DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGIES

Already a week in to the break for some and it has been very quiet around the school as we get ready for learning at home in the immediate future. Fortunately, the strong start to the year has left us well prepared to pass on some activities to keep up familiar routines from the comfort of your kitchen table! The learning goals in Design and Technologies align with literacy and numeracy goals so there are no extra tricky steps – our aim is just to have a go!

Students may use this time to practise fine motor skills: try using a pair of safety scissors to cut out pictures from old magazines, birthday cards, or store catalogues. Too easy? Find pictures that have  items starting with a certain letter or only cut out letters. Unfold paper bags (adult), envelopes or cereal cartons and use tape or glue to put them back together (student). Move small items like buttons, blocks, snack foods etc from one bowl to another using tongs. Use an eye dropper to squirt water into an ice cube tray. Set timers for 5 minutes and rotate activities for 15-20 minutes each day – stop when it’s still fun so children are happy to do it again. As our focus this semester is on food and fibre, casual chats about the origin off familiar foods (milk, eggs, meat) at meal times, and fibres (wool, paper), when getting dressed or colouring in, is all you need to do to stay on top of this topic over the break. The days of sitting at a desk for hours are over, learning at home is not the same as home schooling but in times of uncertainty, keeping up with some familiar routines can reduce anxiety and keep your kids calm. See you on the other side! Jodie