Rainy days and Mondays
- Learning Resources Posted On Jul 28, 2014
Hello!
How’s the weather holding up in your part of the world this summer? Hopefully you’ll be basking in sunshine, and only having to dodge the odd shower here and there!
If, on the other hand you’re housebound by torrential rain, and the rainy days and Mondays are getting you down, take a look at my top picks from Learning Resources for inside summer fun below!
Indoor Summer Fun Resources:
- Magic Moves® Jammin’ Gymâ„¢
- Marco’s Polosâ„¢
- Space Spinnersâ„¢ Game
- iTraxâ„¢ Critical Thinking Game
- Chef Showdownâ„¢ Game
- New Sprouts® Shop it!
- Design & Drill® Socket to Me™
- Candy Constructionâ„¢
- Frida’s Fruit Fiesta Gameâ„¢
- Robot Face Raceâ„¢ Colour & Attribute Game
- Diggity Dogsâ„¢ Attribute Game
- Kitten Caboodleâ„¢ Attribute Game
Often when it’s wet, my +1 and I take Squirt to our local soft play centre, she absolutely loves it. While these kind of centres can often be crowded, hot and noisy for parents, they have some great benefits for the youngsters using them. They’re designed with children’s safety in mind, and offer a great space for children to practise their social and communication skills with the other children using the centre. The fun climbing equipment is great for developing physical and coordination skills! Parents can sit and have a cup of tea, knowing that their children are happy, safe, and learning!
Libraries are also great places for rainy days! Squirt loves books, and for many children it’s so exciting being able to choose some books to take home - and the parents don’t have to worry about the price tag! Lots of libraries also offer events throughout the summer too, I keep an eye out in our local paper for these kind of happenings. Reading books is great for children, but you knew that already! It helps to improve focus and concentration, and develop imagination. Reading a variety of books, including fiction and non-fiction broaden children’s understanding of the world and increases their vocabulary. For children that really hate or struggle with reading, there a variety audio books that grasp their imagination. Also for reluctant readers, take a look at our Hot Dots® resources.
Despite these suggestions for getting us all through wet spells, it’s time to be optimistic! Let’s hope the weather will be warm and sunny, with lots of opportunities to play outside. I’d love to know what you’re getting up to this summer, get in touch below and let me know about what you have done so far!
Until next time…
Laura
British Food Fortnight
It’s British Food Fortnight, a time to celebrate all the lovely foods grown and produced in Britain! It was first held in 2002, at the same time as the traditional harvest festivals that take place in schools and churches across the country.
British Food Fortnight shouts about the health benefits and enjoyment of eating quality, fresh, seasonal and local produce. It is also helping to engage the retail, catering, education and volunteering sectors and is establishing and maintaining a larger market for British food.
The Learning Resources offices are in West Norfolk, surrounded by rural countryside and not far from the coast. We’re very lucky when it comes to regionally sourced food, with local favourites such as Cromer Crab, Norfolk Turkey and Colmans Mustard! Much of the mint grown in the UK is grown in Norfolk too!
We understand that it is important for both teachers and parents to encourage children to learn about a variety of different foods from an early age, especially those foods local to them. The Food Standards Agency highlights the importance of a healthy balanced diet for growing children. Their website suggests ways in how they can be involved, such as helping with the food shopping, talk about all the colours of foods available and encourage youngsters to prepare foods - it will make them more inclined to try them!
 
Another great way to encourage children to learn about local foods and general nutrition is through imaginative play. Not only do play foods teach children about the variety of foods around us and how they look and feel, but also promotes vocabulary, sorting skills and other cross-curriculum themes.
We have a large selection of Role Play Food Sets available for learners as young as 2! The play food products in our New Sprouts range are suitable from 2 years, and contain chunky, colourful pieces specially designed for little hands!
Our Pretend & Play range food sets are life-sized and realistic, so perfect for teaching nutrition! The Healthy Meal Play Food Sets also include exercise cards to extend the learning.
For a more scientific approach to food, take a look at our Magnetic Healthy Foods. The set contains 34 foods from the five main food groups, along with a magnetic placemat, menu pad and suggested activities.
I hope you have fun celebrating British Food Fortnight, and get to sample some of the foods local to you that you perhaps haven’t tried before!
Until next time…
Laura
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Incy Wincy Spider...
Hello bug lovers!
It’s National Insect Week and time to learn about all things creepy crawly! The week’s official website lists a range of events happening for you to get involved in wherever you are in the UK, take a look at www.nationalinsectweek.co.ukÂ
Here at Learning Resources we have a whole collection of bug-themed resources to suit even the youngest of minibeast fans! Great for classroom use and outdoor use, both at home and school!
My 3 year old daughter (aka Squirt) and I have been learning about bugs this week, being a little girl butterflies are her favourite! We’ve made paper butterflies, sang Incy Wincy Spider and had a go at drawing bugs! Squirt’s not one for getting her hands dirty, so yesterday we had a look at the GeoSafari Jr Talking Bug Net. She particularly liked ‘catching’ the minibeasts in the net, which then set the net off talking about the insect she had put in it - clever stuff!
Once we’d been playing for a while and were getting good at identifying the bugs, we turned the net to quiz mode! We had good fun answering the questions which quickly turned into a race! Squirt isn’t competitive…much! There are 60 questions, so plenty to keep us entertained. Squirt was having so much fun, she didn’t even know she was learning! The Talking Bug Net encourages counting and colour recognition, not to mention all the interesting bug facts. Did you know that a queen bee can lay 3,000 eggs in one day?! - Busy Bee!
I love the range of products that we do here at Learning Resources on the topic of insects and minibeasts, and the Talking Bug Net was certainly a favourite in our household. The net comes with:
- a praying mantis
- a spider
- a ladybug
- a grasshopper
- a bee
- and a butterfly!
 
We hope you enjoy National Insect Week, get in touch to let us know what you’re up to! You can see our collection of bug-themed resources at www.LearningResources.co.uk. For young bug lovers, have a look at the Snap-n-Learn Number Bugs, Colour Caterpillars and Shape Butterflies, great for children aged 2+.
Until next time…
Laura
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