SET Recommended websites, apps and resources.
This website focus is on Gross motor skills. It is currently offering free access to Let’s Get Moving Gross Motor Classes to keep kids moving while teaching them fundamental movements in a fun and engaging way.
(Can be found at the bottom of the page you will need to scroll down to the end)
It has downloadable fine motor sheets are also available, which they have said will be added to throughout the weeks ahead.
Excellent website for fine motor skills . Continue to scroll down and click on relevant intervention programmes. Programmes include, foundation skills, hand skills, skilled hand use, visual perception, handwriting – letter formation, handwriting – fluency & speed.
Each programme has a 6 week block of work with 3 sessions per week. Each sessions is laid out and easy to follow.
sign up and log in to gain free access to reading comprehension. Fantastic resource for improving comprehension skills. When you log in take the pre- test and the it will recognise the students reading level and matches them with the appropriate text and questions.
Great fun way of developing your child’s phonics, blends and sight words and moving onto full sentences.
Free e books – all graded and easily accessible.
- NCSE website has online resources for children with special needs. Follow NCSE on twitter if available to you as they have various resources recommended daily. For example, Speech and language therapy & Occupational Therapy Top tips for Junior infants and Senior Infants.
- Upwords 2 (Symbol is scrabble tiles spelling UP with a grey background) and Boggle are both spelling apps recommended by Brendan Culligan, who is a lecturer and leading expert in the area of spelling development
- Hear builder app – can download onto tablets / phones etc .. (symbol is purple with a girl holding a teddy bear). This app is for improving auditory processing and listening skills, following a variety of directions to build their own toy factories.
A lovely website aimed at children with ASD but many children would benefit from it.
SIMPLE AT HOME ACTIVITIES
Following sets of instructions at home activities:
- Set the table
- Put on the washing machine.
- Simple games- run around the hoop, bounce the ball 10 times and run back
- Instructions: Can you get me the tin opener from the second drawer and a can of beans from the cupboard.
We also learn life skills through helping with chores at home, it is important we all play our part in running a happy home.That could be:
- Making your bed
- Emptying the dishwasher
- Help prepare a meal, set the table, clear the table
Cooking at home : In this link to the BBC Good Food website you are given a selection of baking recipes……………lots of opportunities to work together, talk through the process, follow instructions, measure, weigh, mix, bake and have fun…………..and eat delicious treats!!
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/kids-baking
When there is chatting, talking, discovery then there is learning – learning is not always book based
Motor skills
- Draw lines on a piece pf paper – wavy, straight, curved and varying degrees of difficulty and ask the child to cut them. Little tip if their elbow is sticking out when cutting ask them to hold the newspaper under their arm😊
- Make your own sandwich, breakfast
- Practice on an old shoe to tie your own laces.
- Learn how to make new knots on ropes.. great knowledge when making outdoor huts and camping.www.animatedknots.com or www.netknots.com starts at beginners and moves onto experts.
- Make cheerios’ bird feeders. Feed the cheerios onto a pipe cleaner or piece of string and hang on the tree outside.
- Tallest structure challenge>> use cocktail sticks and mini marshmallows to design a tall tower. google for ideas.
Reading & Phonics:
- https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/
- storylineonline.net (This website allows you to choose different books read by different famous actors/actresses……….great for all of the family)
- https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/ (This website is free at the minute when you register with the given username and password………….good for reading, practising blending, tricky words)
- https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/ (This website offers free e-books to read with your child)
- Plenty of independent reading is encouraged 😊
Maths:
- https://www.mathplayground.com/
- topmarks.co.uk (great bank of interactive games)
- https://www.multiplication.com/games/all-games (practise your tables!!)
Fun for everyone
- Treasure hunts inside and out.
- Board games (Guess who, Snakes and ladders, Monopoly, etc)
- Jigsaws
- Lego, blocks, train sets, meccano
- See how many fun activities you can complete https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y5InvKNFmKsEEOP2Sqec93kOxC1bwf6A/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/159KXp5nQkD6dZG5-4ITDszCKZrySF3Xs/view?usp=sharing
- Read recipes and help with the cooking.
- Read comics.
- Quizzes > https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/games/quizzes/
- Hide an object and tell your brothers or sister are they Hot or Cold when they looking for it… if they are cold remind them of cold places around the world— Antarctica, north pole… if they are hot remind them of the Sahara dessert or Sunny Spain.
- Use chalk, get outside and draw your own sensory path… stomp like a dinosaur, twirl like a ballerina, balance like a tightrope walker, do the monkey walk and fly on your tummy like superman.
- Hopscotch with a difference… using right / left hand and right and left foot… See hand and feet prints attached
Free nature scavenger hunt here!! Click on this link to find the free nature hunt sheet…………..this can be done in your garden or on a walk with your parents. Bring your sheet, tick off objects as you find them, take a photo of them if you like, collect objects from nature that could be used for rubbings or a spring collage. When you get home you could write a list of all you had seen/collected.
https://childhood101.com/nature-scavenger-hunt/
Making salt dough – if you don’t have any playdough at home and fancy making some and playing with it/modelling with it then follow this link. It can be used to complete little art projects or practise making your letters/numbers/your name. Great for building little muscles
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-make-salt-dough-recipe
if you need some help with geography, history or science then this website may be of help.
Learn how to draw!! Great channel for art ideas & learning how to draw step by step…………..Elsa, an Easter Bunny, Bull Shark from Fortnite, etc. Good for concentration & following instructions
https://www.artforkidshub.com/
Card games for all the family: playing cards is not only a great way to pass time on a spring evening, but card games are full of hidden learning opportunities for kids. Even very simple games such as Old Maid or Snap can teach your children basic developmental and sociological skills, from memorizing to thinking strategies.
https://wehavekids.com/parenting/Card-Games-For-Kids
Please find attached a sheet of “non-screen activities” that pupils can pick from below.