Guide to positive thinking
School life might be different to normal but keeping a positive mental attitude is still as important to our children’s health. Our Head of Boarding and Pastoral Care, Mrs Sonja Mueller, shares her tips on positive thinking and mental well-being in this COVID-19 period:
- Stay in touch. Keep children connected with their friends outside of school. Perhaps it might mean setting up a virtual play session, or a good old-fashioned telephone call. It will make them feel like they aren’t missing out.
- Make sure you’re taking part in physical activity. Keep to Government guidelines but get out in the garden, if the weather permits. Our fantastic PE department is also hosting daily workout sessions so join in via Instagram.
- Listen to your children. With the current COVID-19 situation, everything is different so include your child in conversations and encourage them to discuss the topic, and how they are feeling.
- Keep to your routine. If your child is at School, try to keep things as ‘normal’ as possible when it comes to on-line learning. There might also be time to do more things together such as reading, board games, doing a puzzle and dancing (another great form of exercise).
- Teaching trust. If your child is older, discuss with them the various sources and types of reporting in the media. It might be a good opportunity for them to learn about where trustworthy information comes from and to discuss this with you.
- Eat well. Even though we are in lock-down, try to keep to your usual fruit and vegetable intake and not rely on processed foods or fizzy juice. You can also get the children involved in learning about cooking and preparing food.
- Get outside. This ties into physical activity but outdoor education is a useful and valuable skill. Read Kilgraston’s Head of Geography, Dr Phillips’ tips on entertaining children outdoors.
- Be kind to each other. It’s a challenging time but it is also an opportunity to re-connect and help each other so try to be patient, encourage gestures to help around the house and pick up the phone and check in on elderly neighbours or loved ones.
There are just a few ideas. Please let us know how you are keeping your children safe and healthy in this time.
Safe science experiments to try at home!
Always make sure experiments are carried outwith the help of an adult
- Rainbow wizard’s brew
- The will teach your child about chemical reactions between acid and baking soda which react to produce carbon dioxide.
- You will need:
Baking Soda
Water colours or food colouring
Glitter
Dishsoap
Vinegar
Glass jar
Small plastic containers
Tray
Step 1: Fill the jar halfway with vinegar
Step 2: Add a few drops of one colour of watercolour paint or food colouring and some glitter.
Step 3: Squeeze in some dish soap, stir, and place the jar on a tray. Step 4: Add in a heaped teaspoon of baking soda, stir again, and watch the foaming begin!
The soap makes it foam rather than fizz. To keep the reaction going continue adding baking soda and vinegar when the foam starts to slow. To make it change colours, add a tablespoon of vinegar mixed with one color of liquid watercolor/food coloring every so often. Make sure to dump the coloured vinegar into the center of the brew.
Source: babbledabbledo.com/20-science-projects-for-preschoolers/
- Magic an egg in a bottle
- This will teach your child how temperature affects pressure, with the match heating the bottle so it expands and the contracting when heat supply disappears.
- You will need:
Peeled hard-boiled egg (or soft-boiled, if a yolky mess interests you)
Flask or jar with an opening slightly smaller than the diameter of the egg
Paper and match
Don’t forget the adult help
Step 1: Set a piece of paper on fire and drop it into the bottle.
Step 2: Set the egg on top of the bottle (small side pointed downward). When the flame goes out, the egg will get pushed into the bottle.
You can also get the egg out. Please see thought.co.com for more info on this experiment: www.thoughtco.com/egg-in-a-bottle-demonstration-604249
- Grow your own lettuce
- This will teach your child about plant propagation.
- You will need:
Stumpy of any lettuce you have.
Step 1: Place the lettuce hearts in a shallow container of water. Make sure the water does not cover the lettuce.
Step 2: Change the water each day.
Make sure your give your lettuce a daily dose of sunshine and within a week you should have lettuce for lunch!
Source: www.littlebinsforlittlehands.com/growing-lettuce-from-stumps-kitchen-science/
- Make your own lava lamp–
- This will teach your child about density and buoyancy experiment.
- You will need
A clean Transparent PET bottle.
Oil, as an experiment you can try different types of oils and see how this affects you lava lamp.
Water
Alka-Seltzer tablets
Food colouring
Step 1: Fill the bottle about half full of water and add a few drops of food colouring
Step 2: Fill the rest of the bottle with cooking oil,and allow the components to settle and separate
Step 3: Break an Alka-Seltzer tablet into quarters, and drop one piece into the bottle.
Step 4: Watch as the bottle swirls and churns like a real lava lamp!
- Magic milk
- This will teach your child about creating, mixing and testing amongst other things.
- You will need:
Milk – any kind
A bowl or casserole dish
Food Colouring or liquid water colours
Glitter (optional)
Liquid dish soap (don’t use antibacterial or it won’t work well)
Toothpick
Step 1: Pour a small amount of milk in a dish, just a thin film that covers the bottom of the dish.
Step 2: Squeeze a few drops of food colouring or liquid water colours into the milk. Add glitter, if desired.
Step 3: Dip the end of the toothpick into the dish soap and then into the centre of one drop of coloured milk. Don’t stir it, just watch the colour explode.
Source - https://sciencekiddo.com/magic-milk-science-for-kids/