Hello Bluebells families! We wanted to give you a few helpful ideas and activities that you can very easily do from your homes during this time at home. The learning never needs to stop, especially with our bluebells busy little minds! These ideas all link into the Early years Foundation Stage Curriculum. We hope that these ideas and activities will fit in lovely in your home, we have additionally added Bluebells routine. We can not wait to see you all again and hear about all the ideas and activities you do at home, maybe even some different ones, we love trying new things!

Keep safe and take care, Miss Hartley, Mrs Walsh and Miss Chowdhury.

Here are some more ideas to try at home that directly link to our story of the week ‘Handa’s Surprise ’. Bluebells enjoy our planned activities that link directly to the story allowing them to explore the story further creating a wonderful learning environment for them to grow and develop.

Mathematics

Counting fruit

Counting fruit in and out of a basket or bowl. Stick to counting 1-5 firstly, then explore counting to 10. Why not try using different fruits! 2 apples, 3 Banana’s. Or even link Mathematics and EAD together and draw some fruits for them to colour in then count them in an out of the bowl.

Fruit Kebab’s

Be creative with maths and create a healthy snack, fruit kebabs allow the children to stack the coloured fruits together or categorise apples together, grapes on another, the discussion of colour and size will most likely occur naturally through this activity.

 Matching

In the book there are many different foods and animals, why not create some flash cards, easy to make by drawing some animals or fruit and getting your child to match it to a animal toy or fruit in the house. Bluebells love an activity where they activity have to find a object in order for them to meet their goal.

Literacy

Online story

There is a lovely online version of Handas surprise on YouTube which would be lovely to watch.

Bark/ food rubbing

Bluebells enjoy activities such as bark rubbing so why not expand this by trying different textures such as fruits, vegetables, pasta and other fruits, experiment see what works and doesn’t.

Phonics/Super Sounds

Super sounds: Explore the beginning of the fruits sound e.g. Apple (a) Banana (b) extend further by drawing the circle movement of the ‘a’ and ‘b’ in sand, water, soil, paint.

Physical Development

Animal yoga

Put on a video on youtube of animal sounds and begin to impersonate animals in yoga poses, google and pintrest have lots of new animal yoga poses if you run out of ideas!

Food tasting

Apart of health and self care in physical development also links to children’s desires to trying new foods, why not use this opportunity to do a food tasting activity! It doesn’t have to be just fruit like the story, Handa’s surprise is also a  cultural book, foods from other cultures too would be a lovely idea

Mark making

Physical development also incudes children’s fine motor skills, Why not use this time to focus on how the children are holing their mark making tools, try different mark making tools too; pens, pencils, paintbrushes, cutlery, any house hold item could be used to paint with (if applicable). Ask the children to draw their favourite animal with your choice of mark making tool.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Feelings

In the story or through out the day of activities or even meal times ask them how they are feeling and tell them how you are feeling, creating the room for conversation about their own feelings. When we read stories at nursery we speak about the characters and their own feelings the children enjoy this and its lovely to see how they care for one another. E.g. “ im sad, because I fell over” “mummy happy” “(Childs name) happy, playing with toys” are some of the things they may say.

Expressing interests and preference

Any opportunity ask your child what they think, if they like it or don’t like it, especially in the food tasting activity. It is important for our children to become individual and express who they are,

Determination

Try new games they have left over from Christmas, or a jigsaw that they find difficult and work together to do it, we love to see our Bluebells showing determination in their activity’s! You could make your own jigsaw from recycling, why not cut a empty pizza box into 4 and ask them to put back together.

Understanding the World

Patterns/ the difference in cultures

As mentioned above Handas surprise is a cultural book, try to make some patterns from different cultures, would could use many different medias, paint, pencil, water mark making, playdough, different cereals (a cheerio, then a shreddie then a bran flake)

Small world

Let the children use their small world toys or any action figure toys to act out any scenario, if you have any animal toys too add them to the mix, see what they do!

Ipad/Laptop’s

Technology is a wonderful thing, if you have access to a iPad, laptop or smart phone let the children explore how to use it, to turn it on, even to mark make on it, or choose a app to explore, understanding the world allows children to explore technology, maybe even watch a live zoo feed with them!

Expressive Arts and Design

Music and movement

Bluebells love expressing themselves through the media of dance, put on their favourite song and let them have a dance, you can further extend this by putting on some African music on YouTube, and letting them have their own ideas of how to dance to the music they hear, even watching a video of African dancing if you and your bluebell want to explore further!

Fruit printing

Use any spare fruit and cut it up and make some prints with paint (if you have access to paint) if not water and let them make water fruit prints on the dry pavement outside.

Collaging

Use any excess paper, newspapers old take away menus and cut them up and let your bluebell stick them down on some paper to make a orange or a giraffe.

Communication and Language

Sing nursery songs

There are lots of different nursery songs, esspically ones with animals in e.g. 5 little ducks, 5 little speckled frogs, 5 cheeky monkeys, old MacDonald had a farm.

Ask questions in the story

When reading Handa’s surprise weather it be the online copy or if you have one at home, or just a story you have at home ask them questions about the book.

(Where are the apples?, is handa big or little? Who is this? )

Encourage them to talk about the story

Encourage them to talk about the page you just read to them, or encourage them to go through the book and show you were the animals are while they tell you the animal name and sound.

