Royal Parks Nature Roadshow

The Royal Parks of St James’s Park and Kensington Gardens are holding Nature Roadshows on Wednesday, May 29th and Friday, May 31st respectively. Head down during half term for a wild nature experience. Engage in a scavenger hunt and get into the spring spirit, use binoculars to observe nature and creatures up close, and participate in interactive, nature-themed games and crafts.

The range of activities are perfect for all the family and all aspiring environmentalists.

Whilst you’re free to drop in at any time between 11am and 3pm and join the activities, Royal Parks asks that you register online so they have an idea on numbers.

Address: St James’s Park, SW1A 2BJ – Marlborough Gate Lawn
Kensington Gardens, W2 2UH – Next to Italian Gardens

Women in Science Tour – Natural History Museum

Find out about inspirational women scientists across history in this award-winning guided tour on Tuesday, 28th May (tour starts at 1.15pm).

You’ll hear about their passions and fascinating work past and present (including scientists who’ve worked at the museum). Also discover the displays and view many treasures such as the specimens collected by Mary Anning. Tours vary slightly, but Dorothea Bate, Sara Russell, Barbara Yelverton, Angela Milner, Miranda Lowe and Nadine Gabriel are amongst those regularly covered. Here’s the full list of some of the amazing people you may hear about:

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/highlights-women-in-science-tour.html

Whilst the museum tries to accommodate walk-ins, priority is given to ticket holders. Find out more and book FREE tickets.

The recommended age for the tour is 11 years and over.

Address: Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD (meet at the 1st Floor Hintze Hall, by Guy the Gorilla, next to the Treasures gallery).

Drop in Design: Experiments with Photography

During half term, the V&A Museum is holding a free drop-in workshop for budding Baileys and Bourke-Whites to experiment with new photography techniques.

From Wednesday, 29th May until Friday, 31st May (11am-4pm) join artists Chahine Fellahi and Kaïs Aïouch from Kimiā Collective. This Casablanca-based collective is dedicated to experimental practices in moving image, photography and media art. Create a wide range of images using materials, tools and skills from early photography to the modern day. Be inspired by their artwork (and the Museum’s new Photography Centre) and experiment with different techniques; make your own camera and create photographs minus a camera.

All materials are provided and all images created can be brought home. More details on Drop in Design: Experiments with Photography.

Address: Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL

Bella Hoare Exhibition – OXO Tower

Emerging artist Bella Hoare’s captivating exhibition, A Different Green, is taking place at the OXO Tower on London’s South Bank from Wednesday, 22nd May until Sunday, 2nd June.

This free family-friendly garden themed exhibition features over 20 beautiful paintings inspired by both the natural world and feminine power.

On display is Hoare’s “Green Goddess” series – a contemporary twist on the pagan figure of the “Green Man,” which celebrates feminine wisdom and strength in the natural world. Also exhibited is her “Glasshouse” series featuring portraits of women from The Glasshouse, a social enterprise, which provides second chances to female UK prisoners through horticultural training.

Bella Hoare is based in West Wiltshire and draws inspiration from her surroundings on the Stourhead Estate – one of the National Trust‘s most popular destinations.

Address: Barge House St, London, SE1 9PH

Make your mark! Half Term Family Drawing Workshops

Join real life artists at pop-up drawing stations at The British Museum on Thursday, 30th May.

Get your inspiration from Michelangelo – the subject of the museum’s new exhibition – and take part in experimental drawing activities, which are suitable for all the family. Use pencils, pens and paper to create artworks to take home. Alternatively, you can collaborate on a large group art project. Whether you prefer small or large scale, artists will be on hand to guide you through techniques. No experience is necessary.

Drop in at any time on the day between 11.00am and 4pm. No ticket is required but places are given on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information go to: https://www.britishmuseum.org/

Address: Great Russell St, London WC1B 3DG

Have a great half term, and don’t forget your Zip Oyster Photocards for free/discounted travel for 5-15 year olds.

I would love to hear what free activities you have planned for this half term. Let me know in the comments below.

The post Five Free Activities for Kids in London for May Half Term appeared first on The Parent Social.

