Friday
To complete today's activities, you will need:
something to draw on
something to draw with
sea salt or sugar and oil
mixing bowl and knife
herbs or lavender
Overview of today's activities:
Activity 1: What is this plant? (15-20 minutes)
Activity 2: Make a herbal scrub (15 minutes)
Activity 3: Transformation (10-15 minutes)
Break
Activity 4: Mindfulness (15 minutes)
Activity 5: Getting through hard times (10 minutes)
Please note, these times are an approximation only.
What is this plant?
Learning goal: Children engage in problem-solving to hypothesise about plants.
1. Listen to the poem about a plant that just appeared in someone's garden.
2. After listening to the poem:
think about why the plant sprouted, even though nobody planted it
imagine the plant as a little seed, then a sprout, then growing big, bigger, tall and straight, with delicious green leaves.
3. If you want to learn more about how plants grow from seeds, watch this video.
SciShow Kids (June 2015) 'How does a seed become a plant' [video], YouTube, accessed 4 November 2021.
4. Draw a picture of a seed, then a sprout, then a tall plant.
Too hard?
Eat an apple, orange, mandarin or other fruit with seeds. Put a seed in the garden and water it. See if it grows.
Too easy?
Create a puzzle for a friend:
draw the stages of growth of a plant from a seed, to a sprout, to a small plant, to a tall plant
draw what it looks like both under the ground and above the ground
cut the pictures out and see if your friend can arrange them in the correct sequence.
Make a herbal scrub
Learning goal: Children experiment with cause and effect and trial and error.
Watch the video to learn how to make a herbal body scrub.
Video kindly shared by Little Scientists Australia.
What you need:
mixing bowl
herbs, such as lavender, lemongrass, mint or rosemary
sugar or salt (approx. 5 cups)
1/2 cup oil.
What to do:
1. Choose the herbs you want to use.
2. Ask an adult to help chop up the herbs, the smaller the better, and place them into the mixing bowl
3. Add the sugar or salt and mix them together.
4. Slowly pour in the oil, making sure the mixture holds together but isn't too oily.
5. How does your body scrub feel? What does it smell like? How does your skin feel after touching it?
6. You may wish to give your special body scrub to someone as a present. You will need to place your mixture in a clean jar. You might like to decorate the jar.
Too hard?
Ask an adult to help you make the body scrub.
Too easy?
Describe this learning experience to someone:
What did you need to do?
What is an important step for someone to know if they wanted to try it?
Transformation
Learning goal: Children explore the growth cycle of a butterfly.
Watch the video of 'Little J and Big Cuz'.
Where do you think butterflies come from?
Tell someone about the stages the caterpillar went through to become a butterfly.
SBS (12 May 2017) 'Little J and Big Cuz S1 Ep10 - Transformation' [video], NITV, accessed 4 November 2021.
Too hard?
Watch the story with someone and pause it if you have any questions.
Too easy?
Draw the stages that you saw the caterpillar go through to become a butterfly.
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
Mindfulness
Learning goal: Children enjoy moments of solitude.
1.Watch the three videos of natural environments.
Spring garden
Australian bush
On the coast
What things were in the spring garden, the coast and the bush?
Were there big things such as the sky, the ocean, hills and trees?
Were there little things such as bees, flowers, shells?
What colours did you see?
What animals did you see?
2. Tell someone how the videos made you feel.
3. Go to a place where you like to spend time.
Look at the big things.
Look for the smaller details.
Notice the colours.
Notice if there are animals.
Think about how you feel in that place.
Too hard?
Talk to someone about what you see in the place you go to.
Too easy?
Take photos or draw pictures of the place you go to. Share the images with someone.
Getting through hard times
Learning goal: Children express emotions and concern for others.
1. Watch this video of a story called 'Birdie and the Drought' by Andrea Baldwin and Anil Tortop.
Central Coast Council (October 14, 2020), 'Birdie and the Drought' [video], YouTube, accessed 4 November 2021.
2. A drought happens when it doesn't rain for a long time. It can be very scary when there is no water for the plants to grow and the animals to drink.
Have you ever been through something that was scary and hard?
Who helped you to feel happy and safe?
What can you do to help friends or family members if they experience something scary or hard?
Too hard?
Tell someone how the video made you feel.
Too easy?
Draw a picture of a time in your life when you felt sad or scared.
Include the people that helped you feel happy and safe in your drawing.
Extra learning activities
Practice your oral language skills with the story, Giraffes can't dance