In Block 5, children will explore the story Clem and Crab, using it as a meaningful way to learn about sounds, friendship, and communication. Through shared reading, group discussions, role play, and creative activities, children will follow Clem and Crab’s journey while developing their ability to listen carefully to the sounds in words.

Children will explore the story through pictures, sequencing events, and simple retelling. They will also make marks to represent crabs, shells, or waves, giving meaning to their drawings. Opportunities for early writing will be provided, such as creating seaside labels or drawing simple story pictures.

Through fun and engaging Monster Phonics activities, children will explore alliteration and practise identifying words that begin with the same sound. For example, they might say phrases like “Clever Clem,” “Crazy Crab,” or “Busy beach,” while exaggerating the beginning sounds. Children will be encouraged to listen closely, repeat sounds clearly, and sort objects or pictures by their initial sound.

During Block 5, we will also begin introducing Pre-Phase 2 sounds through our Monster Phonics programme. This gentle introduction helps children become familiar with letter sounds at a slow and supportive pace, allowing plenty of time to build confidence and understanding. Children will learn one sound each week, starting with the first eight sounds: s, a, t, p, i, n, m, and d. Through play-based activities, songs, and stories, children will begin to hear, recognise, and say these sounds as they make their first connections between sounds and letters.

Development Matters:
Develop their phonological awareness so that they can recognise words with the same initial sound, such as money and mother.

Key Vocabulary:

family, friend, coast, shell, sea, sound, same, start, letter, listen, voice, alliteration, repeat, rhyme, match, sort, together

In Nursery, children are encouraged to make comparisons between objects in terms of size, length, weight, and capacity through practical, hands-on exploration. They begin to use everyday mathematical language to compare quantities and measures, noticing differences such as big and small crabs, long and short pieces of seaweed, heavy and light rocks, and full or empty buckets of sand and water, linking to the story Clem and the Crabs.

Through meaningful play experiences inspired by the seaside theme, they develop confidence in describing and ordering objects based on their properties. This learning links where children compare size, mass and capacity, explore length and height, and use mathematical vocabulary in context.  These activities support children in building early problem-solving skills while embedding mathematical understanding within a familiar and engaging story context, linking to White Rose activities.

Development Matters:

Make comparisons between objects relating to size, length, weight and capacity

Key Vocabulary:

Comparison, ordering, describing, measuring, mathematical

Through the story, Clem and the Crabs, the children begin to understand the need to respect and care for the natural environment and all living things. Through exploring Clem’s experiences at the seaside, children learn that crabs and other sea creatures live in the beach habitat and need clean, safe environments to survive. Discussions about looking after the sand, returning crabs gently to their homes, and not leaving litter behind help children recognise that their actions can impact living things. This supports early awareness of caring for nature and developing respect for animals and their habitats. Through role-play, storytelling and outdoor exploration, nursery children begin to build empathy, responsibility and an understanding of how to protect the natural world around them.

Development Matters:

Begin to understand the need to respect and care for the natural environment and all living things.

Key Vocabulary:

environment, care, exploring, living, respect

During the story of Clem and Crab, the children will be encouraged to explore a wide range of creative materials to express their ideas and imagination. Inspired by Clem’s seaside discoveries, they will investigate natural and textured resources such as sand, shells, paper, paint, collage materials and recycled items to create their own sea creatures, beach scenes and imaginative models. Through open-ended exploration, children will develop their confidence to choose materials independently, experiment with colour, texture and form, and talk about what they are making and why. This supports the EYFS area of Expressive Arts and Design, as children learn to safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, while developing their own creative ideas and representations. 

Development Matters:

Explore different materials freely to develop their ideas about how to use them and what to make, 

Key Vocabulary:

Explore, experiment, materials, models, texture

During this topic, children will develop fine motor skills through mark making, painting crabs, and using tools such as brushes and playdough.
Gross motor skills will be supported through movement activities, such as pretending to move like crabs or exploring sand and water play. Children will be encouraged to use a comfortable and controlled grip when holding pencils, crayons, and mark-making tools, supporting early writing development. Opportunities will be provided for children to make marks and give meaning to their drawings, use pretend writing in play, and begin to use their knowledge of letters and sounds in their writing.

