Activities Archives - Page 178 of 211

Growing sunflowers with children

23/03/2011 by Cathy James 12 Comments

Wondering when to plant sunflowers with children? The answer is right about now! If you’re in the UK, or somewhere with a similar climate, you can start planting your seeds from the middle of March onwards. Sunflowers are great plants to grow with children – they’re pretty reliable and grow quickly and there are lots of science, maths and craft activities you can link in with them.

Will you join in with our Sunflower Challenge this year? We’ve teamed up with Have a Lovely Time to help raise funds for Compton Hospice and have a competition with fabulous prizes on offer for the tallest sunflower. Click though to our Sunflower Challenge page and you can find more details of the competition, where to get your seeds and how to make a donation. There is also a free ebook of Sunflower Activities you can download with lots of ideas for learning activities you can use.

I’m delighted with the support you have show the Sunflower Challenge so far and really appreciate the donations you have made to Compton Hospice. Today we’re joined by Zoe from Playing by the book, who is helping us get the Sunflower Challenge off to a great start by suggesting some wonderful sunflower-themed books that are prefect to read as part of the project. If you don’t already know Playing by the book, do pop over to Zoe’s blog because you will discover all sorts of wonderful ideas for making the most of children’s books through inspiring activities, art and music ideas. Here’s Zoe with her first review for us of the perfect book to accompany your planting.

For my first review I wanted a book perfect to go with planting our sunflower seeds and so I chose To be like the Sun by Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine.

Hello, little seed,
striped gray seed.
Do you really know everything
about sunflowers?

My hoe breaks apart
the clods of brown earth,
but you do the real work
down in the dark.

Not radish work or pumpkin,
not thistle work –
sunflower work.
All the instructions are written in your heart.

So opens this beautifully lyrical book which follows a young girl over the course of a growing season as she plants, tends, enjoys and then warmly remembers the sunflower she grows in her garden.

The sparse, poetic text is great for reading aloud – its brevity and apparent simplicity makes it an engaging listen for younger children, whilst its imaginative language (“All these seeds – are you tired / of holding them up? / What makes them so heavy? / Is it light caught inside?” or “a sunflower seed / is smaller than a word”) will get older children thinking and asking questions.

I particularly liked the fact that the text is written as if the young child herself is addressing her seeds and sunflowers – putting the child’s voice at the centre of the story gives an immediacy and relevance to little listeners as they imagine themselves talking to their own seeds.

If the quiet, meditative text is something that children of all ages, and their parents will enjoy, the illustrations will delight and thrill them. Bold, bright and bursting with vitality, (just like a sunflower in full bloom), Margaret Chodos-Irvine has used a variety of printmaking techniques to create images that will almost literally fill you with sunshine. The graphic-design feel of the prints, uncluttered, precise and perfectly placed mirrors the text remarkably well – this is a fantastic example of a book where text and illustration combine in a way that I don’t think could be bettered.

We’re not alone in thinking this is a very special book indeed. Other reviews have said “exuberant“, “philosophical yet concrete“, “a delightful read-aloud“, “readers will be reminded of Eric Carle“, and “The circle of life, with its remembrance and hope, has rarely been presented more simply and eloquently“.

This is a sunflower book you should most definitely track down! My girls adore it, and I’m so glad the Sunflower Challenge gave me an excuse to get our own copy – this book is a keeper! Magical text, stunning illustrations and perfect for talking with your kids about the sunflower seeds you are growing together.

Click here for an Author Interview: Susan Marie Swanson on To Be Like the Sun, via Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Cynsations.

If you want to try printing with your kids here are some good tutorials and sources of inspiration:

Discover lino printing through the world of Edward Bawden, then create your own print and see it displayed on the London underground!

Soulemama’s lovely handmade stamps

More printing, this time from Bloesem Kids

And if you want some music to plant your seeds to, you could do worse than the slightly surreal (but sure to appeal to the kids all the more for that!) Larry’s a Sunflower Now by Peter Himmelman, or Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles or Sunflower by Beth Mclaughlin.

