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Mr.D can measure a tree with a pencil!! Can you guess how?

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Can you turn a 2 dimensional shape into a 3 dimensional shape?

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Can you turn a 2 dimensional shape into a 3 dimensional shape?

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Its time to get creative. Using different coloured and shapes of leaves why not make a leaf picture. Go and research Andy Goldsworthy? What does he do?

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Time to relax....lie down on the floor and look up?what shapes do you see?

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Good morning year 6...here is a brilliant competition for us all to take part in. A virtual athletics event that you can enter and possibly go through to a county final👍👍👍 let me know if you need any further information..

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This week's practical activities thanks to Learning through landscapes

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Hi everyone👋– Here you go our week 3 activities 😍 Its been a fun week here at Learning through Landscapes getting our resources ready for you. We have gone with a New life Easter theme; lots of...

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Measuring the amount of rain in April.

This experiment involves keeping a weather diary. I would like you to record the weather conditions for the next month. Your observations should be taken at the same time each day. So today I have observed that the weather is sunny and I can see no cloud and we have had no rainfall. If I could see cloud, I would estimate the percentage of the sky that is covered, for example if I could not see any blue sky, that would be 100 per cent coverage. To record the rainfall, I would like you to make a rain gauge, out of a pop bottle. I have taken pictures of how to do this so you can see how it's made. You will need scissors, a rular to measure and mark out a cm scale, from 1 to 10. Once you have made it, place it in your garden away from shelter, either with a few stones in the bottom, or in a pot to stop it falling over. How many cm of rain do you think will fall during April.? I think approx 10cm.

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10 outdoor literacy ideas... https://childhood101.com/outdoor-literacy-ideas/

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There's no reason learning the ABCs needs to be limited to an indoor space. In fact, there are lots of ways to encourage a love of reading and writing by spending time outside. Here are ten literacy activities I've enjoyed with my own two sons - one of whom is 8 (and an avid reader) and the other who is 5 (and not quite a full-fledged reader yet).

1. Read outside
Grab a few books and head outside. Bring along a blanket to sit on, find a tree to lean up against or cuddle up in an outdoor fort. Read together or allow your child time to him or herself - whichever feels appropriate.

2. Paint alphabet rocks
Gather up some rocks from around the neighborhood or a local park. You can create a set of alphabet rocks by painting letters on each rock with acrylic paint. Choose a variety of colors or make a set of capital letters in one color, lowercase letters in another.

3. Make story stones
More drawing on rocks - this time using pictures instead of letters. Create nature-themed images such as animals, flowers, insects and the elements. Then take turns telling stories using the stones as prompts.

4. Create your own nature ABC book
Go on a nature hunt with your little one - around your neighborhood, backyard, park, garden, local zoo or aquarium. Look for something to represent each letter of the alphabet. Then take a picture of that image. Print out the photos and place them in a dedicated album to form your very own ABC book. Add letters, words and other facts as desired.

5. Use nature for letter making
Kids just learning their letters will have fun shaping letters using items found in nature such as rocks, sticks or flower petals.

6. Go on a scavenger hunt
If your child isn't yet reading, create cards with pictures of items to find and the corresponding words underneath (you can do the same with numbers of items and shapes as well). Kids already reading can search for items using a written list instead.

7. Keep a nature journal
While a traditional nature journal usually focuses on discoveries and sketches, ours include any kind of writing the kids want to include about their outdoor adventures.

For example, this summer I encouraged my sons to keep a summer adventure journal. The 5 year old wrote one sentence and a picture with each entry. (He told me what he wanted to write and I spelled it out for him; he wrote all his own letters). The 8 year old sketched too but also wrote at least a paragraph.

8. Discover field guides
My 5 year old is a self-proclaimed animal rescuer and as such is now consumed with learning about all things animal. In addition to traditional children's books about animals we're also reading field guides. Choose guides with quality photos and simple facts. There are even field guides designed just for kids.

9. Make a backyard field guide
Once young children are familiar with field guide basics, try making your own. Children can practice drawing, letter writing and more as they create their own backyard field guide. Keep it general or focus on your child's specific interests, such as a bird book, animal book or flower guide.

10. Read about nature indoors
If your child has a specific interest in the great outdoors - like my self-proclaimed animal rescuer - encourage that passion by reading about it whenever you normally read together. Take advantage of your local library to vary up your titles, or stick with a few old favorites.
What creative ways do you use to encourage of a love of reading in your child? Related Posts
Debi Huang is a Los Angeles, CA-based wife, mom and adventure guide for two young boys. She writes about connecting kids and families with nature in the backyard and beyond.

