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Under the Mask - Inside Feelings

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Online manipulatives bring all of the learning and fun without the mess. Our math virtual manipulatives help students grasp abstract concepts through modeling. Literacy virtual manipulatives create a fun space for practicing spelling, rhyming, and more!

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Virtual Manipulatives | Mathematical Modelling | Toy Theater

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Original teaching tools aimed at supporting teachers in the elementary school classroom. Two color counters, 3D dice, probability spinners, graph builders, fraction bars, base ten blocks, and more!

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Jolly Phonics - How to approach tricky words

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Jolly Phonics - How to approach tricky words

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(Words that you cannot sound out for example 'was')

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The video below goes through all of these sounds, in British English, or you can view the American English version of this video by clicking here. Alternatively, you can listen to any of the letter sounds by clicking on the icons below the video.
Click the icons below to hear each letter sound in British English. Alternatively, you can download all 42 letter sounds by clicking here. Click the icons below to hear each letter sound in American English . Alternatively, you can download all 42 letter sounds by clicking here.

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Hear all the letter sounds. Listen or download all the 42 letter sounds. Available in British or American English.

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Using concrete materials to support understanding in Maths

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Using concrete materials to support understanding in Maths

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Short videos and helpful advice

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Concrete Resources Explained: How Use Them With Children To Develop Their Mastery Of Maths

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What are concrete resources and how can you use them to help your primary school child improve their maths skills and knowledge.

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Mindfulness is word that seems to be everywhere now - from calm-boosting apps to anti-stress colouring books, the cult of slowing down and appreciating the 'now' has never been more popular.

But while most of us know by now how beneficial embracing relaxation techniques can be for adults, what about children?

Researchers have found that mindfulness can have positive effects for youngsters too. One 2015 study found that school children aged 10 and 11 who participated in a short meditation program showed improvements in cognitive control, working memory and cognitive flexibility, as well as achieving better academic results.

Mindfulness can benefit children as well as adults (Thinkstock/PA)

Research published in the Mindfulness journal also found improvements in mathematics grades in children with ADHD, while a study of primary school children in Korea found that just eight weeks of mindfulness lowered levels of aggression, social anxiety and stress.

It's not surprising, then, that a number of schools across the UK have already started adding the practice to the curriculum.

So what exactly is mindfulness? In a nutshell, according to the experts, it's a type of meditation where you shift your awareness to focus on what you're sensing and feeling in that present moment. Practising mindfulness can involve breathing methods, guided imagery, and other techniques to help relax the body and mind and help reduce stress responses. It's not about 'switching off' your mind, but bringing your awareness into the present.

"I've been a teacher for 20 years and have witnessed first-hand increasing stress levels among children," says Uz Afzal, a UK primary school teacher who has written a new book on the topic, called Mindfulness For Children.
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Afzal believes that the growth of smart phones, tablets, gaming and social media, there's additional pressure on children that didn't exist 10 years ago. "Living in a fast-paced 'swiping' culture means children can find it hard to stop and be still," she says. "They can find it hard to 'just be' and to connect with things that are slower.

"The anxiety that children feel before exams can prevent them from performing well too," adds Afzal, who has witnessed how building a regular mindfulness practice can help to keep exam jitters under control. "Practising mindfulness before a test can help children to calm down, to focus and to access their higher order thinking skills and their learning memories."

Here, she outlines three simple exercises that parents can use to help children have a sense of agency over their lives, thoughts and feelings...
1. Balloon breathing

Breathing techniques can have significant immediate effects (Thinkstock/PA)

"This is a really helpful practice that your child can use at any time of the day to calm down and to focus," says Afzal.

To start, ask your child to place their hands on their abdomen. "Tell them to imagine that they have a small balloon in their belly and that each time they breathe in, the balloon blows up, and each time they breathe out, the balloon deflates."

Afzal says your child should feel their belly rising and falling as the balloon blows up and deflates. "As they breathe in, they can say to themselves in their head, 'Blow up balloon', and as they breathe out, they can say, 'Let all the air out'. "Perhaps they can picture the balloon blowing up and deflating with each in and out breath."
2. Eat like a scientist

(Thinkstock/PA)

You should continue this for about 30 seconds to three minutes, depending on the age and attention span of your child.

When it comes to mealtimes, it can often be a race for both parents and kids to eat as fast as possible, to the point that we often barely register the process. This exercise, Afzal says, is great for instilling a sense of appreciation in your child, and it may help them to make healthy choices too.

"Choose a piece of food to share with your child," she instructs, noting that fruit or dried fruit works well. "Now we're going to pretend to be scientists. Take a moment to investigate what your food looks like. What colour is it? What shape is it? What else can you notice about the way your food looks?

