A big HI to all the boys! Let’s look back at some fun times at school and update with lots of new pics of you at home so all your friends can see! |
I hope you and your family are all keeping well and staying safe. I miss school a lot! I miss having the great chats with you boys in the morning when you come in all excited sharing your news... I miss the fun games and feelings check-ins that we share during our Circle Time! I’m sure there are a few things you miss about school too? If there are it’s good to chat to your mam or dad about them. I’m hoping that this blog will help too! I hope to put up some pictures that I had saved from some fun times we’ve had a school already and I’d love if you could *email me some more photos of you having fun at home too. (*parents if you email me photos can I have your permission to upload to the blog unless you state otherwise in your email!)
juniorinfantsdonacarney@gmail.com |
Let’s have a look at some fun times at school... things got a little spooky for a while!
(P.S I’ve no idea why there is a background of mountains etc here! New to this blogging stuff!!!)
Some whiteboard drawings! Maybe you have been doing some more drawings at home (trying your best with your tripod grip too!)
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Some Halloween Aistear pics...
Some driving fun when the RSA visited and turned our PE hall into a mini town! So much fun earning our ‘Safety Licence’!
We entered the ‘Colour Laboratory’ and predicted what would happen when we mixed two primary colours together! There were lots of great ‘rainbow’ predictions and the boys had fun mixing the colours to discover and record their results!
Oh how we love to play together and through Aistear we have so much fun playing and working together! Here are a few pictures of some of the things we enjoy... construction, junk art, bingo, role play... we have so much fun ‘playing’ that we don’t even realise that we are ‘learning’!
A deep breath and a positive approach... 🥰
The world at the moment is offering us the rare opportunity to slow down. To enjoy the simple things in life...
We’ve no idea what tomorrow holds but we have today... and there’s always something good to focus on - health, family, friends, fresh air.
When we stop to take a breather from the hectic schedules you realise actually how much you can miss when you are rushing through life...take this opportunity for connection with our kids. Any ‘work’ I suggest for homework is merely a suggestion to build upon your sons learning and to build on that fun parent child connection 🌻
Here’s a fun one that has worked with my own kids when they need that much needed movement break....
Building blocks and Lego are also a great way to spend ‘working’ together... massive benefits (can be played independently or as a family, both important!)
Here are some fun activities that I found...I’ve no access to a printer at home so I just wrote it out on a page and stuck it up in the kitchen, I encourage my kids pick something from the sheet, it helps with the “I don’t know what I want to build etc...”
Here’s a pic of my kids doing the ‘Build something with your eyes closed for 5mins’ challenge. We used bigger blocks to make it a bit easier to attach pieces and put hats over their eyes to stop cheating!!!!!
Maybe you could send me some of your pics doing some Lego Challenges too and I can upload them here on our class blog!
(Remember to put my name and your name in the subject bar of email)
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/playdough-recipe
Play dough fun! I followed this recipe I found online https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/playdough-recipe and used what was already in the press... great fun in the process making and lots of fun using it afterwards. I wrapped it in cling film and it’s still on the go 2 weeks later!
Another important skill to continue to work on is cutting (the last thing we cut out in school was our St.Patrick’s Day leprechauns ☘️) the boys are very good with safety and I’m sure they will be equally as careful at home! Remember to always carry your scissors like an umbrella ☂️ or my favourite a bunch of 💐 flowers 🌻
The boys are also familiar with me putting a 😃 smiley face sticker on their cutting thumbs... this helps keeping the hand in the right position. Also putting a sheet of paper under “their wing” (the elbow of the hand they are using!) helps keep their hand steady. For the moment try easy cutting lines and progress to other shapes!
Here’s an example of a fun cutting activity that I’ve done at home with my kids. I drew a blank face (I wanted them to make a character themselves...extension activity!) and I stuck strips of long ‘hair’ on the head! The idea then was to give their character a hair cut!
I’d love to see some of your cutting work too! Send me a photo and I can pop it up here so all your friends can see it too!
I was chatting to Adrienne on the phone today and she misses you all too! She asked me to say a ‘BIG HI’ to all the boys and she hopes you and family are keeping well and staying safe!
Be their safe place...
One activity I found really good for the whole family or even between siblings was the “Would you rather...?” game.
The boys would love something like this in the classroom Circle Time situation. At home it’s a fun way of encouraging your son to express his opinions and build on his vocabulary!
I’ve played this many times sitting outside with my own kids and they love to agree or disagree with each other! Here are some suggestions but of course you can come up with your own!
Shared reading and retelling...
I’ve used this bingo grid in a similar way to the Lego Challenge one... keeps them engaged and interested!
Buddy Reading! The boys from Miss Smith’s 2nd Class and Miss Carragher’s Gliondar Mara visited us for some story telling fun and bookmark making!
In class, the boys absolutely loved playing with dice (or pick a number from the cup!) Use this grid as a framework for retelling the story. They love to sequence and recount their favourite stories that have been read to them. Again, huge value to their oral language development (& fostering that parent-child connection). This can lend itself to lots of extension work drawings etc (encouraging independent work and pencil grip/fine motor skills)
I’d love to see your drawings of your favourite stories / characters, send your photos in an email and I can share them here for all your friends to see your great work too!
juniorinfantsdonacarney@gmail.com
Another fun one for indoors...
