Home Learning & Wellbeing Resources For Children & Teens

With social distancing and homeschooling on the cards, many parents may be wondering what to do or where to look to aid their children’s wellbeing and learning at home. Home Learning & Wellbeing Resources for Children & Teens is a list of resources for well-being, English, Maths, Science & PE, they are mainly primary school focused with some useful links for teens too.

For schools, parents or teachers wanting a practitioner to deliver face to face mindfulness and yoga sessions to children in North Wales and the North West, please get in touch to discuss needs and options.

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Wellbeing @ Home

Yoga & Mindfulness is a great way for children to have fun exercising and help to find some calm and stability. The following home learning & wellbeing resources are free to do and don’t need any special equipment.

Positive Affirmations

These positive affirmations are great to do every morning with the kids.

you can adapt, or make your own up too!

Once they master these – why not ask them to make up 5 new positive statements & yoga moves to go with them.

Kids Yoga & Mindfulness Stories

Cosmic Kids have loads of free videos to watch and join in with on YouTube. An engaging way for younger children to access yoga with stories and colourful backdrops.

Click here

Mindfulness for children @ home

Explain what Mindfulness is to children in the first video and help children relax before bed with the ‘beditation’ video.

Mindfulness scripts

There are some great mindfulness scripts for kids based around their favourite films such as Moana, incorporating breathwork with storytelling.

Calmer Classrooms

Mindfulness Books

Here are some of my favourite books from teaching, a great resource for parents and teachers alike:

More mindfulness books/ poems/ stories ideas:

Breathing Techniques

Controlled breathing exercises can help bring the mind back to the present moment, helping to bring back a sense of calm. Here are some simple breathing techniques to try at home, suitable for kids & teens.

This is a technique from Mindfulness in Schools Projects Paws B course https://mindfulnessinschools.org/

Hold one or both hands out – palms facing up.
Inhale slowly bring your fingers and thumb together using the breath to guide the movement ending like a closed flower bud.
Exhale – gently & slowly in sync with the breath open the fingers (petals) out

repeat for as long as feels good.

Bumblebee Breath involves an extended exhale – especially effective at calming the parasympathetic nervous system. Producing a sound while closing the eyes and blocking the ears makes it easier for young children to bring their focus inward.

1) Begin Sitting in a cross-legged pose with a tall, straight spine. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose before exhaling out to “Hummmmmm,” as long as possible.

2) Try it again with your eyes closed. Focus on the humming sound. Notice the vibration on your lips.

3) Try the same breath again with eyes closed and ears blocked with your hands. Notice your focus go inward.

Repeat several times.

1. Place one hand on the chest and one on the belly.
2. Inhale feel the chest & belly expand
3. Exhale feel the belly & chest flatten.

Try placing your favourite teddy on your belly and feel and see it rise and fall with your breath.

School Subjects @ Home

Here are some free Home Learning & Wellbeing Resources available online:

Access free welsh curriculum focused resources for all subjects here for Foundation Phase – Year 6 – https://www.twinkl.co.uk/search

UK Home learning & resource bank ALL Subjects – https://resource-bank.scholastic.co.uk

EARLY YEARS – lovely creative activities for little ones – https://theimaginationtree.com

Maths

Free online Maths classes every weekday @ 9 am, one for Y3-4 & one for Y5-6. (I’ve been to this guys training and he has really clever ways to expand understanding & application of Maths) https://garethmetcalfe.wordpress.com

loads of great printables, online game sand activity ideas –https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/kids-activities/fun-maths-games-and-activities/

Online Maths games – https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting

Fantastic Maths activities https://www.stem.org.uk/primary-maths

General Page https://www.stem.org.uk/home-learning

English

from the home of everyone’s favourite Biff Chip & Kipper – https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/learn-to-read-phonics/

tonnes of online and printable resources – https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/english/

free e-books – https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/books/free-ebooks/

Free online games & resources – https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/

free reading hub on scholastic – https://resource-bank.scholastic.co.uk/readinghub

Short, thought-provoking films to encourage creative writing and new perspectives https://www.literacyshed.com/home.html

Science

Starters for STEM – ten activities that parents can use at home to help children develop their science, technology, engineering and maths skills. Easy-to-resource and provide children with the stimulus to talk about the world around them. https://www.stem.org.uk/home-learning/primary

lots of lovely resources and creative activities here

https://www.chesterzoo.org/schools/resources/

Ryans World – great for KS1 –

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChGJGhZ9SOOHvBB0Y4DOO_w

Practical, fun learning with household ingredients:

oobleck – super simple but mind-boggling – it has properties of BOTH a liquid & a solid. https://www.livescience.com/21536-oobleck-recipe.html

slime – all kids love making slime heres a simple recipe

https://theimaginationtree.com/easy-uk-slime-recipe-contact-lens-solution/

Other fun experiments