Start your engines future pilots! Help your children fold (and decorate!) some paper aeroplanes. Paper aeroplanes have been a huge children’s favourite for the last few months at Pippins. Check out Fold ‘N Fly for some easy paper aeroplane design instructions and step-by-step videos.
Then, find a large sheet of paper, a sheet of newspaper, or tape several sheets of A4 paper together. Cut holes of various sizes in the paper, and label each hole with a points-value if you want to keep score. Hang the paper up in a doorway, just like in the below photo from Sewing Mama Raeanna.
Now let the games begin. Your children can take turns trying to throw their aeroplanes through the holes, and seeing who can wrack up more points.
Is tidy up time proving to be a challenge? GoNoodle has some great strategies to help. Play the upbeat Clean Up! song to get your kids up and dancing along to the movements.
Then, turn tidying into a challenge. Call out a colour or a shape and have your kids tidy only the objects that fit that description. Keep going until the whole room is clean!
Otherwise, try playing Freeze Clean. Just as with freeze dance – play some upbeat music while your children tidy. Every time you pause the music, your children must freeze in place.
Help your child recognise letter sounds with the Mystery Letter Bag game from PBS. All you need is a bag and 3 objects that all start with the same letter. Click on the link for full instructions and ideas on how to support your child in this activity.
Cut some colourful paper into large shapes and place them around your house. Then ask your child to find them. For example, you could say, ‘Find 2 circles in the kitchen.’
As your child becomes more comfortable recognising the various shapes, try asking them to look around the room and find a household object for each shape. In this version of the game, two circles in the kitchen could be a clock and a pot, for example.
Visit PBS for full game instructions and ideas on how to support your child’s learning with this activity.
Download and print the Shape Matching Game pieces from Primary Playground, then take turns with your child to match the pictures of real-life objects to their shape. Add more complex shapes as your child’s confidence grows.
Children of any age love a scavenger hunt! This one from Primary Playground is a great way for little ones to practice colours, can be done anywhere, and requires no prep work.
We know tissues are quite hard to come by in supermarkets at the moment, but if you can spare a single tissue, try this Tissue Dance game to get the kids up and moving.
