Jeans for Genes - Reception

For Jeans for Genes day in Reception, we learnt a little bit about genetics and why we raise money for different genetic disorders.

The children learnt that genes are little pieces of information that live in the building blocks of our bodies. Sometimes, there might be a mistake in a gene which means that the body might work differently to how we would expect. We spoke about how being different doesn't mean a person affected by a genetic disorder can't have a full and happy life. The children really understood how everyone is unique, with their own identity and we celebrated the fact that we learn, move, see and even speak differently.

As we have been thinking about Agent Problem Solver this week, the children then got thinking about different problems that might face people with genetic disorders. We thought about what someone might do if there was a disorder that meant a person couldn't walk:

"You could go like this and 'swizz'" 

Amelia tells us using her hands to pretend to 'pedal' a special type of wheelchair.

"You could use a walking stick if you can walk a bit but not lots"

Henry added.

We then met Miss Lawrence's friend called Max who told us about his genetic disorder which means he can't sweat. The children thought about what Max would need to do to keep cool.

"He needs to drink lots of water"

"He can't play football in the sun for too long or he'll get very hot"

"He can use a fan or the wind to cool him down"

The favourite suggestion however, was...

"Max could eat loads of ice cream!" 

The children were really engaged during this carpet time, and came up with some excellent discussions in both their talk partners and as a whole group.