Playing outside is an essential part of a child's development. From making mud kitchens, to getting to know nature, learning and playing outside will help little learners form key developmental skills such as physical health & self-confidence!
This month you have loved our award-winning STEM Robot Mouse Activity Set, the low cost solution to coding in primary classrooms! This must-have set provides an introduction to the concepts of coding and STEM learning. We are surrounded by technology like never before including video games, smart phones and tablets. They are all forms of communication that impact our lives every single day and what they have in common is that they all involve coding! This set provides early learners a fun, real-world application of these essential 21st century skills. Children can programme the sequence of steps, and then watch the mouse race to find the cheese!
What skills does the set promote?
Problem solving
Self-correcting errors
Critical thinking
Analytical thinking
Understanding cause and effect
Working collaboratively with others
Discussion and communication skills
Calculating distance
Spatial concepts
Perfect for individual or group play, children can create their own maze board using 16 interlocking tiles and then add obstacles such as walls and tunnel pieces. The block of cheese can be placed anywhere on the board, with the challenge of programming the mouse to find it! The mouse has two speeds to enable tabletop and floor play. Before programming the mouse, children can map out his journey using colourful coding cards provided. They are colour co-ordinated to match the buttons on the mouse featuring forward, reverse, left and right commands. They also feature an action card, which programmes the mouse to perform one of three random acts:
Move forward and back
Loud “SQUEAAKKâ€
CHIRP-CHIRP-CHIRP (and light-up eyes!)
The Robot Mouse has won the 2016 Education Resources Award for Best Primary Curriculum Resource (including ICT). The awards honour the quality and diversity of products, schools and the most dedicated members of the education sector. In their eighteenth successful year, the awards are organised by BESA, the trade association representing educational suppliers in the UK sector, and Brilliant Marketing Solutions. The judges, an independent panel of experienced educational professionals, most of whom are classroom teachers said “the STEM Robot Mouse Activity Set would encourage children to build hands-on coding skills in a fun and enjoyable way. It was very easy to construct and represented excellent value for money!â€
Testimonials
Mrs Chimes, Class Teacher at South Wootton Infant School, said “this product is absolutely fantastic for the new Key Stage 1 ICT curriculum and requirements for children to create a series of instructions and plan a journey for a programmable toy. The children could use the product without adult support and really enjoyed itâ€. Emma Vanstone, blogger at Science Sparks, trialled the mouse with her coding club and said “Colby the Robot Mouse is a fantastic, hands on and visually appealing way to introduce coding to kids as well as helping to develop critical, logical and analytical thinking, spatial skills, teamwork and lots more. It’s been a big hit, both in my house and in a coding club I have been running at a local schoolâ€. Read her full review here.
This month you have loved our award-winning STEM Robot Mouse Activity Set, the low cost solution to coding in primary classrooms! This must-have set provides an introduction to the concepts of coding and STEM learning. We are surrounded by technology like never before including video games, smart phones and tablets. They are all forms of communication that impact our lives every single day and what they have in common is that they all involve coding! This set provides early learners a fun, real-world application of these essential 21st century skills. Children can programme the sequence of steps, and then watch the mouse race to find the cheese!
What skills does the set promote?
Problem solving
Self-correcting errors
Critical thinking
Analytical thinking
Understanding cause and effect
Working collaboratively with others
Discussion and communication skills
Calculating distance
Spatial concepts
Perfect for individual or group play, children can create their own maze board using 16 interlocking tiles and then add obstacles such as walls and tunnel pieces. The block of cheese can be placed anywhere on the board, with the challenge of programming the mouse to find it! The mouse has two speeds to enable tabletop and floor play. Before programming the mouse, children can map out his journey using colourful coding cards provided. They are colour co-ordinated to match the buttons on the mouse featuring forward, reverse, left and right commands. They also feature an action card, which programmes the mouse to perform one of three random acts:
Move forward and back
Loud “SQUEAAKKâ€
CHIRP-CHIRP-CHIRP (and light-up eyes!)
The Robot Mouse has won the 2016 Education Resources Award for Best Primary Curriculum Resource (including ICT). The awards honour the quality and diversity of products, schools and the most dedicated members of the education sector. In their eighteenth successful year, the awards are organised by BESA, the trade association representing educational suppliers in the UK sector, and Brilliant Marketing Solutions. The judges, an independent panel of experienced educational professionals, most of whom are classroom teachers said “the STEM Robot Mouse Activity Set would encourage children to build hands-on coding skills in a fun and enjoyable way. It was very easy to construct and represented excellent value for money!â€
Testimonials
Mrs Chimes, Class Teacher at South Wootton Infant School, said “this product is absolutely fantastic for the new Key Stage 1 ICT curriculum and requirements for children to create a series of instructions and plan a journey for a programmable toy. The children could use the product without adult support and really enjoyed itâ€. Emma Vanstone, blogger at Science Sparks, trialled the mouse with her coding club and said “Colby the Robot Mouse is a fantastic, hands on and visually appealing way to introduce coding to kids as well as helping to develop critical, logical and analytical thinking, spatial skills, teamwork and lots more. It’s been a big hit, both in my house and in a coding club I have been running at a local schoolâ€. Read her full review here.
