5 + 5 Activity Resource (No. 2) – 5 Independent & 5 Cooperative Learning Activities to Try!

 

With another week of school closures ahead of million of pupils worldwide, I have once again put together a few suggestions to keep children active and learning in the coming days. As we welcome a new month, I have included some 30 Day Challenges your child may wish to participate in. Nothing here is prescriptive. These are simply some resources or activities your child may enjoy and, at the same time, benefit from. Pick and choose the suggestions that may work for your family, mindful of the importance of not undertaking too much.

 

I have included a link to a blank half-hourly timetable if this is helpful to you in planning and scheduling each day. Also, I include links here to some useful collections of resources I have collated as these may be useful to you if you are searching for ideas and resources for particular topics/target areas.

EPIC resource list 

Outdoor Games and Activities 

Indoor Games and Activities 

Speech and Language Activities

 

Here is my 5 + 5 activity list with 5 independent and 5 cooperative learning activities you may wish to try. You will note there is much overlap between the categories this week. Some of the independent tasks can be done collaboratively and the cooperative ones done independently if needs be. If you missed last week’s 5 + 5 guide, you can find it here.

 

5 Independent Learning Activities

 

1. This week, why not sign your child up for a 30-day maths challenge on The Maths Factor by Carol Vorderman to be worked on throughout the month of April?

2. Catch David Walliams reading aloud some of his stories. Alternatively, have your child search for their favourite author as many others are promoting reading in a variety of ways.

3. On Wednesday, find out more about the history of April Fool’s Day and investigate a trick played by a company that has fooled a lot of people.

4. Try the Wheelie Bin Challenge Can you kick a ball and land it in your wheelie bin? Try kicking the ball off the ground and from your hands. Alternatively, for younger children or those without outdoor space, try a beanbag/tennis ball and wastepaper bin challenge. Each time the ball lands in the bin, take a step back and try from further away. Can your child kick/throw the ball with their non-dominant hand and be successful too?

5. To promote well-being, you might like to print off a copy of the Action for Happiness Coping Calendar for April and have each member of the family undertake the daily suggestion.

 

 

5 Cooperative Learning Activities

 

1. Attached is another CardEd 5-Day Activity Pack, this time based on cards from set 2. The challenges involved are a little more difficult this week. If your children are younger and not yet ready for these, remember you can access our entire CardEd range for free until the end of April. The Activity Guide is packed full of suggestions for all ages. In this post, you will find links to the entire range, together with links to some CardEd blog posts which may give you some further inspiration.

2. For this week, how about selecting a family STEM activity from one of the Camp Wonderopolis options here?

3. That Brick Life has created a 30 Day calendar of LEGO activity ideas. Alternatively, there are 100+ STEM-aligned LEGO ideas here on Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls Older siblings may love helping younger ones with some of these LEGO Duplo activities.

4. If the weather is fine, why not create some outdoor art with coloured chalk. Use masking tape to create a frame and tape smaller squares, rectangles and triangles within this. Colour in between with chalk. Remove the tape, stand back and admire! Other outdoor activity ideas and games with chalk may be found at Makes and Takes.

5. Make time for family discussions and chats. I have put together a list of 300 discussion prompts to choose from. Simply have one person select a number between 1 and 300, locate the corresponding question and invite them to share their thoughts. In so doing, they will develop a range of valuable skills. Credit and thanks to Conversationstarterworld, Mantelligence and Bernadette Russell in the Guardian for many of the question prompts and ideas.

 

 

I hope these guides are helpful in pointing you towards some activities and resources to keep your children busy and making progress at this time. If you have any specific queries about teaching and learning, please do not hesitate to get in touch and I will endeavour to answer them.

 

Take care and stay well.