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At home today...!

During the Covid-19 school closures, we are sharing an activity each day with you, this is something that you can do at home together.  These are posted on our social media facebook page @chertseyns and also via Teachers2Parents. Please share photos of what you have been doing with us on Tapestry.

A full list of the activities will be posted here at the end of each week:-

 

"Shark in the Park" - activities from Jennifer - 

  • Finger bugs/creatures - Using paint (food colouring if you have no paint) get your child to dip the tips of their finger in the paint and make prints on paper. When the prints are dry they can add facial features, legs.  If you want to extend this they could cut out their bugs/creatures and glue them to found twigs/leaves to create their own collage/habitat for them.
  • Bug Hunt - Go on an insect/bug exploration in your garden or during your daily walk.  Take paper and pencil with you get your child to write down what they find.  When you get home why not get your child to draw what they found. Talk about the colours on the bug, how many legs, Shell or wings etc.
  • What could it be? - Cut a circle in the centre of a piece of card (side of cereal packet)   Cut out pictures of familiar objects and stick them on a lolly stick, or small twig.   Slowly reveal the picture within the circle from behind the card (Like the telescope in the story) can your child guess the object?  Swap and let your child reveal the images for you to guess!
  • What Can You See - Make your own telescope from a kitchen roll tube, or rolled up card (side of cereal packet) Go out into the garden and look through your telescope. Get your child to write down or draw what they see when they -  look to the left? Look to the right? Up above? And down below?

 

"Elmer" - activities from Pam - 

  • Can you go on a colour hunt?  Have a look at all the colours that Elmer is made up of.  Go around the house or garden and look for things that are of the same colour.  You may want to take photos or draw pictures of the things that you have found on your colour hunt.
  • If you have a balloon ask an adult to blow it up till it’s nearly hard.  Then stick old newspaper/magazines/scrap paper all over it (papier mache) leaving a small gap where balloon is blown up and leave to dry.  When dry pop the balloon and remove and throw away, then you can add ears, eyes and trunk and paint your own Elmer.
  • Ask an adult to help you cut a large plastic milk bottle straight across about three-quarters of the way down the handle (this will be Elmer’s trunk).  Then carefully cut into the cut side of bottle to form legs.  Then you can decorate your Elmer with paper ears and eyes that you stick on with glue and you could even paste coloured paper on to form the patchwork.
  • Draw or trace a large elephant on a piece of paper or cardboard and either paint or crayon Elmer in different colours or ask an adult to help you cut up a piece of sponge to dab different colours on the paper.

 

"The Polar Bear and the Snow Cloud" - activities from Becky -

  • Make blocks of ice:  Use glitter and freeze toys in plastic containers and put them on a tray. Imagine the toys are frozen in the arctic. Use polar animals if you have them or you could try to make some animals from boxes and cotton wool or paint them. Could you make the polar bear or the seal from thins in your recycling to play with with some ice cubes?

  • Research a polar animal:  Look online with an adult and find out about animals that live in snowy places. How do polar bears, seals, whales and arctic foxes live in these places?  Or you could of course use books if you have any or find programmes on tv.

  • Snow flake:  Take a piece of paper and fold it from the centre into a triangle shape. Cut out different shapes then when you open it up you will have made a unique snow flake. If you make more than one compare them. Are they the same? Did you know all snowflakes are different.

  • Snow picture:  Use cotton wool or cotton pads to make a snowy picture. You could make a snow cloud like the one in the story and an animal. Or just a snow cloud and some snow.

 

"Emergency" - activities from Rebecca - 

  • Emergency Service Spot- When out on a walk or travelling in the car see how many emergency service vehicles you see on the way! 

    You could also do this from your house and listen out for sirens, or maybe even a helicopter make a tally of when you hear them and then count them up at the end of the day or week!

  • Gather some bandages, plasters and other first aid pieces, then set up your own hospital, vets, doctor surgery! use your soft toys, dolls or even your family members and make them better.

  • Turn your bike, scooter or ride on into a emergency service vehicle, use your imagination to save the day, what ever it may be. 

    Dress up as a hero! firefighter, doctor/nurse, police, vet or be your own hero. 

  • Get creative, using red, orange and yellow colours either pens, paints or materials, make your own fires, then use them in your play maybe you could gather your cars and fight the fires or use your blocks, to build, and then use your fires and imagination to put the fires out

 

"Happy Birthday Winnie" - activities from Becky - 

  • Make some party decorations:  If you had a party in your house or garden how could you decorate it? Make some bunting. Cut out some large paper triangles from coloured or plain paper and decorate with pencils or pens. Attach the triangle to some string or with tape together. Hang the bunting.  You could blow up some balloons if you have any or make balloon shapes from paper.

