Ensure you are having fun with your child whilst learning.
Children learn through interacting with you and other members of the family.
The activities down below are all ideas if you need them. Remember to always follow your child’s lead and interests. If you have an idea for learning at home, we are always looking for new ideas.
1. Another Julia Donaldson story your child might like is ‘Room on the Broom’.
2. When you are outdoors with your child, listen for different sounds. Ask your child what can they hear? Can they hear the wind, a bus, the birds? Help your child to identify what it is they are hearing.
3. Encourage your child to put their clothes/pyjamas/coat on themselves. Give your child time to problem solve and give them clues without intervening.
4. At bedtime give your child plenty of cuddles and discuss your day together using feelings. What made your child happy today? What made your child sad? How else did they feel throughout the day? What was the best bit about today? What could have made today better?
5. Throughout the week gather some of your empty food containers such as cardboard boxes, milk jugs, packets, toilet roll holders and anything else you can find. Together, encourage your child to use their imagination to create a model of their choice.
If you can send in photos to the nursery of the learning at home you are doing, our email is:
Involve your child in putting together your shopping list. Discuss different foods and textures with your child. If you can, try to introduce new foods to your child.
Give your child plenty of cuddles, loving touch and close contact every day. Use cuddles and reassurance to ease your child when talking about their feelings and their worries about the current situation.
Whilst interacting with your child ask them what songs they know. For example, incy wincy spider or twinkle twinkle little star. Sing together whilst encouraging your child to give you eye contact.
Sort out the sock basket. You can ask your child to put them into different piles such as colours, patterns, ankle socks, long socks, adult socks and children’s socks. Discuss with your child the different colours and patterns. After they are in piles pair the socks together.
If you can send in photos to the nursery of the learning at home you are doing our email is:
In the story, the other creatures invite the mouse to have something to eat with them in their house. Support your child to develop their independence skills by making a snack or meal with you.
Follow the recipe below to make playdough together. Encourage your child to measure out the ingredients giving support through modelling and getting them to copy. Then your child can mix together the ingredients. What can your child make with the playdough? There were a lot of creatures in the story. Your child might like to make a creature of their own.
Playdough recipe
2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of salt
1 cup of cold water (possibly a 1/2 cup more)
2 tablespoon of cooking oil
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
Encourage your child to create their own home from recycled food packaging you have in the house such as empty yoghurt pots or cereal boxes for the mouse in the story or the creature they have created from playdough.
Support your child to place recycled items in the water using your sink or bath and demonstrate pouring, filling up, emptying these resources.
If you are able to send in photos to the nursery of the learning at home you are doing our email is:
Hello nursery children and families, we would love to hear what you have been doing and if possible see some photos of what you do together. Please keep in touch with us by email and update us.
stpiusearlyyears@dundeeschools.scot
If you have an iPhone or an iPad, you can open the Notes app and open a new note to take a photo using the camera icon. If you select use photo then select send a copy, you can email your photo.
This week is all about the story Stick Man by Julia Donaldson
1. Listen to the story of the Stick Man together by clicking on the link below
2. When you are out for a walk or in the garden encourage your child to look out for frost. What marks can they make in the frost using their hands or feet?
3. When you are outside, encourage your child to look for a stick and take it home. If your child is able to, support them to measure different objects in the house against the stick. Can they find an object that is taller than the stick? Can they find an object that is shorter than the stick?
4. Play hide and seek together with the stick. Encourage your child to hide the stick and if they are able to, give you clues about where to find it. This could include saying what it is near to or saying hot or cold. Hot when you are near to it and cold when you are far away from it.
5. Encourage your child to use the stick as the stick man. What can they get their stick man to do? Can they get him to jump? Can they get him to dance? What else can their stick man do?
6. Teach your child the song head, shoulders, knees and toes. Show your child about where each of these parts are on their body. Have a singalong together.
7. Encourage and support your child to identify where different body parts would be on their stick man. Where would his head, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth and nose be?
