Respond

Let mokopuna explore movement with their senses, e.g. by stretching or rocking together, and through actions such as rolling or throwing a soft-ball.

Provide opportunities for mokopuna to join in with actions and movements alongside others, e.g. kapa haka, siva dance, and games.

Model simple language or gesture related to movement and location such as far, wide, tall, very close, e.g. “You’ve crawled so far… right across the room.”

Provide resources that include various shapes and objects, e.g. balls, porowhita (circle), tapawha orite (square), tapatoru (triangle), manawa (heart), roimata (teardrops). Ensure that resources are safe for children to handle and explore.

Tune in to children's spoken and non-spoken cues about what resources or materials they want to access or use. Let children follow their own ideas when sorting, arranging or grouping shapes.

Model excitement and wonder about shapes and their properties and respond to children’s exploration, e.g. “Yes, it’s round - you made it roll” “You’re feeling the corner, it looks pointy”.

Notice and support children’s interest in aspects of measurement, e.g. exploration with containers in sand and water play.

Present some materials in ways that highlight differences in size, e.g. shells arranged from small to large.

Draw attention to everyday measurement experiences through language or gesture, e.g. “Wow, your arms fit right around the tree”, “The container is half-full”.

Encourage mokopuna to try new and different movements, e.g. rolling, swinging, jumping and balancing. Use language or gesture to describe movement such as forward, backward, high, low, curved, straight, far, near.

Support mokopuna to think about position, movement and location from a range of perspectives, e.g. “Our dance lines are close together”, “I must look huge to a slater”, “Our toy cars need a small garage.”

Support mokopuna to gain confidence in movement with other people or equipment, e.g. pekepeke (jumping) by themselves or assisted jumping with an adult.

Carefully introduce new or unfamiliar resources and equipment so that mokopuna are supported to explore the possibilities of the resource, e.g. using outdoor play equipment for different purposes.

Introduce increased levels of complexity in resources, including shapes with different features, e.g. 2D shapes and solid 3D shapes of different sizes.

Encourage children to explore shapes by moving, turning, or flipping. Introduce the idea of ‘shape families’ by inviting children to group shapes by a common feature.

Identify what children notice about a shape and their ways of trying out and responding when shapes do not fit together, such as finding shapes that fit a puzzle. Comment on how a shape might fit when moved.

Ask open-ended questions and ‘wonderings’ about how children use resources when problem-solving, playing, or creating, e.g. “I wonder what might happen if …?”

Wonder aloud with mokopuna as they problem-solve, e.g. “I wonder if measuring the gap will help find what length of wood you need?”

Support mokopuna to try out their own ways of measuring or comparing distance or quantity, e.g. using string, big steps, or coconut shells.

Use the language of measurement when discussing interests and investigations with mokopuna, e.g. “Perhaps we need to measure the height to help us plan how to build it.”

Model describing the features of shapes when estimating or predicting whether a shape may fit in a particular space, e.g. “This piece has four straight sides so I think it will fit."

Notice when children anticipate and follow familiar routines and activities, and use gestures or language to describe these movements or positions, e.g. “We’re taking three steps forward, now we swing our arm in a circle.”

Scaffold support when perception of movement and position are needed at the same time, e.g. suggest and direct children’s attention to looking ahead, or left and right at the same time as using equipment to move, e.g. trike, scooter etc.

Recognise when children make choices and decisions in their exploration of space. Use wondering comments and questions, “What would happen if …?” to encourage them to plan, predict, communicate and test their ideas (working theories) when exploring new spaces or movements.

Encourage children’s interest in problems of space or location within stories, songs, or daily routines. Pose problems or questions that could lead to further investigations, e.g. “The kai table feels more crowded today, how could we use our space so everyone can sit comfortably?”

Provide variety within a type of resource so that mokopuna can notice particular shape features of the different resources, e.g. needing a shape with four sides.

Encourage mokopuna to follow their own ideas when sorting, arranging or grouping shapes or objects, and when designing constructions as part of their play.

Encourage mokopuna to collaborate and use a range of media and approaches to help them plan, predict and estimate resources needed when working on short term projects.

Encourage conversations among mokopuna about the best use of shapes for their constructions, and their reasons, e.g. “What if you needed to have…?” Support with additional materials or assistance where needed.

Notice when children select resources to use as a measure. Invite them to share about the reasons for their selections.

Encourage conversations among children about different ways of measuring, e.g. “How might you measure the length of material you’ll need for the dress?” or “How might we measure the peas’ growth?”

Extend the language of measurement and encourage children to use a range of media and approaches for measuring for a purpose, e.g. blocks, cups, feet, measuring tape.

Wonder aloud to draw children’s attention to the features of shape to help solve problems. e.g. “I wonder if a piece with a straight edge might fit here?"

Invite mokopuna to adapt spaces for shared movement activities, dance, games and play, e.g. by moving furniture to change an indoor space.

Support mokopuna to involve others in their spatial activities, such as rearranging a room, and prompt or ask questions to help them to notice, predict and experiment with changes.

Encourage mokopuna to create their own or shared movements, e.g. in dance or games, and to lead others in these movements.

Recognise when mokopuna persist in a range of movement experiences for extended periods. Increase the level of challenge by changing the space, involving more people, or encouraging mokopuna to combine movements together.

Invite mokopuna to help with systems for grouping shapes and everyday objects so that others can easily access these resources.

Support mokopuna to take on larger, more long-term spatial projects, e.g. building a permanent ramp to slide vehicles down, creating and sewing a costume, building a model of an imagined city.

Encourage mokopuna to share how they went about solving problems, and why they used the shapes and strategies they did, e.g. how they found a suitable shape to fit a required space.

Invite mokopuna to document their projects over time, including representing what they think their creation will look like and how they overcame spatial challenges.

Support mokopuna to take a lead in helping others to measure for a purpose, e.g. process cooking, construction projects, estimating whether furniture will fit a space.

Create opportunities for mokopuna to collaboratively design and make objects that require measurement, e.g. printmaking with a repeated pattern, making picture frames.

Invite mokopuna to help plan an excursion in the local community to excite and extend children’s exploration and language of measurement, e.g., planning the route, estimating the distance between important landmarks, and creating a map of the route.

Invite mokopuna to share how they have solved problems or made decisions based on their knowledge of shape and shape features.