Jump to content
Home
Forum
Articles
About Us
Tapestry
This is the EYFS Staging Site ×

Extending bike play


Recommended Posts

Hi all,

 

We have a number of boys who will spend ALL DAY going round and round the track on the bikes. A situation that I'm sure many of you are familiar with...

 

Any ideas for extending their bike play?

 

We had some road signs but they didn't last long with our boisterous lot...

 

Thanks for your help! Xxx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We too ALWAYS have a small group of children who love to do this! I allow them to have a few goes round before intervening. At this time of the year, they are quite useful for teaching about sharing and taking turns. So, children write their names on the blackboard or on the parking space of their favourite bikes, so we know the order of the turns. We have also introduced the timer.

Other ideas include using the large construction equipment to build a tunnel, some children are the checkers - so the check the bikes, mark off any problems on their clipboards, take tallies of how many vehicles pass through or take the money! We use an old hose-pipe and the cones to create a petrol station. We use the cones and other objects to create obstacles to drive around or to make a road block and a diversion. Last year, I bought some rosettes and they had races (with strict rules!). We use the vehicles to carry items from one place to another. We have a car wash. We decorate the vehicles with ribbon, feathers etc (Pimp my trike!) I often find that the children that like using these vehicles are the least likely ones to try mark-making, so I often concoct a role-play idea spontaneously which requires some sort of mark-making!

We have discussed this year about alternating the vehicles and the P.E. equipment as the space for the P.E. equipment is not very big but the bloody track takes up half the concreted area! We share our area with Reception and the wheeled vehicles that we have are not challenging for them so we do need to rethink.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we set up a workshop by ours, number bays to park, workbench & tools, paperwork to make appointments for MOTs, petrol pump (an inner tube attached to a trigger spray bottle top and attached to a cardboard box makes a fab pump if you don't have one) ..we have old MOT certificates, insurance policies, AA cards etc...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

haha we don't have any bikes!!

we have didicars...to improve shoulder muscles and scooters for balance (real scooters NOT tricycles!!!!)

We do not have them out every session and we plan for extensions to teach the children a learning intention.

Last week we had roundabouts and instructions on the floor (chalk) added to that we had timers for turn taking...making it into a SWOP game...the person with the timer had to shout swop once the timer got to the end and everyone had to change quickly! (one of the boys spent his time counting until the sand ran out ...he got to 100!!

sometimes have numbered scooters/cars and parking spaces for them.... etc

as they have to take turns they usually only have 2 or three goes and then they go and do something else!

ABC has some ideas on his website

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Staff think I am wicked when I say no trikes or scooters today but I think often it is too easy to get them out and do nothing but watch , I encourage all of the ideas above but as said in another post , unless I am there doing it no one else does. Our ' new' garden has a pathway so wheeled vehicles can be used as well as the yard but just feel other resources get ignored ! A few weeks ago I made a car wash with a limbo pole and long chiffon sashes , a parent gave us 100 chair sashes from a wedding , the children had great fun but if I don't do it no one else will !

 

Ooh I'm sounding grumpy !

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

we have a core group who will literally start asking as soon as they arrive when we are getting the bikes out! we do a lot of the ideas above. We have a large car park space for a back playground and when its been raining has large puddles. I throw paint and washing up liquid in and they ride their bikes through, mixing colours and producing foam, that usually evolves into using child sized brooms to create coloured foam and mark make in it, I have also put paint out and the children painted the tyres and then drove over a roll of wall paper lol. They love a car wash and petrol pump and the tools from the work bench ect. We also drag out a couple of play houses and they role play with them and usually turn them into Maccy d's drive ins! x I too often refuse to get the bikes out and set up an obstacle course with planks and tyres and logs and it is very popular with our physical children.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Staff think I am wicked when I say no trikes or scooters today but I think often it is too easy to get them out and do nothing but watch , I encourage all of the ideas above but as said in another post , unless I am there doing it no one else does. Our ' new' garden has a pathway so wheeled vehicles can be used as well as the yard but just feel other resources get ignored ! A few weeks ago I made a car wash with a limbo pole and long chiffon sashes , a parent gave us 100 chair sashes from a wedding , the children had great fun but if I don't do it no one else will !

 

Ooh I'm sounding grumpy !

do you plan for the outdoors...could they think about the learning intention that you are going for ...maybe this would scaffold their ideas in to a more focussed activity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bikes used to be a very touchy subject with me because I felt that children were wasting time but I had a re-think a while ago. Many of our children have very small gardens with no space to ride a toy. Some children have no gardens I now tell myself that they are learning balance skills, spacial awareness, sharing and gaining confidence. Most importantly they are having fun and getting fresh air and exercise All staff each choose a focus activity that can be done inside or outside. Children are asked to take part in them which means they have do other things Allowing the bikes to be out every session did not compromise on childrens learning in other areas. The children that would prefer to stay on the wheely toys all day are the same ones that prefer to play cars/trains all day if the weather is too bad to go outside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We tie and old shower head and pipe to the fence for petrol, children on bikes drive in for petrol - price of which is chalked on the wall can then introduce numbers as payment in the form of tokens or claps (3 claps for example), Numbered parking bays, or shape/colour identified parking pays, children choose a number/shape and match it to park, role play outfits - post people - plastic wallets stuck to the fence with colours,numbers/shapes on for the children to post their letters into, printing with the wheels, following directions, negotiating space, being able to steer, balance, stop - different music to move quickly or slowly to, musical instruments - move when played and stop when not - move fast when played quickly or slow when played slowly. We have a lot of busy children who like to be on the move so use the ride ons for all sorts, but not every day! We do allocate a defined area of our play area to use the ride ons in this allows the children to do other things too; we do deliberately only put ride ons our for half of the children to encourage turn taking etc,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

do you plan for the outdoors...could they think about the learning intention that you are going for ...maybe this would scaffold their ideas in to a more focussed activity

 

 

This is my problem and one that I am addressing at the moment ! Or trying to ! We have been so fortunate to have our garden revamped and there is so much more to explore , so we shall see ........

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. (Privacy Policy)