Pool noodles for goal posts

With the World Cup in full swing, we have been practicing our football skills (or soccer depending on which side of the Atlantic you live on)  

Football is not just a great activity to develop physical skills such as kicking and foot-eye coordination but social skills and spacial awareness, to name but a few.

With two pool noodles, four chop sticks and a football, you can create your own mini football match.

                                     

Who knew there would be so much fun to be had with pool noodles! For other fun ideas of how to use your 'noodle' check out the following sites:

• www.parents.com for how to make obstacle courses and other backyard games. They even feature a football obsicle course, that gave me the idea for the activity.
• www.bathactivitiesforkids.com have some really fun games for noodle play in the bath. 

Who can play?

If your child is able to stand up, they can start practicing kicking or rolling a ball.

Safety:

Be careful with the chop sticks and ensure that the noodles are completely over them. If a child falls on them, they could poke them in the eye etc.

What did the Critique have to say?

"I think it's funny when my shoe flies off, when I kick the ball... I like passing the ball, it's tricky" Bee aged 3 years old.

What do you need?

• Four chopsticks 
• Two pool noodles
• One football

What did we do?

To make the football goal posts, first we had to push two chopsticks half way into the ground

Chopsticks placed into the ground

Taking the pool noodle, we placed each end on top of the chopsticks, ensuring that it reached the ground, creating an arch way.

Place a pool noodle onto the chopsticks

Repeat this again with another pool noodle and two chopsticks if you wish to make a football pitch.

We had a great time playing football. We talked about how in football we use our feet instead of our hands, learnt how to stop the ball with our feet and pass it to one and other. Bee also really enjoyed just practicing trying to kick it through the posts. We developed our social skills too as we took it in turns being a goal keeper and cooperated. 

Have fun and may the best team win :-)                  

The finished product

What did we learn?

• Communication, language and listening- listening to instructions, developing language by learning new words, such as dribbling, passing and scoring.
• Mathematical- counting goals scored. Developing Spacial awareness and directional language , such as pass it to the left/right.
• Knowledge and understanding- playing in the outdoor environment. As it is World Cup season, you could also talk about the different countries that are participating
• Personal, social and emotional- Fun and enjoyment. Taking turns and cooperating. Being involved in the same theme as someone else. Pride in learning a new skill or scoring a goal.
• Expressive arts and design- creating the arch with pool noodles. You could also experiment with making other shaped/sculptures with the pool noodles and chopsticks (depending on the child's age and stage of development)
• Physical- developing leg muscles. Passing the ball and aiming it into the goal. Running and stopping the ball with their feet. 

What could be done next?

• For older children add two yellow pieces of card, one red piece of card and a whistle. This will develop awareness of the rules of football and role play
• Try some of the another activities using pool noodles, as mentioned above.
• Invite friends over for a football match.
• As it is World Cup season, encorpate art and design, knowledge and understanding and literacy skills by making your own posters or flags of the world.

Herbal tea party

What better way to spend a beautiful spring morning than inviting your favourite toys to a tea party. Even better when the tea is made with items found in the garden.

                                                           

Who can play?

This activity is aimed for children aged three years plus, however children as young as two could enjoy this, but you would have to observe closely so they do not try to eat/drink the tea.

Safety:

Ensure that the plants your child is collecting are safe. Demonstrate how to pretend drink the tea and encourage children not to drink it, as this could cause tummy upsets.

If your child has pollen allergies this activity may trigger this.

What do you need?

• Your child's favourite cuddly  toys
• Picnic blanket
• Tea set
• Grass, flowers and other safe found objects in the garden
• Water
• Jug

What did we do?

To encourage writing skills, we wrote an invitation to Bee's  favourite toys, Big T, Mummy's bear and Ariel (from the Little Mermaid) inviting them to our tea party.

Once our invitation was accepted we set out the picnic blanket and sat the toys on top of it. Then we placed a jug of water and the tea set on the path.

Our next job was to go on a hunt for the perfect ingredients. Bee found some rose petals, leaves and...

... fresh rosemary. Bee loved smelling this and said "this will make my tea smell lovely"

We added the items to the jug of water and found a stick to stir it.

                                                   

Once Bee was happy with her herbal tea, she began pouring it into the tea cups. Most ended up on the pavement, but this was OK as she was practicing her hand eye coordination and spacial awareness skills.

 Mmmm, it is looking yummy!

Bee then began giving each of her toys a cup of her fresh herbal tea as well as a plate of grass.

Bee was getting really into this activity now and said that she wanted to make some soup. Adding some bowls and a ladle to her play, she began collecting more rose petals, grass, stones, pine cones and shells and made a delicious batch of 'Garden soup' as she called it.

When it was ready, she served up this delightful meal to her cuddly toys... By the look of Ariel, I think she may have had enough :-) She asked them did they like her soup and pretended to feed them all.

After a while Bee asked if she could use her chop sticks (that we brought home from a recent restaurant visit) This was a great addition to the activity as she practiced her fine manipulative skills, by trying to pick up the rose petals with her chop sticks and transferred them from one dish to the other.

Bee seemed to really enjoy this activity and stayed on task for a whole morning!

What did we learn?

• Communication and language- Talking to her soft toys and asking them questions.
• Physical development- Fine and large manipulative skills and hand eye coordination
• Personal, social and emotional- Making relationships, social skills, developing self competence, fun and enjoyment and being resourceful.
• Literacy- Learning how to write
• Mathematics-  Developing an awareness of space and measurement, when filling up the cups.
• Understanding of the world- Learning about  the world around them
• Expressive arts and design- Role play and  developing her own activities.

What could be done next?

• Make a cafe area to pretend to sell your home made tea and soup.
• Introduce glue and paper, so that you could make a collage with the flowers, grass etc
• Sing the song 'I'm a little tea pot' 

Leaf play

Sometimes an activity does not need to be planned or materials bought. Yesterday Isabella had the most fun just playing in a pile of leaves. Something so simple and natural kept my daughter entertained for the whole morning.

                          

This is not a first for her. When she was just one year old, she enjoyed this activity. You cannot beat playing in nature.                

Who can play?
Children aged one year plus

What did we do?

This activity was completely child led. Isabella created the activity and initiated her own learning. As you can see from the pictures, she was totally involved in her play. She displayed so many physical skills when throwing the leaves up into the air, running after them and chasing them in the wind.

                 

                 

Once she was done with running after the leaves she asked me if she could sweep them up... who was I to say no?!                                           
Isabella even did her bit for the community and said "I'm going to sweep the street, it looks dirty" and began to sweep the path.

                                                  

Isabella then introduced her bike to the play, and began to scoop up the leaves with a brush and shovel. She would then tip them into the basket at the back of the bike. 

              

Isabella then rode her bike to the paper bag at the top of the driveway. She was really pleased with herself when she poured the leaves into the bag (with a little assistance from me) and set off to clear the rest of the drive.

              

One happy child, one clean driveway and one fun morning.

What did we learn?
Personal, social and emotional development: Developing self esteem, independence and pride when achieving what she had set out to do. Helping out within her local community, when clearing the leaves from the pathway.
Knowledge and understanding of the world: Learning about the environment around us and weather conditions. When cleaning the pathway she was also learning about her community.
Creative development: Responding to experiences with regards to what she sees, feels and touches.
Physical Development: Operating a pedal bike, using both upper and lower arm muscles when throwing and picking up the leaves and using the brush and shovel.
Mathematical development: Counting the leaves and learning about capacity when filling up the basket on the bike and bag.
Communication, language and literacy: Talking about what she is doing and asking for items that she needs in her play.