Food FunFood can be made fun,

make some potato prints.

a chopped carrot looks like a human eye

slice open a tomato and see it looks like the inside of a heart.

Try chopping a mushroom in half, and notice it looks like a human ear.

Make a plate look like a human face and have fun at meal times.

Spaghetti or homemade vegetable noodles are great for exciting the senses.

Spaghetti or noodles are useful for children to practise letter and formation.

Vegetable or biscuit cutters can be used to create random shapes which are amazing for making thoughts for story writing.

Rice, dried beans, cereal or pasta can be used

Puppets

Puppets are amazing. Of course, puppets do not have to cost the earth, and can be simply made from anything at home such as a sock

Puppets can be used to make stories

They can offer hours of endless fun for role play.

Finger puppets can be used to express emotions – sad, happy, cross or upset.

For children with speech and language or visual impairments puppets are perfect for learning and practising sign language.

Fine Motor skills that help develop with Handwriting

Straws or paper strips into a sponge or polystyrene block, push them in and then cut them off with scissors.

Beads – use tweezers to pick them up and put them into a tray or box/cup. Change hands and repeat, timing how long it takes. You can set a challenge to beat the score and time next time. Thread beads onto a string- how many can they thread in 30seconds?

Pegs can be pegged on a low washing line or on their clothes. Use thumb and finger to remove each peg in turn and place them in a tub/bowl. Repeat with the other hand – beat your time/number of pegs put into the tub/bowl.

Buttons – tweezers to pick them up, sort them into colours, number of holes in buttons, thread them onto cotton.

Gross Motor Skills that help develop

balance and co-ordination

Skipping, hopscotch, following lines on the pavement, balancing on one leg, rubbing your tummy whilst patting your head are all fun ways to help develop gross motor skills.

Learning clapping songs, rhythms, bouncing and catching balls, keeping up a balloon as long as you can.

The possibilities are endless…

Fun ways to help with reading

Make up their own story using words – based on the title page

Describe the pictures Make a den to read in Take it in turns to read a sentence or

line at a time Make up nonsense rhyming words Re-read favourite books with silly

voices. Using a big voice for a monster, little squeaky voice for a mouse etc.

Listen to audio books Word hunt around the house Hunt for objects beginning/ending in a

given sound ‘b’ ball, balloon, buggy, book etc.

Fun ways to help with writing

Salt and shaving foam are great resources to use when practising letters or words.

Chalks to write large letters or swirly movements and shapes.

Using a paintbrush to write letters or numbers or going over them to wipe them out.

Voice record a sentence on a phone and play it back so the child can write it without having to hold it in their head. They can play it back as many times as they need to.

Mix up the MathsBaking is a fabulous way to practise maths in

a fun and productive way:

Weighing out ingredients

Measuring liquid in ml and l and dried ingredients in gm and kg

Estimating – do we have enough flour, sugar, cake cases, mixture in each cake case?

Counting – spoonful, time, cake cases, eggs, chocolate buttons to put on each cakes?

Sharing – mixture between each tin/case, slicing the cake into equal pieces

Time – do we have enough time to make a cake? How long does it take to bake? What time will it be cooked?

Fine-motor skills – using tools, spoons, mixing, kneading, rubbing flour and butter together and using cutters to make shapes.

Spelling Wizards!

Turn a board game into a spelling game – in order to move on they have to spell a word correctly

Place letters around the home on post it notes and collect the letters to make words

Hangman Puzzlemaker.com to create their own word

searches with the words to learn Index finger to write each letter of words in

the air Write words on someone’s back with your

finger – left to right direction Cutting out the letters from old newspapers,

magazines or comic and glue them to make full words

A little helping handSupporting your children and you when working at home

Helpful Numbers

North East Lincolnshire Bereavement support service - 01472 250623

North East Lincolnshire - Information on services and Covid Response -01472 313131

Women’s Aid – 01472 575757

Rock Foundation – Food parcel for collection– Home Hill Wellington Street – Mon, Weds, Fri, 1:00pm – 3:30pm

Single point of Access – For medical, health, befriending, bereavement, mental health or social care enquiries – 01472 256256

SENDIASS (Barnados)– support and advice for families of children with SEND –01472 355365Local Offer - https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/children-and-families/archive-send-and-local-offer/special-educational-needs/