Keeping Your Children Entertained during Lockdown

At KOOSA Kids, we love inspiring and entertaining your children with our dynamic range of activities. Whether it is in our term time or holiday clubs, the best part of our job is to engage with children and watch them have FUN! 

As experienced childcare providers, we also understand how tricky it can be to keep children engaged for prolonged periods of time. Let us try and help you make the most of your time at home.

Whilst sadly we can’t engage and entertain your children in person, we will be bringing you a selection of KOOSA Kids favourite games and activities to try in your home, garden or whilst out on your daily exercise. Check back here regularly, or follow our Facebook and Instagram pages, for updates & new activity inspiration!

NEW KOOSA Science – Taste without Sight

Mondays at KOOSA Kids holiday clubs often feature a KOOSA Science experiment. First introduced in 2019, it is now one of the children’s absolute favourites. Why not try the KOOSA Science experiment ‘Taste Without Sight’ at home today?

This great science experiment is easy to create with the things already in your kitchen. You can be as adventurous as you dare!

Our taste buds help us to distinguish the difference between foods and enjoy our favourite treats.

However, can we tell the difference between foods when we lose our sense of sight? 

First select 3 – 6 foods from your kitchen. We tend to use fruits and vegetables. E.g. 

• Tomato
• Cucumber
• Carrot
• Apple
• Banana
• Grape

Secondly, with the help and supervision of an adult, chop these into 2cm pieces, all a similar size. 

The next stage is the tasting. As you taste each piece really concentrate on the taste, smell and texture.

Finally, the Taste Without Sight Test: cover your eyes with a blindfold (a jumper or tea towel works well for this). Then ask someone in your house to feed you one of the foods without telling you what it is. You should guess and they will write this guess down for you but won’t tell you if it’s correct. 

Repeat this for all foods prepared, after which the blindfold can be removed. You should then be told how many items of food you identified correctly during the Taste Without Sight Test. This can then be repeated for the helper or other family members. Can they do better than you? 

Make this harder by taking away your sense of smell also by putting a clothes’ peg on your nose. How does this change your sense of taste? Have fun and don’t forget to let us know how you get on!

Nature Collage

With spring blossoming in our gardens and parks, why not use the abundance of nature to design and create a Nature Collage! What fantastic pictures can you make from the nature in your garden or near your house? 

You will need, pencils, paper, glue and nature!

First, draw a picture. This can be of anything, a rainbow, a beach scene, a self-portrait etc. 

Next, think about different things out in nature that you could use to add colour to your picture e.g. a dandelion for a yellow sun, a leaf for a surfboard, a twig for a magic wand etc. 

Now it is time to venture out to collect your nature. Remember not to put anything in your mouth and don’t pick anything that I still growing. 

Finally bring your nature back inside and glue it in place to make your Nature Collage look great! 

How many colours can you get in your collage? Email a picture of your artwork to info@koosakids.co.uk. We’d love to see how your children get on!

Paper Plane Challenge

Why not make use of the increase winds today and have a Paper Plane Challenge! 

Paper Planes are always great fun to make and fly! You tube have some great tutorials for making all types of planes. Have a look and make your favourites. 

Once they are made, what else can we do with them? 

Distance Challenge: 

• Which planes go the furthest?
• Can you throw further than your siblings or parents?
• Does it make a difference if you are kneeling, lying down, standing or raised on a chair?

Target Challenge: 

• Set up a target, or number of targets, on the floor using paper or buckets. Assign points to each target and see how many points you can score in 5 throws!
• Can you move further away and still score points?
• Which plane is most accurate?

Hoop Challenge:

Create a floating target using paper, a hoop or anything with a hole bigger than your paper plane. Hang it from a door frame or fence post and see if you can fry your plane through!! 

Happy flying! We would love to see pictures of your creations and who won the Paper Plane Challenge in your family.

Junk Modelling

With the weather set to be a lot cooler this week, you might be looking for ideas to keep your children entertained indoors this week. Why not give Junk Modelling a go! 

What can you make using the recycling in your house? You will need, sellotape, recycling, materials to decorate and your imagination.

You can set a theme e.g. Under the Sea; Going to the Zoo or Up, up in the Sky to help provide some ideas or you can just let your imagination run wild. We would love to see pictures of your creations!

Baked Beans

The game Baked Beans is one of the most popular games at KOOSA Kids holiday clubs to get the children moving!  Whether you are a family of 2 or 10, this game will keep you entertained and active throughout the day.