However, I’m all for them keeping their brains ticking over and learning during the holidays. Enter the Summer Holiday Challenges. These are simple ideas for things to do, which stimulate, encourage creativity, teach a new skill or provide an experience.

Here are our Summer Holiday Challenges…

Go for a walk in the woods

Get back to nature, go on walks, identify flora and fauna (you could even get an i-SPY book on wild flowers and see how many you can spot). We’re huge fans of the National Trust. Visits to NT venues always stimulate a lot of discussion and they usually have a lot of activities on during the school holidays. However, local woods will do just fine.

Go for a journey on public transport      

We walk or go by car for most journeys so a trip on public transport can be a bit of a novelty. Get children to check timetables, help plan the journey, purchase the tickets and then check the progress of the journey on maps. Keep the tickets to include in a scrap book or journal of the summer holidays. Check out Zip Oyster Cards, which provide free or heavily discounted London travel for children 5-10 & 11-15.

Sew some salad or vegetable seeds to harvest in autumn   

Buy some seeds that are suitable for planting in the summer months and – crucially – are easy to grow. Let your children prepare the ground, sew them, label them and care for them. They’ll enjoy harvesting them, and are usually more open to eating/trying things they’ve grown themselves.

Visit a museum

There are so many free museums to visit. They might not all be on the scale of the British Museum, but you’re bound to find something that’s of interest and they usually have activities specifically for children.

Do something to help nature

Planting some wild
flowers for bees, helping with recycling, feeding garden birds and picking up litter are just a few ideas. Its a great opportunity to talk about nature and learn more about the ecosystem.  

Create an instrument with household items

From matchbox or cereal box guitars to homemade drums, maracas and even carrot recorders; anything that makes a noise is usually a winner.

Join the summer reading challenge at your local library

The Summer Reading Challenge, organised by the Reading Agency, is a great way to encourage reading over the summer holidays. It doesn’t have to be just ‘reading books’, it can be information books, comic books or even a joke book!

Sign up today for the 2024 Summer Reading Challenge at your local library. This year’s theme is Marvellous Makers, so get creating, get reading and get stuck in!
https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/

Make a pavement chalk masterpiece

Get the chalks out and get creative. Perhaps take inspiration from Bert’s drawings in Mary Poppins! It’ll all wash away when it next rains so take a photo of your art.

Join the Big Butterfly count

The Big Butterfly Count begins on Friday, 12th July 2024 and will run until Sunday, 4th August, 2024. You can download the identification chart and find out more details here: https://www.theparentsocial.com/the-big-butterfly-count-2024/ Simply count and identify butterflies for 15 minutes during bright weather at a park, your garden, fields, forests or anywhere else butterflies hang out. You can take part multiple times. Not only is it a nice activity, but your data helps assess the health of our environment.

Build a den

Who doesn’t enjoy building a den? If the weather is rubbish, build a fortress inside. If the weather is good, get outside and use nature to build your den. Den building is one of the National Trust’s 50 things to do before you’re 11¾ and they have some good tips: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/50-things-to-do  

Press some flowers or leaves

Find some flowers and leaves to press (make sure they’re flowers you are allowed to pick). You don’t have to buy a flower press; a very heavy book will work fine. Just place the leaves and flowers between two pieces of kitchen towel before putting them inside the book. Patience is required as it’ll take at least two weeks for them to be properly pressed. The pressings can be used to make cards, bookmarks, art or to decorate something.      

Organise a family games night

Dust off the board games, find the matching pairs set, get Kerplunk and Hungry Hippos out and even improvise with homemade targets/target golf. It doesn’t have to be a three-hour game of Monopoly; it can be a host of simpler games/games for younger children played in quick succession.

Write a letter or a postcard to someone

In this digital era people are putting pen to paper less often. It’s always lovely to receive some ‘nice’ post so get scribbling. Just ask someone how they’re doing, tell them what you’ve been up to; they’ll really appreciate it.

Try a new food

Get them to be adventurous and try a new food or dish. If you’re on holiday in another country, it’s a great opportunity for kids to try something different. It doesn’t matter if they don’t like it, just encourage them to give it a go!  

