This week, our learning is going to be themed around the popular children’s books ‘Zog’ and ‘Zog and the Flying Doctors’. At the bottoms there’s also links to some Key Worker times which you can join in with at home. Two of the videos will be of other Sphere Federation Early Years teachers and the story video will be either Miss Marsden, Mrs Small or Mrs Rippon.
If you are unfamiliar with the story, you can listen to it here and if you would like some quiet time, why not snuggle up on the sofa and enjoy watching it on BBC iPlayer.
Zog
Zog and the Flying Doctors
Reading
- What was your favourite part of the story?
- Can you remember the characters that the Flying Doctors helped in the story?
- What do you think princesses should be like?
- If you’d like a challenge, try completing this quiz
Phonics
As part of our Phase One phonics learning, we practise making different noises with our own voices.
– Can you roar like a lion?
– If you don’t want to wake the sleeping King, what could you say? ( Shhhhh)
– What noise does Zog make when he lands? (Bang, crash, thump!)
– What noise do you think Princess Pearl says when she sees a silly, frilly dress? (Eugh!)
Can you think of any other sound effects that you could make from the story?
Mark-Making
- Do you have some wrapping paper left over or some old wall paper? Turn it over and roll it out on the floor. Hold it down at the corners using some tins/books/tape. Can you draw a giant map for Zog to show him where to go? What will be on your map? You could draw some trees for a forest or a tall mountain. What about a castle or a river?
Parents: Remember, in Nursery, the process of mark making is the most important part. The end product may not ‘look’ exactly like you think it should, but the marks that your child has made will mean a lot to them. If you have time, try to draw a little bit with your child before leaving them to continue alone. As you draw, talk about your marks and what they show (keep them simple). It’s great if they can talk to you about what they are drawing as they make each mark. - Here’s a Zog colouring sheet if you have a printer at home. We try to talk about choosing the correct colour for things at Nursery.
- You might also like to try and follow the lines very carefully with your pen to help Zog win a golden star .
Maths
Watch this song about 2d shapes and talk about the names of the basic 2D shapes (circle, square, triangle and rectangle). Then, look at these pictures of castles and see what shapes you can spot. How you know it’s a triangle? How many sides does that shape have? Can you see a shape with a curved side?
Extension ideas
– Cut up a selection of different sized shapes and ask your child to create their own castle or maybe even a dragon picture. There are lots of ideas online. What shape would be good to use to make a doorway or window?
– Have a look on Google images at castles to see what other shapes you can spot.
Creative
– We love to create buildings using Duplo in Nursery. If you have Lego or Duplo at home, can you build a castle?
– Sir Gadabout has a shield and a sword in ‘Zog’. We know that some of you love to play ‘knights’ so maybe you’d like to have a go at making your own shields using any recycling items that you have such as cardboard delivery or cereal boxes etc.
– Role play being a doctor/nurse and help to make some of your toys better. Use your imaginations to think about what could be wrong; in the story, the mermaid has sunburn and the lion gets a sore throat. You could make a bandage (toilet roll) or use some old plasters that are hiding at the back of a cupboard somewhere.
Physical Development
Funky Fingers
Draw or print a dragon outline. Get some clothes pegs and show your child how to squeeze them to open them. Use the pegs to add spikes onto the dragon’s back (like in the dinosaur photo below). You could challenge them to add 2 blue spikes or 3 yellow ones.
Movement
Get moving and join in with this Happy Dragon dance!
Independence skills
In the story, the Lion has a sore throat and cold and needs to blow his nose a lot! Can you blow your own nose? Next time you need to blow your nose, get a tissue and look in the mirror. Hold the tissue to your nose, pinch your fingers gently around the tissue and blow. Remember to pinch and pull as you move the tissue away from your nose. Look in the mirror to check that your nose is clean and do it again if you need to. What’s the last thing that you need to do? Throw your tissue in the bin or flush it away and then wash your hands well.
Key Worker activities
Watch these videos (click on the two links below) and join in our Key Worker activity at home. Listen carefully to the clues and animal noises. Which animal is it?
Animal Guess Who video
If you enjoyed playing, have a go at the game at home. We’d love you to make up your own clue and send a video for us to guess which animal you have!
We often play games that help to develop our visual and memory skills. Look carefully at the animals and see if you can work out which is missing! You can easily play this game at home- just choose 5-6 items and find a tea towel or towel to hide them.
Animal memory game
Story Time – One Snowy Night read by Mrs Rippon
Click here to watch today’s story.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the story.
Parents: If you have any questions I am here to help. Please email your questions and photos to stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org and I will aim to respond the same day.