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Creative
Recall Jar
My children love this idea and at the moment, they are asking for a question from the jar every spare moment. A great way to keep recalling previous learning; simple and easy to set up. Give it a go
Firework Painting
Bonfire night coming up, so why not take the chance to talk about why we have it and who Guy Fawkes was. Don't forget to talk about the special date it all happens on. Then move on to create a firework picture. Paint, glitter, paper and an old toilet roll ; simple set up, lots of learning.
Poppy Biscuits
Always a favourite with the children and whether you use royal icing and dollop it on or fondant icing with a cutter the joy is the same. As with my other activities, a perfect opportunity to discuss the relevance of the poppy and why we should learn from the past.
Potato Printing Poppies
Potato printing is always popular with little ones. Here the children can create poppies as part of Remembrance Day learning; linking creativity with understanding of the world.
Rembrance Poppies
Remembrance Day coming up and this wonderful activity allows for lots of opportunity for discussion and to be creative. Why have Poppies, what do they signify? Great for fine motor development and wonder for understanding of the world.
Framed Remembrance Poppies
This can be used for individual creativity or if large enough, could be a whole class display.
Poppy Making
Remembrance Day coming up and this wonderful activity allows for lots of opportunity for discussion and to be creative. Why have Poppies, what do they signify? Great for fine motor development and wonder for understanding of the world.
Remembrance Poppies
Another poppy activity you might like to try. Lots of fine motor opportunity, but for very young children they may need a little guidance. Enjoy!
Autumn Hedgehogs
A simple activity to set up and one which bridges age gaps. These were completed by a 3 and 8 year old, who sat together talking about the leaves and then they moved on to talking about hedgehogs. A great opportunity to talk about habitats, where hedgehogs live and what they eat. Again an opportunity to talk about the seasons and to develop vocabulary.
Leaf Mini Beasts
Following on from my popular 'leaf friends' post in October, I decided to rethink the idea and incorporate it into this seasons learning. Wonderful opportunity to go out and about collecting leaves. Children making choices about the leaves they like and explaining why. An opportunity to support mini beasts investigation and a great fine motor activity as the children pick up, stick their leaves and then add their pen detail. Brilliant fun, lots of learning, lots of engagement! 🍂🍀🌿🕷️🦋🐞
Pumpkin Slime
Not a fan of slime myself, but children always love it. Rolling it through their fingers, stretching, dragging, being creative. I've added pumpkin seeds to make this slime optional, but you can make it without. Why not give it a try? 🎃
October Bucket List
A bucket list of activities for the wonderful month of October. So much to celebrate; the beauty in the trees, colours of the leaves, pumpkins and then Halloween 🍁🍂🍀🎃🍏🍎
Leaf Bowls
Such a lovely activity and perfect for this time of year. An opportunity to talk about leaves, their purpose, their change of colours and the different seasons. An opportunity to be creative, for a child to make decisions about their bowls. What colour leaves will they chose? Great fine motor activity, an opportunity to build determination and concentration skills. Bring the outdoors, indoors and enjoy!
Cinnamon Salt Dough Leaves
This smells absolutely devine. A wonderful sensory activity which is excellent for developing fine motor skills, its creative and it helps to develop early maths skills. Weighing, measuring, kneeding, rolling, cutting and painting. Hang the leaves on a couple of branches and you have a wonderful display which smells just lovely.
Owl Babies
As Monday approaches, some children may be feeling a little worried about returning to school. Owl Babies is a wonderful book to share with little ones, as it tackles anxieties and fears about temporary separation. I've linked it with an owl making activity, which allows for more opportunity to just be together and to talk. I hope you enjoy!
Emoji Maps
Here's another way to use yesterday's emotion pebbles. Use them to identify areas around school or wherever you are, that may trigger different emotions. Lunch halls and playgrounds can often be areas where children suffer in silence. Using the stones is an opportunity to talk about why these areas are of concern and how potentially these concerns can be addressed. A great opportunity to develop emotional vocabulary and to help settle and reassure children. Also a great way to introduce maps 💜
Emoji Stones
It's not always easy for children to talk about emotions and how they are feeling, especially at the beginning of a new school year. But these stones allow children to express how they are feeling without having to say the words. Hopefully they initiate understanding and open the door to conversation 💜
Autumn Wreaths
My children really enjoyed this activity. We went for a walk, they chose their own leaves, then we made the wreaths. Lots of opportunities to talk about autumn and why the leaves fall and lots of collaboration as they helped each other to collect and create. 🍁🍀🍂🌿
Transient Art
Transient Art is wonderful. I did this for transition day and to begin with my children were hesitant.They didn't know what to do with the bits and pieces and we're 'afraid' of it being wrong. But once we pushed past the negativity and I reassured them that their ideas were all that was important, they were flying. They talked about their art, explaining each piece and every one was different. Instead of using frames this time, I made frames from masking tape.
Pumpkin Hedgehogs
We've had a great time making these hedgehogs today. Lots of focus, concentration, resilience and determination shown. As well as the co-ordination and fine motor development.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Halloween Printing
A great activity for any age child. If you want to put some learning in (it is half term), talk about why we have Halloween, what's its significance. It's also an opportunity to talk about safety; why we should be careful approaching people and knocking on doors and this year why it's become more challenging. Above all, have fun; orange paint for pumpkins, green paint for aliens and for monsters... who knows! 😊
Monster Printing
I'm a great believer in using what you have and experimenting with different tools. Here we used a couple of kitchen utensils for printing and then created monsters. The children spent a lot of time experimenting with the printing and then they took time to daw the monster's features. Lots of fun, lots of talk about colour, arms, legs, eyes etc. Great for focus and great for fine motor skills.
Cotton Bud Skeletons
Children are fascinated by skeletons and Halloween is the perfect time to discuss bones and how they provide a frame for most living things. Point out bones in the hands and get the child to feel for their own ribs, comparing with a skeleton. Why do we have them? What would happen if we didn't have one? Good fine motor activity as well.
Coloured Pumpkin Seeds
Don't throw away those pumpkin seeds this week, hold onto them because they are wonderful for so many things. I very simply coloured these, the children loved them and we were able to use them for so many things. Lots of opportunities for maths, creativity, music, as well as the obvious science. Have fun!
Funny Faces
Guaranteed to create a giggle, why not collect some outdoor treasure and create some funny faces. For younger children talk about how many eyes, ears etc, add a mirror so they can look at themselves. An opportunity to talk about why we have eyes, ears etc and to discuss the five senses.
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