Wellbeing Check Ins & Check List
Please use this page to support your child while learning from home
Below are a few health and wellbeing activities and websites to provide your children with opportunities to:
Stay Connected
Write a letter to a friend or family member
This is an easy and simple way to stay connected. It can also be turned into a craft activity if you make and decorate your own envelope. (lots of how to videos online from easy to more challenging)
Video call Grand parents
Under appropriate supervision you may wish to connect your child, with their grandparents, a family member or another friend from school. Applications such as Google Meet or Facebook Chat are easy simple ways to connect your child with others whilst in isolation. We would like to stress that no child should be video calling anyone without parent supervision.
Send a hug to someone who needs it most.
Keep a Daily Routine
Keeping up a daily routine, helps keep focus and purpose to a day / week. This can also be a great exercise to involve your child/ren in as a way to build personal skills such as independence, time management and organisation.
Weekly routine template (make a copy or print) Younger students could draw a picture in each section, older students could write their own ideas or you could complete it as a family.
Begin keeping a journal or a diary.
Keep Active
Go Noodle
GoNoodle Kids Dancing is an app designed to get kids moving and to reinforce awareness of the positive effects of exercise.
This app can be found in the App Store and the Google Play Store for free download. This app does not offer any in-app purchases but does feature advertisements.
Just Dance for Kids
Dance to music and choreography. Just Dance Now App is available, it is a free app, with some in app purchase options.
Alternatively many ‘just dance’ songs and videos can be accessed via YouTube.
Accessible on YouTube for Kids platform.
Participate in 20 minute guided Yoga sessions for Kids.
See below in next section regarding Super Stretch Yoga option.
Play Active Games
Play games such as Twister, PE Monopoly, Skipping games etc.
See our P.E page for other active activities
Go Geocaching
Geocaching is a treasure hunt with something for everyone. Using map coordinates and a GPS enabled device, you can find a geocache near your home, in the city, in the bush or in Antarctica.
Geocaches come in all shapes and sizes too. You can find a tiny little one as small as your fingernail, or a huge geocache with exciting 'treasures' inside. It can be as easy or as hard as you like to make it. You can drive up to your geocache and spot it from the car, or you can choose to hike for miles up and down mountains in the snow in search of that elusive container.
Now get out there and have some fun! But beware, it can be addictive!
Practice Mindfulness
Below are some effective apps on Google Play and Apple App Store to help support mindfulness at home.
Stop, Breathe, and Think Kids - Meditation and mindfulness made easy and fun for kids, to help them discover and develop their superpowers of sleep, being calm, learning to breathe or to resolve conflicts. (Free, with in app purchases)
Smiling Mind - Smiling Mind is designed to help people cope with pressure, stress, and challenges of daily life. This app (available on Google and App Stores) has a fantastic section on Mindfulness in the Classroom and is suited for kids ages 7-18. (Free)
Super Stretch Yoga - Super Stretch is an educational yoga tool to use and teach the fun of physical activity and breathing to children. They will use the skills of self-awareness, self-esteem and self-regulation. (Free)
Meditation for kids (Christine Creighton) - Let your child take a break to relax and breathe and discover how meditation and relaxation music can help find inner peace (Free)
Online Jigsaw puzzles from the NGV
The NGV have turned some of their much loved collection items, museum galleries and iconic buildings into puzzles.
Select your level of difficulty and away you go!
And keep checking back as we add more puzzles.
Be Creative
Switch offline
Choose one of the offline activities to complete. It may fun to try doing these with your family.
Lego and Duplo Ideas
Have a look at the video and choose an activity to complete. These can easily be completed with Lego, which is great for the imagination and for problem solving too!
Explore Mars
Take a trip to Mars and see what you can find out and see. Teach your parents about Mars.
Plan a scavenger hunt
Lay out some clues to hidden treasures around the house to keep kids busy.
There are more on the English page.
Stage a puppet show
Whether you have puppets already or need to make them from brown paper bags, it's easy to get the kids involved in this hands-on activity.
Lego Rainbow Challenge
Heart Lego Maze Challenge
Lego Volcano
Lego Learning
LEGO can also keep kids learning too. Choose from one of these screen-free activities to complete.
