Instructions

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1. Collect resources and create 3 pigs using toilet roll tube or anything you can think of!
2. Read the story to your child and use the objects to tell the story. e.g. create a straw house using a pile of shredded paper, then blow it over.

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Resources needed

- Story (e-book attached).��Houses:

- Straw/grass/

shredded paper

- Sticks

- Blocks/lego/stones

�Pigs:

- Wooden spoons and pink paint/pen

- Toilet roll, pink pen/paper.

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Wolf

- figure, stuffed sock,

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Investigation questions

• Explore textures (hard blocks, soft wolf?)
• Leave space to fill in the story and ask questions, e.g. how many pigs?

Development:

• Develop your child’s joint attention skills by being loud and expressive to encourage them to take interest in what you are doing (joint attention is important to enable communication).
• Promote enjoyment of social games/interaction
• Following the story will help to develop your child’s listening and attention skills.
• Develops independent play skills (sensorimotor, construction, imaginative)

Story Sack - The Three Little Pigs

How to engage your child:

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• Be very expressive (different voices and expressions), use actions when telling the story.
• Engage their senses e.g. blow on their face/skin, encouraging them to feel the objects (sticks, bricks etc) and to help you build the houses/ blow them down.

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Instructions

1. Cut the bottom off a plastic�bottle.�
2. Wrap a sock over the end of�the bottle.�
3. Put fairy liquid and a little bit�of water in a container.�
4. Dip the bottom of the bottle�(covered in the sock) in the�bubble water mixture.�
5. Blow through the mouth of �the bottle to make a bubble�snake.

Resources needed

• A recycled plastic bottle
• Water
• Washing-up liquid
• scissors
• A sock
• Container for water and fairy liquid

Investigation questions

• Is the snake short or long (make a short snake and say ‘short’, make a long snake and say ‘long’).
• Shall I blow fast or slow? (blow fast, then slow).
• Do you want more?/ Shall I blow?

Development:

• Develop your child’s joint attention skills by being loud and expressive to encourage them to take interest in what you are doing (joint attention is important to enable communication).
• If you child is blowing the bubbles this develops - oral motor skills and can help them to self-regulate.
• Work on your child’s peer play skills by setting up the same activity next to them, if you child has a sibling (or you) can make your own tower, this will encourage your child to watch and copy your advanced skills.

Bubble Snakes

Engaging your child

• Blow bubbles near/at their face.
• Use language to engage their interest e.g. ‘ready, steady, blow’, ‘wow, bubbles’, ‘pop, pop, pop’, ‘more bubbles’, ‘snake’, ‘hissss’.
• Pretend play - pretend it is a real snake, chase them/ run away etc.

Instructions

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1. Fill a cup/vase with water
2. In a small cup, mix a few �drops of food colouring �with some water.
3. Using the pipette, collect �some of the blue mixture�and drip it on to the �shaving foam (you might �need to do this a lot before �it comes through).
4. Watch the rain drip down!

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Resources needed:

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• Large cup or vase of water
• Small cup
• Shaving foam
• Dropper (empty eye drops/pipette)
• Food colouring

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How to engage your child

• Sing e.g. it’s raining, it’s pouring the old man is snoring.
• Encourage them first to play with some shaving foam e.g. spray some on an empty surface.
• Use language and sounds (e.g. drip, drip, drip; here comes storm, crash).

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Development:

• Sensory play encourages learning through exploration, curiosity and problem-solving and creativity. In this activity they will learn about concepts surrounding colour, texture etc.
• Imaginative play helps to develop non-literal thinking and understanding of others’ perspectives.
• Develop your child’s joint attention skills by being loud and expressive to encourage them to take interest in what you are doing (joint attention is important to enable communication).

Sensory Rain Cloud

Investigation questions

• How many drops shall we do?
• What happens to the rain?

