Encouraging Reading

As this year is the National Year for Reading and next week includes World Book Day, I thought I would write a post about how parents can encourage their children to read. Most parents (and grandparents) want their children to do well at school and want to support their learning so here are some ideas to help. The trick is to find ways of fitting this into busy schedules and to keep it fun. Even very young children can benefit from 'sharing books' − discussing pictures, looking at words, talking about the story and characters.

When trying to start reading activities with your children it is important:

• keep it short
• choose the time carefully − not while your child's favourite TV programme is on or when they are tired etc
• do it regularly − 10 minutes every day or three times a week is better than trying to fit in a 'long session' at the weekend
• make it enjoyable
• understand the task and the learning purpose
• use rewards.

Some ideas for reading activities:

• use the local library for free access to a variety of different books to stop you getting bored of the same ones (unfortunately young children do like repitition so be prepared to need to read the same book every day for weeks!).
• play reading games including; I spy, bingo, letter and word lotto, word jigsaw games for example, Nonsenses and Pass the Word
• put a word of the week on the fridge, you could use word flashcards or magnetic words / letters
• find time to listen to your child read and read to them.
• ensure that incidental reading is part of everyday activities; reading recipes, DIY instructions and travel brochures can all provide opportunities for reading in the home over and above books and comics
• read the same book as your older independent reading child and then then talk with them about the characters, the plot and their favourite parts.

Fine Motor Fishies

These new Fine Motor Fishies are a lovely addition to our range of fine motor activities.

These brightly coloured linking fish are great for developing fine motor skills (pre-threading skills) as well as teaching colour recognition, counting, sorting and sequencing / patterning. The set of comprises of 12 fish (3 of each colour; red, yellow, green and blue).











After linking these Fine Motor Fishies has been mastered, children can move onto Snap Beads before threading with the Floopy and the Chunky Threading Shapes and Beads which all enhance their fine motor skills.

Are you a fan of Littlesheep Learning?

If you like Littlesheep Learning and you are a member of the social networking site Facebook please become a fan! There will be lots of useful information on there including special offers and discount codes so it's well worth being part of!

National Year of Reading

Did you know that 2008 is the National Year of Reading?

The National Year of Reading (NYR) is a year-long celebration of reading, in all its forms. It aims to help build a greater national passion for reading in England – for children, families and adult learners alike.

The NYR is being managed by a group of organisations committed to promoting reading, led by the National Literacy Trust and The Reading Agency, and on behalf of the DCSF.

If you haven't planned any events for your toddler group / preschool / nursery / school then don't worry - January to March in the National Year of Reading is the challenge period for organisations to decide what their activities throughout the year will be. Then April to December sees the public phase of the campaign and the monthly themes - look out for more details after the launch. Some things are already planned - check out the What's On pages to see anything happening near you.

New Money Games

I've just taken delivery of the first of my new stock chosen at the Spring Fair - lots of exciting new Orchard Toys games including two new games to help children learn about money: Pop to the Shops and Piggy in the Middle.

Pop to the Shops is a favourite among many of my friends' children (look out for their reviews!). It is a fun shopping game which helps children learn about handling money and giving change. Each person goes from shop to shop using plastic money to buy lots of different items. This game is for 2-4 players, and is suitable for children aged 5-9 years.

Piggy in the Middle is an exciting game to help children learn about saving and spending money. As you travel round the board you earn and spend your pocket money as you race to fill your piggy bank! How much money can you save? For 2-4 players, suitable for children aged 5-10 years

Mumszone Auctions - like Ebay but better!

Mumszone now have a fantastic new online auction facility - just like Ebay but much better.


Sign up for just £15 a year and list as many items as you want! No other charges apply unless you want extra features. You can even set up your own shop!

There are lots of great items from work at home mums (WAHM) businesses plus personal sellers items. So brilliant bargains and a superb range of products to choose from.

Take a look at Littlesheep Learning's auction items here. Happy shopping.

Toddler Property Law

I found this whilst tidying up and it certainly rings true to me from my experience of toddlers!

1. If I like it, it's mine
2. If it's in my hand, it's mine
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine
5. If it's mine, it must never, ever, appear in any way to be yours
6. If I'm doing or building with something, all the pieces are mine
7. If it looks like mine, it's mine
8. If I saw it first, it's mine
9. If you are playing with it and put it down, it's mine
10. If it's broken, it's yours

Join in the Chatterbox Challenge

February 2008 sees the UK’s biggest nursery rhyme sing-along when I CAN’s Chatterbox Challenge kicks off. Thousands of children from all over the country will once again be performing their favourite rhymes, raising money for children’s communication charity I CAN.

Budding Bo Peeps and Little Jack Horners will be learning the words, rhymes and actions to old favourites and some exciting new songs, helping to highlight the importance of children’s communication. Supported by Openreach, a BT Group business, I CAN’s Chatterbox Challenge has become a firm favourite in the calendar, with parents and teachers alike all recognising the importance of fostering speech and language skills through nursery rhyme repetition and sound patterns.

