Save the Gingerbread Man!

The children have loved reading The Gingerbread Man and it always gets a gasp when the Gingerbread Man is eaten by the sneaky fox at the end of the story.

The Gingerbread Man needs to cross the river as there is a range of people chasing him. How else could he cross the river without falling for the Fox's cunning plan? The children thought about and discussed alternative endings and ways for the Gingerbread Man to cross the river. There was a wide range of ideas including helicopters, bridges, boats, slides and swimming. We discounted the last as we remembered the Gingerbread Man would get soggy! 

Deciding that a bridge was a good idea, the children looked at a range of bridges for inspiration. The children planned and built their own bridges using cocktail sticks and foam pieces, before testing them out over a tray of water. Initially the children struggled with the concept of making one bridge between them, and often needed prompts to talk to each other. But once we got going the children demonstrated great reciprocity, it was essential to work as a team. Resilience, it was quite a tricky task. And reflectiveness as they adapted and changed their ideas as they worked. 

Chisom "It needs to be longer." 

Niamh "Harvey, we need another one." 

Mahdi "Carefully he might get soggy!" 

Megan "Come on Bernardo, we can do this!"

Whilst some children were building their cocktail stick bridges, others chose to build bridges from the construction materials. There was a variety of different designs and methods used to cross the material river that was laid out on the carpet. What a busy afternoon of building! 

Maxi "We've built a different bridge here."

Darci "This ones a tall bridge."