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Instructions

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1. Collect household objects to tell the story with or make animals using paper or other objects (see paper crafts activity sheet).
2. Read the story to your child and use the objects to tell the story, or encourage your child to do this. e.g. put the elephant in the box, then encourage your child to open the box.

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Resources needed:

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- Animal teddies/ figures/ pictures.

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- Empty box or a box for each animal.

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- Story

Investigation questions

• Leaving space for the child to fill in e.g. the giraffe is too _____, the lion is too _____.

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Development:

• Develop your child’s joint attention skills by being loud and expressive to encourage them to take interest in what you are doing (joint attention is important to enable communication).
• Promote enjoyment of social games/interaction
• Following the story will help to develop your child’s listening and attention skills.
• Develops independent play skills (sensorimotor, construction, imaginative)

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Story Sack - Dear Zoo (Rod Campbell)

How to engage your child:

• When you tell the story take objects out of the box and try to engage your child in the object. You can do this through peek-a-boo games e.g. hiding toy in box and quickly opening and tickling them with the toy.
• Anticipation e.g. slowly opening box, ‘what’s inside?’
• Be very expressive, use actions

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Dear Zoo (Rod Campbell)

I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet, they sent me an elephant, he was too big! I sent him back.

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So they sent me a giraffe. He was too tall! I sent him back.

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So they sent me a lion. He was too fierce! I sent him back.

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So they sent me a camel. He was too grumpy! I sent him back.

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So they sent me a snake. He was too scary! I sent him back.

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So they sent me a monkey. He was too naughty! I sent him back.

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So they sent me a frog. He was too jumpy! I sent him back.

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So they thought very hard, and sent me a puppy dog. He was perfect! I kept him.

Instructions

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1. Fill up less than half a cup with water
2. Add a few drops of fairy liquid
3. Add a few drops of food colouring (optional).
4. Put a straw in the water and blow

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Resources needed

• Small cup
• Water
• Dish Soap
• Straw
• Food Colouring (optional)

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Investigation Questions

• Shall we make a big or small tower?
• What happens when we blow fast/slow?

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Development:

• Develop your child’s joint attention skills by being loud and expressive to encourage them to take interest in what you are doing (joint attention is important to enable communication).
• If you child is blowing the bubbles this develops - oral motor skills and can help them to self-regulate.
• Work on your child’s peer play skills by setting up the same activity next to them, if you child has a sibling (or you) can make your own tower, this will encourage your child to watch and learn from your skills.

Bubble Towers

How to engage your child:

• Make your own bubble tower and encourage your child to interact (feeling/popping bubbles).
• Model language ‘blow’ and show them how to.

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Instructions:

Using leftover containers make any animal that you like, if you are making a story sack you could make animals from that story. Here is a snake example:

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1. Help your child to draw and cut out a circle (the head), a long rectangle (the body), and a tongue.
2. Help them to fold backwards and forwards along the length of the rectangle�(like a fan).
3. Stick the head to one end, �and stick on the tongue.
4. Draw eyes onto white �paper and stick them on,�or add googly eyes.

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How to engage your child:

• You might want to first make a model and try to engage your child in this (e.g. role playing with the snake).
• Encourage your children to explore the different objects e.g. blow down tube, tap/make drums from yogurt pots.

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Investigation questions

• Where could we put this? e.g. peg, pot
• What could this be? (give object)

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Development:

• When creating the objects e.g. through sticking, colouring or folding paper, your child can develop their motor skills, essential for movement and coordination.
• Junk-modelling helps to develop skills in creativity and imagination, these are important for problem-solving!
• Work on your child’s peer play skills by encouraging a sibling to join in (or you), if others are making objects nearby, this will encourage your child to watch and learn from your skills.

Junk-Modelling Animals (Paper Snake Example)

Resources needed:

Use anything you have available at home, e.g:

- toilet roll tubes

- egg boxes

- cotton balls

- pegs

- pipe cleaners

- string

- paint/pens/crayons

- glue or sellotape

- googly eyes (optional)