  • Make a birthday cake: Ask an adult to help you make a cake or some cupcakes. Use a recipe and help to follow each step and measure out the ingredients. If you can think about decorating your cake. What makes a birthday cake special? Do you have any candles?  Sing happy birthday to Winnie the witch and help her blow out her candles.

  • Birthday party:  Invite your cuddly toys or family to join in with having a party at home. You could have balloons, a pretend or real picnic lunch, cake and party games like musical statues and duck duck goose.  Sing happy birthday to the birthday boy or girl. You could also use any decorations you may have made. Play some party music and dance together.

  • Make a witches hat with paper or card and decorate it. You could make a black hat or make a special birthday witches hat and decorate it by colouring it in or painting it with bright colours like Winnie’s hat in the story. Take some paper or card and make a cone shape stick it with tape or glue. You could secure the hat on with string or elastic under the child’s chin.

 

"Walking through the Jungle." activities from Caroline L - 

  • At a meal time, sit around the table together and start a story;‘Today I was walking through the jungle and I saw a snappy crocodile……’  Encourage each family member to repeat what you have said, adding an animal that they have seen on to the end.  See how many animals you can think of.
  • Draw pictures with your child of the animals in the story. When you’re on your daily walk, hide these pictures around your neighbourhood for other children to find. Encourage your child to be as imaginative as possible when hiding each animal; is that a crocodile peaking out from behind that bush?
  • Talk to your child about going on a journey to different places like those in the story. What would you need to take with you? Maybe you could set your child a challenge to pack a backpack full of travel essentials from around the house. What would your must-have luxury item be?
  • Create an obstacle course in your house, so you and your child can travel through the different places in the story. Ask your child for ideas on how to create some of the locations; could your clothes line be a jungle full of trees and vines? Can you climb a mountain using sofa cushions?

 

VE Day extravaganza from everyone - 

 

COUNTING DICE GAME from Jennifer – Resources: Tray or box filled with various objects, dice either numbered or dots. Get your child to roll the dice and guess the number, then count out the matching number of objects. Take turns with your child, and ask for their help with guessing the numbers.

LUNCH KEBABS from Sally -To make this fun lunch you will need some wooden skewers. Your child can make either sweet or savoury kebabs. Using chunks of bread, cheese, olives, ham , chicken, salami or tomatoes. Strawberries, melon, apple banana. Whatever your child likes & maybe something they are not so keen on, as eating things they have made or in a different way often encourage children to try new things.Also encourages fine motor development when threading the food onto the skewers.

SIGHT HUNT from Yvonne - Support your child to make a viewfinder. Cut out a square of card from an old cereal box/ cardboard. Cut a smaller square out of the centre.  Take your viewfinder around the house/flat/garden and explore what things you can see. Alternatively, you could create a pair of binoculars with 2 small rolls of kitchen/toilet roll. Your child could write a list of the things they see or draw/paint a picture. If you have a tablet or phone that could be used by your child, they could do the same activity but using photos to record. 

KIMS GAME from Becky - A memory game using household objects or toys. Put 4/5 objects onto a tray or table. Look at them carefully and then cover them up. Take one away can the child work out which one is missing repeat with various objects. Which one is missing? How did you know?

Make Skittles from Sally - Collect around 8 used plastic bottles. Put a little water/rice or pasta in the bottom of each to weigh them down a little. Either decorate the skittles with your child or number them 1-8 with numbers and/or dots like a dice. Ask your child how many skittles they have knocked over or what numbers they have knocked over. This game can be played indoors or outdoors!

Vegetable printing from Becky  – use potatoes or any vegetable to carve shapes into or just cut the vegetable and use for painting and stamping out the shapes. What shapes can we make?

Threading from Sally - Using a cardboard box or cereal box, cut lots of small shapes, triangles, squares etc & punch holes in them with a hole punch & using string, wool, pipe cleaners thread the shapes on. Asking your child what shape they are threading. See what else you can find around your home to thread. How long can you make it , you can make a necklace if you like or some decorations to hang up around the room.

Squishy Soap Recipe from Caroline - You could try this squishy soap recipe. You will need ½ cup of cornflour, 4 tbsp of Liquid soap, 4tsp cooking oil a drop of food colouring. Mix together until it forms a soft dough. If too sticky add more cornflour. Break a little off at a time to play/wash with and store the rest in a jar or airtight container. You can ask your child how the dough feels as they are mixing it, what different shapes can they make with it, how bubbly can they make their hands?

