Early Year Foundation Stage (EYFS) Knowledge & Understanding of the World 
Knowledge and Understanding of the World relates to children’s everyday lives, their homes, families, other people, the local environment and community, and the wider world. There are three main areas in this area of learning -
- Places and people (i.e. early Geography)
- Time and people (i.e. early History)
- Myself and other living things (i.e. early Science - Biology)
- Myself and non-living things (i.e. early Science - Physics)
Through different types of play, active, and experiential learning opportunities as well as practical activities, children will be provided with meaningful experiences. These will stimulate their senses as well as encourage them to ask questions, explore and wonder at their environment. They will undertake investigations that engage their interests, and develop awareness of the beliefs and views of others.
Children will learn in the following ways:
- through the process of experiential learning, which:
- is good practice in education for young children
- starts with the children’s present or past experience
- encourages curiosity and exploratory play
- provides an opportunity for children to recall and draw upon their experiences
- requires children to question their learning experiences
- enables children to explore and investigate their learning environments
- enables children to communicate, interact and talk about what they want to do
- enables children to feel they are valued
- relates learning to themselves, their own lives and the real world
- allows for new learning
- allows practise of skills
- allows opportunities to record their findings in a number of ways
- incorporates opportunities to evaluate learning
- by imitating others, for example in role play and imaginative play
- by being taught specific skills directly, for example how to use specialist tools or measuring equipment.
Development of skills
The following skills are essential to this Area of Learning and can also be developed across the curriculum.
- Observing • Sorting and grouping
- Comparing • Sequencing
- Classifying • Asking/answering questions
- Enquiring • Investigating
- Exploring and experimenting • Thinking
- Listening • Solving problems
- Making decisions • Recording
- Predicting and testing • Communicating
- Reflecting • Evaluating