Today we took Ziggy with us on our Woodland Adventure and taught him all about staying safe on the road.
The children are all very good at keeping safe when we walk to the woods and could tell Ziggy all about what he should do.
Today we took Ziggy with us on our Woodland Adventure and taught him all about staying safe on the road.
The children are all very good at keeping safe when we walk to the woods and could tell Ziggy all about what he should do.
Over the past few weeks at nursery, the children have been exploring different ways of mark making both indoors and outside.
Here are just a few photographs of what we have been doing…
Whiteboards are a favourite…
Writing in salt…
Mixing our own colours of paint…
We love painting on a large scale (although it can get messy!)
Making paint from things we find outdoors…
Crayon rubbings and chalk outside too.
How do you like to make marks, draw and write? Why not share with us on Twitter @GlenwoodFC or in your Google Classroom.
Patterns are everywhere. Looking for patterns helps us discover and learn new things about the world around us.
Mrs Wilson went on a pattern hunt in her house and garden. Here are some of the patterns she found.
Can you find any of these patterns?
Maybe you can find some different patterns in your house or when you are outside.
Activities to try at home
Pair socks by looking at their patterns to help develop matching skills.
Print a pattern using fruit and vegetables.
Look at the patterns on the soles of your shoes and wellington boots. How many different patterns can you find?
Design your own tartan pattern using paint and toy car wheels.
Support your child develop their understanding of repeated patterns by providing simple patterns for them to copy using loose parts. Saying the pattern out loud as it is made can really help children as they decide what item is next. Making their own patterns also helps children develop their decision making skills as well as learning how to make logical connections.
Collect some leaves to peg a leaf pattern on a washing line or piece of wool or string.
Explore the different patterns that animals might have by watching a clip from CBeebies about animals with spots and stripes: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p011mxh0
Remember to tweet to let us see the patterns you find or make. Have fun! @Glenwood FC #Glenwoodlearningathome
Hello Fun Friends. This is our last message of this year and we want you to carry on being Brave and Happy!
Remember to use your milkshake breathing and relax when you feel upset or worried. Also it can be good to talk about your feelings with people who care for you.
Mirror, Mirror
When you are looking at yourself in the mirror (perhaps brushing your teeth or hair) Tell yourself something positive e.g “I can be brave, kind, helpful, try my best” These are positive (green) thoughts.
You can help other people to have green positive thoughts too. Send a message to a friend, member of your family or neighbour.
We know that you are Brave! We saw how Brave you could be at Glenwood and we know you will continue to try and be brave. Remember to keep practising being brave. Brave is :
Making New Friends
It’s good to make new friends and to play with different people. Friends smile, help, talk, listen, play and share. What would you tell your friend? What would you ask them? Would you tell them about your family?
Family Fun Questions (why not write these out, add some more and then pick a question to answer)
Our support Team
Sometimes we need help or care from others. On a piece of paper draw yourself and then people who can help or support you round about you. This might include siblings, wider family, neighbours, teachers (pets can also be included).
Game – What could you do if? (Think of solutions to these problems)
Make up your own scenarios – some things that might happen and some funny.
It’s ok to say No!
Sometimes our friends do or say things we don’t like. Remember it’s ok to say “I don’t like that”. Look the person in the eye and use a brave voice. Next you can get louder and show a cross face. Then use a very loud voice and show your angry face and body (no hitting or kicking). Get help from an adult if you need it.
We follow the rules so we don’t get lost or hurt. We ask for help when we need it and we remember the Pants rule https://youtu.be/_SzbMEVYiyg
Game – Today we will be……
Here are a few positive behaviours (add your own), write them on pieces of paper, fold them up, put them in a container and then pick one out each day. Then everyone playing needs to try and be this word.
Determined Flexible Thankful Friendly Creative Funny Surprising Tidy Helpful Co-operative Bendy Strong Gentle Playful Try hard
Keep Learning!
As you grow there are lots of things to learn! Keep practising to achieve your goals and try hard! Remember: ‘No matter how old you are everyday is a learning day’.
We are proud of you!
Being in lockdown has been very hard and we want you to know that we have missed you very much but we are very proud of you staying at home or going to a nursery hub.
We hope you will continue being Fun Friends and will remember:
Miss Bibby has been thinking about ways you can use money in your house.
One way I thought of is to set up your very own healthy snack shop.