     Development Matters:

     Use a comfortable grip with good control when holding  pens and pencils 

      Key Vocabulary:

      tools, grip, mark - make, control, write

In this block, children will use the Clem and Crab story as a playful context to explore the Healthy Me theme from the Jigsaw PSHE programme, learning how to make healthy choices about food, drink, physical activity and dental care as part of looking after their bodies. Although written lesson details require signing in, the Healthy Me unit supports the early years aim for children to make healthy choices about food, drink, activity and tooth-brushing by talking about what keeps their bodies and smiles strong and happy.

Through group discussions about Clem and Crab’s day, for example, what food helps them play on the beach, how they keep moving, and why they brush their teeth after snacks; children will learn to notice choices that help them feel good and stay well. Activities such as sorting healthy snack pictures, role-playing visiting the dentist with Clem and Crab, and singing tooth-brushing songs will bring these ideas to life.

Development Matters:

Make healthy choices about food, drink, activity and tooth brushing

Vocabulary:

healthy, balance, drink, brush, active, clean, teeth, strong, feel good

The story Clem and the Crab will support children’s curiosity and understanding of the natural world through the theme Explorations and Discoveries. Children will explore seaside environments, learn about sea creatures, and investigate materials such as sand and water through hands-on sensory experiences. The story will encourage children to share their ideas, ask questions, and make connections to their own experiences, thereby supporting their communication and language development. Through creative activities, mark-making, role-play, and simple investigations, children will develop early scientific thinking, imagination, and confidence as young explorers and discoverers.

Development Matters:
Understands 'why' questions like"Why do you think the caterpillar got so fat?"

Key Vocabulary:
curiosity, explore, sensory, seaside, 

In Nursery, children explore music through Big Bear Funk, developing listening and movement skills. They learn to find the steady pulse through marching, clapping and dancing. Children explore different sounds using their voice, body percussion and classroom instruments. They begin to join in with simple songs and respond to musical cues. This builds confidence, coordination and enjoyment of music. 

Key vocabulary: pulse, beat, music, listen, move, clap, tap, sound, sing, loud, quiet, fast, slow, instrument, perform.

Children develop confidence and coordination as they rehearse and perform dances for their EYFS production. They learn to move in time with music, follow cues and remember simple sequences. Children explore character through expressive movement, gesture and facial expression, working together in formations. They practise starting and finishing confidently, performing to an audience with increasing independence. Key vocabulary: move, beat, rhythm, sequence, travel, gesture, formation, perform, start, stop, cue, expression, space, timing, audience.

We warmly encourage families to continue learning at home through simple, playful activities that link with our current story focus, Clem and Crab:

Communication and Language (CL) – Enjoy Story Talk Time by reading Clem and Crab at home and talking about how Clem feels in the story. You can also discuss the friendship between the characters. Encourage your child to retell both stories in their own words, compare the characters, and talk about feelings, kindness, and helping others. Ask open-ended questions such as, “How did Clem help Crab?” or “What makes a good friend?” to support speaking, listening, and deeper thinking.

Understanding the World (UW), Communication and Language (CL), Expressive Arts and Design (EAD) – Invite your child to draw or paint pictures of the seaside, sea creatures, or their own friends and family. You could talk about life at the beach, different sea animals, and their habitats. Encourage conversations about friendship, caring for others, homes, and belonging, linking closely to the themes in Clem and Crab.

Mathematics – Explore “more and fewer” by counting and comparing objects around the house. You might count toy sea animals, shells, or other small objects. Encourage your child to notice differences in size, shape, and quantity, making links to the sea creatures and seaside setting in Clem and Crab.

Physical Development – Support your child’s hand strength and fine motor skills through activities such as building sandcastles, creating seaside scenes with sand or playdough, picking up and sorting small shells or toys, climbing, or drawing and colouring sea creatures. These activities help strengthen the muscles needed for writing and other important tasks.

We would love for you to add a short note, photo, or video of your child enjoying any of these activities to their Tapestry Learning Journey. This helps us celebrate their learning both at home and at school, strengthening the connection between our classroom story experiences and home learning.