Welcome back!
We hope you have been enjoying our home learning activities so far and that you have been having fun. This week we are going to continue to explore our bodies and our senses. So far we have explored sight and touch. This week we will focus on hearing, smell and taste.
Monday 4th May 2020
Today we are learning that we use our ears to hear or listen. Here is a little video made for you to explore some sounds and try to guess what they might be. You might be able to play some more sounds for your child and get them to guess what they are. After you have finished this, why not go on a 'listening walk. ' On your walk listen carefully for different sounds. Maybe it is birds, cars, a river or maybe a car horn. Talk about the sounds you hear and discuss if they are loud sounds or quiet/ soft sounds. Tomorrow we are going to create something to make lots of noise together! We are sure you all cannot wait!!
Tuesday 5th May 2020
Today we are going to have some fun making a simple musical instrument. Your
child might have some ideas of different instruments you can make with items in your house. Maybe you will get the pots and pans out and have a whole percussion band!! While your child is putting the rice/ lentils inside the bottle or tube, they are developing their hand eye co-ordination. By pouring the lentils or rice from a jug or by using a spoon to scoop them up you are giving them an opportunity to practice and extend their control. It takes great skill to get them in, especially if it is a bottle with a narrow neck. They will of course also have lots of fun decorating their shakers and making music with them after they have made them. We hope they have lots of fun dancing, singing and using their instruments!
Wednesday 6th May 2020
Today we are going to play a shopping game. This game will help with the development of attention and listening skills as well as memory and recall. The child must listen, understand, remember and then respond by following the instruction. We play these games in school in small group time, so your child should be familiar with them.
Before you begin this listening activity. Make sure your child can name all of the items from your ‘shopping’ laid out in front of them e.g. apple, banana, orange, bread and cheese. Don’t have too many items on display, around 5 is perfect.
Tell the child you are going shopping. Put the items out on the floor a short distance away from them and give them a bag.
Instruct the child as to what you would like them to put in their bag:
“Put the banana in the bag.”
If your child can remember this one information word instruction, add another item- asking for 2 items.
e.g. “Put the orange and the apple in the bag”
Have lots of goes, changing the items each time. Add on another item if your child is able to listen and follow the instruction. At this age, your child should not be expected to follow an instruction asking for any more than 4 items. If your child finds it difficult past 2 items, work on that for a while before trying 3. Build up their attention and listening skills from where they are.
To extend the activity:
e.g. Give the apple to teddy.
Give the banana to the doll.
To make this more difficult add 2 items:
Give the apple and the orange to the teddy.
The most difficult we would ever make the instruction in school would be to ask the child to give the doll one item and the teddy the other. This is a 4 information carrying word instruction.
e.g. Give the apple to the doll and the banana to the teddy.
If your child finds this difficult- build up to it. Start with just the teddy and ask for one item to be given to it. Then add the doll. Ask for the one item to be given to the doll or the teddy.
The most important thing is to have fun with your child. Make this a fun game that can be used repeatedly between now and your child starting school. These listening skills are so important to develop for now but also for when they are in P1 and are having to follow instructions.
Here’s a reminder about the fantastic storytelling service Libraries NI are providing during this time. They update their books each week. Enjoy!
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMtCSpFst-K1HQ3WX3XMEYYj9QGG4Fa7l
Thursday 7th May 2020
Today we are going to learn about our sense of taste. We are thinking about how we use our mouths to taste. You can read through this short video with your child. Another idea for the taste test is to use different flavours of crisps and see if the child can guess which flavour they are. They may also like to smell the food before they taste it to see if they can guess what it is/ what flavour the crisps are. This also helps them explore the sense of smell. Have fun!
Friday 8th May 2020
Today we are going to finish off learning about our senses. We are making play dough food.
Here is a short video about how you can engage in some role-play with your child while creating a 'Cafe' with resources from your kitchen. We have a simple play dough recipe here that only needs a few ingredients. Have fun!