My snack shop is going to have apples, tangerines, strawberries, blueberries, carrot sticks, peppers and celery for sale.
You and your family can take turns at both selling and buying your snacks.
Why not see what coins you can recognise and use these to buy your snacks?
This activity will help develop numeracy skills such as coin and number recognition.
Don’t forget to share your tuck shop with us on Twitter or Google Classrooms #Glenwoodlearningathome
Number Sense is when a person has a sense of what numbers mean, understands their relationship to one another, can perform mental arithmetic and can use numbers in real situations.
At Glenwood we play games that help us to develop our number sense. All of these ideas can be adapted to suit the stage of individual children – make the numbers and quantities smaller or larger to give the appropriate amount of challenge.
We like to add an element of competition to add to the fun and will play several games in a row for a short time each.
Saying Number Sequences – Forwards and backwards: this can be as simple as counting together as you climb up the stairs, kick a football or count down to begin a race. Try saying alternate numbers as you count, or clapping for each number.
Recognising and sequencing numerals:
Counting Visible Items:
Spatial Patterns: These are the dot patterns that are on dice or dominoes – we learn to recognise the pattern and can say how many spots there are without counting them.
Subitising: Our brains are very clever – they can tell us ‘how many’ items are in a small group without us counting!
You could try using more than one colour and asking how many of each colour.
We hope you will try out some of these games with your family… have fun and let us know which you enjoyed most.
@GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome
It is the final week of our transitions programme. Can you believe how quickly time has gone?
As we are saying ‘goodbye’ in nursery to all the children who will be going to school in August, here are some activities to finish off our Bear Hunt…
This week we have been excited to welcome our pre-school children back to Glenwood for the first of their transition visits.
It was a bit strange at first but the children soon got over their nerves and were soon joining in with all the different activities. It was hard remembering that we couldn’t be too close together but everyone did very well.
Here are some pictures of the experiences we took part in…
The Beebots went on a Bear Hunt
Building houses for bears
Inventing our own bear maths games
Playing on the computers
Drawing pictures and reading books
Listening to the story of Whiffy Wilson The wolf who didn’t want to go to school
And everyone decorated a triangle to make our own bunting
Next week we will hear all about your adventures when you visited your new schools and also have a small celebration together to say ‘Goodbye’.
Consistency is key – the more your child practices, the better they will become at finding ways to work through their own personal challenges.
Recap on previous weeks’ learning:
Nurture
Learning about role models in our lives and how they can influence how we nurture relationships. Spending time together doing fun activities with adults, peers and siblings help us to role model positive relationships. Our family, friends and adults in our lives can help us be brave and we can help them.
Being a good friend Discuss what makes a good friend – helping, sharing, smiling and listening. Then talk about a time that your child has been a good friend and thank them for sharing the story.
Making new friends Remind children about doing things one step at a time. Discuss steps to make new friends by, smiling and saying hello, asking them to play with you, share your toys, invite them to play at your garden, etc
Encourage children to listen to their friends.
Listening game: Play a Simon Says game but with a different action from what is being said. For example, Simon says “touch your nose”, while touching your head. Your child needs to listen and do what you say rather than what you do.
Sharing game: In a small group give each child 5 stickers of the same colour. The aim is to end up with 5 stickers- all different colours. Each child has to ask the other child for a sticker in a brave voice and say please and thank you. Afterward you can discuss the importance of being kind and sharing. What would happen if no one had shared a sticker.
Magical sound box: Put different objects, such as keys, paper, beans in a bottle, etc., into a covered box, and then manipulate one of the objects asking a child to tell you what he or she heard. You might need to introduce the child to different objects and sounds before playing this game.
Guess who is calling you: Seat everyone in a circle, choose one child to cover their eyes. Then choose someone else in the group to shout out the person’s name that has their eyes closed. The child then uncovers their eyes and has to guess who shouted out their name. Continue until everyone has had a turn in the circle.
Useful links for being a good friend.
CBeebies Justin’s Good Friends Song
What makes a good friend? song on YouTube
Bad Apple: a tale of friendship by Edward Hemingway (YouTube)
Friendship Soup – a recipe for friends (YouTube)
Can you tell us about when you have been a good friend to your family, neighbours or anyone else?
