Download progression document
Includes statements from Development Matters (birth to age five) and the relevant ELGs in full, for the Plan to creation adult-led activity
Early Learning Goal links
- Mathematics ELG: Numerical Patterns
- Understanding the World ELG: Past and Present
- Understanding the World ELG: People, Culture and Communities
- Understanding the World ELG: The Natural World
- Expressive Arts and Design ELG: Creating with Materials
Characteristics of effective learning
Play, Be, C Units provide enabling environments with teaching and support from adults. Reflecting on the characteristics of effective teaching and learning, children will have opportunity to learn and develop by:
- Playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’.
- Active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties and enjoy achievements.
- Creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.
Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework: accessed November 2024. Available under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What you will need
- Your own Elephant Island model and plan of your model if you want to use one
- Elephant Island pages 29/30 illustration
- Paper/planning sheets, pens and pencils
- A variety of construction materials – junk modelling, blocks, bricks or whichever construction materials you usually have available in your setting
- Fastenings- tape, string etc
- An area in the setting dedicated to building the islands or somewhere they can be left safely so that children can return to their structures
- Example plans and models PDF if you want to use them
- Civil engineer poster
Duration
- Will depend on the developmental stage of each child and their interest in the activity
STEM vocabulary to introduce
Design, plan, build, create, balance, stable, unstable, wobbly, structure, fasten, tie, stick, join, big, bigger, small, smaller, large, larger, tall, taller, short, shorter, wide, wider, narrow, narrower, heavy, light, solid, rigid, hard, soft, bendy, flexible
Before you start
To introduce the activity and to inspire the children, you could have your own plan and model ready. There are some examples you could download here.
Show the children the civil engineering poster and tell the children that they are going to be civil engineers for this activity.
Ask the children if they know what a civil engineer does. Civil engineers plan, design, build and manage the construction and upkeep of buildings and other structures such as roads, bridges, dams, water and sewerage systems, railways, airports and harbours.
Civil engineers are:
Creative when they plan and design buildings and structures,
Collaborative as they work together with other professionals to complete projects.
Resilient because their designs can be tricky to get right the first time.
Tell the children that they are going to be creative like civil engineers and are going to plan and make their islands even better.
Explain to the children that civil engineers cannot just collect their materials and start to build, they need to plan their projects carefully to make sure they are safe and to make sure they have created what they really want and made it the best they can.
The children will need to be resilient because some of their ideas may not work the first time, but they can keep trying with your help until they create the island that they want.
What to do – step 1
Show children pictures of the first Elephant Island on pages 29/30.
You could ask:
- Which parts of Elephant Island do you really like?
- Why do you like that part?
- Is that part useful or important? Why do you think they need that on Elephant Island?
- What would you want to have on your Elephant Island?
- What would you need on your Elephant Island?
- Where do you like to go to play? Do you like the climbing frame/construction area/water play?
- Would you like a slide/swimming pool/sand pit?
- What do you have in your home that you would like on your Elephant Island?
- Which materials do you think you could use to create that?
Step 2 – drawing a plan
Show the children your plan and model. You could ask:
Which things can you see in my plan and my model?
Take suggestions from the children about what we should put in our elephant island and use this to draw another plan. You could ask:
- Where should we start drawing? From the bottom or the top?
- Should we put the water in?
- How many layers, floors or stories should we have on our island?
- What should go on the top?
- Where should we put that slide?
- Do we need any walls, windows or doors?
Ask the children to draw a plan of their island. While they are drawing you could ask:
- Who will live on your island?
- What will they need?
- Can you included all of your ideas?
Step 3 – choosing the materials
Tell the children that choosing the best materials for a structure is an important part of being a civil engineer.
Ask the children to decide which materials they will choose to make their models. You could choose the plan you created with the children to model how to do this.
You could ask:
- Does all of your island need to be made of the same material?
- Will some materials be better to make some parts than others?
- Which material do you think would be best to make this part of your model? Why?
- Do you think this material is strong/bendy/flexible/light enough to make this part of your model?
- How can you make sure your model stands up/balances?
- What will you use to fasten the different parts of your model together?
Step 4 – building the island
Model how to use your plan to build your model. You could ask the children to help you to build it. You could ask:
- Which part of the model should we build next?
