RIC-20959 Early years People - Community Helpers

Community helpers – 1
Mathematics
• Cut large, colourful pictures of community helpers into
four or six pieces and laminate to make puzzles for
the children to complete. (Refer to pages 71–73.)
(Measurement and Geometry)
• Collect and cut out a variety of used postage stamps. Let
the children sort them in a variety of ways, such as by
size or colour. Count the amount in each group.(Statistics
and Probability, Number and Algebra)
• The children make firefighter hoses of different lengths from
playdough. Order from longest to shortest. (Measurement
and Geometry)
• Glue fire engine, ambulance or hospital pictures to paper
plates. Paint with clear glue to coat. Write the numbers
1 to 10 on different plates in thick marker. Ask selected
children to place a given number
of plastic or cardboard figures of
fire people, ambulance officers,
doctors or nurses on the correct
plate. (Themed birthday party
plates could be used.) (Number
and Algebra).
• The children use plastic dolls
and bandages to make up number
stories; for example: ‘Polly needed four bandages on her
arms and three on her legs. How many did she need
altogether?’ (Number and Algebra)
• Give the children used envelopes of different sizes.
The children use 2-cm cubes to measure the area of
the envelopes. Count and record the number of cubes
needed for each. Decide which has the largest area.
(Measurement and Geometry)
• Draw around different mathematical shapes arranged to
create outlines of community helpers or their equipment.
For example, a square and three circles for a baker’s hat;
circles, squares and rectangles of different sizes for a fire
engine. (Measurement and Geometry)
• Provide pattern or construction blocks, and pictures for
inspiration, for the children to create fire engines, police
cars, hospitals, ambulances etc. Laminated block picture
cards may help guide some children. (Measurement and
Geometry)
• Use the outline of the fire engine on page 74 and ask
the children to cover the area with red sticky dots.
(Measurement and Geometry)
• Collect two of as many different kinds of disposable
bandages as possible and stick them to index cards and
laminate. Ask the children to match the pairs or sort them
into groups. (Number and Algebra)
• Provide a number of fire engine, hospital, ambulance or
police car shapes on a sheet of paper for each child.
Write the numbers from 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 on each. Call
out a number or roll a dice, then ask each child to stamp,
cross, tick or place a coloured dot on the correct amount.
(Number and Algebra)
• Place different-sized ‘firefighter’ buckets in the water trolley
for the children to experiment with volume. (Measurement
and Geometry)
• The children place two craft sticks on the floor or table
in front of them to form the sides of a firefighter’s ladder.
They roll a dice, collect that number of matchsticks and
place them to make the rungs of the ladder. More capable
children can roll the dice twice to make simple addition
problems to solve. (Number and Algebra, Measurement
and Geometry)
• Place a variety of 2-D and 3-D shapes in a postal bag.
Play ‘Pass the parcel’, with the children closing their
eyes, and choosing and naming a shape when the music
stops. (Measurement and Geometry)
• Create a ‘community helpers emergency phone book’. Children learn one phone number at a time. (Number and Algebra)
• Children watch as two plastic thermometers, two plastic syringes and two plastic stethoscopes are placed in a doctor’s bag.
They then put up their hands to indicate which item they think will be pulled out of the bag as it is emptied, one item at a
time. (Statistics and Probability)
R.I.C. Publications ® – www.ricpublications.com.au Early years themes—People—Community helpers 63