Everyone at SNAP Cymru want to support children and young people during this emergency which could see families at home for long periods. We understand that this is a very worrying time for everyone.
We will be regularly updating social media so please follow us if you do not already https://www.facebook.com/SNAPCymru/
Whilst our offices will be closed to all visitors. Don’t
worry – we’ll still be here supporting you!
The SNAP Cymru Team will be working from home, your
calls will be diverted and we’ll have access to e-mails and database.
We will maintain contact with families via telephone or other electronic methods as usual. We will work with individual families and professionals to hold face to face meetings and support services if it is safe to do so, in accordance with Public Health Wales.
If you do need support please contact our normal help and support line.
0808 801 0608
or to make a referral www.snapcymru.org/contact
Thank you for your continued and valuable support
and if we can do anything to help you during these challenging times, just let
us know and look out for our regular briefings. Keep well
We’ve tried to gather some useful information and resources for you for what will undoubtedly be a difficult time. Thank you to all the charities and organisations that have put together some of these important resources.
Talking to children and families regarding COVOID 19
With so much out there about Covid-19 (coronavirus) and confusion about the virus and its impact on families here are some of the most useful
- Contact, previously known as Contact a Family, is a national charity that supports families with disabled children, bringing them together and helping families take action for others. C Coronavirus Welfare benefits and Money
- The Children’s Commissioner for Wales has an information hub for families and children to explain what is going on. If you or your children have any questions then you can tweet, email or Facebook message them.
- Learning Disability Wales – Coronavirus: resources for people with a learning disability including some good easy read guides, for people with a learning disability in Wales. As the situation progresses they are adding new information and advice on a daily basis.
- RNIB
support Plans – RNIB plans to publish
regular online guidance in response to the crisis, with resources and ideas
about supporting your child. This will be available at www.rnib.org.uk/children
by Friday 27th March and will be updated regularly. They are also planning online drop in /sign
up sessions where we can support over specific topics or provide an opportunity
for questions and answers to the CYPF Education team.
Easy read guides and advice
Easy read posters
All Photosymbols’ coronavirus posters can now be downloaded here
Books, posters and colouring in to download
- You can download a poster that explains COVID-19 to children below – shared with permission and thanks to University Hospitals Southampton NHSFT.
- Monkey Wellbeing has posters and colouring in resources for children that include explaining why healthcare workers have to wear protective clothing, why visiting might be restricted and how you can keep in touch. They also have a Thank You NHS rainbow poster for you to colour in.
- Coronavirus – A Book for Children (PDF) which is illustrated by Axel Scheffler and has input from Professor Graham Medley (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) is available and free to download.
- Dave the Dog is Worried about Coronavirus (PDF) is a book for young children to download by Nurse Dotty Books.
For children with ALN
Chatter –the
best List
of FREE Speech, Language, communication and SEND resources for
schools and parent/carers – (free to download for individual use copyright
restrictions apply)
Communication and interaction Resources to help parents, carers and families support pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Speech, Language and Communication Needs during the period of school closures.
Sensory Stuck at Home is a Facebook page where
parents of autistic children share ideas of activities to do in the house.
BBC CBeebies for special needs
Resources and help for children with additional needs from the BBC, including Mr Tumble!
ITV Signed Stories
Signed Stories help improve the literacy of deaf children from infancy upwards. The website also provides useful advice and guidance for parents, carers and teachers of deaf children, and for the deaf parents of hearing children.
The Letterbox Library
Catalogue of disability-related books for disabled children and their siblings, and for use in school or other settings, that promote understanding and explain ‘difference’ for all ages from babies to eleven years old
Worksheets in Braille – BrailleWeek
http:// https://www.swansea.gov.uk/resourcesforvulnerablelearner The Educational Psychologists and Learning Support Team in Swansea have put together a series of resources for parents/carers of primary and secondary age pupils in the following areas of need and some that are more general
Resources to support those with – Visual
impairment
A list of resources to support learners with Down Syndrome and
their families – Down
Syndrome
Dyslexia
friendly – free, fun resources – Crossbow Education
Dyslexia AssistBy Parents for Parents : By Children for Childrenhttps://dyslexia-assist.org.uk/for-parents/
CrickerSoft – Reading and writing software for
all abilities – Free during this period
FREE downloadable inclusive resources – Inclusive
teach
Sight word
practice
Advice, learning activities and recommended toys, books, and
resources for children with SEND – SEN resources blog
Free apps to support students who are blind, visually impaired,
deaf, have reading difficulties – Accessibite
Phonic reading games for all children, including those who
cannot read or have dyslexia. Email: trugs@readsuccessfully.com for 20% off using cv2020
– Trugs
Sensory Project – List of online, sensory learning
resources
Free access to Clicker at home during
this period – CrickSoftware
Life skills challenges – A programme for young people with SEND
SEN Teacher.org – Free SEND resources
Occupational
Therapy resources
TTS
– A
curriculum-focused independent learning resource with over 40 home learning activities
all planned and all prepared!
