This weeks ( w/c 22.06.20)  project we would like you to design and try out your own obstacle course. Next week would have been sports day. With this in mind, we thought you might like to create your own race at home. Obviously, we would like pictures (maybe a video) and a detailed plan to explain the course you create. Have fun.

At this difficult time the staff at Lawrence View are working extremely hard to ensure that your child's education continues. Each class page will have regular updates from their class teacher, they will also be keeping in regular touch with you via our Dojo system.

Everyday, I will be adding a variety of fun activities for you to do at home with your children. You are very welcome to send in pictures or video clips of your children participating in any of the activities or sharing your own ideas with us. If this is done via The Dojo I will then add them to this page.

Mrs. Lord

This week's challenge W/C 08.06.20

Can you learn to skip, or learn some new skipping tricks?

We are leaving this quite open this week as we know many of you have yet to learn to skip and others have mastered the art. Skipping is a great activity to help you keep fit, even in a relatively small space. Once you have mastered how to skip you can move onto learning a few moves. Follow this link from the British hear foundation for some ideas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8FzKwpeiIU We have a small number of skipping ropes available in the school reception if anyone needs one.

Lawrence View reading challenge

Can you read a different book or chapter of a book every day for a week in a different place each day at home/ in your garden?

Be creative!

Send your photographs to your class teacher in one go. We will collate and let you know who the winners are!

Lawrence View 'Bake off'

Next week’s project we are asking if you would like to join in a ‘bake off’ -bake and decorate a cake. A bit of a challenge we know as sourcing flour can be problematic. We can provide a limited supply of ingredients which will be available to collect from the school reception area from Monday for those who will need some.

I can’t wait to see your creations.

  Football Madness

Special message from Joe Worrall

https://www.lawrenceviewprimary.co.uk/news/detail/footballmadness                                                   

This week we are going to have a football themed group activity, we would like to see how many' keep ups' you can do. We have a special message from Joe Worrall a Nottingham Forest Footballer to help encourage you along the way. It can be found by following the link below.

The rules are that you can use your body, legs, feet and knees. You can work together, or on your own and your parents can join in. You have no more than a minute to complete the task.

Your videos are always welcome and will be put on the school website if you manage to send us one.

We know this is quite a challenge this week, whatever you manage to do will be fantastic.

There are a few free footballs available in the school reception area for collection if you need one. Please only take one per family.

So everyone lets start practising!!

You can join in with a sing at home Young Voices concert on the above date.

Art Gallery

Thank you to all of you that have created a piece of artwork for our online gallery, they are all fantastic!

Famous Artists

 Be inspired by a famous artist.     

Andy Goldsworthy is a British artist known for his site-specific creations involving natural materials and the passage of time.

 Georgia O'Keeffe is best known for her paintings of magnified flowers                David Hockney is a British artist.

 Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter

Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter and entrepreneur. He founded the Wedgwood company.

Peter Thorpe is a well-known Editorial Illustrator who has had his Peter Thorpe is a well-known Editorial Illustrator who has had his beautiful paintings on the covers of books by many best-selling authors,

Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was a Russian painter of abstract art.

It would be great if you could send some of your inspired art work to your class teacher, so I can create a Lawrence View gallery.

Mrs.Lord.

Science at Home

Please see the link below to look at these great ideas for Science at home! You could write a prediction of what will happen before and see if you’re right. If you have a go, send a picture to your teacher. We can’t wait to see all the scientists at work!

https://www.stem.org.uk/sites/default/files/preview/elibrary-resources/2020/06/12_Starters%20for%20STEM_08%20June.pdf.jpg

Tie-dying is exactly what it sounds like. You twist a T-shirt, garment or other cloth item, tie it in various places with rubber bands and then dye it. When finished, the twisted and folded areas of the shirt reveal a cool coloured pattern. After a good rinsing and then drying, you are left with a shirt that's as fun as it is fashionable.

Tie-dye materials

• White, 100% cotton T-shirt (or other cotton item)
• A tie-dye ink kit (which includes tie-dye instructions) 
• These items, if not using a tie-dye kit:
  • Squirt bottles
  • Rubber bands
  • Rubber gloves
•       large zip plastic bags
• Water (to add to the ink bottles)
• A spray bottle of water (helpful to dampen shirts before applying ink)
• Paper towels or rags for spills

Project preparation

1. Get set up
If you have purchased a new T-shirt, machine wash and dry it first, but don't use fabric softener or a dryer sheet, to avoid leaving any kind of residue on the fabric that might repel the ink. Cover your work space with a plastic tablecloth (or set this up outside).

