Become more aware of their activity levels Be encouraged to include more fruit and vegetables in meals Learn about fun sensory games Think about different emotions and how to express them Use reading to find out information about sports starts and sporting activities
Discussing and drawing what it means to be healthy. Completing an individual questionnaire on fruit and vegetables eaten in past week as well as any exercise taken. Listing who follows which sport. Making a bar chart for popularity. Choosing a book about sport to bring home and read.
Taking your pulse. Comparing before and after exercise. Recording measurements on chart. Naming games the children play outdoors. Naming games dads played when they were children? Listing active, semi-active games. Suggesting activities for keeping fit.
Helping children take cut-outs of food from shop fliers to create a lunchbox they would like. Choosing which samples of various lunch boxes with real food are healthy or not healthy. Making a real lunch box using healthy foods. Cost making versus buying lunch.
Working in pairs, dads and children find out when the body can lose its balance. Creating other fun-timed activities to explore balance, e.g., how long can you stand on one leg? Recording length of time on chart.
Drawing faces to express emotions. Sharing drawings with the group. Discussing the six main emotions, how to recognise emotion and how to support others.
Exploring a variety of games for all six senses. Taking turns. Discussing what makes the senses work.
Materials:
Magazines with lots of faces
A5 brown envelopes with various items
Questionnaire on fruit, vegetables and exercise
Flipchart paper
A4 coloured paper
CD player and selection of varied music
Other props for games as needed, e.g., food.
Scissors
Handouts
Pritt sticks
Blutak
Ask the children to name each sense and the part of the body they use for that sense.
Guess what’s in the envelope
Hide one mystery object in each A5 brown envelope. Using a raffle system, ask a dad or child to describe what’s in the envelope without naming the item. Long, soft, used in a door, etc. Others must guess.
Play 4 short pieces of music. In the pause after each piece, ask them to each draw something that piece of music made them think of. Stick the drawings on the wall and view. Guess which drawing is linked to which piece of music. Compare responses.
Ask for two volunteers to be blindfolded for a ‘taste test’ (check for food allergies). Ask them to use 3 words to describe the food they have tasted and then try to guess the food (e.g., crunchy, sour…a pickle?).
Have everyone share a memory of a smell they like, e.g., cut timber linked to grandfather cutting wood firewood. Discuss what ‘good smells’ and ‘bad smells’ communicate to humans/to animals.
Give each family a different optical illusion to explore. After a short while, ask them share what makes it an illusion with the group.
Using the senses to learn
The more senses are used when learning, the greater the learning will be. How can parents support their children in primary school using this idea? Discuss.
Literacy Links:
Following instructions,
Taking part in discussions,
Giving information,
Retelling a story/anecdote,
Using descriptive language,
Listening to others,
Communicating using non-verbal expression, Expressing facts, feelings, opinions
Numeracy Links:
Using maths words to describe objects, music, illusions, drawing shapes/lines. Taking turns.
