Hi everyone,

Hopefully there is still some frost and snow for the children to explore for handwriting today!
If they can get outside, they will need a paintbrush and water. Practise making different handwriting patterns in the frost, snow or ice. Can they write their name?

If you can’t get outside don’t worry! Practise giant mark making with pens, pencils, chalks or even paints!

Then we are going to recap the long ladder family. Attached is a handwriting sheet they can use OR they can just practise the letters on plain paper.

Story and activities

This a lovely gentle story about some owls who live in a big tree in the woods.

Start the book and read a few pages.
Talk about different feelings? How do you think the owls are feeling? Why?

What makes you feel scared? What makes you feel happy? Where do you think the mummy owl has gone?

Finish the book and talk about how the baby owls are feeling at the end.

Make a list of different feelings and draw faces to show that feeling. Talk together about times that you have felt excited, nervous, sad, happy, surprised.
😀😩😢🥺🤔😲😴😮😓😣😡

Click this link for good advice from the National trust on bird spotting and how to join in birdwatch. Have a go at drawing some local birds.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lists/our-guide-to-birdsong-and-bird-spotting?campid=Social_Central_MemberEngagement_Twitter_BirdSpottingTips-140121

Join in this years birdwatch by clicking this link https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

ou will need:

Milk (I found out after that whole milk or anything other than skimmed works much better!)
Food Colouring. The more colours the better
Dish Soap
Shallow Dish or Bowl
Cotton buds (optional)

Magic Milk Experiment Instructions
Step 1 Pour some milk into a shallow dish or bowl until the milk covers the bottom
Step 2 - Add some drops of food colouring on the milk. You can use a variety of colours, just be sure to add 3-4 drops of each colour
Step 3 - Add a drop of dish soap into the centre of the milk or use a cotton bud dipped in dish soap.

How Does the Science Experiment Work?
The key to the dancing colours in this experiment is soap! Soap molecules consist of a hydrophilic (“water-loving”) end and a hydrophobic (“water-fearing”) end. Water molecules are polar molecules that can dissolve other polar molecules. Fat (and oil) molecules are nonpolar molecules, so they cannot dissolve in water.

Milk is a mixture of water, fat, vitamins and minerals. When soap is added to the milk, it helps to separate the water and fat in the milk. When soap is mixed in with the fat and water, the hydrophobic end of the soap molecule breaks up the nonpolar fat molecules, and the hydrophilic end of the soap molecule links up with the polar water molecules. Now that the soap is connecting the fat and water, the nonpolar fat molecules can be carried by the polar water molecules.

As the soap molecules connect to the fat molecules, the molecules of the food colouring get pushed around everywhere resulting in an explosion of colour! As the majority of soap molecules attach to the fat molecules and the soap spreads throughout the milk, the colour explosion will slow and eventually stop. Add more soap and see if there are more fat molecules that haven’t attached to soap – if there are unattached fat molecules still, the colour explosion will begin again.

This experiment works best with 2% and whole milk because they contain more fat.

Good afternoon!

Firstly listen to this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niXNQ5dEcEA

ABC by the Jackson 5
After listening, ask the children some simple questions. Tell them who the band were and what the song was called. Have they heard that song before? What was the song about? Ask them about their feelings towards the piece of music. Did the music make you feel happy, sad, sleepy, excited, worried, like dancing, like an animal, grumpy etc. Do the children know Michael Jackson or The Jackson 5?
Michael was very young when he performed and recorded this song. Perhaps listen to some more Jackson 5 songs, there are lots of examples on YouTube and Spotify and maybe show a video clip of The Jackson 5 performing. The children will see and learn some fantastic dance moves!

Today we are going to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
You will need some kind of instrument - a home made pot and pan will work just fine!

Good afternoon,

We are still practising the long ladder family today.
Firstly a warm up, they will need some scrap paper for this one.
Next up some large paper or a baking tray with flour and their fingers for some writing practise!

If your child found it hard to concentrate last time, then you could try using the baking tray and flour as a handwriting incentive! You can replace the flour with glitter, shaving foam, rice or just about anything they can write with using their fingers.

This is a really fun activity to get them interested in science and learn a little about chemical reactions.

Messy warning!! I did manage to get food colouring all over myself, I would recommend making sure your children are not wearing best clothes and maybe put down some kitchen roll just in case!

What you need:
Oil such as vegetable oil or sunflower oil
Food colouring
Bicarbonate of soda
Vinegar (malt worked fine!)
One small cup
One clear large glass or bottle
A spoon

Why it works:

Oil and vinegar do not have the same density (how heavy something is for its size)
Vinegar is more dense than this type of oil which is why it sinks to the bottom.

Once the vinegar hits the bottom is reacts with the bicarbonate, this creates a chemical reaction!

The bubbles we can see are carbon dioxide which rises!

Today we are learning about overcoming challenges and learning to persevere.

First watch the video with Larry the lion giving up very easily!

Try a challenge such as - making a tower with spaghetti and marshmallows/ standing on one leg for 1 minute/ build a tower from cards

How did you find that challenge? How did it make you feel? Read one of the suggested stories or one similar with the theme of not giving up when facing a hard challenge or problem.

Questions: How did you find that challenge? How did it make you feel? What sorts of things do we everyday that are tricky? Do you ever have any problems with your friends? How do you sort these out?

Then watch the story - The Best Dress Ever
In this story, children will see Zid the alien persevere and keep trying to achieve a goal while responding positively to constructive criticism and helpful feedback from friends. Help your children to develop resilience, a positive approach to their learning and a 'can do' attitude.

Now try:
What sorts of things are tricky to do at home? Can you challenge yourself to overcome them e.g. tying up shoelaces, putting clothes away? Riding a bike? Writing your name? Counting to 20? Learning to do your coat zip up?

Video 2

Firstly..I am so sorry the music is SO loud in these videos! Next time I will make sure the volume is down 🤣

This afternoon we are focussing on handwriting, start off by building up fine motor control with firework writing!
Encourage your child to try different shapes: lines, dots, dashes, squiggles, circles and zig zags.

Next we are learning some of the long ladder family.
Follow along, feel free to pause if they need more time on one letter.

Video 2