Try a free maths app

Find a maths app together that they can play. A few you could try include: DoodleMaths, King of Maths and Pet Bingo.

Find a recipe and make a shopping list of ingredients

Get children involved in the meal planning. This gives them the opportunity to make decisions about what they’d like to eat and also shows them the process of getting food to the table! For some inspiration check out my post: Family Meal Inspiration for 2019

Learn to count to ten in another language

Get the kids learning a few words of another language, it could come in handy! There are plenty of online resources and books from your library that can help. There’s also the BBC’s The Lingo Show for younger linguists.   

Spot and identify birds visiting your garden

We’re big fans of our feathered friends. We have the i-SPY Birds books to help identify visitors to our garden and make a bit of a challenge out of it (check out other i-Spy books here. They’re great boredom busters). The RSPB also has a section with lots of information, games and activities: https://www.rspb.org.uk/helping-nature/what-you-can-do/activities

Prepare a simple meal for the family

Help choose something age appropriate that your child can make independently. They’ll love doing it and will be proud of themselves. They will also be more inclined to eat it! My children are big fans of Matilda and The Ramsay Bunch: Tilly’s Kitchen Takeover. There are lots of simple recipes and sweet treats in there.    

Learn how to play a card game

This could be a game that’s new to all of you or one to teach your child. Some of our favourite ones are Beat your Neighbour, Knock and Pig. Solo card games are also good to learn as are any of the Rummy variants. When my daughter was eight, we taught her how to play Crib. She loves it.  

Here’s some inspiration:

The post Summer Holiday Challenges appeared first on The Parent Social.

Children are very clever. If you have a set time where you invite your child to the table to get on with some homework or reading, most likely you will get a very negative reaction. Children have something I call the ‘homework hunch’…they know it’s coming and they avoid it at any cost. Homework should be done with absolute concentration and by the end of this article if I can help your child enjoy their homework time then it is a win-win situation.

Aiming to make homework a little less like this…

Advice and tips on how to get your child to benefit from their homework time

• Try not to have a set time where you ask your child to get on with some work. When I had set times for my two kids I realised they avoided me and even got into a bad mood long before I called them. When you can give your child some time ask them over without arousing their suspicions. This is more likely to get them used to the idea without them leaving their concentration behind. It worked a treat with my two children as I noticed that the mood swings decreased and their concentration levels allowed them to enjoy what they were doing. So, next time take them by surprise!

• Let your child choose what he/she would like to do. Don’t push them to do the maths homework or the reading assignment as it will drive them away from these activities. Get them to decide from a list and then once complete be sure to tick it off in front of them to avoid him/her asking to do the same thing twice. This is a sure winner when you want to get your child to have some fun when digging through the homework pile.

• Never offer incentives. This is the worst thing that any parent could do…they will always want something in exchange for a very long time! When my daughter wouldn’t concentrate on her homework I was at the end of my tether and offered her a chocolate if she completed her reading. From then on she expected a chocolate and refused to start any work unless I gave her something. This habit took a long time to break; it was filled with tantrums, stubbornness and lack of concentration. Rewarding them once in a while for their good homework commitment is acceptable and works with you rather than against.

• Keep them interested. Sometimes visiting museums or buying them a new book on a homework topic rather than dumping them in front of a computer screen can make a huge difference. When my son was given a research assignment on Roman history I decided to take him to a local museum where they had some great relics and information on the Romans. Not only this but I encouraged him to talk to some museum staff members and as I watched him it dawned on me that he was really enjoying his homework task. Safe to say his teacher was quite impressed when he handed it in!

and a bit more like this.

So, if you fear your child’s homework ‘hunch’ then try out the above tips. It can make a huge difference to your child’s homework performance…it may even shrink their homework ‘hunch’ a little!

Author Bio:

Former British Airways cabin crew member, Karen Rayner currently lives in Warwick with her husband and two children, Charlotte and Jack. She is the founder of Childrens Funky Furniture, an online furniture store which provides imaginative and creative furniture items that appeal to young children. Karen also writes extensively about how to create artistic and vibrant bedrooms that children can relate to and enjoy. You can follow Karen on Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Make Homework Time Easier appeared first on The Parent Social.