A few more ideas from Mrs Wilks

We have made a list of activities to try at home for the seven areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Any of these activities should be able to be done without needing to buy any resources. We have tried to make them open and flexible.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

• Massage – pretend to make a cake or build a pizza on your partners back
• Share stories – retell and act them out
• Make bread together
• Chop the vegetables for dinner together
• Give your child responsibility to help with household chores
• Look at Cosmic Kids Yoga on You Tube and join in as a family
• Sharing a family meal and talk about your day.
• https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

Physical Development

• Threading pasta on to wool or string
• Water play in the bath – scooping, pouring and measuring
• Design a treasure hunt around the house
• Junk modelling
• Make play dough together
• Musical movement games – Like musical statues
• Lego and block play – Plan to build something and see if you can follow your plan.
• Make a sensory tray with shaving foam, soap, cornflour,  jelly etc
• Painting with water in the garden
• Building dens and tunnels with blankets under a table

Communication and Language

• Storytelling with homemade puppets – use old socks, lolly sticks and straws
• Singing nursery rhymes and action songs. https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-songs-index/zhwdgwx
• Make music with saucepans and pots
• Play guessing games – such as think of an animal and model giving clues to help your child guess the animal
• Play board games

Maths

• Pairing socks
• Playing number board games – snakes and ladders, bingo etc
• Bigger and smaller games – Describing the 3 bears, 3 Billy goats gruff and put objects in size order
• Add numbers to pegs and help your child order them
• Measuring ingredients to cook
• Sing number songs, such as 5 currant buns, 5 little ducks
• Sorting toys by colour or shape
• Make a bowling game with toilet rolls
• Go on shape/number hunt around the home or in the garden
• https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/3-5-years/counting

Literacy

• Share story books and talk about what is happening on each page
• Play lotto games – matching pictures
• phonicsplay.co.ukPhase 1, Phase 2 phonics for those who are currently being sent home with words and reading books.
• https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/– Oxford Reading Tree ebooks for those currently on the reading scheme.
• Hide an object in a ‘mystery bag’ and give clues to what might be inside
• Clap out syllables to break up your name or other words – butterfly, daffodil, sunshine

Understanding the World

• Look at information books on frogs and chicks
• Hunt for bugs in the garden and make bug houses
• Plant seeds such as cress and enjoy watching it grow
• Observe the weather each day and make a weather chart
• Make a family tree – who is in your family
• Freeze small toys in ice, work out how to get them out of the ice
• Look at different sorts of ICT in your home e.g. microwave, remote control, phone etc
• Feed the birds in the garden and keep a record of which birds visit your garden

Expressive Art and Design

• Dancing to music – use scarves
• Sing familiar songs and make up your own words to nursery rhyme tunes
• Make musical instruments, shakers
• Make your own paint with shaving foam or coloured ice
• Make props for your favourite story and act it out together.

Play dough Recipe

1 cup salt

2 cups flour

2 tbsp. oil

2 tbsp. cream of tartar

1 ½ – 2 cups boiling water

Foundation School Closure Activities

We have provided a list of activities and ideas to support your child’s learning during school closure. Play is vital to the children’s learning, ensure children have a variety of activities.  Spend time talking, playing games, reading books, singing songs. Remember all 7 areas of learning are as important as each other.

Activities for kids to do at home.

• Play with balls, catching, throwing and kicking.  Can your child make up a new game with rules using a ball?
• Read regularly to each other
• Practice letter and number formation
• Play board games
• Be creative with play dough
• Dance along to your favourite music