Share on Google Classrooms or Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome
Mrs Silvester has been having fun with her recycling again! Here are some ideas of things you could try at home too…
Catapults
In Mrs Silvester’s house we set out to build our own catapults with things we had around the house to see if we could create our own trajectory devices. Then we built a basketball type game with the catapults.
Here are some of the things you could use:
These were some of the questions the children in my house had, which we were hoping the experiment would answer:
Find more information
https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/lolly-stick-catapults/
Maze Game
This game was fun to make and is great for building motor skills, concentration, counting and number recognition. Turn a cardboard box or plate into an entertaining ball maze game. This is a great hand-eye coordination game to make and play with reusable materials.
Suggestions of what you could use to make your own Recycled Maze Game:
Create the Maze
1) Design your maze by placing the tubes or paper strips on the box. Arrange them making sure you leave enough space for free ball travel around the maze.
2) Then attach the tubes or paper strips to your box or plate
3) ENJOY ! ! !
You could try these other ideas for making mazes too.
Here’s a fun song to help remind us of ways to cut down on single use plastic: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0798jzc/junk-rescue-songs-2-single-use-no-thank-you
Don’t forget to share your creations on Google Classrooms or Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome
We love to see your smiles and it is nearly the end of National Smile Month (18th May – 18th June). When you smile it’s great to see your teeth especially when they are clean and bright.
Remember to:
Why don’t you sing along with Hey Duggee’s toothbrushing song?
Activity
Next time you are brushing your teeth can you name the different parts you are brushing: the lower set, front of your teeth, gums, back of teeth, biting surface, corners and upper set of teeth.
Lots of us also love things that are sweet but sugar isn’t good for our teeth or bodies. Are you eating too much sugar?
https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/food-facts/sugar
Activity – Sugar Bags
Create bags with spoonfuls of sugar to show how much sugar is in a product you enjoy. You will find the amount of sugar in the nutrition panel of the product listed under “Carbohydrate of which sugars”. 1 teaspoon=roughly 4g of sugar so divide the figure on the packaging by 4 to get the number of teaspoons.
Mrs McGregor checked her yoghurt ingredient panel and found it contained 13.8g of carbohydrate as sugars. She measured out 3 ¼ teaspoons of sugar to show how much sugar was in the yoghurt.
Sugar swap
Which items do you enjoy that you could swap for similar products with less sugar? For example, you could swap flavoured yoghurt for natural yoghurt with fresh fruit .
https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/food-facts/sugar/sugar-swaps-for-kids
You can find out more about Child Smile on their website:
http://www.child-smile.org.uk/parents-and-carers/index.aspx
We would love to see your smiles and healthy swaps – why don’t you post them in your Google Classroom to show your friends?
@GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome
We have all had lots of fun this week joining in with our sporting activities and we hope you have too!
Thank you for posting all your videos on Google Classrooms – we have enjoyed watching you all.
Here are some pictures from the week…apologies if they are a bit blurry but the adults from Glenwood move very fast!
This week we are looking at encouragement.
Well done to all of you who have been learning about feelings, relaxing (and milkshake breathing) and ‘I can do it!’ (turning red thoughts green).
This week we want to set goals with children, and encourage them to gain a skill, develop self-control or overcome a fear. This is a chance for us to be brave as we take on a challenge!
To achieve our goal we can break the task into smaller steps. An example is learning to complete a jigsaw puzzle:
Can you pick a goal you would like to achieve? What will you pick?
If you can’t think of a goal here are some ideas:
Can you make a picture to show what you want to learn or get an adult to help write a list of steps to get you to your goal. If you want you could post it on your Google classroom.
Now start at step one and try and achieve it. If it takes practise try hard! Remember to think green thoughts. When you have achieved a step, Celebrate! Give yourself a cheer or do a little dance. When you achieve your goal maybe you will get a reward.
What reward would you pick? Maybe playing a favourite game as a family, or getting to choose what Mum or Dad will cook. Fun Friends Koala likes choosing activities with others more than sweet or toy rewards. Can you do the same?Additional resources
CBeebies radio programme on encouragement: https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/radio/treasure-champs-encouragement
Using zips: https://www.nhsggc.org.uk/kids/resources/ot-activityinformation-sheets/zips/
Learning to button: https://theinspiredtreehouse.com/teach-kids-button/
Introducing new food (its part of info on fussy eaters): https://www.nhsggc.org.uk/kids/resources/ot-activityinformation-sheets/fussy-eaters-information-sheet/
Staying in your bed: https://raisingchildren.net.au/toddlers/sleep/night-time-problems/calling-out-getting-out-of-bed
Learning to ride a bike: https://blog.halfords.com/how-to-teach-a-child-to-ride-a-bike/
Children naturally enjoy music, and want to move, dance, vocalise and create sounds in whichever way they can to reflect their mood.
