Getting children active,

creative, problem

solving AND having a

lot of ‘wholesome’ fun –

with you!

Great activities to do with children:

• are a lot of fun!

• get them absorbed – sometimes for hours and hours!

• are well-suited to their age / maturity

• are really open-ended – there are loads of possibilities and can be accessed by all whilst providing great challenge

• provide lots of scope for problem solving

• spark lots of conversation

• put children at the heart of the activity

• involve being active – and not just stuck on an ipad / X-box etc!

Make a Boat for a ‘Pet Rock’!

Make a model boat for a ‘pet rock’ and float it

downstream. If you are wondering what a ‘pet rock’

is, you can pick one up from the ground outside and

there you are, you’ll have it, your very own ‘pet rock’

(you can even give it a name if you really want to !). You will need

to consider the design of your model boat and the materials you will

use (you may have a construction kit, such as KNEX, you could use) –

it will need to have buoyancy; be waterproof and be able to carry

your ‘pet rock’ without sinking. You could compete against your

family: which boat can travel the furthest? The fastest? Carry the

most rocks before sinking?

Pick fruit and create a pudding

Puddings made with fresh fruit can be really delicious! Is there

anywhere you can think of where you might be able to find some

fruit to pick? If so, all you’ll need next is a recipe, which

perhaps the internet might help you with.

You might even know an expert cook who

can share their skills with you.

You will need to collect the other

ingredients that you need for your recipe

and weigh them out carefully before working with an adult to

cook your pudding. This will really help with your maths skills

too!

Act it Out

Wow your friends and family with your stage presence as you act out a scene from your favourite film or programme. You could download a play-script from the internet OR write your own!

Helping children

with their inner

strength!

Who in the

world do you

admire?

We ALL want our children to be:

resilient

confident

independent

responsible

HAPPY!

Is this what we’re helping them with?

OR do we focus on the academic?

Positive Mindsets Personal Development The Community

To what extent do you agree or disagree with these statements:

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

1. Intelligence is something people are born with that can’t be changed.

2. You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.

3. No matter what kind of person you are, you can always change substantially.

4. You can always change basic things about the kind of person you are.

5. Musical / Sporting talent can be learned by anyone.

6. Only a few people will be truly good at sports – you have to be “born with it.”

7. Maths is much easier to learn if you are male or maybe come from a culture who values

maths.

8. The harder you work at something, the better you will be at it.

11. Trying new things is stressful for me and I avoid it.

12. I like trying new things; even if I don’t succeed at first I will learn something.

13. I often get angry when I get negative feedback about my performance.

14. I appreciate when people, parents, coaches, teachers give me feedback about my

performance.

15. All human beings are capable of learning.

16. Human beings are basically good, but their previous experiences can lead to them

making terrible decisions or doing the ‘wrong’ thing.

17. Truly clever people do not need to try hard.

18. Hard work is more important than ability.

Some famous figures who were, at first, discounted

through lack of ‘natural talent’

Michel Jordan

Albert Einstein

Paul Scholes

Mo Farah

JK Rowling What often happens to the ‘natural talent’?

A study was done in America, following

those who were the top high school

graduates filtering down to the best

University graduates. What became of

them?

Nothing out of the ordinary!

Fixed and Growth Mindsets:

Which of these ‘mindsets’ do your children have?

FIXED GROWTH

Believes ability is innate – ‘naturals’ are the best!

Believes learning will conquer initial lack of ability

Effort must mean lack of ability Effort leads to ability

Failure defines personality Failure provokes learning

Past successes are repeated Past successes are built upon

Afraid to take risks Takes risks, knowing they may fail

Threatened by others’ success Inspired by others’ success

What perpetuates the ‘Fixed Mindset’ or encourages a

‘Growth Mindset’?

•A view on intelligence and talent;•Labels;•Hidden messages and certain praise.

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE?

Well done, you did that really quickly.

I can’t believe how clever you are, you did that without really trying!

You are the Lionel Messi of this team!

I love reading your work. You think of such brilliant words and are such a good writer.

You’ve really tried hard to choose your words carefully in this writing.

You did that really quickly – whoops it was a little too easy.