2. Prepare your ink
If you bought a kit, set up the inks in the bottles according to the tie-dye instructions. If you bought powered or liquid dye, prepare it according to package instructions and put the ink into the squirt bottles.

3. Prepare your shirt
Spray the shirt with water to dampen it, then choose your pattern from the list of four below or come up with your own. Twist the shirt and wrap with rubber bands to secure it in your desired pattern.

4. Ink the shirt
Squeeze ink onto the sections per kit instructions or per the pattern you've decided to follow — or freestyle it! Once you've finished dying, place each shirt in a sealed plastic bag for 24 hours to allow the ink to set and the colors to become vibrant.

5. Rinse
After 24 hours, put on a pair of rubber gloves, remove the shirt from the bag and rinse it in cold water (without removing the rubber bands) until the water runs clear of the dye. Then remove the rubber bands, rinse again, then machine wash and dry the shirts on the hottest setting allowed on the shirt tag. Do not combine the shirts with any other clothing for that initial wash and dry in case any extra dye bleeds. When it's dry, you are ready to wear and enjoy your classic shirt!

Tie-dye patterns

1. The classic swirl pattern

Pull the shirt from the centre stomach area and twist/swirl in one direction so the entire shirt forms a flattened disc shape that looks a rose. Wrap the disc with three to six rubber bands in a crisscross overlap pattern which will give you six wedges or quadrants of fabric. Put on your rubber gloves and squirt at least three different dye colours onto the wedges formed by the bands. Make sure to do the back of the shirt, too, so you have a uniform look.

2. Crumpled or splotched pattern

Lay the shirt flat then take your hand and twist, turn and crumple it while keeping the shirt flat. Pull little pieces of the shirt up by pinching your fingers to bring as much of the shirt up to where the dye will be applied. Continue to crumple the shirt in a random way while making a flattened disc shape. Take several rubber bands and tie into quadrants. with your rubber gloves, choose your dye and saturate each quadrant.

4. Circle pattern

Choose the areas where you want the circle or bull's-eyes to appear. (Three circles are standard.) Pull a tiny bit of the fabric up in these areas and twist and pinch with your fingers and wrap with one rubber band at the base so the fabric sticks up above it. Follow this for the other areas where you want a circle pattern. Next, choose the colour you want the circle to be and squirt on that area above the rubber band making sure it is saturating through. Next choose the colour(s) you want the shirt to be and squirt both front and back avoiding where the circle dye is.

Homemade lemonade

Ingredients

What is a Glitter Jar?

These magical glitter jars are the perfect sensory toy for children and grown ups alike.

Feeling anxious, sad or angry? Focusing on something else can help you calm down. Shake this glitter filled mood jar and watch as it settles from a whirling storm to a calm glitter sea. It looks great and can help as you take time out and watch it settle.

Fun Facts About Cake

1. The first cupcakes were so called, in the late 19th century, because they were baked in cups and made from ingredients measured by the cupful.

2. In the Middle Ages, the word cake meant a flat round of bread baked hard on both sides.

4. The earliest mention of a cup cake was in 1796 in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons.

5. The world record for cupcake eating is 72 in six minutes and was set by Patrick Bertoletti in 2012.

6. The record for fruit cake eating is 4lb 14.25oz( 2.218kg) in 10 minutes, set by Sonya Thomas in 2003.

7. Assumption Abbey in Missouri is the world’s only Trappist monastery that sells fruit cake on the internet (Trappistmonks.com).

8. A VAT tribunal in 1991 ruled that Jaffa Cakes are cakes not biscuits.

9. For tax purposes, the essential difference between cakes and biscuits is that cakes go hard when stale but biscuits go soft.

10. According to an old English superstition, putting a fruit cake under your pillow would make you dream about the person you will marry.

Make your own Kindness Jar

What you will need:

• pen/marker
• jar
• paper

This is such a simple activity that takes minimal supplies. All you need is those three things and your family members!

Instructions:

1. Gather your supplies and your family!
2. Take turns coming up with random acts of kindness that you would like to complete as a family, and write them down on your pieces of paper.
3. Put all of your papers in the jar, and decide on how often you are going to complete these acts of kindness. Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly?
4. Take turns drawing an act of kindness out of the jar and completing them as a family!

               Mental health awareness week 18th-24th May 2020

I-Spy Bottle

What you will need:

• A clean, dry, clear plastic bottle, with top (any size, but a 2 litre pop bottle is good, so you can get in lots of things)
• Uncooked rice (amount depends on size of bottle) 
• Assortment of small items/toys
• Pen and paper
• Super glue       
• Funnel*
• Sticky  tape

Filler ideas: 

Make a list 

Let's get chalking!