Read more of Debi's adventures at http://www.goexplorenature.com/.

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10 Outdoor Literacy Activities: Literacy and the Great Outdoors

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There's no reason learning the ABCs needs to be limited to an indoor space. In fact, there are lots of ways to encourage a love of reading and writing by spending time outside.

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Make a rain gauge, using a pop bottle. Firstly cut around the top of the bottle. Turn the end with the cap upside down, and place it on the bottom half. Then mark out centimeters on the bottle as per the picture with a ruler, Then place somewhere in your garden away from trees and in the open. How many centimetres of rain do you think we will have between today and Friday?

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This week's home learning pack courtesy of the YPTE, its a brilliant resource, and will be published every week.. https://ypte.org.uk/downloads/home-learning-pack-plantshttps://ypte.org.uk/downloads/home-learning-pack-plants

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Young People's Trust For the Environment

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Supporting parents and carers during the Covid-19 lockdown

Our home learning packs have been compiled by the Young People's Trust for the Environment to support parents and carers whilst their children are at home during the Covid-19 lockdown.

We will be producing a new pack each week, to be released every Friday for the duration of the lockdown. Home Learning Packs will include suggestions for activities you can do alongside your children, as well as those that they can do independently, whilst you are working from home.

We will attempt to suggest activities which require no special materials other than those you may find around the house. It may be possible to pick up some resources during your occasional shop for essentials but please do not aim to shop specifically for listed supplies! We will also attempt to minimise the need to print out any materials.

We'd love to hear your suggestions for making the packs more useful for you, or your children's ideas for future topics. You can follow us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/WeAreYPTE/ on Twitter @YPTE o r on Instagram @weareypte. You can share your pictures with us using #yptelearning
In your pack each week:

Open ended project ideas and research topics

Activities to explore independently or together

Games to play

Ideas for science experiments

Art and craft ideas

Links to other learning resources

A use each week for toilet roll tubes...

In our first Home Learning Pack, we are looking at Plants, with sections on:

Growing plants from seeds

Observing how water is drawn up a stem

Making a battery from a lemon

Ideas for research

Art and craft projects

Games

Useful links

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Our home learning packs have been compiled by the Young People's Trust for the Environment to support parents and carers whilst their children are at home during the Covid-19 lockdown. We will be producing a new pack each week, to be released every Friday for the duration of the lockdown.

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50 things to do outside, lots of which can be done in a garden.. 😊https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/50-things-to-do-before-youre-11--activity-list

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Learning 2d and 3d shapes using sticks. Why not make shapes with sticks, and create a quiz? I've included shapes up to 10 sides for 2d, and a number of 3d shapes. Don't forget to post your pictures here😊

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2d shape list

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Taking maths outdoors. Here's a site with some really great ideas, helping to teach maths, from Reception to year 6

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13 Outdoor Maths Activities for Early Years to Y6 - Third Space Learning

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We've put together our 13 favourite outdoor Maths activities to try out in your classroom. Great for any age & perfect for the last weeks of summer term.

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Colour hunt, stuck with pva glue

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Why not try making artwork like Andy Goldsworthy? Using materials from your back garden or items from around your house.. Please post pictures here 😊😊. Let's see your beautiful artwork..

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Making Woodland crowns

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Simple bug hotels,

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Both my kids adore digging around in the garden and exploring - finding ants and beetles and worms and bugs. So I knew it wouldn't be long before we HAD to make a simple Bug Hotel for our backyard with them - the perfect Garden Craft for kids to get stuck into.

Our easy bug hotel is probably as simple and as easy as it gets - there are many prettier and cleverer bug hotels out there, but sometimes, you just have to make do with what you have and also make it easy for the kids to join in.

So we made ours with "local materials" and avoided any drilling or cutting tools. Perfect garden crafts for young children! We actually made this with Pip Squeak (3yrs), Red Ted (5yrs) AND the neighbour's boy who is 8years. Loved that the different age groups enjoyed working on this together.

Why make a bug house?

Bugs are an important part of our eco system. They do all sorts of useful things for us, fromproviding shelter to pollinators like bees and bumble bees (even the wasp is an important pollinator) to beneficial insects that help create our compost or eat garden pests such as green fly and other aphids. Bug houses, provide a shelter for our little friends and welcome them into our garden. If creating our plastic bottle bug hotel, you can also view your bugs at home and observe them in their house.

So you bug hotel may offer a refuge to solitary bees, give ladybugs somewhere to lay eggs or other wildlife a place to nest and feel secure.

