Mrs Mactivity is packed with hands on, activity based printable learning resources for children ages 3-11. A recent new addition to the Mrs Mactivity site are Early Years Provocations. PDF sheets that will guide you through each step of the way in creating, running and linking learning experiences to the Early Learning Goals.
What does Mrs Mactivity say a Provocation is?
What Is A Provocation?
"A provocation is simply an activity or stimulus set up to provoke thought, curiosity, exploration and conversation. Provocations come in many forms depending on the stimulus and required outcome, but they are all created with these purposes in mind. These invitations to play are usually set up to help children expand upon an expressed interest, thought or idea, although may occasionally stem from the necessity to practice skills or consolidate learning."
Trying out the Provocation
Looking through the Provocation choices I wasn't sure what I wanted to start with first, I was really tempted to try the weighing and sorting activity but decided that Transient Art was something that would be great for us to work on right now. Giving the girls the freedom to create and change their design as they go along.
Each activity has two plans to download - a longer plan and a 1 page plan (which is great to have next to you while doing the activity). I downloaded both and spent time reading the longer plan learning about the resources I needed to gather, the set up instructions, ideas what to talk about during the activity (Key Prompts) and early learning goals. It was great to be able to go in-depth before doing the activity. A quick spot of reading had me ready to run an activity that I knew would have a great outcome.
Note: There was also a DIY Lightbox creation or DIY scales which I thought was a great idea for those with limited resources or finances!
I managed to gather the resources I needed in a few minutes making the activity set up so quick and having the single page next to me as I sat down for the activity was really helpful. As we started to do the activity I could glance down next to me as a reminder of things to talk about.
Kairi and Naminé both got stuck into the activity really fast. They loves talking about the shapes, textures and colours and really enjoyed creating their own idea (such as the 'beach' above).
The activity went on for hours and changed and grew with their play. It was great to be able to look back at the goals and link it to what they had done.
Mrs Mactivity is currently a steal at only £9.97 for a whole year! You can really see the passion and love put into each and every eye catching resource. I know that having a membership is going to save me plenty of time over the year and I ca't wait to get stuck into more of the really well thought out provocations.
*this is a collaborative post - all opinions are our own.
