home page contact us member log in Learning through play Find providers near you About Us News Membership Resources Quality for All Jobs Contact Us In the News St David's Day Activity Ideas for Children Wednesday, 26th February 2014 It’s St David's Day this Saturday, so we’ve put together five activity ideas to try out at your setting or at home. Each activity is inspired by Welsh culture. They’re designed to encourage discussion about Wales and objects that represent the country and its history. Have a go – we hope you and the children have fun! 1 Sensory Perception and Observational Drawing What will I need? Fresh leeks and daffodils, mark making resources, and paper or card. Instructions: Set a table with the mark making equipment and leeks and daffodils. Ensure that the table looks inviting and engaging. Encourage the children to feel and smell the vegetables and flowers and discuss with them what they know about the objects; did they know they’re connected to Welsh culture? Ask open-ended questions such as, talk to me about the objects, what do you see? How do they differ from one another? See if they can draw the daffodils and leeks, allowing the use of any mark making resources they wish to use. 2 Castles, Dragons and Moats What will I need? A sand pit or tray, buckets, spades or cups, water, toy dragons (plastic or teddy types) or drawings of dragons. Instructions: Start a discussion with children about dragons, where have they seen one before, do they know about the associations with Wales? Also, do they know what castles are, have they seen them anywhere? See if the children would like to make a castle using the sand. Encourage them to talk to you about the texture of the sand, colour, smell, etc. Discuss how moats were used, can the children dig out a moat around their castle and fill with water? Ask them questions about what has happened to the sand. Encourage play with the dragons in and around the castles. 3 Welsh Cakes What will I need? To make this traditional Welsh treat you’ll need 225g of sieved self-raising flour, 110g of Welsh salted butter, one egg (Welsh, of course), a handful of sultanas, semi-skimmed milk (again, Welsh if you can, although this may not be required), 85g of caster sugar (you can adjust the amount of sugar according to taste), and some tiny hands to help you in the kitchen. Instructions: Place the butter into the sieved flour to make breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, dried fruit and then the egg. Ask the children to mix to combine and then help them roll the mixture into a ball of dough, using a dash of milk if needed. What does the mixture feel like to them, does it have a smell? Roll out the pastry until it is about 5mm thick and cut into rounds with a 7½ to 10cm fluted cutter (alternatively you could use an upended mug). Make sure the children are viewing from a safe distance as you grease a frying pan with butter. Put it on to a direct heat and once hot place the Welsh cake mixture into the pan, turning once. They need about two to three minutes each side, making sure they’re brown before turning. Remove the cakes from the pan and while warm ask the children to help you dust them with caster sugar. Hand out and eat while fresh. How does the finished product compare to the mixture before it was cooked? 4 Wooden Lovespoons What will I need? Templates of different shapes, pencils, wooden spoons, glue, paint, paper, craft foam, and scissors. Instructions: The first step is to talk to the children about lovespoons, do they know what they are and how it relates to Welsh culture? For example, according to The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales the earliest known dated lovespoon from Wales is from 1667 – can they imagine what life was like back then? You can find other facts and print out images of lovespoons from online resources (ensure they’re from trusted sources). Now the children know what a lovespoon looks like and a bit about the history, the second step is to paint the wooden spoon in a colour of their choosing; it doesn’t have to be traditional looking. While the paint is drying, encourage the little ones draw around a number of different shapes to the paper or craft foam. Help them identify the shapes’ names and colours in both Welsh and English. Support each child in cutting out the newly drawn shapes and glue the shapes to the wooden spoon to make their own decorative design – who will they give it to? 5 Building Blocks What will I need? Knowledge of Welsh words for colours, sizes and shapes; blocks of different shapes, colours and sizes (and some that are the same). Instructions: Use this activity to reinforce or introduce a few Welsh words to the child. Allow the child to explore the work area and the different types of blocks on offer. As the child is exploring, ask questions, such as what are the different colours of the blocks, do they know the Welsh words for the colours? What shapes are they, what are the names in Welsh? Are they big or small? Can the child find another block that’s the same? Allow the children to build using the blocks and encourage plenty of communication as they’re creating constructions. Please remember: children should have as much input into the activities as possible, the outcomes don’t need to be perfect. NB: All activity activities are subject to your setting’s own risk assessment. Use at your own discretion, taking into consideration ages of children taking part. News stories ... St David's Day Activity Ideas for Children Raise free funds for your provision with ... Children in Wales: invitation to consultation ... Urgent call for toddlers in Wales to be ... small talk edition 112 DBS checks: verifying ID documents at the Post ... 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