That’s just what she’s like

She’s terrified of dogs

I was never any good at maths

either

It’s fine to be average

He’s not very academic

Growing Mindsets:

Children should be encouraged through incidental language to:

Be inspired by others achievements, NOT threatened;

Believe that great learning can come from not succeeding first /

second / third time;

Believe they CAN achieve, it’s just a question of working at it!

Take feedback as a chance to learn!

Ability is NOT fixed – it is cultivated! “I wasn’t any good at maths,

maybe it’s just not your thing!”

Self – esteem and Confidence

Succeeding with effort – everyone can!Succeeding with talent – reserved for an ‘elite’?

You can do it! … OR

… You can try!

Personal

DevelopmentHow often do we allow

them to reach their

‘stress zone’ and bring

themselves back?

How can we avoid them

feeling stressed? What

is the effect?

How soon do we step in

because we are worried

they might fail?

Personal Development

Growing a positive mindset

Thriving in a community

Being an increasingly effective and responsive learner Focus Perseverance Meta-learning Collaboration Empathy

Realising and expressing how new learning has changed you

Reflecting on learning, experiences and success with

completed work / the end result.

Developing physical coordination

Perseverance

I know what it means to persevere when things get tricky

I can tell when others are persevering

I give it a really hard try on my own before I ask for help

I try a different way if I get stuck

I know how to use resources in the classroom to help me

I can take a breather when I need to and try again

I ask a friend for help if I’m stuck

I know that perseverance most often leads to better learning and that I’ll feel better about myself if I really try

I can work out of my comfort zone for longer and longer

I can persevere in a wider range of activities

Personal Development – in the

curriculum

Reward the outcome? Reward the ‘perseverance’?

CreativityTaking inspiration from others to spark new ideas

Copying and mastering techniques

Connecting with the goal (including empathising with the

audience)

Exploring ideas

Choosing with reason from the range of ideas

Combining ideas

Revising and improving the product / solution

Communication

listening actively (for response)

Informing

Describing

Sharing opinions and ideas

Explaining

Entertaining

Asking effective questions

Persuading

Problem SolvingIdentifying problems for solving and framing them into questions

Understanding the language and nature of problems

Planning (thinking analytically how to approach the problem)

Gleaning and representing useful information

Analysing information

Performance

rehearsing

being ‘professional’

engaging the audience

conveying meaning

How to make the most of it:

Use your performance skills:

Practise several times,

working on one section at

a time to get each one

looking great! (rehearsal)

Experiment with your

voice, body language and

facial expressions as you

take on a new role and entertain others. (conveying

meaning)

You could even sing or dance as part of your

performance to give your act an added flare (engaging

the audience)

Prove it! Bring in a video of your performance; share

your performance with your class during show and tell or

take photographs of yourself in the spotlight!

How to get the most out of it:

Use your problem solving skills:

What do you already know

about making things float well,

and about a lake / stream

nearby (prior knowledge)

Investigate materials you have (perhaps things you would have

thrown away) and decide what you will need to make your boat

(planning)

Try out how buoyant your boat is in a sink or bath to see if you

need to make adjustments (gleaning useful information through

trial and adjust)

Decide what you’ve learnt from your test and make changes

(analyse)

Create a ‘wild’ book

Make a book full of things you have found in the wild.

Helpful Hints:

You could create pictures, make a story or make your own non-fiction

book.

Vocabulary you might use:

Leaf

Petal

Tree and Flower names

Books you might share:

Non-fiction books about nature

How to be a better learner:

•Persist with activity when challenges occur

•Show a belief that more effort or a different approach will pay off

•Bounce back after difficulties

Metacognition: Improving the ‘method behind the madness’!

When we problem-solve, there are strategies that are second nature to us:

We ask ourselves questions We use trial and errorWe brainstorm ideas We sketch our plansWe think back to something we’ve tried previously We predict problems

Often, children don’t.

What would problem-solving be like without our ‘methods’?

Could we ask children:

1. When you solve problems like these, what helps you to think?

We can then suggest strategies such as the above (which don’t solve the problem but do provide a method) until they can think of more of their own.

2. Then we can check in with whether these strategies are helping, reminding them to use them and providing them with tips on how to use them even better.