Understanding the world in EYFS

What does it mean when we need to teach children about the world and familiarising what is happening around them?

Understanding the world in the Early Years Framework Stage is separated into three areas, supporting them to explore other environments, and making sense of other people lives. Let’s dig deeper into the three areas and see how to bring them into a class!

People and Communities

We meet a lot of people throughout our lives, with so many backgrounds, cultures and more, which is why it’s important for children to understand the difference between people and to talk about their own experiences as well as learning others.

Simple things to try out in class is asking your students to talk about their religion and culture, and speak about different events they have experienced. For example, discuss Diwali & Christmas and see how they differ.

Try out our Activity, Happy Snaps by putting the photos into the correct order focusing on the different stages of life. Log in and search ID: 1108. The World

The second part of the framework is educating the world, and how it’s formed through different environments with various elements to it. This can cover the changes in animals and plants, to similarities in objects and places.

Why not ask your students what they know about animals? Tell them to speak about five different ones, discussing the sounds they make, what movements they do etc. This is great for students to acknowledge how living things vary from one another.

What will work nicely with the above is the Farm Frenzy Activity Sheet. Tell your students to decide which animal group belongs to each one. Log in and search ID: 5205.

Technology

Technology is used in and out of the home and is another area under EYFS. This could be the sounds of sirens from the police car, or using the computer for searching information. These are all areas that will benefit children at an early age, which is why identifying the ranges of technology is important.

Let your students have a play with the technology you have around you. For example, students showing interest in turning a camera on off, or taking a picture will guide them to follow instructions. Or why not give them a few materials to play with so they can explore each one and see what purpose they have?

Try our Activity, Safely Home, which gives a supermarket scenario of scanning items and paying for them. Search ID 862 once you log in.

Can’t see the Activities because your school hasn’t subscribed to EducationCity? Then sign up for a free trial here or call 01572 725080.

Keep checking our blog to keep up to date with our future EYFS posts!