• Self Portrait: Trace around  decorate.
• Draughts
• Wet  Chalk: Splash some water on the concrete and then draw! 
• Long Jump
• Dots and Lines Game
• Fun Messages 
• Target Practice
• Hop scotch 
• Times tables/phonics hop scotch

 Avoid the Shark

With different colours of chalk, draw “beaches” various distances apart. Use blue chalk to draw water and shark fins between the beaches and have kids jump from beach to beach to avoid the “sharks” in the “water.”

Skills developed: Hopping

3. Chalk Bullseye

Use various colours of chalk and draw concentric circles with a bullseye in the middle. Within each circle, write point values if kids want to brush up on their maths skills or simply use markers to see who can throw an item closest to the bullseye. For markers, use chalk, stones or on hot summer days, wet sponges or water balloons.

Skills developed: Throwing

4. Chalk Maze

Have kids design their own web of squiggly lines, circles, and other lines with chalk to design a maze through which others can walk, run, cycle, or scooter. The bigger, more colourful, and more intricate the maze, the more fun kids will have working their way through.

Skills developed: Running

5. Alphabet Hop

Use chalk to make 26 squares or circles fairly close to one another and write the letters of the alphabet in each. For children  just learning their alphabet, call out letters to hop from one to another. For children who are able to spell, call out words to spell and have them hop using one or two feet from one letter to another. 

Lawrence View gallery. Our distant learners during the school closures. Week 3

Lawrence View gallery. Our distant learners during the school closures. Week 4

Lawrence View gallery. Our distant learners during the school closures. Week 5

Lawrence View gallery. Our distant learners during the school closures. Week 6

Lawrence View gallery. Our distant learners during the school closures. Week 8

                                   Week 5 day 5 08.05.20

Winston Churchill announced the end of the War in Europe with a speech broadcast from Downing St on 8 May 1945. He said "we may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing, but let us not forget for a moment the toils and efforts that lie ahead". King George VI also gave a speech, broadcast from bomb scarred Buckingham Palace, in which he thanked the nation. Both speakers reminded listeners that Japan was as yet undefeated.

Anticipation was high after radio programmes were interrupted the previous evening with the announcement that the 8th would be Victory in Europe Day and that Churchill would speak at 3pm. Churchill's speech was preceded by a fanfare, and afterwards the BBC switched to a planned sequence of celebratory programmes. National celebrations were well under way as Broadcasting House was floodlit for the first time since 1937, and bedecked with the flags of the Allies.

The BBC's Listener Research Department recorded the best ever programme satisfaction figures, but conceded that these were all but inevitable due to the nature of the events being covered. The BBC survived the war, and established its reputation internationally with the authority of its news programmes.

Cream tea

Ingredients:

For a basic scone recipe, you'll need:

350g of self-raising flour

a pinch of salt

85g of butter

3 tbsp of caster sugar

175ml of milk

1 beaten egg to glaze

Method:

Start by pre-heating the oven at around 200C (fan) and rubbing the flour and butter together in a large mixing bowl with your hands.

When the mixture becomes crumbly, add the caster sugar and gradually add the milk to the mixture.

Then, once it's a good consistency, roll the dough out and cut out even circles, before placing them onto a baking tray.

Bake for around 10 minutes and then your scones will need to be placed on a cooling rack (otherwise the cream and jam will melt and ooze out).

To serve, either do it the Cornish or the Devon way - but make sure you dollop plenty of clotted cream and strawberry jam on top.

Hedgehog Awareness Week 2020

Hedgehog Awareness Week runs from 3rd – 9th May 2020 and hedgehoggy events are being organised all around the country!

Hedgehog Awareness Week is organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and takes place every year.  It aims to highlight the problems hedgehogs face and how you can help them.

There are many simple things we can all do to help hedgehogs:

• Create a log pile that will offer shelter and food
• Build a Hedgehog Home (see plans at https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/hedgehog-homes/)
• Move piles of rubbish to a new site before burning it.
• Check areas carefully before mowing or strimming.
• Ensure netting is kept at a safe height.
• Check compost heaps before digging the fork in.
• Stop or reduce the amount of pesticides and poisons used.
• Cover drains or deep holes.
• Ensure there is an easy route out of ponds & pools.

Sadly there are fewer than 1 million hedgehogs left in the UK. They need homes just like humans, so making one for them is a great way to encourage them into your garden. 

