We’re warning you; this is going to get messy!

This half term, we’ll have a messy morning to investigate mixtures, from paint and toothpaste to jelly and shaving foam. We’ll enjoy the story of George’s Marvellous Medicine and write recipes, leaflets, lists and stories of our own. We’ll use our science skills to explore everyday materials, investigate soap products and understand why mixtures freeze and melt. We’ll learn how to measure using scales, measuring jugs and cylinders accurately. We’ll taste a wide variety of foods, learn about healthy eating and follow recipes to make some yummy treats including pizza and ice cream! Our artwork will also rely on our mixing skills. We’ll use marbling inks to make unusual patterns, create food landscapes inspired by Carl Warner, paint with ice cubes, model clay into exciting shapes and use a variety of materials to make mixed media collages.

At the end of our project, we’ll turn our classroom into a gallery and invite you to view our exhibition. We’ll arrange images from the project into a PowerPoint presentation and demonstrate our messy science investigations. We’ll also design and create our very own mud kitchen to play in. Yuck!

Help your child prepare for their project

Muck and mixtures can be messy and magical! Why not make a variety of fun recipes to reveal how mixtures can come together and change? Trifle, gooey cookies and bread would all be good to try. You could also invent a new soft drink. Mix, shake and stir a range of fruit juices, cordials and sparkling water together and taste each one. Pick the best and give it a groovy name. Alternatively, try making different bubble mixtures to see which make the biggest bubbles!

Left, right, left, right, here comes the marching band!

This half term, we’ll be stepping in time to the beat and learning all about music. We’ll listen to a music ensemble, identify pulse, rhythm and pitch, and move in time to the music. Leading and following instructions will help us make percussion instruments and we’ll also design our own. We’ll learn nursery rhymes including The Grand Old Duke of York and read the story of The Little Tin Soldier. Our bodies will turn into instruments as we try to master the art of body percussion. We’ll learn lots of new songs and write lyrics and tunes of our own. We’ll listen carefully to different sounds outdoors, test our sense of hearing and find out how far different sounds can travel.

You will be invited to our special music and movement event at the end of our project. Practice will hopefully make perfect when we perform our songs and dances with confidence.

Help your child prepare for their project

Music is a universal language. Why not listen to a wide variety of music together? Make a list of the music you have enjoyed, and share it with others. You could also watch clips of brass bands online and listen to the sounds of different instruments. Alternatively, take a ‘sound walk’ around your local area. Listen for vehicles, voices and natural sounds to appreciate the background noises we often take for granted.

In the Magnificent Monarchs project, your child will learn about English and British monarchs from AD 871 to the present day and consider how the power of the monarchy has changed over time. They will study six significant sovereigns; Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria and the current monarch, Elizabeth II. Finally, they will choose which of the sovereigns that they have studied is the most significant.

Put on your coat and wellies and let’s head outside on a minibeast hunt.

This term, we’ll head to a wetland or woodland to identify minibeasts in their natural habitat. We’ll write a guide book for other children to use on a minibeast hunt, draw sketch maps of our minibeast hunting area and create minibeast stories and poems. Heading out into the local area, we’ll explore trees and bushes to see what lives there, investigate how far and how fast a snail can travel and create a minibeast habitat of our own. We’ll draw delicate sketches of minibeasts, make models from a variety of materials and use microscopes to observe minibeasts up close. Our ICT skills will help us create a minibeast animation and we’ll observe a beehive through live webcam footage.

A special assembly at the end of our project will give us the chance to share our knowledge. We’ll create a PowerPoint presentation, use scientific vocabulary to explain what we have learnt, display our artwork and perform our minibeast poems with musical accompaniment.

Help your child prepare for their project

Minibeasts are fascinating. Why not have a minibeast hunt around your local area? Look out for different minibeasts, take close-up photos and use an app or spotting book to identify any unknown creatures. Alternatively, visit a local museum to see if they have any insect specimens on display. Huge moths, colourful butterflies and armoured beetles are all amazing to see. You could also invent minibeasts of your own. Draw, paint or make models of new minibeasts, then give them a name and describe their special features.

Let’s tiptoe through the tulips together and discover the sights, sounds and smells of the garden.

This half term, we’ll visit a florist’s shop or a garden centre. We’ll find out how to look after plants, ask the experts questions and appreciate the flowers. We’ll write an information book about plants, follow instructions, enjoy the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and write stories of our own. Discovering our green fingers will be fun when we plant and tend a pizza garden of herbs. We’ll also learn about the different parts of a plant and create our own ‘planting and growing’ action rhyme. Our senses will help us describe and sort a range of smells and we’ll make beautifully scented products. We’ll look closely at a wide variety of plants, create detailed, observational drawings and press real flowers to use in collages.

At the end of our project, we will have become plant experts! We’ll create a presentation about plants, share the information books that we have made and design a fantasy garden.

Help your child prepare for their project

Gardens are so special and are an excellent place to visit together. Why not take close-up photographs of flowers and use a plant identification app or spotting guide to find the name of each plant? You could also buy some wild flower seeds and watch them grow. Alternatively, bake recipes containing fragrant herbs and spices! Cheese and chive scones, cinnamon biscuits and lavender cake are all delicious!

In the Coastline project, your child will use maps to learn about the location of the world’s seas and oceans and keys to learn about map symbols. They will also find out about the directions on a compass. They will learn about the human and physical features of a coastline, including the effects of erosion and how to stay safe when visiting the coast. They will have the opportunity to learn about the work of the RNLI, what happened to the SS Rohilla and about the coastal town of Whitby, including how Captain Cook is linked to the town. They will research the tourism industry and consider what features make a place a successful tourist destination.