(helps with mathematical reasoning too!) Is X’s and O’s.
Pen and paper or you can make your own giant floor one!
You’d be surprised how much more enthusiastic kids are when they are up and about rather than sitting at a desk!
Fresh air... outside fun and learning is just as important as mastering phonics and numeracy! I’ve lots of scavenger hunts I’d be happy to share with you. My two kids love them, and gives purpose from the “I’m bored” line! Written out on a sheet of paper and given a very important pen to check off their list adds to the fun and sense of accomplishment! Here’s one we did recently!
I’ve loads of other ones that I’ll happily share but don’t want to overwhelm anyone with the amount of activities 🌻
All feedback and your photos are welcomed!
A firm favourite with the boys in class! If the link above doesn’t work, just pop ‘Go Noodle Superheroes’ in the YouTube search bar. (Parents you are in for a treat!)
This is a great fun thing to do...my kids love it! Try it at home and send me in some pics! Recently we’ve had a ‘real-life’ crocodile in the kitchen and and panda having breakfast with us!
This has kept us quite busy! If you type an animals name into Google (on an iPhone or Android) and then press ‘View in 3D’. It brings up your camera and then 30 seconds later you have a tiger in your house! You can take a photo of the kids with them and they can walk around it.
We’ve tried lion, bear, shark, penguin, horse, pony, octopus and cheetah too but am sure there will be others.
You can also find a:
Lion
Tiger
Cheetah
Shark
Hedgehog
Duck
Emperor penguin
Wolf
Angler fish
Goat
Rottweiler
Snakes
Eagle
Brown bear
Alligator
Horse
Shetland pony
Macaw
Pug
Turtle
Cat
Octopus
Dog
Golden Retriever
We’ve tried lion, bear, shark, penguin, horse, pony, octopus and cheetah too but am sure there will be others.
You can also find a:
Lion
Tiger
Cheetah
Shark
Hedgehog
Duck
Emperor penguin
Wolf
Angler fish
Goat
Rottweiler
Snakes
Eagle
Brown bear
Alligator
Horse
Shetland pony
Macaw
Pug
Turtle
Cat
Octopus
Dog
Golden Retriever
All comments and photos are welcomed!
juniorinfantsdonacarney@gmail.com
All feedback and photos are welcomed 🌻
juniorinfantsdonacarney@gmail.com
Thank you for showing your friends some of the things you’ve been doing at home 😊
Most evenings I try to chat to my kids about what they were grateful for that day, I jot down their words in this copy (regular copybook with a label I had), it’s a lovely way to reflect on a positive thing that has happened to them that day.
It can take the heat off sibling arguments or adult frustrations. They usually say things like “I’m grateful for this yummy dinner or for playing tag with my friends at yard time...etc”
Now more than ever I’m looking back on what we had written down, things like the park, cinema, birthday parties all have gotten a mention... but now it’s really good to look at what we are grateful for during this unprecedented time... and I for one am grateful for the time with my kids.
I do miss school and the chats with the boys.
All your lovely emailed messages today really brightened my day and you guys got a lovely mention in my gratitude copy! Thank you!
Keep your feedback and photos coming!
juniorinfantsdonacarney@gmail.com
Below is a photo of a page from a gratitude journal I have and it might be a nice activity for you as a family to chat about? Again the boys would love an activity like this in our daily check-ins at Circle time! 🌻
I suspect that the article below may resonate with some of right now! I thought it was an interesting article and really drives it home the importance to be our kids safe place...
Here are some more great photos of what your friends have been up to at home! Have a look and enjoy!
My little girl, Zoey, kindly let me use her blackboard to write a message! Hope you can spot your name in the picture!
The boy’s loved watching Hey Duggee on wet days at break time!
In fact there are so many quality CBeebies tv shows that are fun, entertaining, relevant and educational (Sky channel 614!) like, Biggleton, Let’s Play, Bing, Dog Loves Books, Numberblocks, Our Family, Let’s go for a Walk! Show me Show me, Messy goes to OKIBOB, Mister Makers Arty Party to name but a few! 😉
Anyone lucky enough to be able to go to the beach within their 2km radius, see how many of these you can find!
Send me your pictures so all your friends can see your discoveries 🐚
juniorinfantsdonacarney@gmail.com
Some more great pics for you and your buddies to see 🤗
Hope everyone is well and staying safe, I’m gonna put on lots of sun cream and head outside and try this shadow drawing with Zach and Zoey! I think the pictures are going to look pretty funny in the end😂! You might have a go too ☀️ ✏️ 🦕
juniorinfantsdonacarney@gmail.com
You have reached the end of page 1... but it doesn’t end there... you can find more fun suggestions and photos on Page 2
Click on the page link above⬆️ or scroll to the top of this page and on the left hand side you should see three black lines, click on that and it will give you the option to go page 2.
Or click the picture below and that should also send you to page 2!