You will need:

Hammer and nails 

2 metal hinges

Soil

Dry leaves

Straw or dry grass

Newspapers

Polythene sheeting

20mm untreated FSC plywood boards (birch is ideal!) cut to the sizes shown

A quiet, shady spot

Access to your garden for hedgehogs

How to build your hedgehog house: 

Step 1
Cut your timber to the dimensions shown. Assemble the tunnel and main chamber separately; attaching the feet and the hinge flap before putting the box together will make things a little easier. Don't be tempted to skip the tunnel – it means that predators won't be able to swipe their paws inside! The tunnel will be slightly shorter than the height of the opening so that it can be slotted in at an angle, making a ramp. You can also drill a hole that will fit a hosepipe into the back of the box to add some extra ventilation. 

Step 2
Pick a shady, quiet spot to put your assembled hedgehog house. Lift the lid off the house, and put the newspaper, leaves and dry grass inside.

Step 3
Cover with polythene sheeting (making sure it's still accessible for cleaning later on), and pack soil and dead leaves around the outside, leaving the entrance and air pipe free of debris.

Remember:

Clear out the hedgehog house once a year (late March – early April) to prevent the build-up of pests. Do not clean it out if a hedgehog is in residence though!

Making a log pile or compost heap are also good options for providing space for hedgehogs to nest, and have the added bonus of attracting lots of insects for them to eat! 

                                            Rainbow Kebabs

                                                   https://www.pinterest.co.uk/igiftfruit/fruit-kebab-ideas/

  Ingredients

• 7 raspberries
• 7 hulled strawberries
• 7 tangerines segments
• 7 cubes-peeled mangoes
• 7 peeled pineapples chunks
• 7 peeled kiwi fruit chunks
• 7 green grapes
• 7 red grapes
• 2 blueberries

Tip

Fruity maths

Keep younger kids' brains ticking over in the holidays by encouraging them to add up the fruit as they go along. They can also help with writing a shopping list for the fruit or paying for it at the till.

Method

1. Take 7 wooden skewers and thread the following fruit onto each – 1 raspberry, 1 hulled strawberry, 1 tangerine segment, 1 cube of peeled mango, 1 chunk of peeled pineapple, 1 chunk of peeled kiwi, 1 green and 1 red grape, and finish off with 2 blueberries. Arrange in a rainbow shape and let everyone help themselves.

                                          Cress Heads 

Plants need water, air and sunlight to grow. Did you know they can grow without soil? You can make your own cress head to prove this! Experiment using a homemade greenhouse to see if a greenhouse helps the cress to grow.

What you need:

• Cress seeds
• Two eggs or yoghurt pots
• Kitchen roll
• Cotton wool
• Felt tips or paint
• Clear plastic drinks bottle
• Scissors

How to:

1. If you're using eggs, boil the eggs until they're hard boiled. Take the tops off gently. You can eat the boiled eggs - try them with toast soldiers - yummy! Clean the inside of the eggs gently, so they don't break. If you're using yoghurt pots, clean the inside of the pots.
2. Draw a face on the egg shells or yoghurt pots using felt tips or paints.
3. When the paint has dried, wet some kitchen roll and put it in the bottom of the egg shells or yoghurt pots.
4. Wet some cotton wool and put it on top of the kitchen paper. Make sure there is a gap between the cotton wool and the top of the egg shells or yoghurt pots.
5. Put some cress seeds on the cotton wool and press them down gently.
6. Put your egg shells or pot in a sunny, warm spot - try a kitchen windowsill.
7. You can make a greenhouse to put over one of the egg shells or pots. Ask an adult to cut the top off a plastic drinks bottle. Put the bottom half of the drinks bottle over the top of one yoghurt pot or egg shell. The inside of your greenhouse will be warm and damp.

When the cress gets green leaves on top of the stalks, you can eat it! Cut the tops off the stalks and try them in a sandwich or a salad.

Which cress plants grew best? Did the greenhouse help the cress grow?

What’s going on? 99-year-old British war veteran, Captain Tom Moore has completed 100 laps of his 25m back garden in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire! He has raised over £28 million for Britain's National Health Service (NHS) and has received donations to his fundraising challenge from all around the world! Captain Tom began raising funds to thank NHS staff who helped him with treatment for cancer and a broken hip, he originally aimed to raise just £1000 but quickly passed his target! Question: How can one person make a big difference? Listen, think, share Look at the poster image, do we know who the person is in the poster? Explain that it is Captain Tom Moore, a 99-year-old war veteran from Bedfordshire who recently raised over £28 million for the NHS by completed 100 laps of his garden for his 100th birthday! Read through the information found in the resource, all about Captain Tom Moore’s incredible achievement. Talk about how sometimes it’s not the biggest actions that can have the biggest impact and that all of the things that we do affect the world around us! Captain Tom didn’t even leave his garden but managed to raise a lot of money and raise the spirits of the nation! Can we think of anything we can do at the moment to help others? Watch the useful video (found in the link below) which shows Captain Tom receiving a Pride of Britain Award. Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun who dedicated her life to helping others said, “If you cannot feed a hundred people, feed one.” Talk about what you think she meant by this? Do you agree? Reflection However small we think our actions are, we can all contribute to help make a positive difference to the world around us. At some point, to someone or something, our actions matter! Challenges! Challenge 1 – Write a letter or thank you card and send it to someone who has made a difference in your local community, this could be for a teacher, family member or neighbour. Challenge 2 – Draw a picture of Captain Tom Moore completing his challenge. Web Links Captain Tom Moore fundraising news story https://bbc.in/2Y0hMsC Useful Video – Tom Moore receiving a Pride of Britain Award https://bit.ly/3aAsW9X Send us your challenges! Email help@picture-news.co.uk Twitter @HelpPicture Facebook /PictureNewsPrimary

