Family Natters

Teddy bear, teddy bear, dance on your toes
Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch your nose
Teddy bear, teddy bear, stand on your head
Teddy bear, teddy bear, go to bed
(Shhh! with finger to lips)
This nursery rhyme should be sang whilst moving a teddy bear through the actions.
It helps children:
- associate sounds with actions
- learn action words
- listen and […]

If you wish to teach your children how to form letters before they start school, click here to see free examples of how it should be done.   So as not to confuse them it is best if they are shown the correct method from the beginning.  The black dots and arrows show where to start and in which direction to move in.  […]

If you want to experience the adrenaline rush of a terminal velocity free-fall with very little risk, why not try Airkix’s specially built wind tunnel at Xscape Milton Keynes.  There are various packages you can buy in increments of 1 minute and there are options to also have photos or a DVD made of your flight, but roughly it […]

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult is the most engrossing novel I have read for a long, long time.  Infact it was so ‘un-put-down-able’ that I had no option but to let the house get in to an even bigger tip than usual while I read it.  It’s one of those books that is so well written […]

Click on and print out this free frog template: Kids Art: Free Spotty Frog Template Foundation Stage (do this by right-clicking your mouse, print, then changing the page scaling option to ‘fit to printer margins.’)
 You can then photocopy it on to green card, or cut it out then use it as a template to reproduce others on […]

 War is a children’s card game for 2 + players, (approx age 4+ ). It can give children practice of comparing numbers and deciding which is more or less.
Aim:
to collect the entire deck of cards
Rules of play:

shuffle and evenly deal out the cards so each player has a face-down pile
each player turns over his […]

Here are ideas on how to make your child’s packed lunch nutritious, tasty and appealing.  The suggestions are in line with the UK’s School Food Trust which recently released a model packed lunch policy which asks that packed lunches should not include:

 snacks such as crisps
confectionery such as chocolate bars, chocolate-coated biscuits and sweets
meat products […]

Kids card games are useful because they:

develop social skills

give children motivating practice in mental maths

provide hours of entertainment in a small package

 
Below are links to popular children’s card games and their rules:

Snap

Crazy Eights

Go Fish

Happy Families

Old Maid

War

Concentration

Slapjack

Patience

Sevens

New Market

Cheat

Happy Families is a children’s card game for 2 to 6 players, (approx age 5+ ).  It is similar to Go Fish.  It is best if you buy a pack of special Hppy Family cards, but if not a deck of regular cards can be used.  Possibly some people may disagree with this game on the grounds that all the […]

Go Fish is a children’s card game for 2 to 6 players, (approx age 5+ ).  It is similar to Happy Families.
Aim:
to make the most matching card sets
Rules of play:

shuffle and deal 6 cards to each player facedown
put the remaining cards in the center of the table to form the drawer pile
everyone looks at their cards […]