We hope you stay safe and find some shade to cool down during this period of very hot weather. While our Groundwell Road site is closed, here are some activities to keep you busy:

Day 1

Activity 1 - Phonics: Sound Hunt

Focus: Recognising sounds and letter-sound correspondence

• Choose a sound from the alphabet (e.g. s, a, t, p, m, d).
• Look around your home and find 3–5 objects that contain that sound.
• Draw the objects you find.
• Write the initial sound or try writing the whole word.

Challenge:

Write a simple sentence using one of your objects.

Example: I can see a sock.

Activity 2 - Maths: Number Treasure Hunt

Focus: Number recognition and counting

• Find numbers around your home (clocks, books, packaging, doors, remote controls).
• Record the numbers you find.
• Order them from smallest to largest.

Challenge:

Choose one number and show that many jumps, claps or star jumps.

Activity 3 - Creative: Nature Picture

Focus: Observational drawing and creativity

• Look out of a window or spend a few minutes in a shaded garden.
• Draw what you can see:
  • trees
  • clouds
  • flowers
  • birds
  • insects
• Add labels if you can.

Challenge:

Write a sentence describing your picture.

Day 2

Activity 1 - Phonics: Sound Hunt

Focus: Recognising sounds and letter-sound correspondence

• Choose a different sound from Day 1.
• Find 3–5 objects around your home containing that sound.
• Draw and label the objects.
• Write the initial sound or whole word.

Challenge:

Write a sentence using one of the objects you found.

Activity 2 - Maths: Hidden Numbers

Focus: Number recognition and ordering

• Write numbers 0–20 on small pieces of paper.
• Hide them around one room.
• Find the numbers and put them in order.

Challenge:

Hide only some numbers and work out which numbers are missing.

Activity 3 - “Keep Cool” Challenge

Design a poster showing ways to stay safe in hot weather.

Include and label:

• a sun hat
• a water bottle
• a shady spot
• sun cream

Additional Maths Challenges

Choose 2 or 3 activities:

⭐ Find 5 circles in your house.

⭐ Count 20 objects.

⭐ Make a repeating pattern.

⭐ Find something longer and shorter than your arm.

⭐ Build a tower with 10 blocks or household items.

⭐ Find numbers 1–10 around your home.

⭐⭐ Make two groups that total 10.

⭐⭐ Order numbers to 20.

⭐⭐ Compare two containers and decide which holds more.

⭐⭐⭐ Create your own maths challenge and teach it to someone at home.