Bugs, such as woodlice or millipedes, also provide food for other wildlife such as hedgehogs, frogs and toads, which we want to encourage in our gardens. It is so important to encourage biodiversity into our gardens and backyards.

DIY Bug Hotels really are great for all sorts of wildlife! You can buy specific bug hotels e.g. a bee hotel or hotels for ladybirds. But I feel making your own is far better - as commercial ones don't always "work" and bugs like to find their own place to stay. With a homemade one, you can't go wrong.

Once your bug hotelis made (as per the instructions below), do grab our BUG Explore Paper Toy and use it as a prompt to find and learn about common insects!

Simple Bug Hotel - Materials:

A large plastic bottle cut into two cylinders,

String for hanging

sticks & twigs,

pieces of moss

anything else you can find - bamboo with it's holes, make natural straws, which are great hidey hole for insects and bugs! Basically any natural materials are great!

We also had some broken plant pots but forgot all about them. Other bug hotels include other materials such as corn and drilled pieces of wood - to provide different nooks and crannies. I love the one from Garden Therapy. Have a look for inspiration. But in essence, I would say: "think natural", "think nooks and crannies", "think what will last" (e.g. paper could go soggy and leaves will go brittle and break/ disintegrate). It is great to use things from YOUR local environment, as you are looking to attract bugs and beetles and insects from the same local environment.
Large Wooden Pallet Insect Hotels

I love this information page from the BBC available for download and that we found on the Metro, giving you an idea what different creatures may or may not like! As with all living things, insects and bugs like different habitats - so the more variety you can offer the better:

Pallet DIY bug hotels really are great for bigger spaces and providing a habitat for LOTS of creatures and animals. These are wonderful for wild areas or garden areas in schools or communal garden plots. You can combine wooden pallets with a wooden box and bigger items such as bricks, plant pots and wood chips. A great way to create a different layer for different creatures.

Can I make a Tin Can Bug Hotel?

Back to small byg hotels. Can I make Tin Can Bug Hotels? Yes! Tin cans are super fun for making bug hotels too and can replace the plastic bottle used here. We just find the plastic bottle is easier to manage - as you can cut to size quickly and easily. They also don't rust (which is something to watch out for). However a Tin Can Bug Hotel, can be decorated it more easily. So it is really just a question of personal preference and what supplies you have to hand!

Where is the best place to put a bug hotel?

Generally a warm dry place is best for your insect hotel. You don't want it filling up with water in the rain. Having said that, it is important to remember that different bugs and insects live in different places. So you may want to experiment. If putting your bug hotel close to the ground, you may want to lift it off the ground on some stones or brick and also make sure, that any rain water can easily "flow out". Hanging in a bush or tree or securing from a window box is a great location. Just make sure you provide adequate shelter for your visitors!

How to make a Simple Bug Hotel

Time needed: 15 minutes.

1. Cut the bottlw down to size
We cut our bottle down to shape (may I add, that I actually drank 2 litres of fizzy water, especially for this task as we accidentally threw out our last bottle in the recycling?? Argh!)

2. Arrange your materials
Check what materials you have and arrange by size and texture - we snapped our twigs to make them a little smaller. Had larger and bigger ones. Arranged pinecones.

3. Decide on the insect hotel location and add twine for hanging
If you plan to hang your bug hotel, loop some garden twine round and then start layering your bug hotel. We did one hotel for on the ground and one for hanging from a tree to see if would attract different creatures.

4. Make the insect hotel nice and cozy
Stuff it to make it nice and firm, so it doesn't get blown about!

And done!

So what else can you make your bug hotel from? How can you maybe waterproof it to add additional elements? Check out this great version from 1der.and.cre8 on instagram.

If your kids enjoy observing.. why not give this How to Raise Tadpoles post a go? So fascinating for kids!

You may also like our grass heads:

More Garden Crafts (for all ages) here:

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Simple Bug Hotel for Kids - Red Ted Art - Kids Crafts

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A great way to get the kids out in the garden and exploring is this oh so simple Bug Hotel for Kids! Fun and easy to make, great for discovery.

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Here's a whole week of activities, from the brilliant people at Learning through Landscapes

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A little whittling... Remember all how we made wands using potato peelers? Well why not try little men? Any stick will do, and make sure you use a glove, Only with an adult👍

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Taking maths outdoors. Here's a site with some really great ideas, helping to teach maths, from Reception to year 6

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13 Outdoor Maths Activities for Early Years to Y6 - Third Space Learning

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We've put together our 13 favourite outdoor Maths activities to try out in your classroom. Great for any age & perfect for the last weeks of summer term.