I CAN Chief Executive Virginia Beardshaw says: “The Chatterbox Challenge is a really fun, simple and inclusive way for children of all ages to sing along to their favourite nursery rhymes, invent actions and enjoy a fantastic fun filled day. Whether taking part at nursery, with a childminder or at home, all the activities included in the free pack have been specifically designed by teachers and I CAN speech and language therapists with speech, language and communication development in mind.”

“Communication is the foundation life skill, yet one in ten children in the UK has a speech, language and communication difficulty. I CAN’s Chatterbox Challenge sees all children taking part benefit from the fun and educational activity, whilst also raising money and awareness to help others who struggle to communicate.”

You Can Join In!
If you want to join in - head down to your local Early Learning Centre on the 12th February (tomorrow) to add your voice by singing a favourite nursery rhyme for I CAN.

Visit www.chatterboxchallenge.org.uk for further information

'Write a Review' Competition

Win a copy of The Usborne Book of Everyday Words - Each page in this first words book has a scene or category with labelled objects to discuss, an excellent resource to encourage the direct association of words with objects and reinforce known words.

To enter all you need to do is to write a review of one of the products sold at Littlesheep Learning. You will get one entry for the draw for each review that is accepted and the winner will be chosen at random on 31st March 2008.

To write a review of a product, log in (you may need to create an account if you don't already have one), choose the product to review, click on 'Reviews' and then on 'Write Review' and add your review!

Please note: We will accept reviews of products we stock even if you haven't bought them from Littlesheep Learning.

Competition Winner

We are pleased to announce the answer to the competition question: What colour is granny's shawl in the Little Red Riding Hood Puppets? is blue

And the winner of the Goldilocks and the three bears puppet set is Suzi from Walton on Thames.

Look out for new competitions coming soon on our Competition page.

Down on the Farm

Another post in our series based on the activities at the Stay and Play group we go to. This post is based on helping children learn about farm animals.

Activity Ideas

• Visit a farm
• Play listening games e.g. Cock-a-doodle Moo!
• Make a farm collage - cotton wool makes great sheep, stick on feathers for ducks, use real grass, leaves and twigs to creat the fields and foil to create a pond
• Play with farm animals or finger puppets

Books

• The Usborne Farmyard Tales collection by Heather Amery
• 1001 Things to Spot on the Farm by Gillian Doherty
• Muddle Farm by Axel Scheffler
• Noisy Farm by Rod Campbell
• Farm Animals (Usborne Beginner Series) by Katie Daynes

Songs and Rhymes
In addition to the many songs and rhymes about individual farm animals for example; Baa Baa Black Sheep, Five Little Ducks and This Little Piggy went to Market, there are lots of songs farm animals collectively.

Old MacDonald had a Farm
Old MacDonald had a Farm
E-i-e-i-o
And on that farm he had a [pick a farm animal]
E-i-e-i-o
With a [animal noise][animal noise] here and a [animal noise][animal noise] there
Here a [animal noise], there a [animal noise], everywhere a [animal noise][animal noise]
Old MacDonald had a Farm
E-i-e-i-o

I went to visit a Farm one Day
I went to visit a farm one day I saw a [farm animal] across the way
And what do you think I heard it say?
[Animal noise],[animal noise],[animal noise],
[Animal noise],[animal noise],[animal noise],[animal noise],
That's the way it goes
[Animal noise],[animal noise],[animal noise],[animal noise],
Everybody knows.

Repeat these songs as many times as you want using, cows, sheep, ducks, horses, pigs and any other farm animal you can think of.

Last Chance...

to enter our competition and to get your bargains in our January sale today!

Walking through the Jungle

Children love jungle animals and there are lots of different ways you can encorporate jungle animals into children's play and learning. Children's stories are often technically incorrect when talking about jungle animals as they generally include animals of from the african plains /savannah.




Activity ideas:

• Visit a zoo and look at the animals
• Create a collage of all your favourite animals
• Play with zoo animal finger puppets or toy animals
• Look at the patterns on different animals skin - which ones are spotty / stripey
• Talk about the noises the different animals make

Books:
Some of our favourite books related to jungle animals are:

• Walking through the Jungle by Julie Lacome
• Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae
• Down in the Jungle by Elisa Squillace
• Peekaboo Jungle! by Emily Bolam

Songs and Rhymes:
There are many different songs that include jungle animals for example:

Five Little Monkeys

Five little monkeys swinging in a tree
Teasing the alligators, you can catch me, you can catch me....
Along came a alligator quiet as can be.......
And snapped that monkey right out of that tree!

Four little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing the alligators, you can catch me, you can catch me....
Along came a alligator quiet as can be.......
And snapped that monkey right out of that tree!

Three little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing the alligators, you can catch me, you can catch me....
Along came a alligator quiet as can be.......
And snapped that monkey right out of that tree!