Did you know that Friday 27th May is Big Board Game Day? Organised by the NSPCC, the day invites people of all ages to play their favourite board games and raise money to support the fight for every childhood.Here at Learning Resources, we have hosted our very own Big Board Game Day, with a game tournament featuring six of our favourite family games, all new for 2016! Board games are a great way to enjoy uninterrupted family time and also introduce children to social constructs such as turn taking, listening, winning and losing.Board games help to build valuable early learning skills such as:
Vocabulary
Communication
Problem solving
Connecting prior knowledge
Turn taking
Critical thinking
We’ve put together some mini challenges, based upon our board game tournament, for you to try at home!
This is a game of observation and colour matching; can you spot the puppy that matches the colours on the randomiser? Hint: you are looking for yellow ears and a red collar!
This is a game of fine motor skills and pattern matching. Players select the shells that match what the spinner is showing; can you find the shell that Sophie needs?
This game is a tasty take on early numeracy skills! The brownies are cooling in the tray and each one has a number underneath. Can you guess which brownie will show the number on the spinner?
The race is on to make ten with this colourful stacking game. Â Players each face a different angle of the tower and make ten from the last number placed on. Can you work out which number comes next in the sequence?
This is an early literacy game, with two levels of play; letter recognition and beginning sounds. Can you spot the picture disc that matches the letter shown below?
This is a game of strategy and critical thinking. Players connect colour tiles made up of 4 squares, trying to match as many as possible with squares already placed down. Where would you place the next tile for the most points?
Answers
Ready, Set, Woof! Colour Matching GameSophie’s Seashell ScrambleBrownie Match Attribute Game10 to the TopAlphabet IslandColour CubedLet us know how many you got right on twitter: @LRUK#LoveLearning
Are you Big Board Game ready? Did you know that Friday 27th May is Big Board Game Day? Organised by the NSPCC, the day invites people of all ages to play their favourite board games and raise money to support the fight for every childhood.Here at Learning Resources, we have hosted our very own Big Board Game Day, with a game tournament featuring six of our favourite family games, all new for 2016! Board games are a great way to enjoy uninterrupted family time and also introduce children to social constructs such as turn taking, listening, winning and losing.Board games help to build valuable early learning skills such as:
Vocabulary
Communication
Problem solving
Connecting prior knowledge
Turn taking
Critical thinking
We’ve put together some mini challenges, based upon our board game tournament, for you to try at home!
This is a game of observation and colour matching; can you spot the puppy that matches the colours on the randomiser? Hint: you are looking for yellow ears and a red collar!
This is a game of fine motor skills and pattern matching. Players select the shells that match what the spinner is showing; can you find the shell that Sophie needs?
This game is a tasty take on early numeracy skills! The brownies are cooling in the tray and each one has a number underneath. Can you guess which brownie will show the number on the spinner?
The race is on to make ten with this colourful stacking game. Â Players each face a different angle of the tower and make ten from the last number placed on. Can you work out which number comes next in the sequence?
This is an early literacy game, with two levels of play; letter recognition and beginning sounds. Can you spot the picture disc that matches the letter shown below?
This is a game of strategy and critical thinking. Players connect colour tiles made up of 4 squares, trying to match as many as possible with squares already placed down. Where would you place the next tile for the most points?
Answers
Ready, Set, Woof! Colour Matching GameSophie’s Seashell ScrambleBrownie Match Attribute Game10 to the TopAlphabet IslandColour CubedLet us know how many you got right on twitter: @LRUK#LoveLearning
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National Children’s Day UK (NCDUK) is all about the importance of a healthy childhood and how we need to protect the rights and freedoms of children in order to ensure that they can grow into happy, healthy adults.
National Children’s Day UK (NCDUK) is all about the importance of a healthy childhood and how we need to protect the rights and freedoms of children in order to ensure that they can grow into happy, healthy adults.
The classroom setting is a place that primary school children will spend most of their time during a specific year of their school life. It is important that the environment is welcoming, inspiring and creates a space for self expression and growth. A warm and interactive classroom environment can have very positive effects on academic achievement and can also foster a strong sense of community.
