Our first day back after the holidays has been full of fun and problems to solve! We started the day with a Halloween themed Soft Start. Everyone was free to choose from the various puzzles on offer. We all tried hard to persevere without giving up, even though some challenges were quite tricky! However, we had to keep reminding ourselves that they were not impossible.
I wonder if they managed to get their puzzle edges to match up and fit into the space?
YES! They did!
Draw 4 straight lines through all of the pumpkin pictures, without lifting your pen. Can it be done?!
Arrange 8 bats in the grid, without any bats on the same line (horizontally, vertically or diagonally).
Then it was time for more Halloween fun, with a Mental Maths activity involving lots of bugs, bats, rats, snakes etc. The children worked as a team to collect as many as they could before the timer ran out. Then it was time to find out how many points they had earned! Each item had a secret value, which was only revealed once they had finished collecting. Everyone used their addition and multiplication skills to work out their final total.
Then a twist in the game – some individual creatures were worth extra points or in some cases deducted points from their totals! Lots of discussion was had as to the strategies used to calculate. We had so much fun, we forgot to get some photos!
After break we spent some time getting creative and explored how to blend colours together to make a spooky sky background for our Halloween pictures. Next week, we’ll add more to the foreground and begin some spooky writing to accompany them.
In the afternoon we had Kate Hookham (specialising in outdoor education) join our class. It was time for some more problem solving!
We had to work together in small groups and as a whole class to complete various tasks successfully. Some challenges were tricky and we didn’t have enough time to master them, so we will definitely be returning to these very soon!
Can they escape the handcuff tangle without taking their hands out of the loops?
This challenge involved control and concentration to keep the ball moving without dropping it. The problem was, there were only 5 pieces of pipe to keep it moving, so we had to keep moving too!
After Kate’s visit, we spent some time exploring the “forest” area. Although our time with Kate was bright and sunny, the sky suddenly darkened and the sky burst open, so we all had to seek shelter in the trees! We were glad of our jackets, waterproofs and wellies! A beautiful rainbow appeared behind the trees.
When looking for some autumn leaves, a caterpillar was spotted on a leaf.
A challenge was set to find a stick that would be same length of one of our school rulers. Although this one broke on the way back to school, I think some excellent estimation skills were at play here!
Well done!
What a great start to a new term. Well done P4/5/6!
