At this time, many of us are missing seeing family members and I bet they are missing us too. It is sad but why not take the time to learn more about these important family members. Lets make our very own family trees, these will all be very individual to each child/family and can be made in many different ways.
Some of the staff might join in too.
Here are some examples that I have found just by searching family trees made by children…
This Is something that you can take your time with and work on over a few days/weeks.
Think about;
Name each family member who you would like to have in your family tree… Remember this is just for fun.
Who they are to you for example gran, uncle, cousin
Their age if you know it (if not why not give them a phone and ask them some of these questions?)
What is your favourite thing to do with that person
What is your favourite thing about this person for example they make you laugh, their hair, they bring you to nursery, they sing songs with me.
You can add photographs or drawings of these and add them too.
Any other ideas?
Big ones who might be helping…
As you can see from the images there are many different ways to create these, please do not challenge yourself too much use the materials you have at home and give your children as much independence as possible. This can be a good time to help build your child’s confidence, literacy skills and numeracy skills.
Write out names for them to copy.
drawing pictures of family members, 2 eyes, a mouth, hair colour
count how many family members to include, possible using a different leaf for each.
collect sticks and leaves from outdoors.
Have fun. We are excited and cannot wait to see your family trees.
It was so lovely to have a chat with some of your parents – and some of you, too! It made us miss you even more! We are so glad to hear that you are all doing okay and staying safe.
We know some of you have been super busy exploring your gardens, making pictures and trying out the ideas from the blog… But – we did get a couple of requests for games and activities that haven’t been posted yet. So! Here we go – we hope you enjoy and have lots of fun!
Georgia and her family have asked if we could share a colour wheel game and our penguin dance – Georgia’s mummy shared that it’s one of Georgia’s and her brother’s favourite dances!
Is there anything else you would like to see on our blog? Would you like any ideas and inspiration for new games and activities to try out? Have you got any favourite stories that you would like to see on the blog?
1. Colour wheel game – the idea of this activity is to spin the wheel and see what colour the arrow lands on. The next step is to go around your house, garden or even the environment of your daily walks and collect as many items of this colour as you can! For example, if the arrow lands on the red colour you could collect… Red leaves, red lipstick (ask mummy first!), red buttons, red pens or crayons, red T-shirt – anything red! You can make your own spinning wheel or you can print it out. Let us know how many items you managed to collect!
2. Now, here is one of our favourite ways to exercise and have lots of fun! Let’s keep those muscles growing strong with these dances!
Is there anything else you would like to see on our blog? Would you like any ideas and inspiration for new games and activities to try out? Have you got any favourite stories that you would like to see on the blog?
Please – let us know in the comments! We are here for you and we can’t wait to keep you busy and happy!
During lock down we have all had some extra time to study and research, we feel that this quote best describes children being creative and how natural it can become to them.
“There is no sense in teaching children what we think they ought to know. There is a sense in helping children to learn (teaching) what they naturally find interesting.” (Bruce, 2012:158)
Let’s get creative and recycle using things that you may have around the home.
Children have a good knowledge of the importance of recycling, lets build on this and encourage them to use their imaginations to build and create.
Here is an idea of something you could make…
We will all have some cardboard in our houses at the minute, but if you do not you can use paper and experiment and see what will work.
Lets make some cardboard tube snakes…
Here is what you will need to make these cardboard snakes.
cardboard tubes cut in half as many as you would like to make remember this will give opportunities of numeracy and estimations of length.
paint or coloured pens/crayons
hole punch
string, ribbon, wool
scissors
small piece of red material or paper
glue
cellotape
Watch this link to see how to put it all together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfdkUJptP1
These can also be made using recycled yoghurt tubes.
Repost of our Penguins. Has anyone made a penguin yet?
Penguins are off-limits when it comes to pets, but this DIY recycled bottle activity allows your child to create the impossible. All you need are a few basic art supplies paired with cotton balls and a recycled bottle. You can use different sized bottles and discuss sizes and how much cotton wool would be needed for each and what size needs more.
Junk modelling and being creative is a huge part of children’s active learning. They use their imaginations, problem solving skills while developing their design skills and creativity. They develop their self-confidence as they are enabled to explore materials and how to use them.
You can then give each Penguin a name and age, possibly make up a story about your new family Penguin.
Why not research where he/she would be from?
Then why not dance to the Penguin song with your very own penguin pet.
Please share your creations with us. We can’t wait to see them all.
Today we have posted some activities for the week ahead, rather than posting every day.
Please choose to visit the blog as and when it suits you during the week. You are able to scroll down to view previous post and revisit any favourites or perhaps discover some activities you may have missed.
We are very aware that everyone can have many different things to deal with at present, so our message is ………..Just do what you can!
We are missing you all…………………take care and keep safe!
Did you know it was Twiggle’s birthday the other day?! Here’s a little story all about his special day…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Twiggle! We miss you and all your friends very much!
How old do you think Twiggle is? Is he older or younger than you?
What did Twiggle get for his birthday? What is your most wanted present?
Can you remember the names of Twiggle’s friends? What are your friends called?
Can you design a birthday cake for Twiggle? What would it taste and look like? Do you think he would like this one?
And here is something for your mummies and daddies..
This is a link to PAThS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) blog with lots of strategies and ideas to use with your children. It provides a lot of valuable information about Social and Emotional Learning – especially important in these difficult times:
