5 + 5 Activity Resource (No. 18) – 5 Independent & 5 Cooperative Learning Activities to Try

 

Welcome to our 18th 5+5 Activity Guide. As you know, I like to recommend interesting activities and resources you may wish to use with your child/ren. Quite often, I select awareness days as a basis for my recommendations. This week is no exception. 

 

Cooperative

Are you aware today (July 19th) is National Ice Cream Day in the US? Why not join the celebration with your family too? Here are some fun activity ideas. 

 

Making Ice Cream

• Have your child make ice cream in a bag. I shared this idea some weeks ago. If you didn’t do it then, perhaps today is a good day  to try it out? Alternatively, BBC Good Food has this simple recipe for strawberry ice cream.

• If your family are dairy-free, the kitchn.com has this recipe for vegan ice cream. An ice cream maker is required for it. It you don’t have one, you may wish to try this one ingredient banana ice-cream instead.

• Having made your own ice cream together, why not take it a step further and create cookie and cone clowns or make some ice cream sandwiches?

• Experiment with flavours and combinations. 

 

Science

• Watch this short video and discuss with your child ice cream chemistry and freezing point depression.

 

• Try this simple experiment to embed the learning.

 

Oral Language/ Discussion/ Poetry

• Play a list game. How many ice cream flavours can your child think of?

• If there are a group of you, turn it into a memory game, with each person adding to the order each time, e.g., 

  • Person 1: “I went to the ice cream shop and ordered a scoop of chocolate ice cream.”

  • Person 2: “I went to the ice cream shop and ordered a scoop of chocolate ice cream and a scoop of strawberry ice cream.”

• A great conversation starter is to ask what’s the best ice cream flavour, topping and flavour/topping combination.

 

 

• Can your child learn ‘Eighteen Flavors’ By Shel Silverstein?

  • How many of these flavours has your child heard of?

  • How many have they tasted?

  • What flavour ice cream would your child like to create that they have not yet seen or tasted?

  • What would be the worst ice cream flavour they can possibly imagine?

 

‘Eighteen Flavors’ By Shel Silverstein
Eighteen luscious, scrumptious flavors
Chocolate, lime and cherry,
Coffee, pumpkin, fudge banana
Caramel cream and boysenberry.
Rocky road and toasted almond,
Butterscotch, vanilla dip,
Butter brickle, apple ripple,
Coconut and mocha chip,
Brandy peach and lemon custard,
Each scoop lovely, smooth and round,
Tallest ice cream cone in town,
Lying there (sniff) on the ground.

 

 

Recipe Writing

Procedural writing is an important form for children to master.

• Can your child write up their recipe for making ice-cream?

• Can (s)he list the ingredients accurately and sequence the steps correctly, using precise language to describe the method involved?

• How will (s)he present their recipe? Will it be handwritten or typed to add to a recipe binder? Why not present the recipe using canva.com?

 

Chess

Away from the ice cream theme, July 20th is World Chess Day.

Does your child know how to play this game of strategy?

• Learn more about the origins of chess, and discover interesting facts about the game on chessworld.com and ohfact.com.

• Learn to play on chesskid.com.

If your child can already play, can you find time for a game on Monday 20th?

Independent

 

Festival of Curiosity

Unfortunately, I’m very late in having discovered the Festival of Curiosity which was running this weekend. There are a few activities running today. Email registration is required for most, so I am not sure how many places remain. The interactive story activity is available online for all.

• Virtual Tour of Bull Island at 10.30.

• Live Explorer Tour of Airfield Urban Farm at 12.45

• Virtual Safari at Dublin Zoo at 10.30.

• Drawing workshops inspired by the archaeology of ancient sites on Sunday July 19th at 14:45 & 16:30

• Interactive Storytime with David Clancy – the story of ‘Super Salmon’. Access the audio and the accompanying PDF. This activity is a cooperative one and your help and supervision will be needed.

 

Poster Design

I came across this fabulous poster from A Mighty Girl during the week and it strikes me so much learning is possible from this resource.

• Does your child know the stories of each of the women featured?

• Are there any other women they would add to the poster?

• If they were to create their own ‘Mighty People’ poster, who would they include and why?

• What verbs would they use?

• Can they create such a poster? Again canva.com  is an excellent tool to use for such a challenge.

 

Maths Revision

Why not download a Third Space Maths Hub ‘Don’t Forget Your Maths’ revision pack for your child to work through over the holidays? These are aligned to the UK curriculum. If you would like any guidance as to the most appropriate one to choose for your child’s age and stage, do get in touch.

 

Self-Care

Download this self-care pack from annafreud.org for your child to work through over the summer. It features 25 challenges for the summer holidays. 

 

PixelHeads Virtual Saturday Club

If your child wants to learn about, talk about and even create videogames, you may be interested in this Saturday club. Run by the National Videogame Museum in the UK, it will take place every Saturday throughout the summer. More details and registration links here.

 

There are already several videos on their YouTube channel and lots of resources on their website. I like the Get Tangled up in Twine resource which teaches children how to write interactive stories.

 

I hope there are some activity ideas here your child/ren will enjoy. It;s important children have lots of time for rest and play over the holidays, so I’ve included lots of fun ideas. Continuing to do a little more formal work encourages retrieval practice and this helps ensure children remember what they have learned. Don’t forget to follow me on social media for daily conversation starters and for regular news and updates about all matters educational. Find me on Facebook,  Instagram and Twitter. 

 

Take care and stay safe all!