One of the things we did do though was make peele bead creations (small beads put together on boards and ironed to make them stick together).
The time and effort these require as well as the fine motor skills makes them a perfect highly concentrated activity.
I also drew the patterns out for my boys from the pictures they wanted to create (took me right back to my cross-stitch days!). Using graph paper and following the colours is really another form of close reading - sorting out information visually without the need to de-code the text.
Now we have hundreds and thousands of the beads for the next time the mood hits us!
Learning Together a series for primary aged children and their parents - activities that break up homework monotony, promote skills and create positive experiences together.
love you more than a transfer to the ironing board without losing a bead xxx
