Step into the vibrant world of Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne! This colourful tale is a treasure trove of opportunities for EYFS learning, from exploring exotic fruits to understanding kindness and sharing.
These Handa’s Surprise activities for EYFS will help children engage their senses, build social skills, and meet Early Learning Goals across all Areas of Development.
Blossom’s Recommended Handa's Surprise Activities for Early Years:
Activity 1: Taste and Explore the Fruits
Bring in the fruits from Handa’s Surprise – banana, guava, orange, mango, pineapple, avocado, and passion fruit. Let children touch, smell, and taste each fruit while talking about their textures, flavours, and colours.
EYFS Areas of Learning and Development and Early Learning Goals:
- Understanding the World
- The Natural World:
- Children learn about different fruits, where they come from, and how they grow.
- People, Culture and Communities:
- Discuss how these fruits are part of diets in other cultures.
- The Natural World:
- Communication and Language
- Speaking:
- Children describe the fruits using sensory language like “soft,” “sweet,” or “juicy.”
- Speaking:
- Physical Development
- Fine Motor Skills:
- Peeling or cutting fruits (with supervision) builds hand control.
- Fine Motor Skills:
Activity 2: Retell the Story with Props
Create a story basket with props like a toy basket, cuddly animal toys, and plastic or real fruit. Encourage children to retell the story using the props, acting out how each animal takes a fruit from Handa’s basket.
EYFS Areas of Learning and Development and Early Learning Goals:
- Literacy
- Comprehension:
- Retelling the story supports understanding of sequencing and characters.
- Comprehension:
- Communication and Language
- Speaking:
- Acting out the story builds vocabulary and storytelling skills.
- Speaking:
- Expressive Arts and Design
- Being Imaginative and Expressive:
- Using props fosters role-play and creativity.
- Being Imaginative and Expressive:
Activity 3: Create a Fruit Collage
Provide coloured paper and craft materials for children to make a collage of the fruits from Handa’s Surprise. They can arrange the fruits in a basket or create their own unique fruit designs.
Provide coloured paper and craft materials for children to make a collage of the fruits from Handa’s Surprise. They can arrange the fruits in a basket or create their own unique fruit designs.
EYFS Areas of Learning and Development and Early Learning Goals:
- Expressive Arts and Design
- Creating with Materials:
- Children explore shapes, colours, and textures while designing their collages.
- Being Imaginative and Expressive:
- The activity encourages creative expression and individual ideas.
- Creating with Materials:
- Physical Development
- Fine Motor Skills:
- Cutting, gluing, and arranging materials develops finger strength and coordination.
- Fine Motor Skills:
Activity 4: Fruit Sorting and Counting
Use toy fruits or pictures of the fruits from the story to create a sorting and counting game. The children can group the fruits by size, colour, or type, then count how many are in each group.
EYFS Areas of Learning and Development and Early Learning Goals:
- Mathematics
- Number:
- Counting fruits helps build number recognition and basic maths skills.
- Numerical Patterns:
- Sorting introduces pattern recognition and grouping.
- Number:
- Physical Development
- Fine Motor Skills:
- Picking up and placing objects strengthens hand control.
- Fine Motor Skills:
Activity 5: Animal Movements Obstacle Course
Set up an obstacle course where children can move like the animals in the story. For example, “hop like the monkey,” “fly like the parrot,” or “run like the zebra.” Add challenges like carrying a “fruit basket” while navigating the course.
EYFS Areas of Learning and Development and Early Learning Goals:
- Physical Development
- Gross Motor Skills:
- Jumping, running, and balancing improve coordination and strength.
- Gross Motor Skills:
- Communication and Language
- Listening, Attention and Understanding:
- Following movement instructions enhances focus and comprehension.
- Listening, Attention and Understanding:
Activity 6: Make Your Own Surprise Basket
Provide a small basket and let children fill it with toy fruits or other small objects. Encourage them to surprise a friend by sharing the basket, just like Handa did in the story.
EYFS Areas of Learning and Development and Early Learning Goals:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Building Relationships:
- Sharing the basket promotes kindness and social bonding.
- Managing Self:
- Taking turns and sharing builds confidence and empathy.
- Building Relationships:
- Expressive Arts and Design
- Being Imaginative and Expressive:
- The activity encourages role play and creativity.
- Being Imaginative and Expressive:
Activity 7: Fruit Tasting Graph
Create a simple tasting chart where children can record their preferences for the fruits they’ve tried. Use smiley faces or stickers to show which fruits they liked best.
EYFS Areas of Learning and Development and Early Learning Goals:
- Mathematics
- Number:
- Counting preferences introduces basic data collection.
- Numerical Patterns:
- Comparing results helps with early pattern recognition.
- Number:
- Understanding the World
- The Natural World:
- Discuss how everyone has different tastes and preferences.
- The Natural World:
These Handa’s Surprise activities for EYFS combine sensory exploration, creativity, and storytelling to help children engage with the story while developing essential skills. From tasting exotic fruits and acting out the story to creating colourful collages and sorting games, these activities cover all EYFS Areas of Development in a fun and interactive way.
For UK nurseries and early years providers, these activities are perfect for sparking curiosity about different cultures, foods, and friendships while supporting key learning goals. Let the Handa-inspired adventures begin!
