Following on from their Minion birthday challenges, our biggest Minions (Kevin and Stuart) decided little Minion Bob needed a Minion activity of his own.

This will be one of our last ‘baby’ activities as Cian is now 11 months and hurtling towards his first birthday.

Resources

  • Tuff tray
  • Yellow and blue toys and household objects

Method

Our very own ‘Stuart’ set up this tray for ‘Bob’. He enjoyed going on a treasure hunt to collect as many yellow and blue treasures as he could. To contribute to heuristic play, we made sure that there were ‘real’ household items such as cups, bowls and spoons, alongside toys.

Finn did really well, he sat back and let Cian choose what to play with next. He supported him by giving Cian a running commentary of what he was doing, “Oooh you just picked up the shaker! Does it look like a giraffe with a very long neck? What sound does it make? Fantastic shaking Cici.”

Cian listened intently to Finn and answered “Yeh!” a couple of times. When he was done shaking, he handed it to Finn, saying “Bubba” (brother). Finn enthusiastically praised him for his good sharing.

The bricks got held overhead and bench pressed up and down for a few minutes, before moving on to banging them together.

Afterwards he put one of the balls in and out of the stacking cup, before moving on to taste test some of the items on the tray. We left the tray out for a couple of days and he kept coming back to it.

DfES Outcomes for EYFS (2013)

Communication and language

Listening and attention (Birth to 11 months)

• Turns towards a familiar sound then locates range of sounds with accuracy.

• Listens to, distinguishes and responds to intonations and sounds of voices.

• Reacts in interaction with others by smiling, looking and moving.

• Quietens or alerts to the sound of speech.

Speaking

Speaking (Birth to 11 months)

• Makes own sounds in response when talked to by familiar adults.

• Practises and gradually develops speech sounds (babbling) to communicate with adults; says sounds like ‘baba, nono, gogo’.

Physical development

Moving and handling (Birth to 11 months)

• Turns head in response to sounds and sights.

• Gradually develops ability to hold up own head.

• Makes movements with arms and legs which gradually become more controlled.

• Reaches out for, touches and begins to hold objects.

• Explores objects with mouth, often picking up an object and holding it to the mouth.

Personal, social and emotional development

Self-confidence and self-awareness (Birth to 11 months)

• Laughs and gurgles, e.g. shows pleasure at being tickled and other physical interactions.

• Uses voice, gesture, eye contact and facial expression to make contact with people and keep their attention.

Managing feelings and behaviour (Birth to 11 months)

  • Shows a range of emotions such as pleasure, fear and excitement.

Making relationships (Birth to 11 months)

• Enjoys the company of others and seeks contact with others from birth.

• Responds when talked to, for example, moves arms and legs, changes facial expression, moves body and makes mouth movements.

• Recognises and is most responsive to main carer’s voice: face brightens, activity increases when familiar carer appears.