Visual Appeal
Teacher’s often take great pride in creating the best possible learning environment, and when done so effectively, it will help children to develop a sense of ownership towards their classroom and their school. Warm colours such as red and green combined with natural lighting can create a stimulating environment for children to learn. Colourful displays and schedules are great for keeping organised and alleviating anxiety through visual cues.Learning Resources Daily Schedule Pocket Chart
Interactivity
Elements of the classroom that invite participation such as learning calendar’s and attendance charts will help children to feel part of a community and feel positive about their surroundings. Resources that give children the confidence to interact such as answer buzzers will ensure that each child in your class has the ability to speak and be actively listened to, improving self-esteem.Learning Resources Magnetic Learning Calendar
Sensory Input
Children discover the world through their senses, so creating an environment with a mixture of sensory resources will keep children focused. Each pupil will have different sensory preferences so it is good to tailor tasks to suit specific needs, for example creating a quiet area with bean bags and quiet music for soothing pupils that are restless.Learning Resources Primary Science Sensory Tubes
Minimising Distractions
Keeping the classroom tidy and organised will minimise visual distractions for your class. It can be difficult to keep track of each child’s work so organisation stations that provide a pocket for each individual will allow you to keep track of finished and unfinished work. Wipe-clean pockets are also a great way to complete paper based activities as they can be re-used and mistakes can be easily corrected which removed the fear of ‘getting it wrong’, also helping to boost self-esteem.Learning Resources Organisation Station® Pocket Chart
Time flies when having fun!
Keeping track of timed activities can be a difficult task, especially if the class is divided into groups. Time trackers are a great way to let children know how much time they have left, so that you don’t have to watch the clock! With miniature options for group tasks and larger options for whole class activities; visual warnings, digital displays and sound cues help children to make better use of their time during tasks, tests and experiments. Learning Resources Time Tracker® Mini Our in-house qualified teacher, Joanne Moore, has also given a top tip to help keep the classroom tidy in the long term: “Tidy up time music is a great way to energise students and signal when it is time to pack away. I used Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious with my reception classes! After a few times I didn’t even have to explain what the music was for, the children would put everything in the right place and be in their seats by the time the song was finished.â€
The classroom setting is a place that primary school children will spend most of their time during a specific year of their school life. It is important that the environment is welcoming, inspiring and creates a space for self expression and growth. A warm and interactive classroom environment can have very positive effects on academic achievement and can also foster a strong sense of community.
Visual Appeal
Teacher’s often take great pride in creating the best possible learning environment, and when done so effectively, it will help children to develop a sense of ownership towards their classroom and their school. Warm colours such as red and green combined with natural lighting can create a stimulating environment for children to learn. Colourful displays and schedules are great for keeping organised and alleviating anxiety through visual cues.Learning Resources Daily Schedule Pocket Chart
Interactivity
Elements of the classroom that invite participation such as learning calendar’s and attendance charts will help children to feel part of a community and feel positive about their surroundings. Resources that give children the confidence to interact such as answer buzzers will ensure that each child in your class has the ability to speak and be actively listened to, improving self-esteem.Learning Resources Magnetic Learning Calendar
Sensory Input
Children discover the world through their senses, so creating an environment with a mixture of sensory resources will keep children focused. Each pupil will have different sensory preferences so it is good to tailor tasks to suit specific needs, for example creating a quiet area with bean bags and quiet music for soothing pupils that are restless.Learning Resources Primary Science Sensory Tubes
Minimising Distractions
Keeping the classroom tidy and organised will minimise visual distractions for your class. It can be difficult to keep track of each child’s work so organisation stations that provide a pocket for each individual will allow you to keep track of finished and unfinished work. Wipe-clean pockets are also a great way to complete paper based activities as they can be re-used and mistakes can be easily corrected which removed the fear of ‘getting it wrong’, also helping to boost self-esteem.Learning Resources Organisation Station® Pocket Chart
Time flies when having fun!
Keeping track of timed activities can be a difficult task, especially if the class is divided into groups. Time trackers are a great way to let children know how much time they have left, so that you don’t have to watch the clock! With miniature options for group tasks and larger options for whole class activities; visual warnings, digital displays and sound cues help children to make better use of their time during tasks, tests and experiments. Learning Resources Time Tracker® Mini Our in-house qualified teacher, Joanne Moore, has also given a top tip to help keep the classroom tidy in the long term: “Tidy up time music is a great way to energise students and signal when it is time to pack away. I used Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious with my reception classes! After a few times I didn’t even have to explain what the music was for, the children would put everything in the right place and be in their seats by the time the song was finished.â€
