Suggested activities over the break

Dear parents here are some useful website, games and Art activities you can use for over the break:

Websites:

for social skills and behavior:

• https://wedolisten.org/

Sesame street! This is a great website with games, videos covering math, phonics and social skills:

• https://www.sesamestreet.org/

you can also look for videos on youtube:

• https://www.youtube.com/user/SesameStreet

yoga: if you feel tired and don't feel like taking your child outside, maybe you can try cosmic kids?!

• https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

Barefoot books: for songs and stories

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf_8ZTFvJeS8U60W8C8PGhA

Games!

Games are very important in a child development. If you don't know what to do play a game with your child.

Here are some classic games children love to play:

Simon Says

I remember having lots of fun playing this game with school teachers even as a 13 year old! First, choose someone to be “Simon”. Next, kids must do whatever Simon says when starting a command with “Simon Says”, for instance “Simon Says touch your nose.” If a child fails to do it before you finish saying your next “Simon Says” command, then they are “out” of that game of Simon Says. You can also attempt to get children “out” by saying commands that don’t start with Simon Says. If a child follows that directions then they are “out”! The last kid that is “in” gets to be Simon. If you want to make the game difficult for older kids, simply issue commands faster and faster, and make the needed actions more and more difficult to complete. Before you know it, you’ll sound like an auctioneer!

Variations – A fun variation is to play Simon Says with drawing or coloring. “Simon Says draw a circle. Simon Says draw a stick figure. Draw a tiger. Ohhh, Emily you’re out, you started to draw a tiger!”

Scavenger Hunt

If you haven’t done a scavenger hunt lately, then you just aren’t living! A scavenger hunt is all about finding items from a list in certain rooms or areas. First, find some things around the house that you want your kids to locate and a few pieces of paper & pencil. Depending on how many items you want the kids to find and how many kids are a part of the game, you can either hand write the lists of items for each child, or type it up on a computer and print out copies. If the items will be in difficult hiding spots you can write clues next to each item on the list. Now go hide everything! The kids will love the adventure and challenge.

Variations – This game can easily be made into a treasure hunt. The hard part is writing the clever clues to go with each item that will help lead them to the next one.

 Hot Potato

This game can get a little giggly, so be warned! Simply get any soft ball or rolled up socks and underhand-toss it to a child. Instruct them to under-hand toss it to someone else as quickly as possible. Each child repeats this. When does this game end? Who knows? Just get rid of it!

Variations – If you have enough children, play short segments of music while they toss the object, stop the music, and the last child to touch it when the music stops is out of the game. Repeat until there is only 1 child.

Hide and Seek

This has to be one of oldest games on planet Earth!

Variations – The variations of this game can be truly fun for both kids and adults! Hide and seek in the dark – scary! It really can be a lot harder to find someone. Hide and seek tag – if someone is about to be caught, they can choose to run away!

Duck, Duck, Goose (or Duck, Duck, Grey Duck for us Minnesotans!)

This fun indoor game was one I played in school from time to time. It needs about a minimum of 6 children to play it. Choose someone to be the Goose (or Grey Duck). All the other kids sit in a circle. The Goose then walks around the circle, tapping each kid on the head and says “Duck”. “Duck, duck, duck, duck…” Eventually, the Goose choose a new Goose and says “Goose!” instead of “Duck” when tapping a person on the head. The old Goose has to run around the circle and try to sit in the spot of the new Goose, while the new Goose has to get up from where they were sitting and chase the old Goose in the same direction. There are two outcomes: 1) the old Goose is able to run around the circle and sit down in the new Goose’s spot without being tagged. The old Goose is now a duck and gets to sit in the circle. The new Goose is now truly the Goose and needs to repeat what the old Goose just did. 2) The new Goose chases the old Goose and tags the old Goose before he/she gets to sit down in the vacant spot in the circle. The old Goose then remains the Goose and repeats what they just did, trying to become a duck sitting in the circle.

Animal Charades

Lots of fun to be had with this game. Before playing, first print off this page of animal pictures. Cut out each individual animal, fold each in half, and put them in a bucket. Begin the game by having the first child choose a piece of paper. The child then needs to act out the animal silently, and all other children need to try to guess what animal is being portrayed. Once the animal is guessed, choose another child who has not picked a piece of paper yet, and then they get to have their fun acting!

Variations – If a child is having difficulty silently acting the out the animal, then you can let the child try to make the sounds that the animal makes.

Indoor/outdoor Obstacle Course

This is one game that I absolutely loved as a kid. Here are some ideas for your course that you obviously could put in any order:

a. Put down pillows or couch cushions and the kids need to jump from one to the next. Alternatively, the kids could need to jump over the pillows or cushions!
b. Climb over ottomans.
c. Allow only jumping/somersaulting/crawling/crab walking from one area of the course to another.
d. Put down some Balance Beams as described in game number 2.
e. One of my personal favorites as kid – crawling through tunnels made from blankets or sheets hung over chairs and couches.
f. Perform various exercise like 20 jumping jacks.
g. Toss 5 sock snowballs from game number 18 into laundry baskets. Throwing stuffed animals also works here.
h. Crawl under tables

Variations – For older kids, time them to see how long it takes them to go through the whole course.

Musical Chairs

Art Activities on patterns:

   

Have a wonderful break! See you all next half term!