There are different aspects of musicality that you can explore with your child:
Movement
When children take part in music and movement activities, they can release lots of energy as they have fun being creative and dancing around. It also helps children to develop their gross and fine motor skills, express their emotions, learn how to share space, and improve their balance and co-ordination as they explore moving their body.
Great songs to try are Shake your sillies out and I can move my body like anything or you could play a game like musical statues.
Play Sounds
When children make sounds through play, they are developing early instrumental skills. They are first learning what the object is and then what they can do with it. As children experiment, they are building an understanding of how best to make the sound i.e shake maracas, use a beater to play a triangle, scrape or beat a woodblock, tap or bang drums with their hands.
Encouraging your child to explore what they can do with instruments is so beneficial for their development. It builds fine and gross motor skills, supports sensory development, enhances hand-eye co-ordination and helps your child to develop patience and perseverance.
You may have some instruments at home already or you could make your own such as lollipop stick harmonicas or straw pan flutes. We also included ideas in the home learning booklet in your family fun bag.
Listen
Listening is not just about hearing, it is also about being able to tune-in to sounds in the environment and sounds that are spoken. It can be described as an active process where we make sense and respond to what we hear. As children develop their listening skills, they are learning to take in information, respond to instructions and share ideas and thoughts.
You could try playing some listening games with your child, such as Simon Says, or online from the BBC website – https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/eyfs-listening-skills/zbc4y9q
Create
Having the opportunity to be creative with music enables children to think about how sounds are made and how they can put these sounds together to compose their own rhythms. Children need to be able to try out their own ideas and express themselves to nurture this creative process.
Here are some ideas to encourage your child:
Body rhythm using syllables: Start by thinking of 2 items that you want to use, for example apple and banana
Choose which body parts you want to use to beat out the syllables, you might clap hands twice for a-pple or stamp three times for ba-na-na
Put this rhythm together and then repeat: CLAP, CLAP, STAMP, STAMP, STAMP, CLAP, CLAP, STAMP, STAMP, STAMP
Say the syllables as you do the body rhythm: a-pple, ba-na-na, a-pple, ba-na-na
Sing
Singing with your child helps promote their language and literacy development. Songs can be very motivating for children, using simple, repetitive language to encourage engagement as they learn new things such as phonological awareness and vocabulary. Children’s songs also include concepts such as counting, body parts recognition, animals and following directions, and these really help your child to understand experiences, words, emotions, and much more.
Spend some time singing with your child everyday. Here are some song suggestions and ways that you can integrate activities to enhance the experience for your child:
Favourites: Incy Wincy Spider; Wheels on the Bus; Row, Row, Row your Boat
Body parts: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; If You’re Happy and You Know It; Tommy Thumb
Animals: Old McDonald; I Went to Visit a Zoo One Day; There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly
Counting: 5 Little Monkeys; Once I Caught a Fish Alive; 5 Little Speckled Frogs
Other Ideas
Remember to share your ideas in your Google Classroom or on Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome
All of the staff are super excited about our Virtual Sports Week and have been out practising! Take a look at the video…
Each day next week we will post on Google Classrooms different sports for you to try at home. Take some photos or videos of you taking part and post them in your Google Classroom for your Glenwood friends to see.
You can also share on Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome
Keep encouraging your child to identify feelings in themselves and to do things that make themselves feel better when they are experiencing unpleasant feelings.
Practise relaxation every day if you can and encourage your child to use relaxation strategies to calm down if they feel upset/worried/angry e.g use milkshake breathing and imagine a peaceful place.
We can be BRAVE! Being BRAVE is:
Red and Green thoughts:
This week in the Fun Friends programme we teach children about negative (RED) thoughts and positive (GREEN) thoughts. There are some activity ideas further down the post.
What children think has an impact on their feelings and actions so it is important we help children develop positive mindsets and be more confident.
What we want children to learn is we can have RED (unhelpful) thoughts or GREEN (helpful) thoughts. We can choose to turn our RED thoughts GREEN.