“Handa’s fruit all gone” “A big elephant”

Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)

Bluebells enjoy being able to explore their own feelings and individuality. This can be done through 1:1, small or large groups. The children may even take it upon themselves to test one of your ideas completely different to how you may have planned and this is what we love about PSED, exploring and experimenting with ideas is what helps develop confidence and understanding in our Bluebells. Here are a few ideas to try:

• Turn taking games; rolling a ball back and forth, even when home baking, taking it in turns to mix the ingredients!
• THRIVE; Bluebells love this activity, allow the children to pick a action of either a hug, high five or wave to do to one of their family members, you could even add some more actions!
• Role play; dressing up, playing with small world while acting out experiences or actions, taking their dolls or even dinosaurs for a walk in the pushchair.

Communication and Language

Our Bluebells have been doing wonderful communication recently, they are always chatting to us and their friends. This area doesn’t need to stop because they are at home, it is very easily accessible by just carrying out your normal daily routine and incorporating as many of these ideas:

• Asking simple questions (What colour is this? Where is the light switch? Is it sunny or Rainy outside?)
• Encouraging children to put two words together, copying familiar phrases
• A box of surprises! ( fill a empty box or basket with house hold items and cover it with a blanket and once revealed ask the children what the object is called, even ask them to put it back where it belongs)
• Our super sound of the week: which you could incorporate phonic songs found on youtube.
• Nursery rhymes (Also found on youtube)
• Reading stories together

Physical Development

 Children require this area daily, which is a good thing that Bluebells love to be active as its perfect for their mental and physical health and especially during this isolation period its perfect time to look after our self’s. Some ideas to carry out:

• Ball skills, rolling, throwing, catching even chasing the ball
• There are many different videos on YouTube for daily exercise (Joe Wicks, Jump start Jonny, Cosmic yoga, Wake up and shake up)
• Action games; Animal impersonations, ‘copy me’ jumping, running on the spot, star jumps, hopping ect… this also links lovely to communication and langue!
• Threading foods onto some string or thread, pasta, cheerio’s, or even a colander,
• Mark making: of all kinds, drawing, painting, water mark making (a paint brush and water)
• Tree rubbing: or any kind of object, stones leaves from the garden  (washed) and place the paper over it and rub the pattern through with a pencil.

Mathematics

Bluebells love our maths activities, we plan them to be enjoyable so they don’t even sometimes notice they are learning about numbers! We will do maths activities daily and if you could do the same it would be great! We always count whenever we can, counting our friends, how many blocks are in our structures, how many birds in the yard ect… Some ideas:

•  Use any recycling in the house and build a tower, or a building.

•  Collect some toys, objects and let them categorise them into colour, size or the purpose of the object e.g. all blue, all small all teddy bears.

•  Count the stairs as you come up and down them.

•  Draw some shapes and patterns on paper, or even outside with water mark making,

•  Sing some counting songs  (5 little ducks, hickory dickory dock)

Literacy

Bluebells look forward to hearing stories at carpet time, and we always have the books out for them to explore on their own. During story time we always encourage Bluebells to find something in the pictures, they really enjoy being activity engaged in the stories, why not try to read a story a day! As well you could:

•  Watch Ebooks online such as youtube

•  Cebeebies online stories

•  Booktrust.org.uk

Expressive Arts and Design (EAD)

We love to explore our own ideas in our classroom, Bluebells love to play to develop their imagination! By giving them the time on their own and with you or family and siblings you can encourage some lovely activities and ideas to engage their imaginations:

• Supporting role play
• Fancy dress
• Play dough
• Gloop
• Make your own role play scenario : selling ice cream(this is their favourite at the moment) a shop, school, let their imaginations expand these ideas.
• Making music: using house hold objects, spoons, mental pans
• Dancing, Our Bluebells love to dance!
• Write dance: Play a nursery rhyme e.g. the wheel son the bus and make a large circular movement while its playing (impersonating the wheels going round) once the verse has finished draw the circular movement on some paper.

Understanding the World (UTW)

Bluebells love activities that include their everyday life’s, such as role play, creating and exploring, this allows them to use their own ideas to develop their own understanding of the world around them through their own exploration. Why not try these daily:

• Water play: this can include their favourite toys e.g. dolls, cars
• A nature walk, explore the garden or the surrounding areas near your home on your next walk, see if you can spot any birds, bugs, cars, how about a car the same colour as theirs at home, or a butterfly just like the one like our logo. (Of course following government guidelines of being clean, washing your hands, keeping safe)
• Have a look at some family photos, especially as seeing extended family may be difficult right now so this is a lovely way to still include them!
• Ice play: freeze some little toys in water and let them try and get them out and find out what is hiding in there.

Daily Routine 

This is a idea of a routine to do at home, Not compulsory!

9.00-9.30            Physical Movement (Joe Wicks, Jump Start Jonny)

9.30-10.00          PSED/ Communication and Language activity

10.00-10.30         Mathematics activity

10.30-11.30         Physical development activity

11.30-12.30         Lunch

12.30-1.00           Story time

1.00-2.00             UTW/EAD activity

2.00-3.00              Literacy activity