Importance of Multimodal Activities in Early Childhood Studies

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

1EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
Introduction
This essay will focus on the importance of the multimodal activities for the early year’s
settings. In order to explain these two multimodal activities for the children will be developed
based on the scenario that has been provided. In each activity there will be provisions for the
children with special care needs. The essay will show an association between the designed
activities and Reggio Emilia theoretical frame work. The activities should be based on the
pedagogical literacy practices and will reflect on the importance of the storytelling activities and
the use of the information technology in designing activities in the early year’s education.
The scenario that has been chosen for this activity, on the basis of which the two activities will
be prepared has been given below-
Elsa came to the Nursery one morning and was very happy. She was holding a ticket on
her hands and announces to everyone that she went to Epping Forest with her parents this
weekend. She is thrilled about this experience and she is describing to her friends the forest, the
trails and the trees. They all sit down in the arts and crafts area and draw a picture of this
forest.
Child led activities
Activity 1: Literacy activity
“Can you hear me? Can you tell who am I?”
After Elsa has narrated her experience in the Epping Forest to her classmates, she and
two of her classmates were asked to write the names of the animals, that Elsa had seen in the
forest, on small colorful paper chits. Those paper chits were then distributed among all the

2EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
children present in the classroom and each of the students were asked to keep the names of the
animals confidential. After the chits have been distributed, each of the students were asked to
make sounds of the respective animals, that they have got on the chits and the other children
would identify them.
In order to make the activity suitable for the children EAL and SEN, those children were
volunteered to read out the story book “Little fox in the forest” after the activities. Furthermore,
they were also allowed to enact the animals apart from making the sounds, like using the hands
to show the trunk of an elephant or wings of a bird.
Activity 2: Tech activity
Diamond hunt in the mountains
A diamond hunt activity will be conducted involving the educators as well as the
students. In order to support the children with special needs, their parents would also be invited
to participate in the activities. One group of children (5-6) would be encouraged to search on
YouTube regarding the preparation of a false diamond, using papers and glitters. Other 5- 6
group of children would be assigned with the task of creating false mountains and forests using
bricks pebbles and stones. The educators would assist them in making a forest maze using dried
branches and green velvet papers, sticking on the already made maze in the playground. Children
with EAL and SEN will be assisted with painting of the papers and the sticking the green papers
in to the maze wall. After the maze and the artificial mountain has been prepared, the students
will be encouraged to search for the names of the places where diamonds are generally found and
write down those names in different post cards. Those cards were then stuck on the walls of the
maze and the mountains indicating that place. One of the educators would hid the diamond in a

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random place in the maze or the mountains. The total number of children will be divided into
two groups and each of the group will be given 2 minutes to find out the diamond. The winning
team will get a ticket to an amusement park.
The children with special care needs can be assisted by their parents in this activity. The
maze and the tunnels should be made spacious, such that they can move with ease.
Theoretical framework
The activities has been designed as per the Reggio Emilia approach, which aimed at
placing the creativity, art and play at the heart of the early childhood curriculum . A large
components of this philosophy is the attention of the educator to the art and aesthetics,
encouraging the children to express their ideas, questions, emotions via various symbolic
languages. The Reggio Emilia philosophy views teachers as tools of teaching rather than the
decision makers. In the two chosen activities, children will be given their full liberty to explore
their talents and creativity and the educators would just assist them in achieving their goals.
Under the Reggio Emilia approach, the children are viewed as active, capable, self-
sufficient and valuable members of the society. They should be encouraged to explore, question
and interpret the world during the initial years Teaching (Teaching, Scotland, 2017). The
educators who follow the Reggio Emilia approach should think that that the children have some
control over their own learning and development. Children have several languages in music, art
and drama and they should be encouraged to learn through experiences during the early years
(Roskos 2017). As per this approach, a self-guided curriculum would assist children to express in
different ways as their personality will be developed.