The Primary 1 Bookbug bag is packed full of exciting items for you and your child to have fun playing with together. It's also a great resource to turn homework into little games you can play together during the day. Take a peek inside, and you will find:
- A whiteboard and whiteboard pen
- Letter and number magnets
- Colouring pencils
- An activities notebook
- Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert by Morgan Hood and illustrated by Ella Okstad
- The Prince and the Witch and the Thief and the Bears by Alastair Chisholm and illustrated by Jez Tuya.
- The Station Mouse by Meg McLaren
Fridge magnet games
Game#1: Word building
Ask them to build their own words using magnets or put words together when you call one out to them. A great place to start is with things they know like their name, and your address.
Their whiteboard letter magnets can also be a fun way to get them to do their spelling homework.
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Game#2: Pictures
Ask if they can draw you a picture on their whiteboard. Can they use the letter magnets or write down a description of their picture (this might save you the trouble of guessing!)?
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Game#3: Fun with numbers
Give them mini-challenges each day with their number magnets to keep them entertained- like counting backwards from 10-zero, or a couple of sums like 3 + 4. How fast can they do it? Can they write the biggest number they know? Can they say it out loud?
If they have maths homework, this can get them doing it without too much fuss!
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Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert
Game#1: Fancy dress
Sophie likes dressing up - and dressing all her pets and animals as unicorns. She is very inventive and likes to use things like toothbrushes, carrots as well as paper to create her unicorn horns. Ask if your child can create a unicorn costume using whatever materials you have to hand - be as inventive as Sophie!
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Game#2: Unicorn spotting
The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland and can be seen on Scotland’s Coat of Arms and as decoration on historic buildings across Scotland. How many unicorns can you find while you're out and about?
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Game#3: Unicorn school
Sophie has unicorn lessons and teaches them everything they need to know about being a unicorn. What would your child teach a unicorn at unicorn school? What would a unicorn need to know about living in Scotland? Have a go at playing unicorns together!
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Game#4: Kitchen hunt
A kitchen hunt is a good one to use if you want to keep them busy while you're getting the dinner on!
There’s lots of everyday objects in Sophie’s kitchen you can use to help them understand size and volume. Collect items visible in the picture, such as mugs, biscuit tin, milk bottle, cereal packet, a pan and a kettle. Get them to measure one or two.
What size is it? How much does it hold? Which one could hold the most and the least? Did they notice anything about the items (e.g. measurement marks, serving sizes)?
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Game#4: Unicorn kitchen
Sophie’s kitchen is a bit of a mess! There are carrots and cabbage and other leafy greens in the drawers, carrots in the sink, and leeks in the cupboard. Ask your child whether they think these are the best places to keep the items. Where would they keep them? Get them to point it out.
Finally, ask them to draw their dream kitchen and include where they would store their unicorn food. Maybe your child could plan a unicorn meal and help you make it for tea?
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The Station Mouse
Game#1: Poster play
At the beginning of The Station Mouse, there are a clear set of rules that Maurice feels he must follow to be a good station mouse. You could use the book to talk about family rules and why you need them.
However, by the end of the story, Maurice has realised that it is time to change the rules: “Take care of your station mouse and, your station mouse will take care of you”.
See if your child can make a poster for Maurice which include his values of helping others and being kind.
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Game#2: Maurice's day
On the inside cover, you can see an outline of Maurice’s’ day. Being nocturnal, Maurice wakes up at 10 pm (as this is when the station begins to empty) and goes to bed at 6 am. Draw a timeline of Maurice’s day on a large piece of paper or display board.
Ask your child to compare this day to their own. When do they get up and go to bed? Can they draw up a checklist of what they need to do each day that they can tick off?
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The Prince and the Witch and the Thief and the Bears
Tip#1: Fairy tale characters
Kids really love this story. It's a great way to talk to them about things that may be bothering them. Here are some things you can talk to your child about as you read the book together
- No one is same as anyone else, the witch, the prince and the princess are all very different people, with different interests and roles. Think about the people you know: in what ways are you different from them, and in what ways are you similar? For example, what foods do you like, what activities do you like to do, and what books do you like?
- Do you think it would be good if everyone liked exactly the same things as each other?
- Do you think that friends have to like exactly the same things as each other? Can you be friends and not like the same things?
- How do you think the witch feels when the prince laughs at her? If you were the prince, what do you think you might say to make the witch feel better?
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Tip#2: Make your own fairy tale
The story is created together at bedtime between Jamie and Dad. They use Jamie’s toys as inspiration. Collect together four or five toys to include in the story as main characters. Talk about each characters' and dislikes, and their skills. What are they good at?
Then tell a story together. You could tell a sentence each. Keep asking "what happened next." The sillier the story gets the better! Can your child draw a picture and write a sentence about your story?
Want more? Here are loads more games to have fun with stories.
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Accessible versions of the P1 Bookbag books
If your child has a print disability, here are accessible versions of the P1 Bookbug books.
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