Daisykins' DIY Experts!

At Daisykins Day Nursery in Rugby the children are often given the opportunities to engage in Risky Play. We feel it is important to allow children to explore risks within the appropriate boundaries to develop their independence, resilience and their decision making.

Matthew, one of our fantastic practitioners, has recently begun demonstrating how to use real tools safely. The children in Pre-School have been fascinated and were eager to have a turn. Prior to using the tools, the children discussed the health and safety elements and explained what the dangers could be. Matthew then asked the children how we could prevent these hazards from occurring, to which they came up with a plan. One of the children stated that they must wear a hi-vis jacket, like a builder, because it would make people aware that they were doing a dangerous job. Another child explained that the area around them must be clear so they do not get bumped into, knocked or distracted. It was also agreed that they must listen to, follow and understand the importance of the instructions given by Matthew.

With the safety talk out of the way, the children were invited to explore the various activities set out. The first activity encouraged each child to use a screwdriver to insert a screw into a piece of wood. When they had put the screw far enough into the wood, they used a hammer to tap it in. When asked why they needed to do this, the children explained that it was "To make the screw stay in." This was without a doubt one of their favourite activities!

The children were also encouraged to explore the pipes in the water tray to make a circuit for the water to travel through, being poured in at one end and coming out, back into the water tray, at the other. This soon turned competitive with the children wanting to make the longest one, comparing the sizes of theirs and their friends, using the mathematical language of size.

Another activity included locks, screws and other components, prompting the children to explore opening and closing them. They were engaged through-out, maintaining their attention, focus and concentration for a period of time. The children were particularly proud of themselves upon opening the locks, taking it to a practitioner to show them. They welcomed praise, smiling and giggling, and set off to challenge themselves to open another lock.

Foam building blocks were set out to encourage the children to think of various ways of balancing the blocks to make a tower. They were then encouraged to discuss the ways in which they could put the bricks together to make them sturdy. It was fantastic to hear so many of the children's ideas. We were particularly impressed with one child's comment that they "won't be using straw because we already know that doesn't work because The Three Little Pigs tried it!"

We know who to go to when we're next in need of a hand with DIY!