The hands on classroom themed activity that I teach every year is ‘Where do you live?’ I like that it integrates Geography with Science, these subjects interlink so well together.
Firstly, we usually spend time looking at a globe & map to identify Ireland and our own county Donegal. Our next lesson is based on our town, types of buildings/homes we see on our way to school. We look at some similarities and differences. New vocabulary is introduced and pictures of different types of homes are shown to the class. Children spend time drawing their own home and then recreating a 3 D model of their home. This design and make activity allows children to construct their homes using cardboard boxes,some children might use modelling clay for this.
Eventually we place the houses/homes together to form a village. Children discuss their own home counting windows, identifying 2 D shapes. We go outside and look around the area to identify types of homes. We can see bungalows/detached/semi detached/terraced houses from the school yard. Children create houses from lego in their play and also enjoy the small world dolls house. We always integrate Gaeilge as well as other subject areas. The Three little Pigs is a storybook that we read to reinforce materials, types of materials and their properties.