I hope this Monday finds everyone well, and hopefully starting to find a routine that works for you. Below you will find some activities to educate and entertain everyone – don’t forget that many of these will be as new to you as they are to your children, so make sure you join in on the fun as well!
One of my favourite people on social media is Adam Liaw. Yes, the food he creates is amazing (and he’s been posting some excellent advice and recipes for how to best shop, store and prepare food when you’re only visiting stores once a week), but as the father of three children, he also shares excellent advice on activities for children. Recently he’s posted the best way to make paper mache, and the surprising outcomes of his family’s device-free period each day. Many of the activities he shares don’t involve using the internet, so for those of you trying to keep an eye on device usage this might be a good one to look at. The best place to follow Adam Liaw is Instagram.
Most of us will be familiar with the wonderful picture books that Oliver Jeffers writes and illustrates. For the past couple of weeks Jeffers has been reading books aloud to children, as well as explaining their inspiration and composition in a way that makes my English teacher/visual literacy heart sing. I’ll also add that I taught picture books all the way through to Year 12, so don’t let any child tell you they’re too old to read a picture book! The videos of his readings can be found on his website. It would even be great to follow along if you have copies of Jeffers’s beautiful books.
Australians are incredibly lucky to have an amazing resource like the ABC. One of the best places to find education resources for children of all ages, after school of course, is ABC Education. Over the coming weeks, I’ll try and highlight some specific resources that can be found here, but in the meantime I wanted to bring this fantastic website to your attention. No matter what subject your child needs help with, or is interested in, you will find material here that you can trust are suitable for Australian children. It’s also wonderful to hear that ABC ME (channel 23) will be extending their education broadcasting next term to go from 10 am – 3 pm, and cover older children as well as early learners and primary students.
On the last ‘Learning from Home’ blog, I shared with you a link to the Sydney Aquarium. For all the animal lovers, today I’m going to share with you a link to Taronga Zoo. Taronga TV is their portal to live animal cams, keeper chats and feeding time. You will also find links to resources for teachers (parents that includes you if you’re home schooling!) and students, which you might like to use for the budding zoologists, vets and game keepers in your life.
I hope you’ve found something here to cover all the learners in your household – including you! I look forward to sharing more ideas with you on Wednesday.
Regards,
Jemma
To stay in touch with the Teachers’ Hub, please subscribe to our newsletter (the form can be found at the bottom of the page), where we will keep you updated with new releases, along with letting you know about great resources, activities and important news.
For more great content, please follow our social media channels on:
Facebook @HarperCollinsChildrensBooksAustralia
Instagram @harperkidsau
Twitter @harperkidsoz
where HarperCollins Children’s Books will be sharing reading recommendations, fun activities and insights into the world of making children’s books.