(Click on the picture to take you to the website)
Lego Printables
Lots of resources to choose from.
Which one will you pick today?
(Click on the picture to take you to the website)Express Gratitude
One of the biggest impacts on mental health and wellbeing is the practice of expressing gratitude. Not just thinking but the practice of either verbally expressing gratitude or writing down what you are grateful for.
Before bed, at the dinner table or where ever is most appropriate for your family, write down or verbalise 3 things that you were grateful for today.
Collect these grateful thoughts on sticky notes / pieces of paper and fill up a gratitude jar to read at the end of the stay at home period.
Begin a gratitude diary or journal listing everything you grateful for.
Continue to express gratitude to your friends and family once the stay at home period has ended.
Create a Diary at Home
You can use the templates provided to create your own diary about being at home. (click here)
There are some instructions on the page to assist with you in downloading or printing the documents.
Play Games
The benefits of board games
Board games offer opportunities for early learning.
They get kids' brains buzzing.
They boost their language skills.
They sharpen your child's focus.
They teach the value of teamwork.
Board games are an alternative to time out.
Board games soothe anxiety.
They show kids how to be a good loser.
Board games are a great way to unplug.
Stay Curious
Feed your curiosity
There are a number of educational sites that can be accessed throughout your time at home to find out things that spark your curiosity.
Some include:
Kids News https://www.kidsnews.com.au/learning-at-home
Behind the News https://www.abc.net.au/btn/
ABC Education https://education.abc.net.au/home#!/home
Storybox Library https://storyboxlibrary.comUsername: hsringwoodnthPassword: hsringwoodnth
Ocean Find https://ocean.si.edu/
your Blue
San Diego Zoo https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/
Wonderopolis https://www.wonderopolis.org/
TEDEd https://ed.ted.com/ (this site is recommended for the older students and parents)
We're bringing the zoo to you!
We're on a mission to make you smile and Animals at Home may be just be the escape you need.
Bring the zoo to life from anywhere around the world with live cams, keeper talks and other virtual updates.
Virtual Zoo Tours
Enjoy a virtual tour of our three wonderful zoos.
Time to get Thinking
BreakoutEDU: Can you break out and solve the puzzles?
There are no hints - you must be curious and persevere. You can do it!!
Can you solve the puzzle?
Can you solve the puzzle?
Can you solve the puzzle?
Can you solve the puzzle?
Social Stories and Feelings
Denise Daniels, a leading child development expert, has teamed up with Scholastic and the Yale Child Study Center to help children, families, and educators cope during this pandemic.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dear Families,
This is a stressful time for families and children. We want to give comforting answers, yet we are looking for comfort ourselves. At a time when we all need hugs and closeness, we are asked to maintain distance.
We’ve designed this workbook to be used flexibly so you can bridge the gaps created by our changing circumstances. Share it with your child for activities and as a conversational tool. You can also encourage an older child to work with a younger sibling, or go to a calming corner and reflect independently.
We believe that your family will form bonds through these shared activities that lead to greater resilience. And we hope that the emotional resources your children develop will serve them well in this time of crisis, and in months and years ahead.
It is our deepest hope that you find strength together. Please reach out to us with questions, and let us know how you are doing.
Our very best,
Denise Daniels RN, MS
Creator of The Moodsters, child development expert
Karen Baicker Executive Director
Yale Child Study Center–Scholastic Collaborative for Child & Family Resilience
FirstAidForFeelings_Eng.pdfFor more information about First Aid For Feelings and Moodsters please visit: http://teacher.scholastic.com/education/coronavirusworkbook/index.html
Easterseals-My-Coronavirus.pdfPeople-wearing-masks-Social-Story.pdfSocial_Distancing.pdfReturning_to_Normal.pdfTopTips-Learning-from-home-Infographics-Aspect-Anywhere.pdfTips-for-Managing-Stress.pdfExtra Resources
Student Wellbeing Hub
https://studentwellbeinghub.edu.au/
This site contains lots of videos, games, stories and information about different wellbeing topics. A great feature is that students can sort specifically for their grade level, this then sorts everything in topics specific for them.
There is also great information for parents to explore and access.
