This week Cian, 9 months, has learnt to crawl forwards and has started pulling himself to kneeling. He loves water so the paddling pool has been brilliant at keeping him entertained and cool in this mini heatwave. Equally important, it has kept him contained so his brothers can play in peace.

SAFETY: Always supervise children near water.

Resources

  • Paddling pool
  • Washing up bowl of soapy water
  • Bath toys

Method

As well as filling the paddling pool with a shallow layer of water, I added a washing up bowl of soapy water so he had a deeper space to float toys and to splash. He was obsessed with tasting the bubbles.

You can see how happy he was. He kept kneeling up and bouncing against the side of the paddling pool.

There was lots of excited splashing.

Then he decided it was time for crawling practice, before coming back to bang on the side of the pool.

Then more bouncing up and down on his knees, using the side of the pool for support.

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.