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A big thanks to Zoe for teaming up with us in the Sunflower Challenge. Watch out for more book ideas from her on NurtureStore and over at Playing by the book. And if you need some tips on how to start your planting, have a look at my guide to planting sunflower seeds over at Ready for Ten.

happily shared with Carnival of Spring Play ABCand123 and Link and Learn and Science Sunday and Something for the Weekend

Counting ladybirds

17/03/2011 by Cathy James 4 Comments

Make a set of number ladybirds, add in some stickers and have some counting fun.

Taking a child’s passion and using it to practise a new skill works really well. I know a child who *loves* stickers – that simple process of peel and stick, peel and stick, gives them immense satisfaction! So I thought I’d use this in a different way to help us work on our counting too. Ladybirds with spots lend themselves to counting games really well, and sticker dots are inexpensive and easy to get hold of.

To start your ladybird counting, first make your ladybirds.

Cut out some ladybird shapes from card.
Write on them numbers one to ten.
Let the children lose with the stickers – putting the right number of spots on each ladybird.

Here are some of the ideas we played:

Can you find the ladybird with a number one?
Can you add the right number of stickers to match the number?
Which ladybird has got the most stickers?
Can you line up the ladybirds from one to ten, or from ten to one.
This ladybird has two spots – can you find a ladybird with one spot more?
How old are you? Can you find a ladybird with the same number of spots?

Parachute games

16/03/2011 by Cathy James 16 Comments

We love parachute games! They are great for some large scale play with a group of children and are wonderful for promoting team work and listening skills, as everyone needs to work together to follow instructions and listen to cues to make the games work. You can play parachute games inside or out, with a play parachute or a big piece of fabric or a bedsheet. You don’t even need a whole class of children – I’ve played this happily as a pair with a toddler who loved bouncing their teddy on the sheet.

Parachute play ideas to try:

Follow the leader: Have someone be the leader and give the rest of the group instructions – and of course the leader can be one of the children rather than the grown-up! Try giving instructions to walk to the left, skip to the right, hold up high, couch down low, shake the parachute gently, shake the parachute quickly.

Add some bounce. You can add a seasonal element or fit parachute play to a theme by adding some props on to the top to bounce around while you play. Cotton wool balls make great snow, and we use fir cones in the autumn. We find teddies love a ride and balloons add a dash of chaotic fun!

As well as having the children work together around the edge of the parachute, have them listen out for instructions that apply just to themselves. Have everyone lift the parachute way up high and then give instructions for children to run underneath the parachute if they are wearing something green, if they have brown hair, if they like eating bananas and so on.

You can also pick someone to sit in the centre of the circle and wrap them up like a birthday present, or spin them like a washing machine. Remind the children to keep the parachute low to the ground when you do this, so the person in the centre doesn’t have their head covered. It’s very funny for the children to have one of the grown-ups sit in the centre to be wrapped up (believe me, I’ve tried it!)

Sherry and Donna from Irresistible Ideas have some great photos of their children enjoying parachute play with music and show how working together means you can even make your bouncing teddy hit the roof!

We’re always looking for new inspiration – what ideas for parachute play have you tried?

(Thanks for our Facebook friend Lily Vanilli for the washing machine idea.)

Happily shared with For the Kids Friday and Preschool Corner

Giving children pocket money

12/03/2011 by Cathy James 10 Comments

Do you give your children pocket money? B, who’s eight, has been asking for months and months now to start having pocket money and so far I’ve managed to put her off, saying I’ll have a think about it. The main reason for dithering is because I’m just not sure how to handle the whole pocket money idea – so I thought I’d ask you. How do you deal with pocket money in your family? Here’s what I’m wondering about – and I’d really love to have your input.