"Next, let's use our imaginary microscope. Looking really closely, can you see any patterns or lines on this food?"

In the same way, she says you should also both explore the texture of your food. You can do this either by looking at your food or touching it.

"Take a piece of this food and hold it under your nose," says Afzal. "Take a deep breath in. How does it smell?"
3. The grateful gaze

What can they see in the room that they're grateful for? (Thinkstock/PA)

Next, put the food on your tongue and use your scientist's taste buds to explore further. "How does it feel in your mouth? Notice the shape and texture. Does it taste of anything?"

At this point, you can slowly begin to chew your food, all the time using your scientist's skills to notice how the taste, shape and texture are all changing. Afzal says you should keep your child engaged, exploring their plate in this way until all of the food is finished.

"This next practice is a lot of fun. It helps your child to notice what they have to be grateful for, wherever they are," says Afzal.

"Tell them to take a moment to be still and focus on the breath in their belly. Now ask them to look around the space you are in, you might be in their bedroom, or another room of the house, on a journey or outdoors.

"Wherever you are, can they look around themselves with a grateful gaze? Can they name each of the things they can see that they're grateful for?
> Mindfulness For Children by Uz Afzal is published by Kyle Books, priced £14.99. Available now (octopusbooks.co.uk). - Press Association
"If they are in their room, they might notice their bed, their books, their clothes and so on. If they're in the kitchen, they might notice the food, the drinks, the cups and spoons and so on. Ask them to notice how they feel as you practice the attitude of gratitude."

When practising mindfulness, Afzal says to remember to have fun and keep it breezy - the idea is that your child enjoys spending time slowing down and doesn't view mindfulness as another thing to worry about on their to-do list.

Doing these exercises together can be a great bonding experience for parents and children, and of course, the calming techniques are also beneficial for adults, helping to ease the stress of day-to-day life.

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Mindfulness for children: 3 easy exercises to try with your kids

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Mindfulness is word that seems to be everywhere now - from calm-boosting apps to anti-stress colouring books, the cult of slowing down and appreciating the 'now' has never been more popular. But while most of us know by now how beneficial embracing relaxation techniques can be for adults, what about children?

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Simple activities to encourage Mindfulness

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Simple activities to encourage Mindfulness

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18 Mindfulness Games, Worksheets and Activities for Kids

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Mindfulness for kids is best instilled early, to develop mindful adults.

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Simple games to promote memory and concentration

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Simple games to promote memory and concentration

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I recently introduced Miss 6 to Mr ROY G. BIV as she was trying to remember the order of the colours of the rainbow - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. She's been using mnemonics in her first grade class to remember tricky spelling words such as because (big elephants can always understand small elephants) and said (silly ants in dresses), so it didn't take her long to master the rainbow!

Throughout their school years, children are introduced to new, abstract concepts that require them to store information in both their short and long term memories - letter sounds, sight words, multiplication tables, historic dates, the periodic table and so much more. Which makes memory skills pretty important in the scheme of things!

So today I am sharing a fun collection of kids memory games that are perfect for helping your child to s-t-r-e-t-c-h their brain!

These games and activities require them to stop, focus, think, plan and remember, and these are all great skills that we all need to use every single day. There are ideas that can be used with preschoolers right through to kids in the later years of primary/elementary school (honestly, my ten year old still gets a kick from winning a round of Concentration!).

You can also download and print a copy of these games for your resource file at the bottom of the post (be sure to jump over and grab a copy of our kids memory game ideas set 2 as well)

10 Kids Memory Games

A deck of children's matching picture cards easily becomes the classic favourite game of Memory. Click through to find our collection of fifteen free, printable memory matching games.
To play
Ensure your set of cards contains all matching pairs.

Shuffle and spread all cards out on a flat surface, face down.

Players take it in turns to choose any two cards. Make a successful match and you get to take another turn. No match, the cards are returned to their original position.

Success in Memory relies upon children remembering where they have seen each picture in previous turns - both those and those of the other players.

The winner is the person who has matched the most pairs.

Variation

With younger children, play Memory by mixing up and placing face down the pieces to simple matching 2-piece puzzles, encouraging your child to find the two pieces that make up one puzzle.

Similar to Memory but instead of matching pairs, players take turns to select a picture card to match to a baseboard.

To play

Each player selects a base board. The matching cards are shuffled and spread out on a flat surface, face down.

Players take it in turns to select a card. If the card matches an image on the players board they have made a match and get to take another turn. No match, the card is placed back down.

