Children ’s Hea lth Help your kids learn and play at home with these Fun Activities! Match It (3-5 yea rs) What you need • 1 sheet of cardboard • 1 felt tip pen • 8-12 items of different shapes and sizes (bottle caps, playing cards, shells, household items Instructions • With the felt tip pen, trace each item on the cardboard so that their outlines are spread out • Place all items in a bowl • Instruct children to fit the item within the corresponding outline while saying the item’s name out loud. Nature's Pain t Brush (2-6 yea rs) What you need • String and sticky tape • Sticks and small branches collected from the garden/park • Paint and paper Instructions • Take children into the garden or to the local park, and together collect a number of small, durable sticks, leaves and leafy branches from the ground – advise against sharp sticks and indicate size. • Take findings home • Tie bunches of leaves and leafy branches to the end of the sticks using string and stick tape – this should create a sort of natural paint brush • Stick paper to aisle or on an outside wall. Instruct children to paint using the paints and their new paintbrushes. • Discuss the different textures, patterns and names of the leaves Name Collage (3-4 yea rs) What you need • 1 piece of coloured A4 cardboard per child • 1 felt tip pen • Glue • Soft craft material, glitters, buttons Instructions • In block letters, drawn each child’s name, leaving enough room in the letters to glue material • Instruct the children to fill in the latters of their name as they wish, using the craft material. Encourage use of all colours and textures, and discuss how the material feels and looks • Explain and repeat the letters so that children become familiar with those in their name • Ask the child to choose a place to hang the picture. Bottle Top Fishing (3-5 yea rs) What you need • 1 large tub, filled ¼ with water (add glitter and food colouring for sensory fun!) • 30-40 bottle tops of different colours, some with specific markings • 1 Slotted spoon • 1 small basket • 1 towel laid under tub Instructions • Place bottle tops in water • Instruct the child to fish out the bottle tops, gradually specifying the game by electing which colour must be fished out or left in the water • Also, categorise the activity by the marked bottle tops. For example, collect three yellow bottle tops, and two marked with a flower. • Count out loud how many bottle tops are in the basket each round and discuss their details. Bags, bags, bags (2-5 yea rs) What you need • Multiple bags of different sizes and styles • Toys, objects, tools and clothing placed around the play area • Audio player and CD with the ‘Bags, bags, bags’ song Instructions • Instruct children to choose a bag • Playing the song, instruct the children to explore the area to see what they find • Sing with the children and incorporate your own object into the song. For example, “If we didn’t have bags, what would we use to put our hats in?” • The children must then fill their bags with the hats they can find • Repeat with different objects, and add urgency to create excitement. pm pindaramagazine.com.au Pindara Magazine 45
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Five
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