Wednesday
To complete today's activities, you will need:
something to draw on
something to draw with
two sticks that you can tap together
chalk
optional - paint
optional - paintbrush
dishwashing liquid
glycerine (optional, available from pharmacies)
plastic-coated garden wire (available from hardware stores)
Overview of today's activities:
Activity 1: Different families (20 minutes)
Activity 2: Measurement (10 minutes)
Activity 3: Hopscotch (15 minutes)
Break
Activity 4: Syllables (20 minutes)
Activity 5: Fun with bubbles (30 minutes)
Please note, these times are an approximation only.
Different families
Learning goal: Children are aware and respectful of similarities and differences between people.
Your family are the people who love and care for you.
Watch these videos to see children in different kinds of families.
Draw or paint a picture of your family.
Write or copy each person's name onto your picture.
Too hard?
Look at a photo of your family. Say each person's name.
Tell someone about your family.
Too easy?
Include your extended family in the picture of your family.
Measurement
Learning goal: Children demonstrate an increasing understanding of measurement.
Put some pencils in a line, end to end.
Now line up your pencils along the edge of a table. Start at one end and finish at the other end.
Count each pencil. How many pencils long is your table?
How many pencils long are you?
How many pencils do you think it is from where you are to the door? Check if you were right.
Too hard?
Hold two objects together. Which is the longest? Which is the shortest?
Cut two pieces of ribbon or string. Which the longest? Which is the shortest?
Roll out some playdough and cut into sections. Order from shortest to longest.
Too easy?
What else can you use to measure? (paper clips, pegs, etc.)
Use something different to measure how long you are.
What else can you measure?
Hopscotch
Learning goal: Children develop the fundamental movement skills of hopping and jumping.
Use chalk to draw a 'hopscotch' on cement.
Hop on one foot in each square.
Say each number as you hop on it.
For the squares side by side, jump one foot in each square at the same time.
When you get to the end, turn around and jump back to the start again.
"File:TiuFeiKei(Hopscotch) pattern.JPG" by User:WikiCantona is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5
"Hopscotch on the Playground" by Wootang01 is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
Too hard?
Practice standing on one foot and then the other.
Practice hopping on one foot and then the other.
Put out some stepping stones, carpet squares or use an outdoor path. Follow the path alternating feet.
Too easy?
Throw a small stone onto the hopscotch. Hop through the hopscotch, missing the the square the stone landed in.
Take a break
Here are some things you might like to do:
have a drink of water and a healthy snack
play or have a rest
go to the toilet and wash your hands.
"Boy with glass of water, 2000" by Seattle Municipal Archives is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio. pexels.com
"Washing hands" by magnusfranklin is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Syllables
Learning goal: Children listen and respond to syllables in speech.
View this mini lesson.
Follow the instructions to clap, drum or jump the syllables.
ABC Education Mini Lessons – in collaboration with State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training).
How many syllables are in your name?
How many syllables are in the names of the people in your family?
Think about the characters in your favourite shows. How many syllables are in each of their names?
How many syllables in each of these words:
Too hard?
Say the names of each person in your family.
Ask someone to clap and count the syllables in each name.
Too easy?
Draw some animals whose names have two or three syllables. Say each animal name and clap the syllables.
Fun with bubbles
Learning goal: Children experiment with cause and effect and use representations to record their findings.
Ask someone to read you this poem, one line at a time. Echo them so you can say the poem too.
Bubble, bubble, turn around.
Bubble, bubble, land on the ground.
Bubble, bubble, float up high.
Bubble, bubble, float towards the sky.
Bubble, bubble, float down low.
Bubble, bubble, land on my toe.
Bubble, bubble, stop, stop, stop!
Bubble, bubble, now go pop!
What did you notice about the poem?
"Bubble" by zacktionman is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
"Bubbles" by Stellajo1976 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Follow these instructions to make your own bubble blowing mixture.
What you need:
1 cup dishwashing liquid
2 1/3 cups water
1/3 cup glycerine (optional, available from pharmacies)
a container to store your mixture in
plastic-coated garden wire (available from hardware stores)
What to do:
Mix the detergent, water and glycerine (if you have it) together.
Allow your bubble mixture to sit for a while before using.
Make a wand by shaping the plastic-coated wire into a circle with a handle.
Pour some mixture onto a plate and lay the circle part of your wand on it.
Lift your wand out and gently blow into the circle.
"bubble blowing" by Moody Man is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
"bubble blowing" by paulscott56 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Experiment to find out how to make the most bubbles:
Try shaking up the mixture before placing your wand in it. Does this create more bubbles?
Rather than blowing into the wand, try gently moving it through the air. Does this create more bubbles?
Record what you find by asking someone to take photos of the bubbles created.
Too hard?
Get someone to blow bubbles. Can you catch the bubbles with your hands.
Ask someone to hold the bubble wand as you blow into it.
Too easy?
If you do have glycerine, make a mixture without the glycerine. Does this mixture work as well as the mixture with glycerine?
How can you make small bubbles?
How can you make big bubbles?
Extra learning activities
View this Playgroup NSW video for families. It shows some Chalk and water art activities.