This week’s theme:

Mental Health Awareness Week

Fact of the day:

Continued learning through life enhances self-esteem.

Resources list:

Paper, pens, paints; bananas, food processor, freezer; Youtube; paper, scissors, paper clip; paper or card, decorating bits-and-bobs; fruit and veg.

Activity 1:

Let’s try learning something new today!

Did you know… Bananas grow upside-down, or technically, we peel them upside-down. Naturally, they grow outward from their stems, but that means their bottoms actually face the sky. As they get bigger, the fruits turn toward the sun, forming that distinctive curve. Try doing things upside down – can you write your name so that it’s upside down – this is tricky – spin your paper the right way round to see how you did! If it’s safe to do so, can you stick a piece of paper under your table, lie on your back and draw or paint a picture upside down?

Did you know if you freeze a banana until solid, then whiz it up in a blender or food processor, it gets creamy and a little gooey, just like ice cream? Try making your own banana icecream!

Learn the actions to the ‘Go Bananas’ song?

Activity 2:

Did you know… there are there are 620 different species of birds in the UK?

Can you learn to identify any of the birds that you can see or hear from your window? You can identify them by sight and watching their behaviour, and by the sounds they make. Try an online bird identifier or a birdsong identifier here or here. There’s even a fancy birdsong app  if you’re techy.

Make a whirly bird to drop and see fall through the air like a bird coming in to land.

Activity 3:

We can challenge ourselves to try or learn new things, if we do them slowly and gradually we can build our confidence in doing things that may have seemed scary or impossible at first.

Set yourself some goals during lockdown. Can you learn 5 words from another language? Can you learn the words to 3 songs? Can you learn how to make a couple of new recipes? Can you learn some of the flags of the world? Can you learn something new everyday about the people you live with?

Can you set yourself a goal that is to do with looking after yourself… Can you practice your calm breathing techniques twice a week? Can you search for 3 songs that you find relaxing that you can keep for times when you might need them? Will you get some fresh air every single day? Will you set a goal of stretching or exercising every day? Will you eat 5 pieces of fruit or vegetables everyday? Can you celebrate one thing every single day that you’re proud of yourself for doing? Can you do something kind everyday for somebody else?

Activity 4:

Can you write out and decorate a ‘Wellbeing Action Plan’ poster for yourself, perhaps using your small challenges and goals that you’ve set? e.g. Once a week I will … e.g. If I get stressed I will … e.g. If I feel sad I will …

Activity 5:

Did you know… it is recommended that we should aim to drink for 6-8 glasses of water each day – around 1.5 litres (water, lower fat milk and sugar-free drinks, including tea and coffee, all count). And that we should eat 5 portions of fruit and veg every day. This will help keep us healthy and alert.

Make yourself a wall chart or poster for you to mark off and record how many glasses of water and how many fruit and veg portions you have today or this week, so that you can keep a tally. Decorate it with lots of fruit and vegetable drawings or images from magazines collaged.

You could come up with a slogan to shout every time you add something to the tally. Take a listen to and have a dance to this Tutti Fruitti song – you could try ‘A-Wop-Bop-A-Loo-Bop-A-Lop-Bam-Boom’ as your celebratory slogan, if you can wrap your tongue around saying it first – give it a practice! Or, you could do some celebratory ‘Mashed Potato’ dance moves!

Explore fruit and veg with all of your senses. Ask somebody to put some fruit or veg in a bag or box, then blindfolded can you touch the fruit to identify them – are they smooth? Bumpy? Soft? Hard? Long? Round? Can you work out what they are? Still blindfolded can you smell each one – can you work out what they are, unpeeled? Or then peeled? Do they sound like anything when they’re tapped or shaken gently? Finally, what do they taste and look like – by this point you’ve probably worked out what they all are! Draw a picture of all of the fruit and veg you’ve identified!