GREEN thoughts are the things you say to yourself in your head that make you feel good which makes them HELPFUL thoughts.
RED thoughts are things you say to yourself that make you feel unhappy feelings or make you feel less confident which makes them UNHELPFUL thoughts.
Changing RED to GREEN
How can we change RED thoughts into GREEN thoughts? Help the children come up with GREEN thoughts for certain situations e.g
Feelings vs Thoughts
Talk about the difference between our thoughts and feelings. Talk about how feelings are in our bodies, and thoughts are in our head.
Activity 1
Draw a big traffic light on paper/cardboard with emphasis on RED and GREEN lights – GREEN light means GO!, RED light means STOP! Explain that this is to help us tell the difference between thoughts that help us feel BRAVE and good inside (GREEN) and thoughts that make us feel scared, worried or angry inside (RED). The AMBER light can be seen as a time for changing RED thoughts to GREEN thoughts. It may help to draw happy and unhappy faces onto the traffic lights. Please make sure it is known that RED thoughts are ok to have. You can use examples of RED and GREEN thoughts from the lists above.
Activity 2
Say ‘Hello’ to GREEN thoughts – talk about times when we might have a RED thought and how we can help ourselves to feel better by turning it into a GREEN thought instead. Write/draw GREEN thoughts on a sheet of green paper (or use a green pen) and turn them into a GREEN thoughts book.
Say Goodbye to RED thoughts – Write/draw a RED thought on a sheet of red paper (or use a red pen), jump up and down on the RED thought, rip it up and throw it in the recycling bin!
Practise identifying RED and GREEN thoughts as much as possible. Model turning RED thoughts into GREEN ones and help your child to do the same with their own RED thoughts.
Praise your child for using these strategies in times of stress and for being BRAVE.
Helpful Links for explaining feelings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akTRWJZMks0
Songs
Stories
Healthier Minds
At Glenwood we use Hanen’s ABC and Beyond approach to develop early literacy skills.
The programme has six main aspects:
For more information on activities you can use at home with your child, please read our Sway.
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Why don’t you let us know which words you have made sparkle or which stories you have retold together?
@GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome
The reason we like some food and not others is because of our taste buds. Can you find out where they are? What foods do your Taste buds love and which ones make them go Yuck! Can you draw a picture of your favourite meal?
Food explorers
Sometimes we decide we don’t like food because of its look, smell or because we tried it before and we didn’t like it. Remember food can taste different depending on the time of year (especially fruit and vegetables), how it was made and what ingredients were used. Two people can make the same food and it taste different. Can you be a food explorer and explore some new or unusual food? Be Brave and try a very small amount. If you don’t like it that’s ok but don’t be afraid to try it again as our tastes change over time.
At the table
Setting a table and putting out everything you need, sitting at the table to eat and deciding what are the rules are good skills to have. There are different rules at different tables. In some countries it’s even polite to burp after a meal to show you enjoyed it. At Glenwood we have developed our mealtimes to encourage conversation as for it to be a relaxing time when children and adults are together. We also know that some of you are enjoying food that you have been helping cook.
Packaging Practise
Packaging can be a challenge to get into so try and practise opening as many food packages as you can. You might need a little help but this will develop your hand eye coordination, finger control and self confidence as you learn to open up food or drink containers for yourself. Remember to try and keep it steady so it doesn’t fly everywhere.
What I like and how much
It’s good to learn the names of the food you like and how much you like to eat. Some children have big appetites and some smaller. If you start with an empty plate you could play ‘school dinners’ where you have to ask each item of food that has been made and say how much you want. This will help you develop your vocabulary and your awareness of amount. “more”, “less” “the middle sized one”. And remember to say ‘please’ and thanks you’ to those who have cooked and are serving.Maybe you could have a go at being the school cook and making some food.
I’m Full
In the school dinners game you don’t need to eat everything on your plate if you have a big portion. Instead be aware of your body and when it’s full and doesn’t want anymore or if you would like more you could ask if there is any food left you could have.
Steady as you go
Part of the ‘school dinner game’ can be to carry your plate, cutlery and drink. This is very tricky and could end in a big crash so start by carrying an empty plastic cup, plate and cutlery on a tray. This game requires balance and spatial awareness.
