Throughout 2017, our 125th anniversary year, we asked Norlanders, Norland students and staff to suggest activities for 1-'2'-5 year-olds. Here are their suggestions for things to do during the Spring months.
32. Draw around a hand and decorate with paint, glitter, crayons or even pasta. Go wild and it always looks effective. This activity encourages children's creativity and you can introduce new vocabulary to describe the textures and patterns. Sarah, Set 25
33. Make your own multi-coloured crayon blocks! Take your old crayons, crack them into a muffin tin. Melt in the oven for a few minutes and you have your own crayon block. This will allow for a great discussion about the effects of heat on wax and the change of state it creates. Becky, Set 32
34. Design a pair of tin can stilts. Make a couple of holes either side of two empty tin cans, thread a long piece of string through each can and use them in the garden to try and walk. Helps children to concentrate on their gross motor skills and co-ordination. Anita, Set 30
35. Create artistic characters from paper plates and let your imagination run wild. Lucy, Set 35
36. Once you’ve made the bird feeder, play Eye Spy and draw what you can see - good for the development of phonics but can be adapted for younger children by using colours or shapes as clues. Elizabeth Harvey
37. Celebrate St. David's Day by making daffodil decorated biscuits with a star-shaped pastry cutter. Cooking with children enables such deep learning - quantities, numbers, watching as the liquid becomes a solid, the development of small and gross motor skills - the learning is endless! Sarah, Set 25
38. Print with different objects such as toy bricks, plastic cars, toothbrushes, cotton buds. Be as creative as you like! Kathryn, Set 11
39. Decorate four lollipop sticks, glue corners to make a square, print out a favourite picture and you have your very own photo frame! Becky, Set 32
40. Play alphabet recognition bingo and use stamper markers to keep score. A great game for on the go which helps to develop an awareness of phonics. Dorcas, Set 29
41. Construct junk model musical instruments. Collect tissue boxes and elastic bands to make a guitar. Join a few kitchen roll tubes together to make didgeridoos. Fill cartons with metal bottle tops to make a rattle. Decorate the instruments using paints and see how colourful your band can be. Experiment with different sounds and express yourself through music. Lucy, Set 31
42. Go to the woods and discuss the wildlife and flowers. Talk about the seasons and the buds growing on the trees. Talk about some of the sounds you can hear. Replicate the sounds you hear by rustling leaves and banging sticks to make the wind and the birds. Laura, Set 26
43. Make a mud pie. Francesca Thorn
44. Cut out a flower shape to create a stained glass daffodil picture. Use pieces of torn tissue paper to stick to the underside of the flower shape. Once dry, attach to a window. You can use this activity to explore with children the effects of light passing through the coloured tissue paper. Sarah, Set 25
45. Hide toy figures and statues around the garden and play hide and seek. Helps develop memory and attention. Jenny Peacock
46. Make your our own beach by setting up a paddling pool and a sandpit. Collect shells from a previous visit to the beach and decorate a sand castle. Bury some costume jewellery in the sandpit and pretend to be a pirate digging for treasure! Use this activity to prompt recall about favourite holidays. Naomi, Set 35
47. Weave bits of old fabric through railings and create patterns to improve fine motor skills. Francesca Thorn
48. Go on a peg hunt indoors or outside. Hide clothes pegs for the children to hunt. Peg them at various heights, on trees, to toys, on curtains, on teddies and anywhere you can think of. Use bright pegs to help the children spot them. Great for visual discrimination. Gemma, Set 16
49. Cover the floor with a messy play mat, squirt with some paint and let children explore the different colours and textures through body painting, printing and drawing. A wonderful sensory experience which can be used to extend creativity and language.
Jess, Set 28
50. Construct your own bird feeder. Collect an old kitchen roll tube, spread with peanut butter and roll in seeds. Tie some string through the tube and hang outside on a tree. Watch the birds come along for a snack and discuss wildlife and nature. Becky, Set 32
51. Fill a mist bottle with water and clean all of the leaves in the garden. Great for fine motor skills development. Elizabeth Harvey
52. Re-create Elma from a recycled milk bottle and tissue paper. Use this to prompt recall about the book. Lucy, Set 35
