Home Learning Ideas
We believe that learning extends beyond the classroom, and are committed to supporting a lifelong love for learning using traditional and contemporary methodologies that meet the needs of our pupils.
Here you will find a collection of home learning ideas tailored specifically to complement the topics our pupils will be exploring this term.
We have been working towards the next stage of our LEAF/ECO award this year and part of that is learning about the importance of clean water for different eco systems. Within the learning for Sustainability goals within education, we look at the impact of water pollution. Our topic, this term, brings these two naturally into the context of Seaside Explorers.
Protect our Oceans
Story Massage
Communicating a story, through touch, can be a valuable and accessible way for your child or young person to engage with a story in a valuable way. This can be done when they are lying down in their peapod or sitting in front of you whilst on a wedge. It’s a good way to get a sibling involved as well. ‘Protect Our Oceans’ is a good way to introduce your child or young person to how to protect our oceans and seas.
Water Pollution: Ocean Clean Up Sensory Basin
For those with upper limb reach, fill a basin or tub with water. If your child or young person has a standing frame at home with a bowl insert in their tray, you could use that instead. I always find it useful to add some drops of blue food colouring to the water as this helps visual focus. Add in some safe bits and pieces from your recycling pile (tins would not be advisable). They can reach into the water and lift the pollutants out of the water until all that is left is clean, water. Use PODD to highlight the difference between clean water and dirty water.
For those children and young people with limited upper and/or lower limb movement, the above activity can be adapted to support their learning too. As before, fill a basin or the standing frame bowl with water and use food colouring to dye it blue to aid visual focus. Discuss what you are going to put into the water (ideas could be a toy boat, some under the sea creatures if you have them in the house and/or seashells) using your child’s communication device. Emphasise that the water is clean. Slowly begin to add in some coffee grounds/cocoa powder, washing up liquid, cotton wool and cooking oil (your child or young person could explore each ‘pollutant’ before it goes in the water). Talk about what has happened to the water and to the objects that you placed into the water at the very start. Use PODD to highlight the difference between clean water and dirty water.
Again, both activities could be done with siblings too.
Treasure Hunt
This sensory activity provides the opportunity to have fun and explore different textures through play.
There are lots of ways to make your own sand (blending cereal) or you could use rice or other dried foods. You want these to be small so that it is easy to find the treasure/ shells and pebbles. For those with reduced limb mobility we would suggest a smaller tray that can be explored and textures highlighted through communication.
This activity can be adapted to all abilities and the focus is to explore the different textures; fine sand running through fingers or toes, smooth pebbles, rough shells. Everyone should have these descriptors in their PODD books. You will know what works best for your child to access sensory exploration but we would suggest supported positions such as stander or wheel chairs.
Preparation:
Step 1: Create your sensory bin tray/bowl.
Step 2: Hide gems/coins shells/pebbles (or even favourite toys) in the sand.
Step 3: If you want you can provide tongs or a sieve to sort through the sand, this might be nice for a sibling to get involved as it can be nice to feel the sand falling gently though a sieve. Try to retrieve the treasure & place in a separate bowl/treasure box. For an increased challenge, you could see if they can find a certain item.
Story Time
Follow the link below to listen to the story all about Brilliant Boats!
It’s a lovely rhyming story which has a nice rhythm to it! Use your child’s communication device to comment on the story and pause the video after each page to give your child time to comment too.
STEM: Float or Sink
This is a fun game you could play at home. You could collect a range of items around the house and put them into a basin of water to see if they float or sink.
Maybe your adult helper could hold up each item and you could say whether you think it will float or sink?Perhaps you could say yes or no each time and record your guesses to see if you were right! You can use any items you like, but if you need some ideas, you could use the worksheet below to help. It is also a good place for an adult to record your guesses!
Enjoy!
Oceans are vital to the survival of the planet and it is important that we try to keep them clean and healthy.
Be inspired by the magnificence of the oceans and create your own ocean in a bottle. Imagine you are relaxing at the seaside as you create your own waves at home.
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Fill your bottle, to just above half way, with your water.
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Add drops of blue food dye to your water. We added four, but you maybe want more or less depending how dark a colour you want and size of bottle.
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Hold your bottle of water at an angle. Once the water has stilled, carefully pour in the baby oil. Keep adding the baby oil until your bottle is full.
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Secure your lid and leave your bottle to stand for a few hours. You can use strong glues or adhesives to secure the lid but make sure an adult helps with this. If you don't have these you can still make the craft but be careful not to spill your ocean!
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Carefully tilt your bottle at different angles.
This is a creative activity that can be done in many ways. We would recommend your child or young person being seated in their supported seating chair for this though.
There are many ways to adapt this activity.
Here is an idea:
Paint a messy background first (use hands or feet), leave to dry and then add pieces of pre-selected recycling material to it. Explore these before you start to choose what to stick down. Your child or young person could choose what and where to stick on by indicating with gesture or eye gaze. Perhaps their sibling can help with writing the message that has been chosen through their PODD Book.
A sentence starter could be; Plastics are…
A Noisy Ocean
There is another kind of pollution that can disrupt sea creatures’ abilities to communicate and navigate. Whales can be driven ashore, ‘beached’ by noise from ships, sonar and jet skis.
Julia Donaldson has written a book. “The Snail and the Whale” that gently and clearly describes how this happens. Please click on the link below to watch or listen to it.
Paper Boats
Follow the instructions below to make your own boat, then decorate it in any way you like. Perhaps you could use pens or crayons, maybe some paints and glitter, or with some stickers! Use your high tec or low tec communication device to make choices about how you want to decorate your boat and get an adult to help you!
If you have siblings you could all make one then have a race or take them to a local pond or river (but make sure to fish it out after). You could see if your boats float or sink or even add some small passengers!
Spending time as a family and sharing experiences together is important for our wellbeing. A great way to do this is to get comfy and watch or listen to a movie together. You can build on this experience by chatting with family and friends using your PODD books about what you think about the books.
There are lots of films set in and around the ocean but some of our favourites are.... be sure to decreibe all the wonderful sights within the oceans.
We would love to see photographs of anything that you do so please email them into their class teacher.
If you make a poster, please send it in. Anything we get (photos, posters) will be added to the Seaside Explorers Displays throughout the Centre.
Thanks,
Shona, Eilidh and Eleanor