The winner is the first person to match all of the images on their base board.
To play
Place a number of household items onto a tray (the more items, the more challenging the game so for younger children start with just 3-4 items and increase from there).

Tell your child to have a close look at the items on the tray. Name them together (the more you discuss the items the more likely your child is to remember them so you could ask them what colour or shape each item is or what it is used for).

Cover the items with a tea towel. Ask your child to close their eyes and as they do so remove one item from under the cloth.

Ask them to open their eyes, remove the cloth and tell you what's missing!
Variations
For older children, use more items and allow them to look at them for a full minute. Then cover them up and ask them to write a list or draw as many of the items that they can remember.

The aim of the game is to remember as many items purchased at the shops as possible!
To play
The first player starts the game by saying, "I went shopping and bought a ____," identifying an item they would buy.

The second player continues, "I went shopping and bought a (names the first player's item) and a ___ (adding a new item to the list)."

Players continue taking turns to remember the items purchased in order as the list gets longer and longer. The winner is the last person who can correctly name all of the items in sequence.
Variations
This game can be adapted to many different scenarios, for example, "I went on holidays and packed..." or "I went to school and took ..."

You can also adapt the game for children familiar with letters of the alphabet by requiring players in turn to name an item that begins with each letter of the alphabet. Player 1=A, player 2=B, player 3=C, etc.
RELATED: 12 Verbal Literacy Games for Speaking, Listening & Thinking
This classic carnival game makes a fun memory exercise with just two household items.
To play
Place three identical, plastic cups in a line on the table, rim down. Place a pom pom or small rubber ball under one cup, allowing your child to see which cup the pom pom/ball is under. Shuffle the cups around by sliding them across the table, switching their positions quickly back and forth and all around. Once you have stopped moving the cups ask your child to identify which cup the ball is now under.

My girls love these brain box games. They are available in a wide range of themes - everything from animals to fairytales to math problems.

Success in this game requires the child to transfer a physical sensation to a mental picture and retain a short series of mental pictures in their head to correctly identify the word.
To play
One player uses their finger to 'write' a word on the back of the second player. The second player tries to identify the word. Players switch positions and take turns being the 'writer' and guesser.

Similar to The Shopping Game, using numbers makes this game more abstract and therefore more challenging. Perfect for older kids!
To play
The first person says a one digit number. The next player repeats the first number and adds another one digit number. The third person says the first and the second numbers and then adds a third number. The game continues until someone forgets a number. That person is out. Play continues and the winner is the last person standing - the person able to correctly identify the longest string of numbers.
To play
Display a series of pictures or words for a few seconds. Cover the images/words and have children write, draw or tell a partner the objects in correct order.

Make the game more difficult by increasing the number of items in the series.
To play
Played in pairs, five cards are placed in a series on the table (these can be playing cards or other picture or word cards). One player is given time to memorise the sequence. Then their partner takes the cards, shuffles them and places only four of the cards back on the table. The first player must identify which card is missing.

How to Download & Print Your Kids Memory Games

Click here to download: Memory Games for Kids Set 1. You will be prompted to save the PDF to your computer. Open the PDF and print the pages you require. When printing, select "Fit to printable area" (or similar) to ensure the page fits with your printer type and local paper size.
Having trouble accessing or downloading the file? Please try a different internet browser.
Please note: All Childhood 101 printables are for personal use only, you may not use any part of this content for commercial purposes-that includes selling the document, giving it away to promote your business or website, or printing the file to sell. You may not share, loan or redistribute these documents. Teachers may use multiple copies for students in their own classroom.

A Few Quick Memory Games & Tools

These quick memory games make fun challenges while you're waiting at the doctors office, a restaurant or while travelling.

Recite the alphabet backwards

Count backwards from a large number by 7s (or another multiple)

Rub your head and pat your tummy. Now switch - pat your head and rub your tummy

Spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Up next:

Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

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10 Games To Help Improve Memory, Concentration & Thinking Skills

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Help your children develop essential memory, concentration and thinking skills with these 10 kids memory games. Includes ideas from PreK to 6th grade.

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A Guide for Parents (NEPS)

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2 week free trial offer

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Your Headspace Mindfulness & Meditation Experts

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We want children to be healthy & happy now & for the rest of their lives. Teach meditation for kids with Headspace, using easy exercises designed for young minds.

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Learn how to touch type with the BBC Dance Mat Typing game. It’s a fun introduction to touch typing game for kids and covers levels 1, 2, 3, 4.

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A site packed with interactive phonics games, phonics planning, assessment ideas and many teaching ideas and resources to help children to learn to hear phonemes, recognise graphemes and develop the blending and segmenting skills that are vital for learning to read and spell.

