Further Information and support for Parents and Carers

Activity ideas to keep your young brains busy and your

growing bodies developing

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Share stories – retell and act them out
Make bread/challah/cakes together
Chop the vegetables for dinner together
Give your children responsibility to help with household chores – spray the window cleaner and clean the windows is a favourite!
Look at Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube and join in together
Sharing a family meal and talk about your day.

Physical Development

Threading pasta on to wool or string
Water play in the bath – scooping, pouring and measuring
Design a treasure hunt around the house
Junk modelling
Make playdough together https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv73CEzY1jg This is how!
Musical movement games – like musical statues
Lego and block play. Plan to build something and see if you can follow your plan
Make sensory tray with shaving foam, soap, jelly etc
Painting with water in the garden
Read Write Inc. Phonics
Rough and tumble play
Building dens and tunnels with blankets and under the kitchen table

Communication and Language

Storytelling with homemade puppets – use old socks, lolly stick and straws
Singing nursery rhymes and action songs, such as Simon Says
Make music with saucepans and pots
Play guessing games – such as think of an animal and model giving clues to help your child guess the animal
Play memory games or board games

Maths

Pairing socks
Playing board games with dice and counters
Bigger and Smaller games – describing the 3 Billy Goats Gruff or using Goldilocks
Add numbers to pegs and get your child to help order them
Measuring ingredients to cook/ help make dinner
Sing number songs
Sorting toys by colour or shape
Sorting coins playing money games like shops
Build train tracks in different shapes
Build towers from blocks – how many blocks did you use? Can you use the same blocks to build a different tower?
Make a bowling game with recycled items at home

Literacy

Share lots and lots of story books and talk about what is happening on each page
Play lotto games – matching pictures
Sing songs
Hide an object in a ‘mystery bag’ and give clues to what might be inside
Tap out syllables to break up your name on musical instruments

Understanding the World

Blowing bubbles
Make bread or pizzas for the family to share
Read information books on frogs and chicks etc.
Hunt for bugs in the garden
Use Nature Detectives for lots of exciting activities to do at home: https://naturedetectives.woodlandtrust.org.uk/naturedetectives/
Planting seeds such as cress – and watching them grow
Look at science experiments for Early Years https://www.firstdiscoverers.co.uk/early-years-science-activities-eyfs/
Observe the weather each day and make a weather chart
Observe the changes of the seasons
Make a family tree – who is in your family
Freeze small toys in ice – and work out how to get them out of the ice
Feed the birds in the garden and keep a tally of which birds visit your garden
Make seed bombs by mixing seeds with clay to make a small ball. Dry them out and wrap to give as presents. Make a label to attach.

Expressive Art and Design

This is not a tick list for you to work down, choose your favourites and do them as many times as you like – repeating them is good!

We would love to hear all about your learning adventures at home!

Additional Information:

Parent/Carers Information leaflets from Early Education