Month: May 2013

Half Term Ideas

jdace

Have fun this half term while getting hands and fingers nimble and ready for writing!

Playdough is a great thing for getting hands and fingers working…

Best Easy Playdough Recipe:

1 cup plain flour

½ cup salt

1 tablespoon cream of tartar or bicarbonate of soda

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or baby oil

1 cup boiling water *

(Optional) glitter/food colouring/scents e.g. peppermint, anything you like!

– Stir all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix until a ball of dough is formed, then knead for about 5 minutes – the longer you knead, the better it gets!

* You can also use cold or warm water so the children can help with the mixing and kneading (though boiling water makes better, longer-lasting dough).

Playdough activities:

  • Make some ‘dinner’ – Roll peas with thumb and fingers, and ‘sausages’ between the palms
  • Use all kinds of tools for mark-making – cutters, rolling pins, plastic cutlery, old pens/pencils, toy cars
  • Make some monsters using craft sticks and goggly eyes

Cover the base of a shallow tray with

  • Shaving foam
  • Dry oats/rice/couscous
  • Sand or salt
  • Cornflour and water ‘gloop’

Draw, make patterns, write letters or numbers while exploring the different textures.

 

Other activities to keep hands busy:

  • Treasure hunt with large tweezers, pasta tongs or clothes pegs. Bury small objects, beads, minibeasts etc. in a sand tray and sort into dishes
  • Try picking up small foods e.g. cheerios, mini marshmallows, raisins with tweezers (then eating them!)
  • Construction toys with nuts and bolts, toy screwdrivers
  • Lacing and threading – beads, cheerios, macaroni etc.
  • Make pictures or spider webs by threading hole-punched card or paper plates
  • Pipette paintings – watery paint/food colouring in pots, drop onto paper or coffee filters
  • Wind up toys and spinning tops
  • Big chalk on paved area/big paper taped to floor
  • Paint, pen or chalk on an easel, blackboard or other vertical surface
  • Give children clothes pegs to display their own work on a washing line

Scissor skills

  • Making fringe along edge of paper
  • Cutting along pre-drawn lines (straight, wavy, zigzag, shapes and pictures) – use to make collages
  • Make paper lanterns to decorate the house by cutting parallel lines on folded paper
  • Try cutting through playdough…

 

If you have any more fun activities, let us know in the blog comments.

Enjoy!