Hotspur Primary School

Activities

• Practise writing names. If your child can write their first name, get them to have a go at writing their surname.
• Practise phase 2 and 3 tricky words. Recognition then once your child can recognise them, write them. They can be found at the front of their reading records.
• Practise letter formation (see the picture below).
• 
• Read your reading books or any other books you have
• Practise writing numbers 0-20.
• Practise number formations.
• 
• Counting everyday objects (footsteps, stairs, toys as you tidy, sweets etc).

Web links

• Phonics play https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ChildrensMenu.htm

                 We really love playing Buried Treasure

• D K animal https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/animals-and-nature/

                Linking to our Topic

• ICT Maths https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting

               A great way to explore Maths games (make sure you’re in EYFS)

• Numberblocks https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b08bzfnh/numberblocks

               A fun way to learn your numbers

• Alphablocks https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b01cz0p1/alphablocks         

               A great way to practise blending

• Cosmic Kids Yoga https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga            Yoga through storytelling

Weekly Updates

Week Sixteen

Zooming to the Moon

This week why don't you use your imagination and go on a journey to the moon? Try dancing and moving along to the Sticky Kids when they zoom to the moon in this song. Enjoy the ride and don't forget your space boots. We would love to see you zooming to the moon on Tapestry! 

White Rose Maths 

This week there are maths home learning tasks based on the fabulous and very cheeky book called ' The Dinosaur That Pooped A Planet'. We can imagine all our reception children giggling away at this story! This link will take you to some fun maths activities you can try together at home: https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/early-years/ 

If you dont know the story, you can watch it here. It's very silly! 

Week Fifteen 

Yes or No Questions

A few parents have asked for additional reading materials.  Here is a fun way of reading with your child.  Print the questions, cut them up and place them face down.  Take turns to read the questions and answer them.  You could even sort them into yes and no piles.

Dancing Raisins

 This is an activity we love to do in Reception and it always amazes us.  Have a go and let us know on Tapestry what happened to your raisins. 

Week Fourteen

Starry Night

Each term we look at a painting and respond to it.  This painting links with our space theme as it is a beautiful painting of the stars at night.  In school we would create a giant piece of art but I wonder what you could do at home.  Perhaps use chalks on the pavement to recreate the stars, maybe you could use water colour paints to recreate the swirls or do you have another idea?  Upload your art to Tapestry as we would love to see what you have produced.

How to Catch a Star

Here is a story all about a boy who wants to catch a star. We think the boy in the story would love the Starry Night picture. Can you think why? Enjoy the story with your grown ups and maybe you would like have a go at building or drawing your own star catching machine? Show us your inventions on Tapestry. 

Week Thirteen

Without Gravity

Gravity is the force which keeps our feet on the ground.  The pretend image below shows children in their bedroom floating around because there is no gravity.  They look like astronauts in space.  I wonder what you would do if there was no gravity in your house for a day.  Would you dance on the ceiling?  Would you have a nap on top of the TV?  Have a family discussion about your ideas.  We would love to know what they are so share them with your teachers on Tapestry. 

100 Square Splat

Have a play with numbers. Can you splat of all numbers ending in 5, 2 or 0? Can you splat ever other number?

https://www.primarygames.co.uk/pg2/splat/splatsq100.html

Week Twelve

The Moon

This week we have two pages from a guided book about the Moon.  Ask your child to read these pages, remember to use your knowledge of single letter sounds and digraphs.   Can you find out a fact about the moon and write it down?  What is the moon made of?  Can you walk or drive on the moon?  What are the 'holes' or 'dips' in the moon called?  We would love to see your writing uploaded to Tapestry.

Week Eleven

SPACE ADVENTURES

Something very exciting happened last weekend. Did you hear about the rocket that launched into space? We thought it would be good fun to learn about space together this term. 

Below is a video where you can see the rocket launch. Make sure you join in with the countdown!

The two NASA Astronauts are Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley. Our challenge for you is to find out about other astronauts who have been on space adventures. Mrs Pearson's favourite astronaut is Helen Sharman because she was the first British person to go into space. How amazing! 

In the next video, the astronauts take you on a tour inside the capsule. Does it look how you imagined? 

Week Ten

Cookie and Dougie's adventures in Mrs Findlay's house

 This week Cookie and Dougie have been exploring all of Mrs Findlay's house.  They have been in the garden, hiding in the washing basket and more.  Your challenge is to use preposition words to describe where Cookie and Dougie are in each picture.  First use the words in a verbal sentence then try to write the sentence applying your phonic knowledge.  

under         above         next to          beside           between    below

on     in

An example;

Dougie is on the slighd.