- Can you show me where that is on the plan?
- Which material did we decide to make that part out of?
- How will we join it together?
- How can we tell if we have finished our island?
When you have modelled how to use the plan to build a model, ask the children to start to create their own models. Support each child where required.
You could ask:
- Which part of your plan are you making?
- Are those materials good for making that part?
- What else could you try?
- How are you going to fasten those parts together?
- Why do you think that is falling over?
- How can we make it stand up?
- How can we make it balance?
- Have yo included everything on your plan?
Remind children that civil engineers are resilient and when they can’t do something the first time, they will keep trying. Civil engineers are also collaborative and can ask each other or an adult for help.
Step 5 – reviewing the model
Ask the children to look at their finished models and their plans.
- Which parts of your island is the same as your plan?
- Which parts are different?
- What did you need to change and why?
- Which parts of your island do you really like and why?
- Where there any parts of your model that you couldn’t build? Why do you think that was?
- Which things would you like to have on your island but haven’t created yet?
Remember to refer to the children as civil engineers and praise them for using the attributes. You could say things like:
“You have been so resilient, working on that part of your model until you got it right.”
“Your island is so creative. I love the way you have used that toilet roll to make your slide.”
“I loved the way you collaborated with your friend to fasten that part of your model together.”
The science of civil engineering
We have put together some useful information about the science of civil engineering to accompany this activity. Don’t worry, this is for your information only and to help you answer any questions children may have. We don’t expect you to explain this to the children in your setting!
Why do our towers of blocks topple over?
The centre of gravity of an object is the point that an object’s weight will balance around. Imagine balancing a ruler on the end of your finger without it falling off – your finger is in line with the centre of gravity. If you place the book or ruler onto a table with the centre of gravity off the edge of the table, it will fall. For symmetrical solid objects, the centre of gravity is in the middle of the object.
If a tower is built upright on flat ground, the centre of gravity is directly above the centre point of the base so the tower is very stable.
If a tower is built on sloping ground, the centre of gravity is no longer above the centre of the base and the tower will be more unstable.
If blocks are stacked unevenly their centre of gravity will not be above the centre of the base and they are more likely to fall.
The higher you stack blocks, the higher the centre of gravity becomes. A 4 block tower will have its centre of gravity at 2 blocks, a 10 story tower will have its centre of gravity at 5 blocks. The higher the centre of gravity, the easier it is to tip it so that it is no longer directly above the base and it will tip.
Why does building a wider base help us build bigger islands?
Objects with a wide base are more stable than objects with a narrow base. This is because it’s more likely that the centre of gravity will be directly above the base of the object. Blocks need to be stacked so their centre of gravity is above their base in order not to fall. If you put a cuboid shaped block on the floor horizontally, has a wide base relative to its height so it won’t tip over if you push on its side with your finger. It has a low centre of gravity. If you stand the same block vertically on one end the base is now narrower compared to its height and it has a higher centre of gravity. If you push the block near the top, it will probably fall over.
Objects with a wide base are more stable than objects with a narrow base. This is because it’s more likely that the centre of gravity will be directly above the base of the object. Blocks need to be stacked so their centre of gravity is above their base in order not to fall. If you put a cuboid shaped block on the floor horizontally, has a wide base relative to its height so it won’t tip over if you push on its side with your finger. It has a low centre of gravity. If you stand the same block vertically on one end the base is now narrower compared to its height and it has a higher centre of gravity. If you push the block near the top, it will probably fall over.
Where are the best places to attach different parts to our islands?
When we add different parts to our structures, we are changing the position of the centre of gravity of our structure. If we choose to put a heavy object at the top of a tower of blocks, the centre of gravity is higher up. This makes it easier for the tower to tip because that the centre of gravity is no longer above its base, and the tower falls down. If we place heavier objects lower down on our structures and lighter objects towards the top, the centre of gravity is lower and the structure is less likely to topple.
Why does fastening our structures together make them stronger?
Fasteners ensure that materials are securely joined together. They help structures withstand the loads and forces placed upon them.
Fasteners reinforce and strengthen connections between the parts of the structure. They providing additional support and ensure that the structure is more stable over time. Examples of fasteners include nails, nuts and bolts, screws, rivets and anchors.
