I hope all of you have been enjoying the snow we have been having this week. Unfortunately my car is stuck in the snow, so I had to walk to the shops yesterday. On my walk I saw lots of people making snowmen, sledging and having snowball fights.
What fun things have you been making or doing in the snow?
I also saw someone playing with a stick writing in the snow and reminded me of one of our favourite stories, Stickman.
Here is a short video of some of our favourite stories…
What is your favourite story? Could you share your favourite story with an adult or a sibling? Is it there favourite story too?
Next time you are out for a walk with your children, encourage them to walk on the wild side!
Can they slither like a snake?
Can they hop like a bunny?
Jump like a frog?
Spread your wings!
Remember birds are everywhere not just out in the countryside.
Listen to the birds you hear from in your garden.
Can you see them?
A great app is BirdNet for you to try with your children.
Can they recognise the birds in the garden just from their sound?
Drawing with Chalk!
Give each child a stick of chalk and let their
imagination flow! Encourage them to draw
pictures, shapes or patterns.
Ask them to describe their drawings.
Can they find other materials to add to
their pictures? For example, leaves could
become ears, twigs could be arms, a flower could be the sun.
Can their drawings be made into a game?
Hopscotch, knots and crosses, what about Pictionary?
Nature Scavenger Hunt
You can do this anywhere outdoors.
Take a paper bag to collect the
treasures you find or if you have a
camera you can take photos instead.
Can you find and collect things in nature of different
colours, textures, shapes and sizes?
What things can you find that are
white, green, brown, blue or yellow?
What about things that are
smooth, soft, hard, bumpy, rough, shiny or fuzzy?
Let the children mix the cornstarch and shaving cream together until it sticks together if you form it into a ball.If it won’t stick together, just add a little more shaving cream.
Now let the children play with the snow.
Can you build a snowman?
What else can you build?
Can you share your pictures with us on ILD?
Use your imagination here, you could use leaves, twigs and other objects from the garden, you could use beans, pasta, and other dried foods, buttons and even the lid from the milk bottle for a snowman hat.
Once the children are finished, sweep the snow back into the tub and put on the lid, it will keep for a long time and can be used again and again.
You could add some glitter to make your snow sparkle, or add a small amount of food colouring to make the snow a colour.
The focus is for children to express themselves. It’s important at the moment as children are struggling with lockdown and not being able to see family and friends. It’s a lot for children to understand at the moment. This is a great opportunity for children to express how they are feeling. Talking with your child daily throughout the day finding out how they are feeling. Children can talk about good or not so good feelings.
Drawing Challenge
I thought it would be good fun to do a drawing activity. You can draw something that makes you happy. It could be your favourite toy, pet, food, activity indoors or outdoors.
You will need: Paper, Pens and pencils
Remember to upload your beautiful pictures onto your ILD.
Story
This story is one of my favourite stories and it always makes me smile `The tiger who came to tea’. I wonder if the tiger came to your house what would you feed him? I would feed the tiger banana muffins, grapes and a big glass of milk.
With all this cold weather it can be really hard to get up off the couch, put on ALL our clothes (well it feels like it) and head out in to the cold!
Here are four reasons that you should!
1) Outdoor Play in the Cold Strengthens the Immune System
Playing outdoors in the fresh, chilly, open air can boost kids’ immune systems, developing their ability to fight off infections and build resistance to allergies.
2) Outdoor Play in the Winter Months Helps to Burn Extra Energy
When playing outdoors, kids can keep fit and continue developing their physical skills. Outdoor play reduces the risk of obesity by getting blood flowing to the organs, at the same time as keeping them fit and healthy.
3) Outdoor Play in Different Conditions Promotes Problem-Solving and Cognitive Thinking
Children are encouraged to assess risks such as slippery surfaces caused by the rain and frost; they can then adapt their play to ensure safety. It also helps children to acquire new problem-solving skills and promotes cognitive thinking.
4) Outdoor Play in the Winter Boosts Vitamin D levels and Uplifts Mood
During the winter, we have a small window of opportunity to be exposed to sunlight and increase our vitamin D levels.
As a society, we must revise our way of seeing winter as a time for children to spend less time outdoors.
By trying to protect them from colder weather, we are doing the opposite and hindering learning.
This information is and extract from …https://www.pentagonplay.co.uk/news-and-info/4-reasons-children-play-outside-cold-weather
It is not just great for the children, the health beenfits for adults are huge too!
