Thursday

To complete today's activities, you will need:

something to draw on

something to draw with

skewers

stones

playdough

sticks and other craft materials

Overview of today's activities:

  • Activity 1: Stone stack (10-15 minutes)

  • Activity 2: Poetry (5 minutes)

  • Activity 3: Fruit sticks (10-15 minutes)

Break

  • Activity 4: Numberblocks (10-20 minutes)

  • Activity 5: Playdough dinosaurs (10-20 minutes)

Please note, these times are an approximation only.

Stone stack

Learning goal: Children show an increasing awareness of and respect for the natural environment.

ABC (2021) 'How to make a stone stack' [video], ABC Kids Get Grubby TV, accessed 22 September 2021.

  1. Watch this video.

  2. Go for a walk with someone in your family to collect some flat stones.

  3. Make a stone stack.

Find out the answer to these questions:

  • What happens if you start your stack with the smallest stone?

  • What happens if you start your stack with the biggest stone?

If you don't have any stones, think about what else you could stack, perhaps pillows and cushions or soft toys.

Too hard?

  • Find as many stones as you can.

  • See if you can stack two or three stones.

Too easy?

  • Try the same activity with other items from nature.

Poetry

Learning goal: Children use their imagination to enjoy a poem.

  1. Find somewhere to sit back and get comfy.

  2. Close your eyes and listen to this poem.

Storyberries Radio (4 September 2021) 'Field of Grass - Poems for Kids' Traci Neal, accessed 22 September 2021.

Too hard?

  • Ask someone to read you a story.

Too easy?

  • Draw a picture of what you were imagining when listening to the poem.

Fruit sticks

Learning goal: Children make themselves a healthy snack.

  1. Ask someone to help you cut up fruit into small pieces.

  2. Thread each piece onto a paddle pop stick or kebab stick.

  3. Eat your healthy snack.

Three fruit kebabs with green grapes, banana and strawberry slices.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Eight fruit kebabs threaded with two pieces of each fruit of different colours to look like a rainbow.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Too hard?

  • Eat your cut up fruit off a plate instead.

  • Try a fruit that you haven't eaten before.

  • Get someone to make you a fruit smoothie.

Too easy?

  • Make a repeating pattern with your fruit.

  • Try a new fruit that you don't usually eat.

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.

Numberblocks

Learning goal: Children learn to count with one to one correspondence.

BBC (8 November 2016) 'Numberblocks - One, Two Three' [video], YouTube, accessed 22 September 2021.

  1. Watch this video about numbers 1, 2 and 3.

  2. Have a look around your house. Where can you find the numbers 1, 2 or 3?

  3. You might want to take a photo of each number and try to write the numbers yourself.

  4. Look at the picture below.

    • How many plants are in the photo?

    • How many children are in the photo?

Four young children are outside, standing around a table with water sprayers in their hands. There are two plants on the table.

Image owned by the NSW Department of Education under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)​

Too hard?

  • Have someone count for you as you point to the objects.

  • See how far you can count.

  • Count how many toys you have in front of you.

Too easy?

  • Count how many rooms are in your house.

  • Count how many people are in your family.

  • What else can you count?

Playdough dinosaurs

Learning goal: Children use the arts to represent their thinking and express ideas.

ABC 'Play School Art Crew: Dino Stomp' [video], YouTube, accessed 22 September 2021.

  1. Watch this video.

  2. Have a go at making your own dinosaur from playdough.

  3. Push small sticks or craft materials into your dinosaur.

If you need to, look at the photos of dinosaurs below to give you some ideas.

A multicoloured Brontosaurus toy dinosaur.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

Too hard?

  • If you own a toy dinosaur, use its feet to print in the playdough.

  • Draw or paint your dinosaur.

Too easy?

  • Create a place for your dinosaur to live with playdough and craft materials. What do you think it would need?

Extra learning activities

  • This play and learning video is for families. It shows that learning opportunities are everywhere and that you can use everyday items in many different ways to help your child learn different things.

Raising Children Network 'Play and learning with preschooolers - 3-5 years' [video], YouTube, accessed 22 September 2021.

Child voice