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Sport Relief Active learning with EdLloyd , schools fundraising associate at Comic Relief, offers suggestions on how to harness the opportunity for some exciting, memorable learning… Tell us your plans before 7 March and your nursery could even win a visit from Spot! Drop us an email at nurserycomp@comicrelief.com – there’ll be bonus points for imagination, creativity and enthusiasm! LET’S LEARN! Why not use your sports day event to help meet the early learning goals? The obvious link is to physical development, with wide-ranging opportunities for children to move confidently, negotiate space safely and develop good control and coordination. For communication and expressive arts, get the children involved in making posters, tickets and certificates, greeting guests as they arrive and selling healthy snacks. And counting all the lovely money you raise can be an inspiring context for maths. OLIVIA’S STORY From the perspective of personal, social and emotional development, it’s never too early to get children understanding why they are fundraising. For many children, an event like Sport Relief will be the first time they see that they can make a difference in the world. As well as developing their empathy and respect for others, this can have a powerful impact on their confidence and positive sense of themselves. This year, our learning resources tell the story of six-year-old Olivia, who recently graduated from nursery in Uganda. It was a big moment, as most children from her area don’t start their education until they’re older. However, thanks to a Sport Relief-funded organisation called Literacy and Adult Basic Education (LABE), little ones like Olivia are the first generation to get a head-start on learning. A poster with a simple poem about Olivia has been designed to help preschoolers engage with her life and develop their understanding of the world. A range of related learning activities will get the children talking about Olivia and considering how her life at nursery is similar and different to their own. To extend their learning, why not help them find out about Uganda? Where is it? What’s the weather like? What animals live there? What languages are spoken? To reinforce the children’s understanding of why they are fundraising for Sport Relief, make a clear connection between their actions, raising money and the difference it will make. So instead of talking about fundraising as “a good thing to do”, explain that, “When we take part in sports day we’re going to be raising money for Sport Relief and helping other children like Olivia go to nursery.” Inspired and want to get started? For more ideas and resources, go to sportrelief.com/nursery. Thank you from all of us at Comic Relief. Your contribution will help to change lives for the better, both here in the UK and around the world. IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, GET Sport Relief on the calendar for 9–13 March! There’s no better way to get children active, do something worthwhile and have lots of fun in the process. Here at Comic Relief, we love to see the ingenuity, enthusiasm and excitement of our youngest supporters. Sport Relief really is the stuff that childhood memories are made of. To help you make this year’s Sport Relief better than ever, we’ve produced a fantastic range of free resources especially for nurseries. If you haven’t already, visit sportrelief.com/nursery to order your nursery pack and download everything from posters and activity ideas to recipes, games, stickers and sponsorship forms. GET SPORTY WITH SPOT This year is the 40th anniversary of Eric Hill’s classic picture book Where’s Spot? so we’re delighted that Spot will be in charge of our nursery sports days! It’s Spot’s first Sport Relief and he’s joining in the fun with a whole range of resources to help you organise a classic sports day. Choose activities that will get your little ones moving and having a giggle with Spot – three-legged races, obstacle course, egg and spoon races, musical statues… To raise money, ask for donations or take on a challenge and collect sponsorship. Teachearlyyears.com 59