Clean up Time
When you have finished your food it’s time to tidy up. In the school dinners game you need to scrape your food into a bin. put your cutlery in one container and your cup and plate in another container. This is a good time to see if you made a good estimate of how much you would eat and drink. This is developing independence and self help skills.
Get in touch
We love hearing how you are getting on so keep in touch.
@GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome
How to grow a carrot top
Cut the top from a carrot. You’ll need about 2.5 cm.
Simply add a layer of cotton balls or newspaper to your small dish. Add a little water over the cotton balls and place the dish in a sunny location. Do not let them dry out.
It will take a few days to see the carrot top begin to grow. Once the new plants have rooted well, you can plant them in soil. The new plants should show growth pretty quickly and your lucky little gardeners will be delighted with their reward.
Learning involved
What other root vegetables could you grow in this way?
Find some more on the CBeebies website by clicking the links below.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/makes/dotf-vegetable-scraps
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/7-tips-for-gardening-with-children
Mrs Husbands tried to grow a red pepper instead of a root vegetable. She planted it on the 20th April and it took until 28th May before she could see a shoot!
Let us know how you get on @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome
Relax
It’s not easy to relax and there are many different ways people choose to relax. Yoga, reading, singing, exercise, meditating, listening to music and much more. In the world today it is important that we help our children develop this skill of RELAXING as the world around them becomes busier with more challenges. When we help our children and ourselves to develop this skill of RELAXING will in turn help with resilience, self control, good mental health and well being. How many times have you heard an adult say “I don’t have time to relax” but we need to make time and show children how to nurture this positive life skill.
BREATHING
Milkshake breathing is a term we use a lot with the children in Glenwood and it is one of the tools used in the Fun Friends program. In your family fun bags you should have a straw. Use the straw without any water and get them to practise breathing in through their nose and out through the straw big, long slow breaths. Tell them this will help them to blow out their worries so they can begin to feel more relaxed. After a few practises put the straw into a glass of water to practise their milkshake breathing. Try to emphasize how important it is to do this very slowly and gently. The slower we breathe the better. Slow breathing calms us down!
Belly breathing Find a warm quiet place and lay down. Encourage your child to close their eyes. Ask them to lay one hand on their tummy and start to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. As they breathe in ask them if they can feel their tummy moving up and when they breathe out feel their tummy going down. Tell them that this will help them to blow out their worries so they can begin to feel more relaxed. Again try to emphasise how important it is to do this very slowly and gently. Slow breathing calms us down! Do this for 10 minutes everyday or week. Whatever suits your family life.
The more often either one of these strategies is practised the more natural it will become for them to use in a challenging situation. By saying “I can see and hear you are feeling angry, could we try and do some Milkshake breathing?” you are acknowledging their feelings (that they are allowed to have) and also offering a positive way to release them.
When you’re feeling confident that your child is aware of their breathing and has mastered the skill, music could be introduced and essential oils like lavender. Perhaps as time progresses and the child gets older sessions could last 15mins and even allow them the space to do it themselves in a safe environment.
These suggested strategies can be done in pairs or as a family. Only you know how your family works best. In Glenwood these sessions are done in small groups with key workers scaffolding learning.
Understanding Body Clues Help children identify “Body Clues” with the “Body Clue Match Game”. Draw around your child to create a body shape. It doesn’t matter what it looks like as long as your child can identify a head and arms and legs. Using the body shape with body clues (ie butterflies in tummy, jumpy heart bear, stamping giant head) talk about the body signs and how this person might be feeling.
Next, have your child pick out what emotion they want to talk about first. Remember, “good” or “bad” aren’t emotions – there’s no such thing as a good feeling or a bad feeling! Some feelings might be comfortable and some might be uncomfortable, but every emotion is helpful to recognize. Explain that body signs don’t mean you are sick – these signs are telling us it’s time to relax, drink some water and have some quiet time. Your body is your friend – it gives you clues and signs that it is time to take a deep breath and have a rest. It’s important to listen to our bodies.
Talk about what their body tells them when they feel tired or worried or upset or angry or happy or brave. e.g sore tummy, sore head, red cheeks, need the toilet, warm inside and sweaty hands. Let children know that other children and adults also feel these signs in their bodies.
Further Links:
Breathing exercise – 2 Minute YouTube Video
Further relaxation activities – ERC Healthier Minds
Music for relaxation – CBeebies Calming Sounds
Yoga – Mrs Russell’s yoga video
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