on in the classroom and explain our upcoming activity. I will tell the children
we are going to go on a digging discovery outside in our sand play area to see what we can
find. We will then line up and going outside to the sand box. The sand sensory play will
help develop the children’s fine motor skills. During this activity I will initiate and
encourage discussion with and amongst the children as to what is happening, this will
encourage their communication and language development along with their social skills
and sustained shared thinking. I will draw attention to their findings and initiate
conversations around the objects, their explorations and stories that they might create. I
will mention the animals in particular, where we can find them usually etc. Whilst playing
with the found objects to possibly create stories will encourage the children’s imagination
and creativity. The children in this activity are given the opportunity to recreate
experiences and therefore advance their personal and emotional development, express
themselves and further understand the world around them.

How will the activity support the following areas of development?

 Sustained Shared Thinking- The children are asked to explain the activity. The
children will be excited for the hidden objects they will find during the
activity.They may need to ask the adult for additional information or discuss ideas
before they begin their hunt. Also, the adult would ask questions about their
findings. Therefore this supports an exchange of information by both adult and
children in order to complete the activity.

 Physical development - The sand sensory play will help develop the children’s fine
motor skills as they will use spades for digging and finding objects.
  Communication and Language- Presentation skills will be enhanced, as children
will be encouraged to speak out about their very own findings as creatively and
descriptively as possible. By speaking up in this way they will grow in confidence
when expressing themselves clearly and meaningfully to those around them,
communicating an idea effectively and with ease over time.

 Understanding the World- It will be an enjoyable experience for children as they

will enjoy exploring different kinds of material and building stories around them.

Statement of Skill ( Learning Objective ):

Cognitive skills, Creative and Imaginative skills, Communication and Language, Physical
development, Understanding the world.
In line with page 104 of Development Matters, the activity focussed on,
 Use all their senses in hands-on exploration of natural materials.
 Explore collections of materials with similar and/or different properties.
 Talk about what they see, using a wide vocabulary.
Link to activity- Children will find different kinds of objects and think of innovative and
creative ways of telling about their findings. The children are also able to learn and
understand new things when teacher asks open-ended questions about their findings.

Reflection after your activity:

Children will be actively experimenting and discovering with objects and materials. The
children will enjoy the sense of freedom they are given when doing this activity. They will
be learning through actively playing and using sustained shared thinking to create and
understand.
Children will play with materials that they know from experience in sensory play. The
children will use their senses to explore and reach their own conclusions using their
imagination and conversational skills with their practitioner as well as the other children.
Children will develop their own imaginative play with the their findings, build stories using
their own inventive ideas as well as make links between their play and past experiences.
Communication and Language skills developed as well when they presented their
knowledge to their peers and engaged in an open discussion with the adults in the
environment.
Yes, the activity was age and stage appropriate and at this age children are able to
communicate and have a wider vocabulary and better understanding when given an activity
to complete.
The individual needs and interests of the children were met, as the children were given
materials to create their very own stories linked to their findings using their imagination
and real life experiences. Children talked about the things that interested them personally.
Yes, the activity met all health and safety requirements as materials were safe, non-toxic
and could be easily used by children of this age range and number.
 Resources are freely available in the environment and are in abundance as they are
common materials, easy to find and even recyclable.
Both Teacher and teaching assistant need to offer very little support in terms of assisting in
the creation of the toy. Support is given when asking the child about the toy and the topic
he has linked his toy with, thereby extending his knowledge and vocabulary. In addition to
this scribing vocabulary is an additional support the teachers give the child in order for him
to see what he spoke about and to become familiar with letters and words indirectly. There
was adequate space as well as this activity only requires the child’s table space. Questions
to extend the child’s learning, such as if it was a farm animal, we ask the child questions
about what other farm animals he knows about, or if it is a car, then we may ask him in
which is his favourite car? These give him an insight into how a topic is explored further
thereby enriching his knowledge on a topic he enjoys.

Date of Observation: Time:

Learner’s Signature: Date:

Assessor’s Signature: Date:

For activities:
https://harwoodnursery.com/50eyfsactivitiesforallages-1

Bibliography:

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. 2021. InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood
Development. [online] Available at: <https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-
science-of-ecd/> [Accessed 12 November 2021].

Pacey.org.uk. 2021. [online] Available at:

<https://www.pacey.org.uk/Pacey/media/Website-files/PACEY%20member%20practice
%20guides%20(PDFs)/PG28-Theories-of-child-development.pdf> [Accessed 12 November 2021].

For Harvard referencing please see the below link:

https://library.leeds.ac.uk/referencing-examples/9/leeds-harvard
To put this on the road, it means we become what we practice. If we practice agitation, anxiety, and
anger, that will be our strongest neural (and behavioural) routes. Under stress when the thinking brain
is off-line, these will be our auto-pilot. If we practice calming, staying in this moment, and
compassion, these will be our fall-back positions. Then, under stress, these pathways are more likely
to be activated than the old dysfunctional ones.