Make a face frieze

Cognitive Development Effective use of Play

Faces

• Place photographs of faces, cut from magazines, on the floor and encourage a toddler to look at them. Include photographs with front and side views of faces.
• Note the photographs that interest the toddler and describe the faces or name the people in the pictures.
• Place a mirror beside the photographs and suggest that the toddler look in it.
• Exclaim, ‘Oh, I can see [Ben]. I can see his hair, his eyes…’

Family Faces

• Repeat the activity above, using photographs of the child’s family.
• Ask a toddler questions about the people in the photographs.
• With an older child, place two photographs face down and ask if they remember who is in them. Let the child check if they are right.
• Return to the mirror. Look at a photograph of the child and ask them to touch their nose on the mirror, then their actual nose, and so on.
• Invite the child to make a funny face and exclaim, ‘Oh your photo can’t do that!’

Friendly Faces

• Stick photographs of a group of children on to CDs. Attach the CDs to a ribbon and hang them near a mirror, low enough so a child sitting on the floor can reach, turn and twirl them.
• Help the child name the faces they focus on, and repeat as many times as the child wants.
• Challenge the child to find a particular person.
• When the child finds their photo exclaim, ‘Oh, it’s a little photo of Ben, but look in the mirror at your reflection that is bigger and here you are.’ Give the child a cuddle.

Familiar Faces

• Add CDs with photographs of familiar staff members to the collection.
• Hang them up or place them on the floor and ask the child to find a face.
• Lay the CDs face down and ask the toddler to turn them over and name the faces.
• Ask the toddler to name the person, point to the real child or adult and say, ‘Hello, [Beth].’
• Lay out four CDs and ask the child to name each of the faces.
• Cover each with a cloth and suggest the child finds the hidden faces and names each one.
• Replace the covers and have the child find a particular face, then another, and so on.