Computing for 2-4 year olds

[AnonyMouse_26037]

Hi all,

As one of my subject leadership roles I am looking at our computing provision across school (from 2-7 years old).  I have a set of objectives for our nursery and reception children - for nursery it is essentially knowing some basic skills in turning on and operating some ICT equipment and knowing how to operate simple equipment.  I have a couple of questions and requests for any information.

1. What types of equipment might you use for this type of objective?  I'm thinking so far: Alexa, turning a microwave on, using a simple program on a tablet.

2. Do any of you use beebots?  We have an objective about completing a simple program on an electronic device and someone has suggested beebots - I have used them many times but, depending on how you interpret 'complete a program' I think beebots are potentially quite complex.

3. Do any of you do any online safety work with children of this age?  I know that much of it will be about educating parents about it but I'm wondering if you have done anything directly with the children or found any sites particularly useful to use with parents?

Thank you!

[AnonyMouse_8282]

On 20/07/2022 at 21:35, Froglet said:

Hi all,

As one of my subject leadership roles I am looking at our computing provision across school (from 2-7 years old).  I have a set of objectives for our nursery and reception children - for nursery it is essentially knowing some basic skills in turning on and operating some ICT equipment and knowing how to operate simple equipment.  I have a couple of questions and requests for any information.

1. What types of equipment might you use for this type of objective?  I'm thinking so far: Alexa, turning a microwave on, using a simple program on a tablet.

2. Do any of you use beebots?  We have an objective about completing a simple program on an electronic device and someone has suggested beebots - I have used them many times but, depending on how you interpret 'complete a program' I think beebots are potentially quite complex.

3. Do any of you do any online safety work with children of this age?  I know that much of it will be about educating parents about it but I'm wondering if you have done anything directly with the children or found any sites particularly useful to use with parents?

Thank you!

We have a Zoom camera, that has a few apps (if that's the right word) on it - games, photo frames, etc.

We have a few stories about online safety.  

[AnonyMouse_19762]

We used simple programs for a laptop

Really enjoyed using a bee-bot with both shape and letter mats

Used a constructabot with a numbers mat that we made ourselves - numbers with the appropriate number of stars stuck on - children counted the stars then added the right number of counters to the constructabot's bucket - programmed the bot to deliver the counters and matched them up with stars - happy days!

[AnonyMouse_13453]

Ours enjoyed Bob the Builder games and similar on the computer and we also had some remote controlled toys.  The beebots were either loved to death with arguments over whose turn it should be, or totally ignored - it was definitely a resource that needed an adult present to intervene.  
 

Children also enjoyed using the iPads to take pictures of each other - this was fabulous for tapestry as the dialogue was really useful.   We had a child who could play minesweepers on the iPad too, and several enjoyed mahjong.  

[AnonyMouse_19920]

We used simple dicta phone type things that recorded children for very short period of time - conversations, asking each other questions, looking at books etc.,

 

this was one of the points brought up when a local setting had an ofsted a few years ago so is something that needs to be thought about - 

explore ways to help children develop a greater understanding of how to keep safe when using the internet and digital technology.

[AnonyMouse_26037]

Thank you all, really helpful!