                              What is a time capsule?

A container that is filled with objects considered to be typical of the present period in history and then buried, so that it can be dug up and studied much later.

2020 will definitely be a year which has changed the world as we know it. This project is designed to be looked back at in years to come on how your child is feeling, what things they were doing, how they are staying connected with others and what fun things they are looking forward to doing when its over.

To download your 11 page free time capsule please click on the link below. 

V.E Day

Since 1945 the end of World War Two in Europe has been marked by Victory in Europe Day, better known as V.E Day. On 8th May 1945, Prime Minister Winston Churchill made an announcement on the radio at 3pm that the war in Europe had come to an end, following Germany's surrender the day before. This year, the 8th May 2020 will mark 75 years since the first V.E Day! Until the current Covid-19 crisis struck, there had been plans to stage celebratory events and street parties in many places. Sadly, this has all had to be cancelled but many have chosen to celebrate virtually! Holding video parties, decorating our homes or baking to celebrate whilst we are all in lock down! Question: What is V.E Day? Listen, think, share Look at the poster image, have we heard of V.E Day before? Read through the text above and explain that this year is extra special as it’s the 75th Anniversary of V.E Day! Watch the useful video below, what one word would you use to describe the emotions of the people who finally heard the announcement about the end of the war with Germany?

1.Read through the poem from the resource written about V.E Day by Jack Woods. Can you imagine how it felt hearing such positive news about the end of the war with Germany?

2. Explain that following the announcement, huge crowds, with people dressed in red, white and blue gathered outside Buckingham Palace in London. They cheered as King George VI and his family, including Princess Elizabeth (the current queen) and Princess Margaret, came out onto the balcony to greet everybody. Princess Elizabeth and her sister were allowed to leave the palace and celebrate with crowds outside, although they had to do it secretly! The future Queen described it as "one of the most memorable nights of my life".

As 2020 marks the 75th Anniversary of V.E Day with most of us inside our homes in lock down, many are finding creative ways to celebrate online! With virtual street parties, decorating homes, dressing up and baking! Will you be celebrating? If so, how?

Reflection V.E Day was a very special day in our history, the end of the war with Germany bringing with it, huge joy and celebration but also a chance for reflection. This year marks the 75th Anniversary – a time for us to look back and think about an important time in our history. Challenges! Challenge 1 –Write a poem imagining you are an evacuee and V.E Day has just been announced! Can you perform it in front of your family?

Challenge 2 –Create an image or model of a soldier to place in your window for V.E Day.

Web Links Ideas and activities to celebrate V.E Day at home

https://ve-vjday75.gov.uk/toolkit/ Useful Video –

What is V.E Day and how can we celebrate this year? https://bit.ly/2Ws7NtU S

Traditional Pebble Games

Over the weekend this fantastic pebble game was made by Imogen (Y6). This gave me an idea! I have shared with you some other games that you could make and play with pebbles. I would love to see photos of your creations. Mrs.Lord

Some ideas to try:

THEY LAST FOREVER
   

To help children who might be feeling lonely and missing their friends due to the Coronavirus lockdown,  why not encourage your children to send postcards and write messages to family and friends.

As well as letting friends and family know they’re thinking about them, this initiative will also encourage children to take a break from screens and bring back the fun of writing letters.

Unlike a text, a letter lives on forever. Facetime, Zoom calls, WhatsApp and social media platforms are all brilliant for communicating (I'm not sure what we'd do without them), but writing  letters/postcards  lasts forever, Long after they have been sent, they will continue to be preserved, reread and cherished. 

Magic Wax Crayon Painting

What you need:                   

• Paper or canvas
• Coloured pencils or paint
• Wax crayons
• Paintbrush

Activity

This activity is quite removed from the sorts of artworks with which your child will be familiar as it calls for the complete use of all the paper without leaving any white space.