Twinkle Home Education Resources –
In response
to the coronavirus pandemic, we’re offering everyone Twinkl Ultimate free for a
month, to help keep children learning at home.
Visit
www.twinkl.co.uk/offer and enter the code PARENTSTWINKLHELPS to set up your
free month of Twinkl Ultimate.
Chatter pack A list of free, online,
boredom-busting resources!
For older children, here
are 50 free revision resources for 11+, GCSE’s and A-Levels
Resources
& support services for families of children with additional needs during
the COVID 19 (Coronavirus) pandemic– CWM Taf health board area Rhondda; Taff Ely; Merthyr; North Cynon; South
Cynon; Bridgend East; Bridgend West, and Bridgend North.
Sleep Advice for children with Autism -Sleep Advisor
Relaxation and well being
For help with coping and feeling anxious
visit the NHS
website’s tips on dealing with anxiety.
The Guardian newspaper has also written a
piece specifically about managing
anxiety around coronavirus.
And the NHS has top tips on maintaining
wellbeing – vital for parent carers.
Childline has a ‘calm zone’, with videos, activities, games, and calming
activities to help children who are worried about anything
https://www.parents.com/fun/activities/5-mindfulness-activities-you-can-do-as-a-family/
https://heartmindonline.org/resources/mindful-activities-for-families
https://www.parenttoolkit.com/social-and-emotional-development/news/general-parenting/eight-ways-to-bring-mindfulness-into-your-family
Cerebra – Emotional
wellbeing for parents and carers of children with a learning disability
https://www.camhs-resources.co.uk/
This site was created for young people, carers and professionals to pool together lots of helpful resources from across the internet that are available to help support your mental health and well-being. 7 tips for helping children
Seven tips for helping children keep calm
simple relaxation and mindfulness activities together and help your child learn to calm down when they feel stressed or anxious.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has produced this activity pack that has fun things to do at home.
Apps
Survivors Network – a master-post of online resources, from mental health self-care to ways
you can feel like you’ve left the house. We hope they help. Online resources available during social distancing and
self-isolation
Online learning resources
With most children out
of school, there are lots of apps and websites to help to still support their
learning and development.
This list has 15 suggestions for various age groups and this list is of apps that help and support children and young people with autism.
Maths
Conquermaths.
Khan Academy
Prodigy Maths
Mathseeds -Mathseeds teaches kids aged 3-9 the core maths and problem solving skills needed to be successful at school with fun, highly interactive and rewarding lessons.
IXL is here to support you during school closures. Get resources for at‑home learning no
Themathsfactor: https://www.themathsfactor.com/signin
Explorify which is focus on science: https://www.explorify.wellcome.ac.uk
Brainpop quiz: https://www.brainpop.com/quiz
Learn to code at home for free with Code Camp World. You can learn how to use JavaScript, find out about html and even create your own websites and games.
There are more coding challenges on Barclays UK’s Youtube.
Their Coding
Playground Live series teaches basic coding skills using Scratch.
If you want to find
more ideas with Scratch then their website has loads more ideas to get you
into coding. Create a game, learn to make a character fly and animate letters.
After that it’s only your imagination that can stop you.
For help
with maths for 4-11 year olds National Numeracy has you covered. Their
activity pack is available to donload and contains 28 activities to try out.
They also have loads of links to places to test your maths skills even further.
English
Emily Weston – 16 activities that children can use to aid their home reading, or their reading in school. It has a range of skills included such as prediction, summarising and inferenc
The reading lesson. Book- By Michael
Levin and Charan Langton.
Reading Eggs.
Wild Literacy
Reading
eggspress
Borrow Box. – libraries
of Wales borrow box
Scholastic 100 lessons books.
Phonics
Play
Science
Fitness
Over 200,000 people joined Joe Wicks online for his first live PE lesson on Youtube. Happening every week day at 9.00am, it’s a great way to get you moving and ready to start your day.
You can work out with a Team GB athlete every Wednesday with their Workout Wednesday. Previous athletes have included gymnasts Max Whitelock and Aimee Fuller, climber Shauna Coxsey and freestyle skier Rowan Cheshire.
Geography
- Oddizzi. Oddizzi is an online, subscription-based geography resource
The Geogrpahy Book by Caroline Arnold
Scholastic – 100 Geography lessons - National Geographic Kids: Activities and quizzes for younger kids.
History
Horrible
Histories! The books, the series. Super engaging!
Scholastic 100 History lessons
60 second Histories
BBC
Newsround has helpful information for children about the
coronavirus, including explainer videos. They also have a ‘happy news’ section
to brighten the day
While all of our museums, theatres and cultural venues
are closed to the public, there are still lots of things you can do online.
Many major museums and organisations in the UK and abroad are running virtual tours, for example the British Museum.
Learn how to draw
with official World Book Day illustrator Rob Biddolph. Lessons happen every
Tuesday and Thursday at 10.00am. You can follow them live on his Twitter page
or watch them back on his website.
