Reception - Summer Activities
Hi Everyone,
We have finally made it to the summer holidays, but for some of you, it will just feel just the same. It has been a very strange year, and all the reception staff have missed you all so much. We can’t believe our big girls and boys will be starting year 1 after the summer.
The summer holidays are a very long time so here are some suggested activities for guardians and carers, who are looking for things to do to keep the little people busy over the summer holidays.
Summer Reading Challenge
Don’t forget to keep reading! Summer reading challenge - Burton library are running a summer reading challenge over the holidays. Mrs Claxton has put more information on the website. It would be great if you could all take part! Can you complete the Silly Squad Summer Reading Challenge? There is a reading adventure map to help you on your way and more information about the scheme here.
Suggested activities:
When reading books draw your child’s attention to: The author -The illustrator - The title - The blurb - The writing
Make a ‘Today is’ chart to hang on the wall and update every day. Include: *day of the week *date (20th July 2020) *weather pictures
Encourage your child to help with household chores: *pair socks *sort recycling materials *sort the washing *use the remote control
Encourage your child to do Zumba or Yoga using youtube or cosmickids.com
Play match games matching number cards to amounts, either real objects or dots/drawings you draw on a card.
Encourage your child becoming more independent while dressing (coat, jacket, shoes, zip)
Noise Makers: Give your child a variety of materials from the recycle bin or your pots/pans, wooden spoons etc and see what different musical instruments they can make.
Help your child explore colour mixing by giving them red, blue and yellow paint and allow them to experiment to see what colours they can make. Painting each hand a different colour and rubbing hands together is a good way for children to understand colour mixing.
Weather watch:
Make a weather station in the garden with a flag to see the direction of the wind and a container with a ruler in it to measure rainfall. Help your child record weather by taking photos of signs of weather e.g. puddles, wet leaves, wet garden toys etc.
Make bird feeders by threading cereal hoops onto string and hang them in the garden where you can see them from the window.
Use the internet to show your child different images of common birds (robin, sparrow, pigeon, blackbird, blue tit etc), then see how many you can spot in the garden.
Research different types of trees from their leaves then go on a tree hunt to see how many you can identify.
Use chalk to write letters, numbers or shapes on a fence. Give your child a jug of water and a paintbrush and encourage your child to wash off a certain number, letter or shape.
Encourage perseverance and problem solving by helping your child complete jigsaws. If your child is a master of the jigsaws you have at home, make some simple ones by cutting up pictures or boxes from your recycle bin. Cutting images into stripes from top to bottom will create easier puzzles to increase confidence.
Help your child to make a bug hotel using items they have found on a walk (twigs, rocks, pine cones etc). Either simply pile the found items up in a safe place in the garden or use some of the items from your recycle bin to create a larger box with smaller compartments and fill each area with different things the children have collected. Check the bug hotel regularly to see if you have any visitors and help your child identify the bugs.
Help your child to make a tent using sheets and pegs, weights to hold the sides out. The will create a fun place to relax, add cushions etc toys and books and encourage your child to read to their teddy’s etc.
Talk to your child about what safe means then make signs that say ‘danger’ and ‘be careful’. Encourage your child to look for things in your house that they need to ‘be careful’ around (stairs, doors) and things that are dangerous (cooker, plug sockets) and place the signs beside the hazards.
Help your child explore food. Make a big chart that says ‘Healthy’ and ‘treats’ then give your child a variety of food from the cupboards/fridge to sort. Talk about why things are healthy and why they are a treat while you place them on your chart.
Bake cakes with your child, both baking from scratch and using a box cake mix are very educational. If the cake mix has pictures on the back this would be reading for information skills, if not reading the instructions allowed is very good for listening skills and following instructions. Baking also draws your child’s attention to numbers/counting and other mathematical concepts like quantity and time. There is also a scientific element to baking as a liquid becomes a solid using heat.
Choose a shape of the day. Talk about how many sides and corners it has with your child. Have fun trying to create the shape (either on drawing/painting or with chalk outside on the ground). Go on a shape hunt around the house and garden looking for the shape of the day and keep an eye out for it on tv etc. Your child will have fun trying to make the shape using their fingers too.
Tiny Happy People
The BBC is launching a new online platform for parents of young children and the Duchess of Cambridge has described it as “gold dust”. Tiny Happy People is here to help you develop your child's communication skills. Explore our simple activities and play ideas and find out about their amazing early development.
