Routine

Re-establishing a school routine after the summer holidays can be a challenge so the key is to introduce it a few weeks before the children go back to school.

Starting to move the bedtime a little earlier and establishing that calm bath and story before bed can be really invaluable for children.

Also, taking a little time to practice children getting up, eating breakfast and putting their school uniform on is a good way to get everyone used to the school mornings coming up. Top tip - uniform after breakfast always helps eradicate a little morning stress if there are spillages!

Putting on Socks

A fun way to practice putting on socks is to use hair bands or scrunchies. Give children a pile of them and ask them to pull them all over their feet and onto their ankle. You could turn it into a game and time them or ask them how many they can put on. Then ask them to remove the hair bands by pulling them back over their feet. This is the exact action needed to put socks on so is wonderful practice.

Washing hands

Hygeine is an important independent skill and turning it into a fun game can help make it easier for children to remember to do whilst at school. Draw a tiny image on the palm f their hands and ask them to make sure they have washed their hands well enough at school that by the time they come home at the end of the school day the pictures have disappeared. Drawing a little heart on the palm of the hand can also be used for those with a little separation anxiety and worry. They can press the heart every time they need a little hug from you. A great grounding technique to support them through difficult feelings.

Name car park

There is nothing more important to a child than their own name so finding fun ways to learn to recognise and even and spell and write their own name gives them a  great sense of pride.

Label some toy cars with the letters of their name, draw a quick car park and ask them to park the correct car in the correct parking space.

Name pegs

There is nothing more important to a child than their own name so finding fun ways to learn to recognise and even and spell and write their own name gives them a  great sense of pride.

Place the pegs in the correct positions on the lolly sticks. This is also a great one for developing those fine motor skills.

Pre writing playdough

Often, children are more eager to practice letter and number formation if they feel like they aren't writing and we offer the possibility of a non permanent medium in which to write. Forming letters and numbers in playdough is great. They can practice and then they can flatten the playdough and start again! Using manipulative and fun tools like qtips is a great way for them to explore and practice. This activity is great for mark making, tripod grip practice and helping to develop hand eye coordination.

Gross motor jump

Gross motor skills are really important skills to build on and develop in the lead up to starting school. Activities where children need to climb, jump, swing, reach will help build those core muscles and strengthen their centre (all very important for correct sitting and writing positions). Using some chalk you could write letters or numbers on a trampoline or pavement and children can jump from one to another as you call them out. This is a great spelling activity when children get older too!

Using utensils

Using utensils at lunch time will be needed at school. Therefore, why not spend some time having fun practicing at home. Playdough is a safe, fun and very easy material to practice those cutting skills. Demonstrate how to place the fork into the food and cut with the knife and then let them have a try. Have lots of fun with it. Ask your child to make their own playdough meal and then give them some child friendly sized utensils and sit with them to practice cutting the ''food'' into small pieces. This is also a golden opportunity to discuss some of the foods they will be eating at school if you ahve the menu from the school. Often households have different names for meals and when children hear the name of a meal they dont recognise often they decide they dont like it before trying as they dont know what it is. This activity is a great time to discuss all of this.

Scissor skills

The 'thumbs up' method is a great way to teach correct cutting skills and drawing a smiley face on their nail is a fun way to learn the correct placement of the wrist and thumb/fingers for developing cutting skills.

Cutting with scissors requires the skill of hand separation which is the ability to use the thumb, index and midle fingers separately from the other two fingers.

Working with children on ripping with their hands first, requires them to pull their hands in opposite directions which helps develop their bilateral coordination.

Finger puppets, pipettes, spinner top toys, shape punchers are other great activities to try before introducing scissors. Teaching the correct way to hold and use scissors can be tricky.

Children from around age 3-4 can often start using scissors correctly but this skill is often not fully developed until around age 6.

Moving the paper they are cutting above eyeline or attaching it to a wall above them automatically ensures the wrist is in the correct place.

Once they have mastered the correct positioning they can move through the stages of fringe cutting, snipping, continual cutting.

