We Love Books!

At Ararira Springs we love to read and know how important it is to do every day.

You can see all the books we have in our library at school, and while you can't get them out at the
moment, you can read reviews and see what is new to the library.

Ararira Library

If you have a book you would like to write a review for we would love to have it.
You can write a review for a book and we can put it on our library page.
Email your review to sam.isaacs@ararira.school.nz



If you love to listen to books here are some great sites to listen to stories.

read aloud

The google doc links you to many sites for stories to listen to.

story books

David Walliams has books to listen to every day at 11am..... come join in

David Walliams stories

Become a Photographer

Everyone loves a great photograph and taking pictures for memories.

If you are wanting something different to do then why not try a bit of photography.

You can take great photos with a phone, camera or ipad and there are many tips to help you get the perfect shot.

All of these photos have been taken by children at school. Can you work out where they were taken?

Take a lesson on snapping some good shots!

Composition

The Rule of Thirds

Creative Portraits

Perspective

Close up Photographs

You could try to do some of these great activities once you have had some practice.

• Take a photograph of anything and write a story about it. It could be of bears that you see in windows or some plants in the garden. It might be a journal of your time at home.
• Have someone create a list of things to find in the house or in the yard. Go and photograph them and be creative.  Perhaps just take a photograph of part of the object and try to get people to guess what it is.
• Photograph something that starts with each letter of the alphabet
• Create a blog to keep your pictures on.  You can make it private for only family to view if you choose. You can post their images, add captions, and record what you are learning.

Create a blog

You can add your work to your Learning at Home page on Linc Ed to show your great shots.

Invisible Ice Science Trick to Fool the Family

I'm not sure why you might need invisible ice but here are the instructions to make it.

It might be a good trick if you are wanting to fool someone and it is April Fools Day on Wednesday.

Follow the instructions in the video and let us know how you get on in the comments.


Can you write the instructions for a friend?
Why might you need invisible ice?

30 Day Physical Challenge

Thanks to the Selwyn Sports Trust for this resource.

There is a physical challenge to complete each day for 30 days, it doesn't really matter when or where you start.

You don't even need to complete them in order.

Can you think of any other challenges for others to try? If so, add them in the comments.

Lego Fun

Lego Fun
With the weather being a little wet at the moment this could be a great inside activity for all the family.
You can use Lego or use any blocks you have.  Something new for each day to try.

You can even enjoy Lego online at Lego ideas and enter competitions, suggest new ideas to make and lots more.
If you have lego packs at home you can use these for making the items (great for following instructions, visual language, and problem-solving) then use them to make something new.

At Lego.com you can play games as well as explore all kinds of lego. 

If your parents have Facebook there is even a Lego Facebook page with lots of ideas!

Most of all have fun, play, be creative and enjoy Lego.

Visit Disneyland from the comfort of your home

For the first time since Walt Disney debuted Disneyland in 1955, not a single Disney theme park is open for business.

Disney page with links to rides

How about treating your kids to a virtual adventure on some of the rides? Make a map of the rides' location, figure out how many other people can be on the ride with you, sit back and pretend you're there!

If you were to decide a new ride for a theme park what would it be?

Decide on your theme and type of ride and see if you can make or draw it.

You could make it out of lego, boxes, or draw it on a large piece of paper.

When you are finished get your parents to help you share it on your learning at home page in LincEd.

Can't wait to see what you design, but until then, enjoy the ride!

Credit to School Kit for this idea

Virtual Museum Tour

I love nothing more than going through a museum, especially places I have never been to before.

Although we can't physically go anywhere at the moment we can virtually look through some of the most amazing museums in the world
The Smithsonian Museum is one place you can spend hours virtually touring.  Take a look.

Smithsonian Museum

There are many other museums that you can take a virtual tour of. Explore some of these amazing sites.

Virtual Museum tours

Greeting Cards

Everybody loves to get a greeting card that has been made especially for them.
There are so many things to celebrate: birthdays, anniversaries, special days like Mothers and Fathers Days, Valentines Day, Easter, Christmas are but a few.
Thanking people using a card that is specially designed lets the person know that you really appreciated their contribution.

What do you need to consider when making a card?

• When you need to have the card ready for. Use a calendar to see how many days or weeks away the event is.
• What type of card you're going to make. You'll need to decide how you're going to deliver the card. If you're posting it you need to know that bigger cards cost more to post.
• The theme of your card.

Things you may need to make your cards.

• Scissors, card, old magazines, felt pens, colouring-in pencils, crayons, a dictionary, glue, double-sided tape, a ruler, old cards you could copy or cut up.

Planning

• Think about the message you want to have on your card. The best rule of thumb is "short, sharp and punchy!" Usually, cards have a two or three-word message on the front and a slightly longer one inside.
• Make sure you have spelt your message correctly using a dictionary or someone to help you.
• Think of some pictures that would match your message. It is especially good if the pictures are of things that are important to the person you are making it for.
• Collect the materials you need to make the card, have you got an envelope? If your card is an unusual size you may have to make an envelope from plain paper.

Paper engineering - this is when you make things pop up or out from your card

• You might want to practise these skills using scrap paper as they can be a bit trickier than you thought at first.
  

                    This shows how to use a paper fan to make your card more beautiful. You could use this technique to make butterfly wings too.

This shows how to create a place to stick a pop-out thing onto.

This card shows how you can decorate the bent out parts.

Collage is a very effective way to make a card. You can cut letters and words from magazines as well as pictures and photographs.

Have lots of fun making cards for the special people in your lives. If you can take a photo of any you make we'd love to post the photos on this blog to inspire others. You can email them to us at claire.howison@ararira.school.nz or donna.frame@ararira.school.nz