Blue Peter Badges
The BBC are giving away FREE Blue Peter badges to kids aged between 6 and 15! The badge allows you to gain free entry to over 200 attractions across the UK including Museums and Zoos. Browse the badges available on the Blue Peter website and follow the instructions of how to apply... it may be that your child needs to send in a poem, a letter or rhyme etc. Great idea to keep the young ones occupied! (It's also worth checking out the 200 attractions on the website as there are places we haven't heard of that look fab)
Family Fun in the Great Outdoors
Hiking-Walking in the open countryside is a wonderful way to spend a day with your children. Cast aside technology and television for a few hours and spend some time appreciating the open air and all it has to offer. Getting out in the sunshine helps to provide your body with Vitamin D and is also a great way to exercise. Walking together gives you the perfect chance to talk to each other where you may not get the opportunity to normally.
Outdoor Swimming- Swimming is another excellent form of exercise and outdoor swimming can be very exhilarating. The main priority is safety and natural water is something that needs to be respected. Please ensure before letting any member of the family near the water that it is safe to do so and it is not something that children should be encouraged to do without an adult present.
Open-air swimming pools (Due to open 25th July)
Best Swimming Pools and Leisure Centres In Burton on Trent (Due to open 25th July)
Camping- Nothing beats falling asleep under the stars and waking up to the sound of birdsong. Children can learn all the basic skills of camping such as setting up the tent, learning to build a campfire and surviving ‘in the wild’! It is also another perfect opportunity to take the time to discover more about the wildlife that is all around us.
PitchUp-Campsites and Holiday Parks in Burton upon Trent (Majority open now, more opening 25th July)
Zoos and Animal Parks- Visiting zoos and other animal parks is a great way to keep learning over the long break to prevent ‘Summer Learning Loss’. Try to attend the various talks given by the keepers during your visit to learn the most you can about the animals that you are visiting. If you don’t have a large zoo near you, farm experiences and smaller animal parks can sometimes give you the opportunity to get closer to the animals that your children may well have learnt about at school.
Twycross Zoo (Now open)
West Midland Safari Park (Now open)
National Forest Adventure Farm (Now open)
Sealife Centre (Now open)
Theme Parks- For some families, no holiday is complete without the thrills and spills of a visit to a theme park. Children can’t get enough of all there is to offer so make sure you leave early and spend the whole day exploring. It can be nice to take a friend of the same age.
Drayton Manor Theme Park (Partially open now)
Alton Towers (Partially open now)
Cycling-Like walking, cycling is an ideal way to explore the countryside and discover areas that may be right on you doorstep that you had never previously encountered. Take a picnic and your wildlife books and learn more about the things that we normally take for granted, whilst participating in a great form of exercise.
Family Fun Indoor Activities
Cinema-It is almost guaranteed that a family-friendly film will be released just in time for the summer holidays so that can be a perfect way to spend the afternoon when the weather isn’t at it’s best. Alternatively, you could have a ‘film afternoon’ at home with maybe a few friends. The children could be involved in making their own pizzas and snacks beforehand and then settle down to watch a favourite DVD.
Cineworld (Due to open July 31st)
Museums- Gone are the days of museums being endless corridors of glass cases full of dusty exhibits. Nowadays, they are a lot more interactive and visitors can really get involved while they are learning. A visit to a museum is a tremendous way to bring history to life and if you can find an exhibition that correlates to a topic they have been learning at school all the better.
Arts and Crafts- All children enjoy getting out the glue and creating something wonderful. Keeping a box full of pieces of material, card, clean food packaging, items collected from a beach walk or nature ramble is an ideal way to have a resource handy when those creative juices start to flow. Or for something a little more structured you could let them adapt an old t-shirt or invest in some sewing or knitting kits from your local haberdashery store.
Cooking- It is important for all children to have some experience of cooking but aside from it being an important life skill, producing something for the whole family to enjoy is something that gives a great sense of pride to children. Just make sure that they realise that washing up afterwards is all part of the fun!
Science Experiments- One of the favourite lessons in school is practical Science. It may be the element of discovery or just the fact that, quite often, they never know what to expect until it happens, but a successful experiment is a great way to learn more about how the world around us works. Clear a suitable area and ensure that old clothes are worn if things are likely to get messy and let them get to work in their very own laboratory.
Treasure Hunt- Create a treasure hunt in your house, or garden if the weather allows. Leave clues to lead from one place to another and then finally to the treasure. This can be a bowl of goodies or a voucher for a day out for example. If you want to be really adventurous the clues can also involve tasks such as eating unknown food blindfolded and having to guess what it is, retrieving the clues from bowls of jelly with only their mouths or piecing together a cut up photograph of the where the next clue is hidden, This is something where you can let your own imagination run wild too!
I hope that you all have the most amazing summer and I look forward to seeing you all around school in September!