Heage Primary School

Transition Activities for September New Starters 

Parents may wish to work through some of these activities before school starts but there is no expectation to do so.

• Play games that encourage me to share and turn-take (e.g. board games (Orchard Farm), ball games).
• Practise going to the toilet independently, wiping and washing hands.
• Practise putting on my own coat (and doing zip!), own shoes and own clothes.
• Practise feeding myself with a knife and fork at meal times.
• Find ways to express my emotions appropriately by verbalising feelings like being happy, sad, angry etc and recognising that what I do and say can make others happy/unhappy
• Use playdough to show different emotions e.g. moulding playdough into a smile to show a happy face https://www.timvandevall.com/shape-templates/blank-face-templates
• Play faces matching game https://pocketofpreschool.com/monster-feelings-cards/
• Make a feelings scale for children to show how they are feeling

• Play games that help my listening.
• Odd one out game – 1 out of the 4 pictures starts with a different sound, which one is it? http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/resources/p1odd.pdf
• Use the big ears to go on a listening walk around your home/local area. What sounds can you hear? http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/resources/p1ears.pdf
• Use the BBC Teach listening games https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/eyfs-listening-skills-sound-games-1/zm72kmn
• Listening activities on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEB&search_query=Listening+Game+-+Phase+1+Phonics+-+Listening+and+Attention+Skills
• Practise recognising my own name.
• Practise writing my own name.
• Strengthen my gross motor skills by doing activities such as: throwing and catching a ball, kicking a ball, balancing, climbing, jumping, hopping, running, skipping, riding my scooter/bike. Examples of activities that involve using these skills could be: dancing, building and completing an obstacle course, chasing balloons and bubbles (children have to move quickly and change direction as they don’t know where they will go!), hopscotch, playing on a trampoline.
• Links to online gross motor activities:
  • https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mvsc
  • https://www.nhs.uk/10-minute-shake-up/shake-ups
  • https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers
  • https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVcQH8A634mauPrGbWs7QlQ
  • https://family.gonoodle.com/
• Strength my fine motor skills to get me ready for writing by doing activities such as:
  • Mould and roll playdough into balls—using the palms of the hands facing each other and with fingers curled slightly towards the palm.
  • Roll playdough into tiny balls (peas) using only the fingertips.
  • Use pegs or toothpicks to make designs in playdough.
  • Cut playdough with a plastic knife or with a pizza or tracing wheel by holding the implement in a diagonal grasp.
  • Tear newspaper into strips and then crumple them into balls. Use the balls of paper as stuffing for scarecrows, puppets, or other art projects.
  • Scrunch up one sheet of newspaper in one hand—great for building strength!
  • Pick up objects using large tweezers such as those found in the ‘Bed Bugs’ game. This can be adapted by picking up Cheerios, small cubes, small marshmallows, pennies, etc.
  • Shake dice by cupping the hands together, forming an empty air space between the palms.
  • Use lacing and sewing activities such as stringing beads, Cheerios, macaroni, etc.
  • Attempt to turn over cards, coins, checkers, or buttons, without bringing them to the edge of the table.
• Practise using scissors correctly
• Enjoy sharing books with my family! Practise holding the book the correct way round and turning pages. Talk about what you can see in the pictures.