The first step in creating this unique picture is to completely colour the piece of paper using bright coloured pencils or paint.

If using paint, wait until it is completely dry before doing the next step.

Colour the entire picture with black wax crayon, making sure you cover the colour underneath with black crayon.

Using the end of the paintbrush or fork ( anything with a point) scratch a design through the black crayon so that the colour underneath shows. 

Magic candle painting

What you need:                        

•                        
•  plain white candle
•  watercolour paint
•  paintbrush
•  jar of water
• White paper

Activity

Step 1. Gather your supplies so they are all within reach.

Step 2. Draw a picture, write a letter or just doodle some patterns with the bottom of a white candle.or a white crayon.

Step 3. Dip your paintbrush into the water and swirl around in the paint of your choice until it’s relatively thick with the paint. You don’t want it too watery or the image won’t show up. Paint over the paper and the wax will resist the water, leaving the image amongst the paint. Just like magic!

Simple Bubble Mixture

Makes 350ml
Prep 5 minutes

• 50ml washing-up liquid (one part)
• 300ml water (six parts)

1. Measure the washing-up liquid into a container.

2. Slowly add in the water, being careful not to create too many bubbles at this stage. Gently stir the mixture together to combine – a chopstick is perfect for this.

3. If you can, let the bubble mixture rest before using it, as it will make your bubbles even better.

4. When you’re ready, dip your bubble wand into the mixture and start blowing bubbles!

Assorted bubble recipes

All of these bubble recipes make great bubbles for children.    

Hints for making bubble solutions

Giant Bubbles

• Mix up the recipes the day before for best results.
• Glycerin.  The children think that the bubbles are so much better that it is worth keeping a small bottle on hand.
• Do NOT use the Sweet Bubbles recipe if you have bees or wasps in your yard.
• Try using sugar or honey if you don't have golden syrup in the house.
• Colour Bubbles can be a bit messy.  Be sure to use paint that can wash out.  You can add a little water if the mix is too thick. Remember food colouring will stain!

Salt Dough

Making salt dough is a really fun and easy activity for children and adults.. Children will love using their imaginations to create all sorts of exciting objects (although simple shapes do seem to work best) and hours of fun painting their creations, but do take care to remind little ones that the salt dough is not edible.

                              
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 3 hours

• 1 cupful of plain flour (about 250g)

• half a cupful of table salt (about 125g)
• half a cupful of water (about 125ml)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to its lowest setting and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

2. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the water and stir until it comes together into a ball.

3. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and shape into your chosen model. You can roll it out and cut out shapes, numbers or letters using biscuit cutters, or make any kind of model you can think of.

4. Put your finished items on the lined baking sheet and bake for 3 hrs or until solid.

5. Leave to cool and then paint.

Jelly Soap Foam 

To make your own Jelly Soap Foam is super easy and quick and  it smells so delicious and is a great sensory play activity.

You will only need 2 ingredients :

2 tbs Jelly Crystals 

2 tbs Dish Soap

1/2 cup warm water

1. Add 1/2 cup of warm water to a cup   

2. Add 2 tbs of Jelly Crystals and mix until dissolved 

3. Add the 2 tbs of Dish soap and mix

4. Pour these contents into a Food processor (you can also use beaters or if you’re super fit – an egg whisk). Mix until the bubbles fill to the top (approximately one minute).

5. Pour your contents into a large tub and  let the children  play (Use 5 separate colours for the cool rainbow effect)

If you wish you can pour each colour into an empty bottle for example a washing up liquid bottle, you can then use it to write and draw with.

Make a Mini Wormery. 

Equipment needed

• 2 litre clear, plastic bottles 
• Safety scissors
• Compost or soil or a mixture of both       
• Sharp sand
• A few worms per bottle
• Water sprayer to dampen layers
• Worm food – grated carrot, vegetable peelings, dead leaves, shredded newspaper

Step by step

1. Collect some worms from the garden. Look in the compost heap, under stones in damp places or dig a hole.
2. Cut the top ¼ off the bottle, to make a lid. Make a slit in the side of the lid so that the top can close over the bottom part.
3. Fill the bottle with alternating layers of sand, soil, sand, compost, sand etc. Spray each layer with water so that it is damp.
4. Add a few worms to the top of the bottle and watch them burrow down. Then add the ‘food’ to the top. Wash hands well after handling worms and compost.
5. Wrap the black cardboard around the bottle to make it dark. Worms do not like light and it will encourage them to burrow around the outside of the bottle so they can be observed.
6. Place the wormery in a warm place. Remove the cardboard for observation periods and record findings. Check that the contents are damp and that there is food available for the worms.
7. After 1 week, release the worms back into the garden.