Each type of bean is linked to a particular action. When a type of bean is called the children must complete the correct action:

• Runner Bean – Run on the spot
• String Bean – Stand up as thin and as tall as possible
• Baked Bean – Lie flat on the floor and pretend to sunbathe
• Broad Bean – Stand with arms and legs out as wide as possible
• Jelly Bean – Shake and wobble as much as possible
• French Bean – Shout “Ooo la la!”
• Jumping Bean – Jump up and down
• Hawaiian Bean – Do the ‘Hula dance’
• Magic bean – Say “Abracadabra” and pretend to hold a wand

Why not challenge your family to remember each action and spring it on them throughout the day? 

• Watching TV ……. “Jelly Bean””. In the shower ……… “French Bean!”

Design & Create Paper Chain Animals

Paper can be a fantastic creative resource! 

To create some “Paper Chain Animals you will need, pencils, scissors and paper. 

A simple paper chain can be created by cutting strips of paper, gluing them into circles and threading them together. 

By adding additional pieces and shapes of paper you can create some exotic animals! What can you see? 

A crocodile? A Dragon? A Caterpillar?

Yes, No or Don't Know!

One of our holiday club Wake Up Zone favourites to entertain your family on a rainy afternoon at home.  No equipment needed (although you might want a pen and paper to keep a tally of everyone's attempts)!

Can you survive 30 seconds of questioning without saying:

• “Yes” 
• “No” or
• “Don’t Know”

With a member of your family, one becomes the question master the other the contestant. 

The question master asks as many questions as possible within 30 seconds. In order to win the contestant must not do any of the following: 

Say “Yes”, “No” or “Don’t Know”, repeat themselves or nod / shake their head. They must answer all questions! 

Good example questions include: 

• Are you ready?
• What’s this game called?
• Are you a boy?
• What is the capital of Algeria?

Good avoidance responses include: 

• I believe so
• Absolutely
• Of course
• I’m unsure
• I’m not aware

Who is the best at this game in your house? Let us know!

Nature Alphabet

Can you find something in nature for every letter in the Alphabet? Look in your garden, look in the sky! 

Give yourself 2 points for every one you find or can see, if you can’t find one, can you think of one that you can’t see? Give yourself a bonus point! 

Remember not to put anything in your mouth and wash your hand thoroughly!

Click here to download your Nature Alphabet tracking sheet. 

KOOSA Science Fingerprint Detectives

Science experiments have quickly become one of the firm favourites of our holiday club programme. Why not try some at home?!

Fingerprint Detectives   

Everyone’s fingerprints are unique. Even identical twins don’t have the same fingerprints. They are integral to human identity. Fingerprints are formed before birth with a skin layer ‘scrunched’ between an inner and outer layer of skin. 

Fingerprints can wear and fade if exposed to burning or prolonged physical work (such as brick laying), however in most cases will regenerate because they are ingrained in deeper layers of skin. Police use fingerprints to identify criminals by comparing their fingerprints to fingerprints found at the scene of a crime. This is one form of ‘Forensic Science’. Other forms include DNA testing.

We even use our fingerprints to unlock phones and tablets!

Download our KOOSA Science Worksheet here and turn your family into Fingerprint Detectives!

Make Me Laugh!

A firm favourite Wake Up Zone activity at KOOSA Kids holiday clubs, Make Me Laugh! gets everyone in a good mood. 

Ask your children to each write down their top 3 favourite jokes, then take it in turns to read one out and see which one is the funniest! You can even get grandparents, aunties, uncles & cousins involved by sharing your jokes through FaceTime, Zoom or similar. 

Extension:

A way to extend this activity, and turn it into a cherished memory, could be to create a certificate for everyone’s favourite joke. Paint, draw or use any arts & crafts material at hand, e.g. dried pasta is a great way to create a frame. 

Silly Story

Involving other people in your house, can you create a Silly Story?

Taking it in turns, each person ads a line to a story and see where it goes. Which characters are created? What happens to them? Let your imagination run free!

The only equipment needed for this imaginative game is pen and paper. 

Extension:

A way to build on this activity would be to ask your children to create a front cover for their book. 

We hope you’ll have lots of fun with these activities at home. We’d love to see some of your work, please email info@koosakids.co.uk with your creations. Pictures and videos welcome!