5+5 Activity Guide, Education, English, MY Classroom, Uncategorized

5 + 5 Activity Resource (No. 15) – 5 Independent & 5 Cooperative Learning Activities to Try

28
Jun

5+5 Activity Guide – Week 15

Welcome to our 15th 5+5 Activity Guide. Primary schools in Ireland closed this week for the summer holidays, so I’d like to wish everyone a restful break. Parents may wish to continue to dip into our guides for activity ideas to keep children engaged over the break.  I’ve got some lovely activities to share that are fun, won’t feel like “work” for them and promote the joy of learning. 
 
I have a few plans for the website over the summer, so I intend to devote more time to it in the coming weeks and will be taking a break from the CardEd Daily uploads. You will find all of the daily and weekly challenges to date in the CardEd Challenge section of the website – 70 days of challenges in total! Our CardEd cards and the accompanying CardEd Bumper Activity Guide remain free to download. The book is packed with ideas for using your cards across lots of subjects to promote learning. Find the links to all 4 card sets, the Bumper Activity Guide, our CardEd apps and several blog posts about using CardEd in this post.
 
There are lots of celebration days and events happening this week and throughout July. Here are just a few with links to ideas for exploring them:
  • June 29th: International Mud Day – Dare you risk the mess?
  • June 30th: Meteor Watch Day – Learn about meteors and meteorites and explore the largest meteorites ever found.
  • July 1st: International Joke Day – How many people can you make laugh today? Find jokes here and here.
  • July 3rd: Compliment your Mirror Day – Build self-esteem by encouraging your child to give themselves a compliment today. Help them to recognise and celebrate what makes them unique and special. On this theme, the July Action for Happiness calendar is out now and focuses on resilience.

 

  • July is also Plastic Free month – can you eliminate one type of plastic from your daily life? 

 
I will continue to post conversation starters and other educational activities and updates on social media. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to ensure you don’t miss out!


Over the next 3 weeks, various Children’s Art Weeks are taking place in the UK with the following themes:
Week 1 (from 29 June): The Natural World
Week 2 (from 6 July): Connecting across generations
Week 3 (from 13 July): Literacy and creative writing
 
I thought these would make great topics to explore. With that in mind, here are a selection of activity ideas on the theme of The Natural World.
 

Independent

Poetry
Can your child find, learn and perform a nature-themed poem? This brilliant lesson on clouds features


Cloud Watching by Gareth Lancaster ©2013 

There’s a rhino,
There’s a hippo,
And a super eight-winged bat!
There’s a lion,
And a monkey,
In a giant bowler hat!

There’s a castle,
With a dragon,
And the knight who’s come to slay!
There’s an octopus,
With shoes on,
And he’s holding a bouquet!

There’s a man,
With untied laces,
Who’s just fallen in a pond!
And a wizard,
In galoshes,
Trying to mend his broken wand!

There’s a boy,
Who’s doing nothing,
Gazing up at cloudy skies.
Yes it’s me,
I should be busy,
I’ve got school work to revise!
 
As the lesson suggests, why not take some time to look at the clouds? What can you see? Can you identify the cloud type? (Refer here or here) How do the clouds change throughout the day?

 

Art
July is World Watercolour Month. Linked are the official painting prompts issued to participants. Can your child link these to our nature theme? On Doodlewash, you will find more information about World Watercolour Month and lots of art inspiration.

 

 

 

Reading
As always, encourage your child to read, read, read. If you’re looking for some nature-themed books, try searching some of these recommended lists for new material to add to your bookshelves.
 
On the subject of reading, here is a great resource I simply have to share with you – a book-themed height chart. It may be fun to print it off and chart your child’s height at the beginning of the holidays and then use it to track how many books on the list they can tick off during the break. Keeping a notebook recording new words they encounter in these books is a great way to promote vocabulary development. Contrast how much their vocabulary has grown with how much they have grown by the end of the summer break. 

 

STEM/DT
Learn about the healing power of plants and create your own scent bag.
 
STEM/Geography
Investigate STEM topics related to canals and rivers with these resources from the Canal River Trust. Check out the Learning from Home section of their website for a wealth of brilliant STEM and geography resources.
 

Cooperative

Quizzes
A really fun family activity is to have a quiz. Try some of these:
Science Kids has lots of science and nature resources & several quizzes including:
Find many more options here on Education Quizzes.
 
Nature Walk
There is simply no better way to learn about the natural world than to get out and explore it. Here’s a list of outdoor activities to try this month.

 

31 Things to do in July PDF

 

  • Can you schedule a nature walk this week?
  • Where can you explore?
  • You can turn it into a scavenger hunt with a printable such as this one (or your child could make their own one). Alternatively, you may like the nature spotting guides from Fields in Trust.
  • Encourage your child to take photographs of their discoveries.
  • A lovely lesson from the California Academy of Sciences suggests that using found objects, set your child a task such as: 
    • Make a pretend house for an animal, favorite toy, or imaginary creature, like a fairy house.
    • Spell out your name using the found objects.
    • Have a competition to see who can build the highest tower.
    • Create a model of something you’ve seen before, such as an animal, a person, or landmark.
    • Why not collect and paint some stones?
    • Create a piece of art with the objects you find.
  • Found objects might include:
    • Landscape trimmings
    • Wood rounds
    • Pinecones
    • Sticks
    • Branches
    • Dry leaves
    • Pine needles
    • Pebbles, stones and rocks
    • Wood chips
    • Sand
    • Seeds
    • Seashells
  • Another fun idea is to have a micro hike.

 

STEM
Can your child be persuaded to explore a topic of interest? They may be interested in watching some nature videos online, e.g., BBC Earth has lots to choose from. Perhaps (s)he can create a science fair project on a topic of interest. Find inspiration on Science Kids:

 

Discussion
Have a discussion with you child/ren as to what we can learn from nature. What are their thoughts? Have they some ideas you hadn’t previously considered? Get some inspiration here and here.
 
P.E.
Keeping children active is so important. This week is a good time to get out those animal movement cards I previously shared. Get them, and a whole host of other outdoor games and activities, in this ‘We like to Move it’ post.
 
I hope this gives you lots of ideas for the week ahead.


Take care and stay safe!

 

 

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