Week Nine

Kim's game

 This is a game we play in reception to help develop our memory skills.  You need a tray and 7 objects from around the house.  The objects need to be small enough to fit in the tray.  Player 1 looks carefully at the tray to try and remember everything on it for 30 seconds.  Player 2 covers the tray with a towel and secretly removes one item.  Once the towel is removed player 1 has to work out which item is missing?  You can make the game harder by having up to 10 items in the tray.  Or make it easier by reducing the number of items to 5.  I wonder who has a good memory?  Have fun!

Spiral motif in white, black and indigo by Victor Pasmore

Each term in reception we look at a different painting and think about it, talk about it and respond to it.  This painting was our spring term piece of art.  Do you like it?  What does it remind you of? Can you recreate it?  Why not find out more about the artist?  

Week Eight

Super Listening Skills - Inside Sounds 

Here is another of our sound games to enjoy playing together. This time, can you listen carefully for the inside sounds? Which one is your favourite? What can you find in your house to make an interesting 'indoor sound'? We hope you enjoy playing. 

Week Seven

Talk 4 Writing

This week we are looking at the Happy poem on page 13.  Read this with your child then complete the activity on page 14 identifying objects from the poem. On page 17 there is a lovely way to practise your letter formation using a feely tray.  They recommend writing some action words but you could write any words you like; tricky words or even practise your name. 

P.E time!

Here are some animals Reception know well from our P.E lessons: Busy Bee, Christopher Caterpillar and Flossy Flower. Why don’t you have your own P.E lesson and demonstrate to your grown ups how to do them, after all you’re all such experts. You could even start with a lively sing to warmed up. We’d love to see some photos of you doing this on Tapestry.

Week Six

Moving and grooving!

Today is international dance day! Here is a lovely activity to do as a family.  Upload your dancing videos to tapestry so we can see your fabulous moves.

Super Listening Skills - Weather

Here is a fantastic resource from BBC schools radio, designed to support speaking and listening skills. Children will need to listen very carefully to each sound and relate it to their experience of the world. We hope you have fun listening, identifying sounds and chatting about the weather together. 

Talk 4 Writing

Here is an activity pack for you to enjoy.  Read the story to your child from pages 4 and 5.  Have fun discussing the characters and objects on page 6 and then see if you can match the words to the pictures on page 7. We'll do more activities from the pack next week. 

Week Five 

What could it be..?

Can you find an object in your house and think of a different way to use it? All the teachers know that our Woodland and Riverside children have the most wonderful imaginations and are so creative. We look forward to seeing your ideas on Tapestry. If you want to see the rest of the book you can listen to it below. 

Week Four

What do you call a group of butterflies?

This week we have a research task for you.  As we have been learning about animals one fun activity is to find our what groups of animals are called.  Mrs Findlay's favourite animals are owls.  A group of owls is called a parliament.  Think of your favourite animal then with help from a grown up research what a group of them are called.  There are some amazing names!  You could even draw a picture of them and upload it to Tapestry. 

Here is another of our core canon books for you to enjoy.

What do you call a group of cats?

A group of cats is called a clowder. It can sometimes be called a glaring, especially if the cats don't know each other well. A litter of kittens is called a kindle. Can you find more group names for this weeks  challenge? 

Week Three

Easter egg decorating challenge! Create a scene from your favourite book.  In Reception we love reading and Julia Donaldson is an author we read a lot. Here is a scene from one of her books 'Sugarlump and the Unicorn'. Please share any of your egg masterpieces on Tapestry so all the teachers can see them. Happy Easter!

Here is a weekly music class ran by local musician Claire Tustin, we think Reception will enjoy.                                                                          Thursday afternoon 2 pm - music class for 4 - 7 year olds via Zoom.      Email: claireltustin@gmail.com for the link. To find our more about Claire and her music visit her Facebook page lullaboogaloo. Make sure to post any photos or videos of yourselves getting musical.

Week Two

Here is a little challenge from Mrs Findlay, Cookie and Dougie.  Don't forget to send us your amazing photos and videos on tapestry.

Here is one of our Hotspur Core Canon books 'The Very Busy Spider'. We hope you enjoy listening to the story. You can tell your grown ups all about what happens. I wonder what your favourite story is? You can let us know on Tapestry. 

Week One

Teach your grown-ups some songs we sing in Reception.