Nursery and primary 1 activity

Play this game with your child where they use their whole body to tell you about their likes and dislikes.

Stand opposite your child. Take turns to shout out an activity like ‘play on your scooter’ or ‘do a jigsaw’.

Your child should try to show if they like or dislike the activity without using any words. They could do a happy dance, make a sad face, or anything else they can think of that uses facial expression or movements. For example, giving thumbs up or thumbs down.

When you take a turn and your child has guessed whether you like or dislike the activity, share a sentence about why you like or dislike the activity. Ask your child to do the same.

If you have any old magazines, leaflets or catalogues around the house, ask your child to talk about the pictures that represent the things they like.

They could cut out the pictures and stick them onto a piece of paper or cardboard to create a collage of some of their favourite things. They could add some drawings of their own.

This activity may be done with other topics, for example food. This gives you child an opportunity to hear and learn other vocabulary and phrases.

Primary 2, 3, and 4 activity

Talk with your child about some of their favourite things. You could ask them about their favourite ice cream flavour and share your favourite with them. Do you both like the same flavour?

Think of other favourite things to discuss, for example, ‘What is your favourite colour/game/superhero?’ Take turns asking the question and both give an answer. Think of as many different favourite things as you can.

For some of these ideas, ask your child to list their ‘top 3’ or even ‘top 5’. Encourage your child to make a list in order of preference.

Talk with your child about a countdown. Are there any examples of this that they have heard or seen? For example, on television programmes where they announce the winners of competitions in reverse order, ‘in third place, in second place…and the winner is….’

Encourage your child to read aloud their lists in the style of a countdown. For example, ‘My favourite colours’ - in 5th place I chose green, in 4th place is blue, creeping up to 3rd place is orange, just pipped into 2nd place is yellow, and at the top, my favourite colour is ………RED!’

Modelling this with a list of your own ‘favourites things’ will help your child to come up with ideas. You could add ‘sound effects’ such as a ‘drumroll’, and use expression, to make the countdown sound even more exciting.

Primary 5, 6, and 7 activity

Ask your child to think about some of their favourite things. Share your own thoughts for each one they share. For example, your favourite flavour of ice cream, or a favourite television programme.

Encourage your child to come up with categories for which you can each select and share your favourite things. For example, favourite sport, pop star, vegetable, etc.

For these categories, write a few sentences highlighting your favourite things, and give some detail about why you have made this choice. Ask your child to do the same.

Can both of you now come up with an example of something that you do not like? Write a few sentences to explain why you feel this way.

For example, for ice cream flavours, ‘My favourite flavour of ice cream is cookie dough. I love it when you actually get a piece of the sweet, sugary cookie dough in a mouthful. However, I really do not like mint chocolate ice cream. I don’t think mint is a good flavour because it makes me think of toothpaste!’

Ask your child to think of a way to present their thoughts. They could create a poster, a digital presentation or a piece of personal writing. Encourage them to provide detailed explanations for their choices, and to use good descriptive language.