Lessons and activities for Key Stage 1

We all know how difficult it is to keep think of fresh new ways of inspiring children. Here at The Learning Escape we've compiled a list of useful online resources to give you fresh new ideas for your lessons. Below are a range of activities for KS1 that cover a range of curriculum areas, you can also download the full list of KS1 activities, including a table showing which curriculum area each activity covers here.

A bedroom for the future

• Energy
• General

To design your ideal bedroom, to gain an appreciation of its purpose, and in the process reduce the amount of energy you would use in it. www.keepbritaintidy.org

A garden plot

• Bio-Diversity
• Healthy Living

To create a wildlife area supporting a wide range of life. www.keepbritaintidy.org

A Sensory walk

• Bio-Diversity
• Energy
• Healthy Living
• Litter
• School Grounds

To produce a soundscape of the sounds that define our local environment and by doing so, discover that sounds directly affect our environment and how we feel about it. www.keepbritaintidy.org

An eco package for my cookies

• Litter
• Waste

To design packaging for some biscuits or cookies (you may have made them) to gain an appreciation of the use of resources (materials) and the resulting waste. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Bio-Diversity - Will the Worm

• Bio-Diversity

Details available at www.jointhepod.org

Class book swap

• Waste

Rather than letting books get thrown out, students might be able to swap books in an organised manner if your teacher agrees to this activity. Simply ask each student to bring in a book they no longer want, display them all on a table and allow students to select one each to bring home. www.ecofriendlykids.co.uk

Design a bottle carrier

• Litter
• Waste

To design a container made out or cardboard that is strong enough to hold 10 bottles to take them for recycling. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Design a car of the future

• Energy
• Transport

To design the Car of the Year 2050 to gain an understanding of how cars are powered, different types of fuel, and the natural resources that are used to make cars and the fuel they require.

Design a superhero

• Bio-Diversity
• General
• Global Perspectives

To create a super hero who is going to promote the message: Love Where You Live. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Earth Day – Inspiration Guides

• Bio-Diversity
• Energy
• Litter
• School Grounds
• Waste

Available from www.tes.co.uk

Fundraise for an Environmental Charity

• Bio-Diversity
• Waste

Some classes prefer activities that don't require students to donate anything themselves so fundraising for an environmental charity is one way that students can help the earth without putting an extra burden on their own families. Students may decide to do a read-a-thon, sell baked goods or raffle off their own works of art to raise funds for a good cause. www.ecofriendlykids.co.uk

Habitats

• Bio-Diversity
• School Grounds

Details available at www.jointhepod.org

Healthy picnics

• Healthy Living

To design a balanced picnic meal that looks at the different foods we need to lead a healthy life. www.keepbritaintidy.org

How green is your home‌

• Energy
• Transport
• Waste
• Water

To monitor the effects of implementing a recycling regime and an energy saving measure in the home. www.keepbritaintidy.org

It might look good... but is it safe to drink‌

• Water

To conduct an experiment to show how different materials dissolve in water and mount an exhibition showing our understanding of water and how we use it. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Let's get fit!

• Healthy Living

To devise a simple exercise routine that would take five minutes at the start of the morning and afternoon school sessions that encourages us to exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Love where you learn

• Bio-Diversity
• School Grounds
• Waste

To produce a plan for using less in our classroom and in the process gain an appreciation of how we use resources and why we value our environment. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Making a smiley area

• General
• School Grounds

To make an area where we can all go to and which will make us smile. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Making music

• General

To compose a percussion accompaniment to the music. To listen and respond to the musical anthem Breathe. To discuss its significance and meaning and the moods it evokes. To look at a range of recycled materials that could be used to make an instrument and appreciate why we should use them. www.keepbritaintidy.org

My playground

• School Grounds

To investigate the playground and produce an action plan for improvement to create an inspiring and enjoyable place and environment in which to play and learn. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Neighbourhood snakes and ladders

• General
• Global Perspectives

To design a snakes and ladders style 100-square board to show what you like and dislike about our neighbourhood. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Organising a Clothing Drive

• Waste

Rather than sending these pieces to a landfill somewhere, the class can donate them as a group to a charity shop or send them to a community in need somewhere else in the world. If the clothes are to go to others in need, then asking each student to write a little note can also help round out this activity. www.ecofriendlykids.co.uk

Planting a Class Garden

• Bio-Diversity
• Healthy Living

Class gardens, whether they eventually produce flowers or vegetables, can be an important part of a studentÕs science education. If you need to convince your teacher of this, remind him or her that you can study the soil, the planting process, the growth and life of a plant as well as weather's effects on nature. www.ecofriendlykids.co.uk

Recycled crafts

• Waste

To design and make a papier-maché bowl and other items for a recycled craft exhibition to highlight how materials can be reused and recycled and waste reduced. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Recycling

• Waste

Details available at www.jointhepod.org

Saving Energy

• Waste

Details available at www.jointhepod.org

Sculpture trail

• Bio-Diversity

To produce a sculpture trail, either inside or outside, based on the theme mini beasts or sculptures of your chosen genre, to gain an understanding of the different types of mini beasts. www.keepbritaintidy.org

The bin family

• Litter

To invent a family of bin dwellers that fires the imagination and gives bins a focus and purpose, helping raise awareness of their role with litter and waste. www.keepbritaintidy.org

The community team

• General

To produce an "Our community team display" of people who make a difference and gain understanding of the vital roles people play in sustaining our neighbourhood. www.keepbritaintidy.org

The litter bug

• Litter

To design a litter-bug character and decide on its personality. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Transport

• Transport

Details available at www.jointhepod.org

What fuel do you use‌

• Energy

To create charts that show the "fuel" we need if we are going to produce the energy that will get us to school. To develop an understanding of the sources of energy that are sustainable. www.keepbritaintidy.org

What's it got to do with me‌

• Litter

To highlight our role in keeping our neighbourhood clean and tidy and gain an understanding of why people drop litter. www.keepbritaintidy.org

Wrap up

• Energy
• Water

Design a sleeve that will prevent a bottle of warm water from cooling. www.keepbritaintidy.org

You are what you eat

• Healthy Living

To produce a list of foods containing fat and review what you eat at home and what gives you energy to gain an appreciation that fat is an essential part of a healthy balanced diet. www.keepbritaintidy.org