This week the work will all be linked to the story ‘Owl Babies’ by Martin Waddell.
Communication Language and Literacy.
Talk about feelings with your child. How do they think the baby owls felt at the start of the story? How would they feel if they woke up all alone? Talk about the different feelings throughout the story and relate it to your child’s experiences.
Perhaps you could draw some faces for your child to use to help them talk about and explore the feelings of the characters in the story. Draw a simple sad face, a happy face and a worried face. Ask your child to point to the correct face to show how the baby owls are feeling.
Make owl puppets and retell the story. Use 4 socks. Cut out some paper eyes and beaks and stick these onto the socks to make owls (Mummy owl and 3 babies).
Use the puppets to retell the story with your child. Can your child make the puppets move like the owls in the story? Can they jump up and down on the branch, or fly through the night like Mummy Owl?
Owls are awake at night time. This video explores night time sounds. Encourage your child to listen carefully to the night time sounds.
Here is another owl story for your child to enjoy. This story contains rhyming words.
Each of the baby owls has their own name. Can your child remember the names? Ask your child to practise writing their own name.
Maths
There are 3 baby owls.
Count to 3 with your child. Can they do 3 claps? Count 3 fingers? Can they do 3 jumps? Can they point to the owls and count them?
Challenge your child to find three of different items. Can they find 3 socks? 3 dolls? 3 cups? 3 books etc. Ask them to count and check that they have 3 items each time.
Here is a song to emphasise 1,2,3
The three baby owls are different sizes: Sarah is big, Percy is middle sized and Bill is small.
Follow these links to play games where your child can sort objects according to size.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Early-Years.html
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/early-years/lets-compare
Cut some circles and triangles out of paper – can your child use these to make an owl?
Use these shapes to go on a shape hunt! Can your child find a triangle in your house? Can they find a circle? Talk about squares and rectangles too – can they find objects that are squares or rectangles?
Sort the objects according to their shape. Talk about pointy corners and the number of sides each shape has. What is the same about the shapes? What is different?
Here is the link to a game where your child can match shapes and feed the shape monsters!
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/early-years/shape-monsters
Here are some links to the next episodes of number blocks to watch with your child. I would suggest that your child watches 1 episode a day. Please watch them in the order listed as they follow on. I have repeated the first link from last week as it emphasises 1,2,3
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08bzh11/numberblocks-series-1-one-two-three
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08d61cv/numberblocks-series-1-four
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08d630h/numberblocks-series-1-five
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08cr0y7/numberblocks-series-1-off-we-go
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08cr24d/numberblocks-series-1-how-to-count
Follow this link for an owl linked counting game.
https://www.tinytap.it/activities/g2mow/play/owls-number-match-counting-game-up-to-10
Here is a lovely owl counting song for your child to join in with.
Collect leaves and twigs on your daily walk or from your garden. Can your child sort the leaves according to size, shape or colour? Can they order the twigs according to size?
Understanding the World.
Owls are nocturnal. Explain to your child that this means they sleep in the day time, but are awake at night when people are asleep.
Watch this video about owls with your child.
This is another video showing more nocturnal animals – does your child recognise any of them?
Make a bird feeder to encourage birds into your garden.
pipe-cleaner-bird-feeder-craft-instructions
Make some binoculars using 2 cardboard tubes taped together and watch the birds in your garden – how many can your child count?
Can you bake some owl biscuits with your child?
Ingredients
Serves: 5
- 100g (4 oz) butter
- 50g (2 oz) caster sugar
- few drops of vanilla extract
- 175g (6 oz) plain flour
- White and brown chocolate buttons.
Method
Prep:10min › Cook:25min › Ready in:35min
- Preheat the oven to 150 C / Gas 2.
- Add butter and sugar in a bowl and mix well until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla, mix, then add the flour and mix well. Roll out to about 5mm. Cut into shapes.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Add eyes and beaks using the chocolate buttons.
Expressive Art and Design
Collect some leaves on your daily walk and create some leaf rubbing pictures using crayons. This video demonstrates how.
Or take some paper out with you and try some bark rubbings.