Worm fact sheet

Earthworms are the world's unsung heroes. They loosen and mix up the soil, break down and recycle decaying plant matter and fertilise the soil by bringing nutrients closer to the surface.

Did you know?

• There are 26 different species (types) of worms in the UK.
• Earthworms breathe through their skin, so they have to come to the surface when it rains or risk drowning.
• Worms can move an amazing amount of soil for their small size. A worm can eat its own weight in soil in one day.
• Earth worms burrow through the soil creating channels that add oxygen to the soil and allow carbon dioxide to escape. The channels also allow rain to drain away.
• Worms eat soil and organic matter such as fallen leaves, mixing these ingredients together and then ‘poo’ them out. Some composting systems collect this ‘worm poo’ to make a rich fertile compost which can be added to potting mixes.
• Worm casts which are seen on the surface of lawns are made by 5 types of worms, called casting worms. Mostly found from autumn to spring, these casts are by-products of eating (i.e. worm poo!).
• If you accidentally cut a worm in two, only the head end will regenerate and survive assuming the damage isn’t too extreme.
• Earthworms range in length from a tiny one millimetre to a massive three metres.
• Worms do not have eyes and prefer the dark. They can sense light and dark and prefer dark conditions because they are easily damaged by UV rays and will dry out quickly
• Famously hermaphroditic, earthworms are both male and female in one body, though it still takes two worms to reproduce.

Mr. Grass Heads

Make and watch them grow!

You will need:

• Old tights/ stockings
• Some compost, wood shavings or earth
• Grass seeds
• Rubber band or thread
• for decorating – googly eyes, felt
• A pot for your grass head to sit in!

1. Put 2-3 generous table spoons full of grass seeds at the bottom of your tights.

2.Then add a lot of earth or wooden shavings until you have a nice sized ball. Tie the bottom of the tights. Shape into a ball if necessary.

3.Pinch a “nose”, twist it and wrap and tie in place with cotton. 

4.Glue on googly eyes and facial features  with PVA.

5.Place in a yoghurt pot or similar – we had a painted flower pot (with no holes). Add water and the tights will “soak the water up” into the earth. If you want to speed it up, you can give the head  a quick shower under the tap to moisten the earth the first time round. After that take care not make it too wet. Place in a sunny spot!

Are you going on a bear hunt?

Families are putting soft toys in their windows for you to spot whilst you are out walking each day. See how many you can spot each day!

I would love to see photos of your own soft toy in your window, send them to your teacher via Dojo - Mrs Lord.

Fill tubes with various items such as: buttons, rice, pasta, cotton, wool, stones, leaves, beads, coins or any small items that you can find indoors or in the garden.

Ask your family to try and guess which  items are making each sound. 

Junk modelling games.

Recycle your used: boxes, bottles, tubes, yoghurt pots, drinks cartons and any other junk that you can find around the house. I have added a few ideas for you to adapt.

Instructions for Recycling Crayons

Follow these simple steps to turn your old, broken and seemingly unusable crayons into new ones.

1. Gather up all of your broken crayons; unwrap them, and cut them into small pieces. (An adult will need to do the cutting.)
2. Preheat your oven to 250 F.
3. Fill the cups of your muffin tin with a 1-inch-thick layer of crayon pieces. Do one colour in each cup, or mix all the colours together to create rainbow crayons.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the wax has melted. Stay close by to keep an eye on things. If you detect any smoke, grab the oven mitts and take the muffin tins out of the oven.

Allow the crayons to cool and harden sufficiently, then pop them out and they're ready to use.

How to melt crayons in the microwave 

● For this method to melt crayons, you need to use a microwaveable container, that the crayons will not stick to. Baby food jars, microwave-friendly trays or even paper cake cases will do.
● Place the crayon stubs and pieces in the container.
● Set the temperature of the microwave to “high” or “warm” and heat the container for 4-6 minutes.( keep checking the crayons during  this time)

● The crayons should melt into wax. Use an oven mitt to handle the container and pour the melted wax into candy moulds or a muffin tray.
● To cool and set the wax, freeze the mould for 20 minutes. Then remove and pop crayons out.

Craft Ideas with Melted Crayon Wax

Melted crayon wax is a very flexible and innovative material to make different objects. You’d be surprised at the amount of crafting ideas and activities this waxy ingredient can be used in. Below are a few ideas:

To make the melted crayons decorative, experiment by using different coloured crayons in different arrangements. Gold and metallic colours are unique colours to use. Or use radical colour combinations, such as pink and brown crayons melted together. You can sprinkle fine glitter over the crayons, before they melt, for glittery crayons.