Water Painting from Sally - Using paintbrushes of various sizes that you have at home & a container of water, paint on the patio, stones or paper. Using your brush make some marks, paint a picture or write your name then watch them disappear as they dry in the sun.

NUMBER HUNT from Becky -  Make a number treasure hunt around the house. Ask your child to find you different numbers of various objects to collect I.e. 3 socks, 5 bricks, 1 shoe, 6 pens etc. Check and count with them when they bring them to you.

Shadow drawing from Yvonne - As the sun is shinning why not try this activity. In the garden or by a window set out some of your child’s toys so they make a shadows on a piece of paper. Provide your child with lots of mark making resources.
Encourage your child to draw around the shadows and talk to the about the features of the object to develop their observation techniques e.g. look this dinosaur has 3 horns - can you see all 3 horns in the shadow?

As the day goes on you can watch how the shadows change during the day!

Mini pizza from Sally - Make mini pizzas - Using what ingredients you have at home. Slice of bread, crumpet, pitta bread or wrap for the base, tomato puree, ketchup, pasta sauce, cheese, olives, tomatoes etc. Let your child make this for their lunch.

Messy Play from Jennifer - now that the warmer weather is here why not use the garden to have trays of cornflour mixed with water, you could add food colouring too! Children love swirling their hands, or using kitchen utensils to mix and stir. Discuss with your child about how the mixture feels, what it looks like and what happens when they touch the mixture.

Outdoor colour hunt from Anita - Give your child a piece of paper with all colours on. You could colour colour splats on the paper using crayons. Go on a hunt outside drawing and sticking things to the paper that match the colours.
Lots of talk afterwards about what they found and shades etc. Then maybe move onto some colour mixing.

Half an egg from Yvonne - Draw lots of blank eggs, decorate them with 1 or 2 different colours, shapes or lines, cut them in half, hide one half and invite your child to find the other half to create the egg

Painted Easter egg stones from Sandie - Find some large stones out in the garden and decorate them like Easter eggs using paint and any other things you might find in your craft box like gems or stickers

Puzzle Egg from Anita  – invite your child to draw a picture of an egg and then decorate it. Once they have drawn their egg, cut the egg up into pieces and then get them to put the pieces back together again. They could then challenge another member of the family to complete their egg puzzle.

Fizzy Eggs from Clare - To make you need baking soda, water and food colouring. Start with one cup baking soda and a quarter cup of water and adjust from there. You want it mouldable but not so wet that it won't hold its shape. Mould the dough around small items such as dinosaurs, coins or small toy figures so they form an egg shape. Leave to dry over night. When they are hard use a glass bowl and fill with distilled white vinegar and some water. Let the children drop the eggs in one by on to see what happens. Your children will enjoy making these, watching them fizz and trying to guess what is inside each egg.

The Cross from Becky - Talk about the Easter story with your child. Find a simple online video i.e. https://www.bbc.co.uk/…/religious-studies-ks1-the-c…/zhgv47h or a book to help you. In churches Christians have simple crosses to remember that Jesus died on the cross. You may want to find two sticks in your garden or on a walk. Tie the sticks together with string. To celebrate Jesus’ resurrection (coming back to life) decorate the cross with paper flowers. Talk about Easter Sunday being the day that Christians celebrate Jesus being alive and it being a happy day. The flowers show new life.

Easter Nests from Jennifer  - 

Ingredients: use either Rice Crispies, or Cornflakes or Shredded Wheat (broken up into small stringy pieces); large chocolate bar, little chocolate easter eggs and paper cake cases.

1) Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water or in a microwave. (Cadbury’s chocolate does not melt well in a microwave!) 2) remove bowl and stir your cereal into the melted chocolate. 3) Spoon the mixture into cake cases, make a little dip in the centre. Place your nests in the fridge to harden, then top with 2 or 3 little chocolate eggs and ENJOY!

Make a paper plate Easter Bonnet from Sally and Caroline F –Using a paper plate decorate a hat with any materials you have around the house, for Easter. Maybe you could have an Easter Parade. http://mykidcraft.com/paper-plate-crown/

or you could...Make a simple hat or headband with things you can find in your homes or gardens. You could use bits of paper, material or glitter and twigs, leaves or feathers. Just use what you can find and have fun.

