Suggested Activities 11th-15th May

Shape and Space: 

• Take a shape hunt through your home! Make a short list of 2-D shapes for her to refer to. 
• Use spaghetti and marshmallows or jelly babies to ask your child to construct angular shapes. You can use a guide done on paper to help her begin. 
• If she completes her 2-D shapes, show her and ask her to make a 3-D structure using the spaghetti and sweets and free play with it! 

• Choose, or ask your child to choose, a picture book and read the book from start to finish with your child. Repeat reading the book everyday for at least a week to familiarise the child with the story. 
• For visual storytime, Youtube contains the children’s favourite stories such as Owl Babies and Bear Hunt. All stories covered are in the children’s reports in their journals. Give your child the choice to choose two of these stories each day. 
• With phonics, ask your child to verbally express and/or identify the sounds of the letters S,A,T,P,I, N, C, K. This is an important stage and only when the child correctly identifies the phonics three times consecutively should she move onto the next stage. 
• Ask your child to identify by pointing the words at, sat, pat, tap, pit, sit, sip, tan, sin, pin, in, it, is, as, can, kit, an. 
• Ask your child to sound out the words specified above and encourage them to say the word after sounding it out. 
• Give your child all the letter cards. Give her a word card at a time and ask her to construct it. The child should see the word as she is spelling it. 
• If your child is successfully spelling the words using letter cards, ask her to write over traced out versions of the words. 
• Verbally prompt your child to spell the word using the letter cards. 
• When working on the words with your child, begin with ‘at’ and continue if she is confident in progressing. If your child disengages with the task, it should be cut short and revisited the following day. 
• You can also feel free to use the resources posted by the junior infant teachers though not all of them will be suitable. Short home-made tasks and interaction during lessons will be more beneficial. 
• Choose a simple and short book. Ask your child to identify one word per page. The words to be identified are at, sat, pat, tap, pit, sit, sip, tan, sin, pin, in, it, is, as, can, an, kit. This will give her a great sense of confidence when reading! 

Links for stories: 

Owl Babies – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPQRiSTYFHo 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75NQK-Sm1YY 

We’re Going on a Bearhunt –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waoa3iG3bZ4 

Room on the Broom –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWB0goTWZic 

The Gruffalo – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8sUPpPc8Ws 

• Allow your child to choose the order of the 6 songs they regularly engage with every day. All songs are available on Youtube. The songs are noted in the weekly reports in their journals. 
• Encourage your child to perform the actions for the songs. 

Links for music videos: 

Itsy Bitsy Spider –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_lCi8U49mY&t=10s 

Old Mac Donald –   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6HzoUcx3eo 

Bingo –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IvC6fZYGMM 

Baby Shark –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX20kcp7j5c 

If You’re Happy and You Know It –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71hqRT9U0wg 

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuqvGiZi0qg 

Skidamarink a Dink a Dink – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6916kVhbEZw 

• This week, if possible, make a simple stencil cut out of paper like a heart or a star and ask her to colour in the stencil and lift it away to reveal the result. 

• Every morning, the children are used to at least 20 minutes of freeplay in order for them to settle in for the day ahead. Free play could consist of pretend play with dolls, a tea set, lego, blocks etc. Any activity that engages the child and focuses her attention. 

• Sensory time should be allotted at least twice a day if possible because all the children in Seóda benefit from it. The lights can be dimmed or switched off and the curtains or blinds can be drawn. Relaxing music can be sourced on Youtube or Spotify and played at a low volume. Sensory timers are also available online and have soothing visuals for the children. Gather any toys that are squishy, items that are scented, fans, torches or furry/fluffy items and place them in a box for your child to explore during her sensory time. If she prefers to relax rather than play with given items, that’s fine too. 

Links for sensory time –  

Sensory Timer –  https://www.online-stopwatch.com/sensory-timers/ 

Music Playlist –  https://open.spotify.com/album/0vsh4YCOspZwtU8cI58Wx8?highlight=spotify:track:5IB9GOShcNCZ8fhfoj3NXF or  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RvXsdtPv_4 

• Yoga is part of the daily routine in the classroom. Although the video below is not what is used in class, your child is familiar with the majority of the poses in it. 

Link for yoga video – 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XCQfYsFa3Q 

• The children should participate in two tactile activities daily. Activities can be playdoh, puzzle, blocks, lego, sand, water or rice. Bath toys can be used in conjunction with all of these activities or items can be hidden for the children to discover to maintain engagement. 

• The children should receive two movement breaks a day. Their movement breaks can take place in a garden, a quick walk down the road and back carrying a backpack with a book or two in it for proprioceptive needs. If the outdoors in not possible, rolling or tumbling on the carpet or following a movement video can be fun and beneficial to your child. GoNoodle is a great resource to get your child active. After each movement break your child should receive sensory time in order for her to find a good level for focusing on her next activity. 

Link for GoNoodle –  

https://www.gonoodle.com/ 

A possible routine for your child could consist of: 

1. Freeplay. 
2. Sensory time. 
3. Task. 
4. Tactile activity. 
5. Art. 
6. Movement break. 
7. Sensory time/yoga. 
8. Task. 
9. Music. 
10. Movement break. 
11. Visual storytime. 

This is merely a suggestion but it is in keeping with the general routine of our schoolday in Seóda. 

Send us in your photos of your activities at home, we’d love to see how you’re getting on! 

Videos will be posted next week for Seóda, but feel free to use the junior infant videos especially about the Hungry Caterpillar, as we covered that book this year!