Primary school activity ideas list proves popular
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
A ‘passport’ of activities for reception-age children and above has been downloaded an average of 375 times a day since its launch, according to the Department for Education.
‘My Activity Passport’ was launched by education secretary Damian Hinds last year as part of a drive to inspire primary school children to try new life experiences and build resilience.
It features a checklist of tasks and experiences for each year group, from Reception to Year 6, with key achievements to tick off in each school year.
Schools in England were sent the new passport in January to allow teachers to adapt them to the needs of their pupils and communities, including opportunities for children to take part in charitable projects.
The passport contains milestones for each year group to complete both in and outside school.
The passport was inspired by the Education Secretary’s visit to St Werburgh’s Primary School in Bristol, where every child is encouraged to take part in a list of tasks and experiences, with key achievements for each school year to tick off.
Downloads of the passport, which has been backed by the National Trust, Scouts and Girlguiding UK, have now reached 42,000.
Teachers, schools and charities have been sharing their ideas and their progress with activities, via the hashtag #myactivitypassport on social media.
Activities suggested in the passport for Reception children include:
- flying a kite
- visiting a farm
- planting some bulbs
- painting a self portrait
- making a sandwich
- visiting a place of worship
- posting a letter
- searching for butterflies
- making a paper boat and seeing if it floats
Mr Hinds said, ‘The activity passport is a way for children to channel their natural curiosity into experiencing new things or places, while also preparing them for the challenges life throws at us all by developing valuable skills like confidence, tenacity or commitment.
‘When I visit schools or organisations around the country, a common quality I see among children is their enthusiasm to try new activities that challenge them – and ultimately how they learn to do things they never knew they could do.
‘With thousands of passports downloaded – the equivalent of 16 times every hour since it launched - I’m hopeful that even more families will use the passport as inspiration for spending quality time together.’
