Magenta Posted January 14, 2005 Posted January 14, 2005 Not really related to early years, but we have been asked to set up additional after school clubs. Does anyone run one? Any ideas for things we could do? Not sure yet what age groups would attend!
Guest Posted January 14, 2005 Posted January 14, 2005 Staff at our school volunteer for clubs we are under no preasure but everyone does one. I run the pyramid club for Y3 / Y4 - it is a 10 week support group for children who are having difficulty forming relationships with their peers. I run it in the nursery and the children love it. They enjoy the sand pit, climbing frame, the home corner and dressing up. We do lots of cooking and making. We play team building games. Their web site is here
Guest Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 I have had a look on the website. Can I ask have you had special training for this ? Do you follow a set program of activities that have been designed?
Guest Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 Hi at my daughters school ( and the one I used to teach at) they offer the Y2's extra curricular activities. There are 2 different clubs each half term lead by a different member of staff. Clubs at the moment are puppet club and nature club. There have been cross-stitch, lego, cookery, Christmas crafts, gymnastics, science experiments, decouptage clubs so far (I'm sure there have been more but can't remember what they are!). This was a new venture last year as the school were critised on not offering activities. It is an Infant only school and the teachers only have to one club per year and each child has the opportunity to have a go at least 2 clubs. The clubs are restricted to 10 children only and last for 45 mins. The teachers are asked to volunteer but as it's a relatively small school once 1 teacher volunteers the rest follow! Hope this is of any use.
Beau Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 The primary school my older two went to offered many after school clubs. A few of them were the same as the ones Iom has stated. My daughter did art and country dancing. I think alot of them were sports based - netball, football, rugby, judo, gymnastics, cycling proficiency. Have you thought about putting out a questionnaire to the children to see what they would like on offer?
Guest Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 Hi I'm sure I could put you in contact with my great friend and wonderful colleague who runs all our after school clubs and Summer Playscheme. She's built them up from scratch and is a super person to talk to, so let me know kate
Magenta Posted January 15, 2005 Author Posted January 15, 2005 Thank you all so much, I really like the idea of a questionnaire for the children - will put it to the head on Monday. Will have a look at the site for the Pyramid club when I've got time Mimi, thanks. Kate, would love to talk to your colleague, if you PM me we could swap e-mails.
Guest Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 We are encouragd to run after school clubs too. Each club is either for Y1 or Y2, not mixed. Over the year we run loads of clubs (most only for half a term), including a ball skills club, a gym club, a dance club, a puzzle club, an art club and a science club. (I run the science club and until this year also ran a line dancing club with a colleague, but it is too hard on my knees ). We also have lunch time clubs - singing, recorder and gardening (me again!), which could equally well be after school.
Magenta Posted January 15, 2005 Author Posted January 15, 2005 ASPK I like the idea of a science club (science is a bit of an issue in our school), could you let me know some of the activites that you did?
Guest Posted February 5, 2005 Posted February 5, 2005 Oops, just seen your reply, Magenta Yes, of course... The emphasis is on exciting the children's imaginations and getting them to explore for themselves Floating and sinking - what happens when you put a compare bear in the water? Why does it float? Why does it float on it's back/front? Can you get it to sink using blu-tac? Can you get it to float standing up? What happens when you put an orange in the water? Now peel it... Why does the orange sink? (Talk about arm bands.) What happens when you put an egg in water? Why does my egg float? Is it a magic egg? (My water is saturated with salt). Make a Cartesian diver in a plastic drinks bottle and explore what happens when you squeeze the sides of the bottle. Pop some potato in the water - think about how you could make it float.. (attach a blown up balloon to it/ stick matchsticks into it). Drop some dried mixed fruit into a bottle of cheap lemonade, screw the lid on and watch... (= home made lava lamp, without the light!) When the fizz dies down just release the pressure a little. Bubbles - look at size and shape using different bubble blowers. Can you put your finger in a bubble without it popping? (The trick is to wet your finger first in the bubble mix). Make a cube framework using pipe cleaners or clever sticks. Dip in bubble mix and watch how the film forms. Take a straw dipped in bubble mix and insert into the point where the films meet and blow... You should get a square bubble. Take an oblong frame and hang a piece of cotton inside to about two thirds the way down. Make a loop in the cotton at the bottom. Dip the frame in bubble mix and pop the film inside the cotton loop - you should get a perfect circular hole bound by the cotton loop. Static electricity - rub a balloon with a wooly cloth and hold it over a friend's head. Watch their hair.. Stick your balloon on the wall. Charge up a platic comb and hold next to a slow stream of running water from the tap - watch the water move away! Magnets - lots of free play. Attracting and repelling games. Which is the strongest magnet? Make your own compass by floating a bar magnet. Play with floating magnets (ring magnets on a pole). Look at lines of force with iron filings (caution: they need to be safely enclosed in sealed petri dishes or similar). Elastic band power - cotton reel "tanks", elastic band powered boats (make own). Wind power - playing with balloons. Why do they shoot around the room when you let them go? Make a jet balloon - blow up a balloon, attach a short piece of drinking straw to the side and thread through a length of string. Hold string taut and let the balloon go... Make wind spinners and gliders. I could go on, and on... but my hubby wants the computer! None of these ideas are original - there is loads of good stuff on the Internet. Try typing in science club and simple science into your search enginge... Good luck
Magenta Posted February 6, 2005 Author Posted February 6, 2005 Thanks ASPK, lots of great ideas there!
Guest Posted February 7, 2005 Posted February 7, 2005 Some lovely ideas ASPK but I need to know WHY? do these things happen i.e. why does the dried fruit move about in Lemonade etc. These things are not always explained. I feel I need to know the answers so I can help the children draw their own conclusions. I know the answers to some but not sure of all.
Guest Posted February 11, 2005 Posted February 11, 2005 Mimi, if you do the experiment you will see! The dried fruit is light and crinkly and the CO2 bubbles cling to them, causing them to rise. As they get to the top the bubbles burst and the fruit drops back down. Cherries are too big and heavy, though so they never rise... Hope this helps Have some fun! You don't always need to know the answers first!!
Guest Posted February 16, 2005 Posted February 16, 2005 Very interesting ideas about science. I just wanted to say that last year I volunteered in local preschool to run cross-stich club. It was very good experience for me working with older children(Y2, Y3, Y4 ). And children loved it. It is good for their eye-hand coordination, math creativity. The school also had other clubs like International cooking, young journalist club,sports ones, IT, painting, drama... Hope it helps!
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