Potato Printing from Rebecca  – Use 1 or 2 potatoes cut them in half so they almost look egg shaped (oval). Then using different coloured paints use your potato halves to print onto paper looking like eggs. If you are feeling creative you could cut some zig zag lines into the potato or a different pattern. Let's get creative!

Cotton Wool Easter bunnies from Caroline - Draw a bunny shape and decorate it with cotton wool balls OR dip the cotton wool in paint to paint your bunny with. Talk to your child about how the cotton wool feels.

Easter bunny grass heads – using old socks / tights from Nora - 

Fill the bottom (toe part) with 2-3 heaping tablespoons of grass seeds. Top up with soil / compost until you get a nice size ball shape. Tie up the open end of the sock leaving a tail. Decorate with googly eyes / bunny ears / teeth & nose.

Sit it in a container (like a yogurt pot) full of water. The socks/ tights will soak the water up into the soil. Place in a sunny spot. For faster results give it an occasional shower (but this might ruin the decorations).

Or place a carrot top onto a little plate with a little water, make sure you keep it topped up and see what happens.

Once the grass grows or carrot top; the children can practise snipping skills and give their grass heads a hair cut.

Easter Eggs-ercises from Sally -Some exercises to keep your child active indoors or outdoors. On a sheet of paper list some moves. 1. Bunny hops 2. Roly Poly 3.Superhero kicks 4.Soldier marches 5.Huge steps 6.Step backwards 7.Step sideways 8.Star jump 9.Pencil rolls 10.Hopping on one foot 11.Skipping 12.Slither like a snake. If you have some plastic eggs cut the instructions up & put inside the eggs & maybe put them in an egg box or bowl. Your child can pick an egg & then get moving!

Cardboard town from Yvonne - Using a large piece of cardboard (from a large box opened out) or large paper, draw road ways, buildings, or forest onto it. You could also add building blocks, lego buildings to the design. Then ask the children to use their cars to drive around their town. You may want to ask them 'What is behind, next to, in front of, what colours can we use and why, what shapes can you see, what noises can we use'

Post-it notes from Becky - Stick post it notes or paper with blue tac to the back of a door or a wall space you could write numbers or letters or shapes or colours on the post it notes. Ask your child to spot numbers, sounds and throw a small light cuddly toy at the post it note, or point at it. This can help to learn all sorts of skills as well as keep the children active. Can you show me the colour yellow? Where is the ‘B’ for Becky? Can you see number 4?

Bubble snakes from Caroline - For this activity you’ll need plastic bottles, socks and bubble mixture. Cut the bottoms off the bottles, and put the socks over the ends, pulling them all the way over the bottle and then folding them back so you have a tight fit. Dip the sock-covered end into the bubble mixture and blow through the top end to make lovely long bubbles snakes.
Encourage your child to join in with ‘Ready Steady go’ before you blow the bubbles, encourage signing for ‘more’.

Make your own puzzle from Becky - Create a colourful masterpiece using pencils or pens then once your child has finished with adult supervision encourage them to cut their picture up into pieces maybe 4,6,8,10, or more depending on child and size of picture. Then see if they can match the pieces together to make the picture whole again

Old MacDonald from Rebecca - collect some farm animals from your child’s toy collection hide them in a box or bag. As you sing the song, when it comes to “and on that farm he had a . . . “ get your child to pull out an animal and then continue the song until all the animals have been chosen. Older siblings may enjoy this too and possibly able to take the lead of this activity.

Car wash from Caroline - set up a car washing station in the garden - with bowls of water, soap, sponges/brushes/cloths/towels and a selection of plastic vehicles. The children will love playing with the soapy water, scrubbing the cars clean and drying them off again

Exploring ice from Sally - freeze some water in a container and maybe add a small plastic toys e.g. animal, dinosaur, car etc. or a water filled balloon. Find a large tray or roasting tin and let your child watch what happens as the ice melts. May be ask them "What does it feel like? What can you see in the ice? How are we going to get the . . . out? . . ."

Den building from Rebecca - With your child create a den, you could use large towels, bed sheets, duvet covers or similar, use washing line pegs to hold it up. Make sure it is cosy to either share a book together or sing songs and rhymes.

‘Going on a bear hunt!’ from Yvonne - Why not hide a bear in the house or garden and act out the story. “You can’t go over it, you can’t go under it . . .”
Have a go at hiding other toys, challenge the children to see who can find it the quickest.

Spot the shape from Becky - Spot the shape - go on a shape hunt around your home and or garden. What sorts of shapes can you find? Circles, squares, triangles? How many of each can you find? Maybe you could make a circle shape to help your child to match the circles to?