Created on: 22 Dec 2020 | Last modified: 10 Apr 2024
HWB Focus: Mental and Emotional HWB, Relationships, Food and Health
Week 1
Introduce the book, ‘If I was a Banana’ by Alexandra Tylee . They can listen to the story being read here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QZDwlQMNh8.
Encourage the children to think about what they would be if they could be anything in the world and why. Invite the children to write about this and illustrate their story with colourful drawings.
As an extension activity, ask the children to think about what two/three things they like best about themselves and to capture this in their drawing too. Maybe the class can gather all the ideas and create their own book, ‘If I was a ….’
Invite the children to think about how the colour yellow makes them feel? If the children had to link the colour to a feeling, what would that feeling be? Usually, yellow makes us feel happy. At this time, we want to spread happiness to others. Ask the children to think about someone they would like to make happy and what they could do to achieve this. This might be helping out around the house, telling the person a joke or even singing them a song!
Perhaps the children could make their own daffodils or paper flowers for that special someone. Here are some links to activities of different complexity which might help – https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/bunch-of-daffodils or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpsna9A7WdI or https://stillnomore.org/paper-flowers-for-kids/
Time for the Yellow Food Challenge. Can the children create a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner of only yellow foods – remember it has to be healthy (well, custard lovers and vanilla ice cream fans could sneak in a little treat!). And they have to eat it too! Maybe they could record their day at home on video or take pictures of the food they are eating. Then, share them with the class for everyone to see! Here’s how one family who only ate yellow for 24 hours got on - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqwDcAhDsjc
Week 2
To keep the focus on happiness, introduce the book, ‘On a Magical Do Nothing Day’ by Beatrice Alemanga. In the book, the little girl loses her electronic device and explores outside. She is amazed by the happiness she discovers in exploring nature and finds wonderful things that she has not noticed before. To listen to the story, you can us this link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBjB5HJASec
Invite the children (and their parents/carers) to go for a ‘Magical Do Nothing Day’ walk in the neighbourhood or even just to go outside and explore in their garden. Alternatively, take the children outside during the school day. Take some time to notice the things that they might not have noticed before – what shapes are the clouds, what insects and bugs can they find, what birds are flying around, what are the trees like, what noises can they hear, what smells are there, perhaps from the flowers? Encourage the children to use all their senses to notice what makes their neighbourhood or school special. They might want to capture some of this on video or by taking pictures.
The children might want to explore the creatures who live in the school garden or in their own garden or area a bit more. They could build a bug hotel and see who comes to visit - https://www.yocom/watch?v=OexxoXo9uFk
Ask the children to tell the story of their ‘Magical Do-Nothing Day’. Encourage them to do this in whatever way they want and to be as creative as possible. Some might want to tell the story orally and record it. They might want to use the pictures they have taken. Others might want to use art and capture the images and feelings through a drawing or painting. Others might want to write about it or perhaps even make up a poem.
With all that fresh air, I am sure the children will be hungry! What about baking banana bread? Recipes can be found here - https://www.booktrust.org.uk/globalassets/resources/time-to-read/2018/little-monkey-banana-bread.pdf or https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/banana-bread
And wash it down with some home-made lemonade - https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/really-easy-lemonade
Now it’s time to be a bit silly. The children might like to hear Michael Rosen’s poem, ‘Attacked by a Banana!’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v36XiaAnqiA
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