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Top Books for SEL

Check out some favorite books to help kids navigate the messy feelings in their lives so they can become more aware, connected, compassionate, kind, inclusive, responsible, and resilient.

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Cultivating Well-being, Resilience, and SEL for Educators and Children - constantloveandlearning.com

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Helping educators nurture well-being, resilience, and social emotional learning within themselves, their students, & their school systems to sustainably increase impact without sacrificing their health, happiness, or wholeness

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Free information book explaining Coronavirus to children.

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Free information book explaining Coronavirus to children.

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Nosy Crow Publishers - A new book by 'Gruffalo' illustrator Alex Scheffler explaining the COVID-19 crisis in a child friendly way.
Free and downloadable.
https://nosycrow.com/blog/released-today-free-information-book-explaining-coronavirus-children-illustrated-gruffalo-illustrator-axel-scheffler/

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DES Advice on talking to children about COVID- 19.

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DES Advice on talking to children about COVID- 19.

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Includes Online Games, Activity sheets and explanation videos on variety of maths topics. Sorted by age and topic.

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You and your little ones can have loads of fun with maths! There are loads of activity sheets and videos to explore on this page, or you can browse by age.

You'll also find heaps of activity books to further develop maths skills in our bookshop.

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Fun maths games and activities - Oxford Owl for Home

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Fun maths games to help develop the skills children need at primary school, for ages 3 to 11. From Oxford University Press.

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Oxford Owl - link to explanation Videos  

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Oxford Owl - link to explanation Videos  

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Direct link to Explanation Videos - Youtube.

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Browse all of Oxford Owl's maths videos in one playlist. Find clear explanations of mathematical ideas and top tips for practising maths skills.

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* Story teller videos - Biff and Kipper, Julia Donaldson, Winnie and Wilber and Chapter books*

Downloadable activity sheets and
games for children. Activities include:
 Story Writing tasks
 Word games
 Maths puzzles
 Colouring
 Visual recipes

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Check out our range of activities to download, print and use at home. Including character and book related activity packs, maths games, recipes and more!

Explore some of our activities below or click to browse activities by age.

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Kids' Activities: fun learning games for ages 3-11 - Oxford Owl

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Check out our range of activities to download, print and use at home. Including character and book related activity packs, maths games, recipes and more! Explore some of our activities below or click to browse activities by age.

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Resources and activities for parents to support their child’s literacy at home.
These include:·
- Literacy adventure packs·
- Themed booklists·
- Author interviews·
- Reading Suggestions

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- Top Tips
- Occupational Therapy Resources
- Speech & Lang. Therapy Resources

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Parent Booklet

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Encouraging a wide vocabulary - learning new words

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A Free Well-Being Journal for Kids

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The Department of Education and Skills’ NEPS psychologists have developed advice and some resources for young people to manage and stay well when schools are closed.

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Department of Education Pilot Programme of Counselling and Wellbeing / Mental Health Supports in Primary ...

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Watch & Stream Free Kids Yoga Videos | Cosmic Kids

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Watch and stream kids yoga videos in a safe space on our website. Cosmic Kids’ most popular adventures can be found here as well as on our app.

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A super sample resource. Short activities suitable for all ages.

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Welcome to Peace Out (Guided Relaxation for Kids) | Cosmic Kids

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Free weekly printable promoting self confidence, resilience and well being.

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Everyone LOVES our free weekly printables! They're unique, fun, engaging, and simply brilliant. Each one of them is carefully designed to help you raise resilient and happy children. You will receive this handy one-page guide in your welcome email.

Free Printables
Every Friday

SIGN UP BELOW TO GET THE
WEEKLY PRINTABLES

Immediately, you will receive our "Parent's Guide to a Growth Mindset". And you will be getting an email with free printables every FRIDAY!

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Everyone LOVES our free weekly printables! They're unique, fun, engaging, and simply brilliant. Each one of them is carefully designed to help you raise resilient and happy children. You will receive this handy one-page guide in your welcome email. Free PrintablesEvery Friday SIGN UP BELOW TO GET THE WEEKLY PRINTABLES

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Arts and Crafts activities with Instructional videos and instructions.

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Arts and Crafts activities with Instructional videos and instructions.

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Latest Projects Why Become a Member? INSTANT AND UNLIMITED ACCESS TO ALL OF THE TEMPLATES Why buy individual craft templates and worksheets if you can have access to a library of engaging resources for the

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NEPS Handout for the Classroom - Good ideas to encourage development of memory.

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NEPS Handout for the Classroom - Good ideas to encourage development of memory.