Pre writing skills

For children to be ready to start forming letters, they need to be able to create the underlying shapes that make up those letters. Fun activities with these shapes can help prepare and develop children's writing readiness. Pre writing shapes are strokes that most letters, numbers and early drawings are comprosed of. They are typically mastered in sequential order and to an age specific level. Check out the blog section of the website on school readiness for further information on these shapes. The important thing to remember is having fun with the shapes will really help children begin their writing readiness journey. Qtip painting is a great initial exploration and great for fine motor development helping prepare children for correct pencil grip.

Name shadow

There is nothing more important to a child than their own name so finding fun ways to learn to recognise and even and spell and write their own name gives them a  great sense of pride.

Cutting out the letters of their name from card and creating shadows on the walls is great fun!

Name pop

There is nothing more important to a child than their own name so finding fun ways to learn to recognise and even and spell and write their own name gives them a  great sense of pride.

Using a popit toy is always fun for children so writing on one in a board pen and asking them to pop the letters of their name can be great fun. You can make it more challenging by filling the popit with the letters of their name in different orders.

Pre writing methods

For children to be ready to start forming letters, they need to be able to create the underlying shapes that make up those letters. Fun activities with these shapes can help prepare and develop children's writing readiness. Pre writing shapes are strokes that most letters, numbers and early drawings are comprosed of. Placing beads or stickers onto drawn lines and shapes, creating shapes and patterns in coloured rice or salt, making marks in playdough or finding other materials at home to support children with pre writing opportunities can be really beneficial for children starting their writing journey.

Stick painting

Gross motor painting is lots of fun! Attach a paint brush to the end of a long stick using string or tape. Then layout some paper or cardboard and children can use the long stick to paint! Gross motor skills are those which require whole body movement and involve the core stabilizing muscles. Working on gross motor skills helps a child build confidence and strength in their bodies. This activity also develops vestibular sense and provides ample opportunity for crossing the midline. Physical activity and whole body core strengthening activities also support a child's ability to learn in so many ways.

Shoes

Learning to put shoes on and knowing which foot goes in which shoe can get a little complicated for little ones.

This quick hack makes it all a little easier! Cut a large sticker in half. Preferably, choose a sticker that has a top and a bottom like this dinosaur head and tail.

It makes it instantly visually clear to children, which shoe is needed on which foot.

Also, don't forget.... it's velcro all the way! Laces are too tricky for many young children so an easy buckle or velcro make everything a whole lot easier.

Wiping your bottom

To practice reaching those hard to reach places, have a little fun by popping some small stickers all over their shorts, then let them reach around to see how many stickers they can rescue!

Fine motor tweezers

A great fine motor activity is to provide children with some tweezers and ask them to pick up various items with them. To create your own fun DIY play tweezers, simply secure two lolly sticks with an elastic band and then a pom pom or cotton wool the top. Then enjoy lots of fine motor fun.

Name hunt

There is nothing more important to a child than their own name so finding fun ways to learn to recognise and even and spell and write their own name gives them a  great sense of pride.

Print their name in a small text and ask them to use a magnifying glass to read the text.

Name blow

There is nothing more important to a child than their own name so finding fun ways to learn to recognise and even and spell and write their own name gives them a  great sense of pride.

Party blowers or bubbles with the letters of their name written on is a brilliantly fun and also great for strengthening the mouth muscles to support good speech.

Scissor skills

Cutting with scissors requires the skill of hand separation which is the ability to use the thumb, index and midle fingers separately from the other two fingers. Working with children on ripping with their hands first, requires them to pull their hands in opposite directions which helps develop their bilateral coordination. Finger puppets, pipettes, spinner top toys, shape punchers are other great activities to try before introducing scissors. Teaching the correct way to hold and use scissors can be tricky. Children from around age 3-4 can often start using scissors correctly but this skill is often not fully developed until around age 6.

Moving the paper they are cutting above eyeline or attaching it to a wall above them automatically ensures the wrist is in the correct place. Once they have mastered the correct positioning they can move through the stages of fringe cutting, snipping, continual cutting.

Fly swat painting

What could be more fun than painting with fly swats! A wonderfully simple and creative gross motor activity. Jus