Are you looking for some February special days to celebrate and pack in a whole lot of learning at the same time? We’re going to take a look at some of these special days to celebrate in the UK and give you some fun on ideas on how to link in the learning!
Story Telling Week - A Literal Week of February Special Days
National Story Telling Week runs from the 30th of January 2021 to the 6th of February 2023 and it is a fantastic time to celebrate story telling. Story telling is an important activity for children to take part in. It encourages language development and promotes imagination and creativity. Here are some great ideas for you to try out at home this National Story Telling Week.
Story Telling Week February Special Day Activities for Toddlers
Pack in even more story time this week! Sensory stories are fantastic for your little ones. They are often used with children with Special Educational Needs, but are absolutely perfect for involving your little ones whilst stimulating their senses. You can find a lovely sensory poem here and here. This school website has a great run down on ideas for making your favourite stories a sensory experience.
Story massage is another amazing way to get your toddlers involved and is one of our favourite Story Telling Week activities. You can check out these Story Massage videos and follow along: https://www.youtube.com/c/StoryMassageforChildren/videos
Story Telling Week February Special Day Activities for 4-7 year olds
Oral storytelling gives your children the skills, language and structure to be able to write their own stories. We suggest learning to retell a story with actions. You can download our FREE Story Telling Week download that has a structure to help you start to retell a story orally.
Stories that are predictable and follow a pattern are perfect for this and we suggest starting out with The Little Red Hen. Here is an example of a retelling of the story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdvJZD-cplg and you can find a version of the story with some pictures here: https://www.enchantedlearning.com/stories/fairytale/littleredhen/story/
Story Telling Week February Special Day Activities for 8-11 year olds
Our free Story Telling Week activity pack is perfect for supporting your children in both retelling a story and telling their own stories. We particularly love using the story mountain to plot out stories to make sure that they flow well. When making up our own stories we love to use www.onceuponapicture.com for inspiration!
Charles Dickens Day - The Most Dickensian February Special Day
Charles Dickens Day is the 7th of February. This is the perfect opportunity to teach your children about a famous literary figure and expose them to some classic literature.
Charles Dickens Activities for 4-7 year olds
Watch Oliver which is based on the Dickens novel Oliver Twist.
Dress up as a Victorian child and explore the lives of Victorian children.
This BBC video is a nice hook into Victorian life for children.
Charles Dickens Activities for 8-11 year olds
Petal Resources has created a great, free activity for this age group. It explores Charles Dickens’ background as well as some of his more illustrious works and characters. There are many adapted versions of Dickens’ works for young readers created by companies such as “Easy Classics” and “Usborne”. The Magic Fish Bone is the only book Dickens wrote for children and could also be worth a read.
Charles Darwin Day - An Evolutionary February Special Day
Charles Darwin Day is the 12th of February. We’ve compiled these age-appropriate activities for you to celebrate Charles Darwin day!
Charles Darwin Activities for Toddlers
Whilst the older children explore the life of Charles Darwin and evolution your toddlers can get involved just as well. Why not get them to match some animal pictures? We like this free download from this blog by totschooling. They can also get involved in our free Charles Darwin Day activity by digging for seeds and worms just like the birds that Darwin observed.
Charles Darwin Activities for 4-7 year olds
The STEM learning website has a great series of lessons inspired by Charles Darwin that you can access.
This YouTube video has a fantastic, simple and visual explanation of natural selection.
Don’t forget to try out our Charles Darwin Day activity too!
Charles Darwin Activities for 8-11 year olds
Find out about Charles Darwin with our free Charles Darwin Day activity download! Read about his life and investigate how animals have adapted to suit their environments.
This YouTube video is a great springboard into finding out about Darwin.
Valentine's Day, The Most Romantic of February Special Days!
Valentine's Day Activities for Toddlers
Your children could colour match hearts that you’ve prepared for them .
They can do some stamping with a heart shaped stamp and paint.
A Valentine’s Day colours sensory tray would be great fun but can result in a bit of a mess.
Valentine's Day Activities for 4-7 year olds
Try creating some lovely hearts while writing names of loved ones on them. They can even include a reason why you love them.
Create a list of ways to show love. Valentine’s day puns are always fun and can be used to make cards and pictures. Some classic examples are: “hoo loves you”, “you stole a pizza my heart”, “owl always love you”, “you are turtely awesome”, “I love you from my head tomatoes”, and “I ain’t lion when I say I love you.”
Valentine's Day Activities for 8-11 year olds
Learn about the history of Valentine’s day and engage in a spirited debate with our free Valentine’s Day activity.
International Polar Bear Day- A Beary Important February Special Day
February 27th is International Polar Bear Day. Don’t forget to use this opportunity to introduce your children to this majestic creature while they are still around to be properly appreciated. Personally, our Polar Bear activity is my favourite free one that we’ve made at Petal Resources and I hope you’ll love it too.
International Polar Bear Day Activities for Toddlers
This polar bear blubber activity is great for toddlers but can be made appropriate for any age. Create a polar bear picture by sticking cotton wool onto the outline of a polar bear.
International Polar Bear Day Activities for 4-7 year olds
Read the Rainbow Bear by Michael Morpurgo. Be sure to download our free Petal Resources activity because your children will love it. Our polar bear activity involves information, colouring, research, drawing, measuring and a Petal Resources original polar bear game!
International Polar Bear Day Activities for 8-11 year olds
Make Polar Bear fact file cards and check out our Petal Resources polar bear activity which involves information, colouring, research, drawing, measuring and a Petal Resources original polar bear game!
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