Cornflour Finger Paint

Cornflour paint

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cornflour
• 3 cup water
• food colouring 

Method:

• pour two cups of the water into the saucepan and bring the water to a boil.
•  place the cornstarch into a mixing bowl. stir in the remaining cup of water. mix until the cornflour has completely dissolved in the water.
• stir the mixture of cornstarch and water into the boiling water. keep stirring the cornflour and water constantly, and let it come to a boil once more. let it boil for about one minute, until it is thick.
• pour mixture into separate containers. add your choice of food colouring to each container.
• get creative, if you like, embellish the paint by stirring in glitter. you can also stir glycerin into the paint to make it shiny.

Bubble Bath Playdough Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups water
• 1-2 cups Johnson’s and Johnson's No More Tear Moisture Wash( or any other brand of baby wash)
• Non-stick oil spray
• 4-6 cups of flour
• Gel Food Dye

Instructions

1. Pour water into a large bowl and bring to a boil in the microwave.

2. Remove from microwave and add in Johnson’s & Johnson's No More Tear Moisture Wash.

3. Portion out into separate bowls and add colors. If you are only adding in one color you do not need to create separate bowls.

4. Add in one cup of flour into each bowl of 1 cup of water/soap and stir. Slowly add in up to one cup more.

5. At about two cups of flour per one cup of water/soap mixture your playdough will still be sticky but this is ok. Remove it from the bowl and place it on a flat surface where you will have room to knead. Coat your play dough in non-stick oil spray, kneading it in and adding more, until it no longer sticks to your hands.

6. Play!

Grow your own fresh vegetables.

What you will need:

• A plot of good soil
• Garden tools
• Compost, manure or soil
• Watering can
• Seeds of salad crops, such as: lettuce, spring onion, rocket, nasturtium, pot marigold, cherry tomato,  cucumber and peppers.

Step-by-step guide

•  Help your children to dig over the soil and mix in some compost or manure.
• They will need to plant the seeds following the guidance on the seed packets. They don't have to grow the crops in rows - they can plant in patches, spirals or even in pots and window-boxes if they wish. Just ensure the children leave enough space to be able to get to the plants for watering, weeding, slug removing and picking!
• When they have planted the seeds, they need to water them gently. Ask your children to water them every evening if it's at all dry - seeds must be kept moist to germinate.
• When they start to grow, your children should ensure the slugs don't come and eat everything. They could try making a slug trap with some beer in a jar - make sure you dig a hole to place the jar in so that it sits at soil level.
•  Remind your children to keep pulling out the weeds, but not to disturb the lovely salad crops. And they could give the pea plants some twigs to climb up.
• Now they must wait until the salad crops look ready to eat - they'll have to be patient! The raw peas can go in salad - the children just need to take them out of their pods.

The nasturtiums and pot marigolds are there for two reasons: they encourage predators (pest-eaters) to come into your garden, and you can eat them too! The marigold petals and the leaves and flowers of the nasturtium will brighten up any salad.

• Try growing some tomato plants with your child. March is a good time to do this. Start by filling a small flowerpot with fresh potting compost.
•  Press the soil until it's firmly packed and then evenly sprinkle a few tomato seeds on the surface of the soil.
• Cover the seeds by putting a little compost into another pot and shaking it gently over the new seeds, like a pepper pot.
• Cover the pot with cling film or a plastic bag and secure it with an elastic band and place it in a warm, light place until the seeds begin to sprout.
• When the seedlings appear they will need to transfer them to their own pots. And around June time, when the weather is a bit warmer, they can plant them outside in larger pots or in the garden.
• Ensure they keep the plants well-watered and give them a special treat of plant food once a week.Get your child to wash their hands after gardening, and the produce before they eat it.

Create a miniature garden

Whilst the sun is shining why not  have a go at designing a miniature garden. 

Pictures of your creations  can be posted via Dojo to your class teacher, I will then upload them onto this page. Mrs Lord.

I have posted  some ideas below.

Go on a garden treasure hunt

Encourage children to look carefully by asking them to find some unusual things in your garden. It will improve their language development, basic maths skills and social skills. But best of all, it will teach them to enjoy being outdoors.

Give them a list of things to look for:

 Here are a few ideas:

• Numbers - find leaves with 1/2/3/4/5/6/7 points
• Colours - find an example of all the colours in the rainbow, or try to match the colours on their clothing
• Shapes - find an example of a: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, diamond, star, spiral...
• Vocabulary - find something: hard, soft, wet, dry, cold, hot, big, small, tall, short, beautiful, ugly, thick, thin, fragrant, smelly, prickly, smooth...
• Alphabet - find something beginning with each letter of the alphabet

Your children could have fun with all their family finding all the things, or split them into two teams and see which team can find everything first.