Practice your drawing skills with the Natural History Museum’s Nature Drawing
Club. They will post a new topic every Friday on their Twitter page and
then it’s up to you to draw or paint.
To find out
more about the Natural History Museum you can use their take part and
education resources. Learn about their collections, the nature around you and
the science that is carried out everyday at the museum.
Miscellaneous
Online Lego workshop, Gruffalo workshop, and lots more. Plus
stories read by Tony Ross, author – 7 stories, Facebook
If you are looking to learn more about money then the Royal Mint have new activities for kids based around money and the coins we use everyday. You can even design your own coin, though we don’t think you will be able to go shopping with it.
Learn to touch-type – Free access
Learning with MineCraft – Education MineCraft
Vroom – Helping learning during shared
moments, such as bath time
Toy Theatre – Fun educational resources
The Scouts have launched a new initiative called The Great Indoors. All of the activities are designed to be done in your house so there is no excuse not to try it out. Activities are aimed at 6 to 14 year olds but anyone can have a go. Once you have had a go at these you can use their activity finder to find even more things to do
Living Paintings (UK)
Free postal library supporting blind and partially sighted adults, children and young people. They make tactile versions of pictures that come to life when fingers feel them.
Virtual
tours –This website allows you to visit museums from the comfort
of your home.
100
things to do indoors – You can download this book free of cost and make staying
indoors fun and use the time to help yourself and others.
Keep exercising –
On this page you can
find movement and mindfulness videos to keep you children active.
Best
virtual museums
Virtual
tour of museums family tours
Swansea
Library has online e-books and magazines
A
long list of educational resources
For those who like structure. Various celebrities are offering for free
daily to help with their children education while schools are closed (from
Skint dad)
9:00am – PE with Joe Wicks
10:00am – Maths
with Carol Vorderman
11:00am – English with David
Walliams
12:00pm – Lunch
(cooking with Jamie Oliver)
1:00pm – Music with
Myleene Klass
1:30pm – Dance
with Darcey Bussel
2:00pm – History with Dan Snow (free for
30 days)
4:00pm – Home Economics with Theo Michaels
(Mon/Wed/Fri)
Other YouTube Sites that may be of interest:Chris Packhams – Youtube – Bird Club
Oti Mabuse is doing dancing classes’ each day at 11:30 on facebook
Maddie Moate – youtube – Let’s go Live with Maddie and Greg
More to Keep Your Children Occupied & Learning
Cardboard Spaceships: A
place to share free online teaching, education and entertainment ideas for
children at home
Homeschooling UK: Emergency
group set up by teachers to help families
Will Sliney gives daily drawing
challenges for children using #wewilldraw and shares tutorials
“Boogie Monsters” (a live rock and pop band for
children under 7) are doing daily live keyboard request videos each day at
4.30pm for the whole family – access them through their Facebook
group
Khan Academy: Especially
good for maths and computing for all ages but other subjects at
Secondary level. Note this uses the U.S. grade system but it’s mostly common
material.
BBC Bitesize. No
TV licence required except for content on BBC iPlayer.
BBC Learning: This
site is old and no longer updated and yet there’s so much still available, from
language learning to revision. No TV licence required except for content
on BBC iPlayer.
Seneca: For
those revising at GCSE or A level. Tons of free revision content. Paid access
to higher level material.
Blockly: Learn
computer programming skills – fun and free.
Scratch: Creative computer
programming
Ted Ed: All
sorts of engaging educational videos
The Kids Should See This: Wide
range of cool educational videos
Crash Course: You
Tube videos on many subjects
Crash Course Kids: As
above for a younger audience
Paw Print Badges: Free challenge packs and other downloads. Many
activities can be completed indoors. Badges cost but are optional.
Tinkercad: All
kinds of making.
Prodigy Maths: Is in
U.S. grades, but good for UK Primary age.
Cbeebies Radio: Listening
activities for the younger ones.
Nature Detectives: A lot
of these can be done in a garden, or if you can get to a remote forest location!
British Council: Resources
for English language learning
Oxford Owl for Home: Lots
of free resources for Primary age
Big History Project: Aimed
at Secondary age. Multi-disciplinary activities.
Geography Games: Geography
gaming!
Blue Peter Badges: If you
have a stamp and a nearby post box.
The Artful Parent: Good,
free art activities
Red Ted Art: Easy
arts and crafts for little ones
The Imagination Tree: Creative
art and craft activities for the very youngest.
Toy Theater: Educational
online games
DK Find Out: Activities
and quizzs A small collection of
anti-oppressive, anti-racist homeschool curriculum ideas and resources. Very American
focused, but a good list of non-online stuff to do with children towards the
end!
Cincinatti Zoo are holding
livestreams at 7pm UK time every day
that the US schools are closed:
Live cameras at San Diego Zoo
school when
school is closed reception year 1 & year 2
Craft ideas
to survive coronavirus lockdown
COVID-19 homeschool and
isolation ideas