I don’t want to encourage the girls to be ‘consumers’ as we try to mainly buy what we need rather than thinking of things we could spend money on. Yes, we buy things of course, but we’ve never had ‘shopping’ as one of the things we do for fun. I make most of our purchases online, or buy from local shops but usually when the girls are in school. We have new toys mainly as birthday and Christmas presents and use the library for books, so I almost feel that if we started giving pocket money we’d actually have to create trips to the shop just to give them the chance to buy something with it, which I don’t want to do.
Should pocket money be linked to doing chores so the girls learn about working hard to earn money – or should they be expected to do chores as part of their role within the family anyway? No-one pays me to do the ironing!
Should they be given certain amounts for each task, or an overall allowance for completing all their tasks. I could easily imagine a certain person deciding never to keep their bedroom tidy because they don’t really need the 50pence they’d get for it!
What would they have to use their pocket money for? Just treats or things including Brownie subs, the tuckshop at school, family and friends presents? Is it best to let children spend their money however they like and learn their own lessons when it runs out , or set rules about how much goes on treats, how much is saved and how much is given to charity?
What about younger sisters? Is L too young at four to receive pocket money or is it unfair to give it to an older sibling but not a younger one?
How much pocket money would I give?

So many questions! Will you help me out? How do you handle pocket money in your family? What works for you and what problems have you encountered?

Storytelling with children

09/03/2011 by Cathy James 17 Comments

Put down your books! You don’t often hear me actively encouraging children not to read but have you ever tried oral story telling with your children and having them make the story up? Children most often have stories told to them, so let them be the story teller for a change.

Help them stretch their imaginations, practise using words in different ways, and build their confidence to find their voice and speak up. You might also get a real insight into what’s going on in their minds and they could surprise you with what happens in their story.

Telling stories aloud is fully mobile: whether you’re cosy on the sofa on a rainy day, walking to school or waiting for an appointment in the doctor’s surgery, you can tell each other stories.

There are no rules really – take it in turns to tell the story, following on from each other, or pick one person to be the story teller this time.

Use a familiar tale and give it a twist, or make up something completely new.

If there’s pause and the children need a prompt, try asking ‘what happened next?’, ‘why did that happen?’ rather than steering the story yourself.

Try these story starters as a springboard and see where your imaginations take you:

Once up on a time B and L went for a walk in a forest. They walked and they walked and they walked until at last they found a ….

When I woke up this morning , you’ll never believe what I found in my bedroom. It was a great big…

Once upon a time a witch lived in a little cottage in the middle of a wood. One day she woke up and said to herself…

happily shared with New For Us Friday and For the Kids Friday and ABCand123 and We Play and Tot School and Pre-School Corner

Mark making with play dough

23/02/2011 by Cathy James 6 Comments

Help your child learn pre-writing skills through mark making with play dough.

Mark making with play dough

We are huge fans of play dough in our house. We’ve just made a new batch using our favourite play dough recipe with some orange essence added to bring some smelly sensory fun.

I find play dough is a great activity for after school, especially if we have a mixed age group of children playing. It’s very relaxing as it has the lovely touchy-feely aspect of sensory play and there’s no right or wrong way to play with it – so however old you are (grandparents included!) you can enjoy it, without finding it frustrating or needing any grown-up interference.

mark making with play dough

Today I thought I’d mention how fabulous play dough is on the road to learning to write. While you might not associate dough with holding a pencil, all the kneading and shaping you do as you play is just right for building up fine motor skills – giving little fingers lots of practise in mobility, grasping and manipulating.

If your child is showing an interest it’s easy to extend the play by providing something to ‘write’ with, whether it’s a blunt pencil, stick, feather or other tool. By sitting alongside your child as they play you can model mark making, gently suggesting different patterns to try and seeing if they’d like to copy.

Try using a variety of marks which correspond to the shapes included when you eventually begin to write letter characters: horizontal and vertical lines, zigzags, circles, waves and loops.

You might find that children who are otherwise reluctant to ‘write’ do enjoy this kind of mark making. It’s a good option to introduce early writing skills to children who show little interest in pencils and paper.