Two little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing the alligators, you can catch me, you can catch me....
Along came a alligator quiet as can be.......
And snapped that monkey right out of that tree!

One little monkey swinging in a tree,
Teasing the alligators, you can catch me, you can catch me....
Along came a alligator quiet as can be.......
And snapped that monkey right out of that tree!
No little monkeys swinging in a tree

The Elephant

The elephant goes like this and that
He’s terribly big and terribly fat
He’s got no fingers and he’s got no toes
But goodness gracious what a big nose

Sale Now On!

We are pleased to announce that the January Sale has now started at Littlesheep Learning, there are savings on all the Orchard Toys Games, lots of Usborne books and lots of other things. There are savings of up to 50% - Some are discontinued lines so won't be restocked, some have damaged packaging and others are just a fabulous deal! Take a look!

January Competition

Win a Goldilocks and the Three Bears Puppet Set. This lovely four puppet story set comes with a detailed story card to help you tell the story. Goldilocks is a walking finger puppet which means you can put your fingers down the back of her legs to make her walk and the three bears are traditional finger puppets. This lovely story set, comes in a see-through PVC handy storage bag and is great for children learning traditional tales or beginning role play activities.

To be in with a chance of winning this puppet set please email us the answer to the following question:
What colour is Granny's shawl in the Red Riding Hood Story Puppets Set?

Competition closes on 31st January 2008.

Competition Winner

We are pleased to announce that the winner of Littlesheep Learning's Christmas Competition is 6 year old Daniel from Saddleworth.

Here is his winning tree:

Happy Christmas for the Birds

I provided some Christmas / winter themed activities for Sally at Treehugger Mums as part of her Christmas countdown series which she is posting on her blog each day in the run up to Christmas.

One of them is bird feeders and as it's started getting frosty we're going to make some this afternoon (plus wrap a few up for grandparent presents!).

You will need:
Yoghurt pots and string
Good quality birdseed, raisins, peanuts, grated cheese
Suet or lard,

How to:
Carefully make a small hole in the bottom of a yoghurt pot (if you are making them as gifts decorate the pot first).
Thread string through the hole and tie a knot on the inside.
Leave enough string so that you can tie the pot to a tree or your bird table.
Cut up the lard into small pieces and put it in the mixing bowl.
Add the other ingredients to the bowl and mix them together with your fingertips.
Keep adding the seed / raisin / cheese mixture and squashing it until the fat holds it all together.
Fill the yoghurt pots with bird cake mixture and put them in the fridge to set for an hour or so.
Hang your bird feeders from trees or your bird table and watch for birds.

Children can have fun identifying birds by matching what they look like to a picture book. Will a Christmas robin visit your garden?

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We've just been decorating our tree and I've realised that even something as simple as this can offer endless possibilities for learning and generalising knowledge.

First, there is the waiting - that is the bit where the adults are putting on the lights! Our pre-schooler found this very difficult as he was very excited to be involved in decorating the tree.

Then the decorations, these hold several different learning opportunities, you can label the items - tinsel, baubles, beads and the ornaments - snowmen, angels, Father Christmas, reindeer. You can practice colours and shapes (depending on your decorations!). You can practice prepositions / adjectives / opposites - on the tree 'v' off the tree, high 'v' low, top 'v' bottom, put it next to the star / above the snowman / below the bauble / under the tree.

Lastly there is the big lesson of not touching the finished tree! Our toddler is still learning this one so I keep being presented with the baubles with him saying 'ball'.

Paperchain Learning

We've been making paperchains and whilst threading, looping and sticking (and stapling!) I started to think of all the learning opportunities that this activity can create.

Firstly, if you aren't using a pack of precut strips (like we did) then there are lots of skills needed to prepare your paperchain strips and then the paper needs to be measured and lines drawn on using a ruler or folded to divide up the page, then the strips need to be cut practicing scissor skills.

Whilst making the paperchain, the repetitive threading is an excellent fine motor task. Incidental learning can also occur if you label the colours / pictures on your paper strips or make patterns with different colours to practice sequencing skills. Precut strips are often gummed so licking and sticking the ends is good for children who have oral-motor difficulties and need to practice sticking their tongue out. Fixing your chains with a dab of glue or sticky tape will help children co-ordination and using a small stapler is also great fine motor skill practice.

Have fun making your paperchains this Christmas.

Christmas Colouring Sheets

Did you know that at Littlesheep Learning we have a whole host of Christmas colouring sheets that are FREE to download? These simple picture outlines are great for young children who are just starting to colour in. There are currently five to choose from Christmas tree, Elf, Father Christmas, Robin and Snowman. There are also a range of activity sheets targetting matching skills, finding the 'odd one out' and wordsearches of varying difficulties. Look out for more worksheets being added soon.

Also don't forget that your children can enter our Christmas Colouring Competition by decorating a Christmas tree outline and sending it to us. Look out for the best trees being featured here later this month.