Letterland Days act as both an incentive and a reward for students that have worked so hard in their Letterland lessons all year long. They're a great opportunity to have a little bit of fun and bring Letterland to life!
We were so sad, along with parents, teachers and students, when the pandemic hit and we realised that it was unlikely that students were going to be able to attend the Letterland Days at schools or local parks this year.
But, as always, the Letterland Family blew us away with their enthusiasm and creativity, and we started seeing photos of virtual Letterland Days popping up all over the internet!
Read on to hear our top tips on hosting your own virtual event.
Step 1: Choose a date and platform
You'll need to choose a date (or dates) for your virtual event - make sure this works for all the teachers and students involved.
Choose a platform where you'll host your Letterland Day. You may want to use Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, or decide to host the virtual event on a web page, where students can access activities or videos.
Give attendees as much notice as possible using our virtual Letterland Day invitations. Just fill out the text boxes with information and access links, then send to parents/carers via email or message.
Step 2: Make sure everyone looks the part!
Before your event, ask all students and teachers to create a dress up outfit for the event.
You may want to share the link to our step-by-step dress up craft guides, which can all be made at home.
Top tip: Ask parents to send in photos of their little learner's full costume on the day, then make a collage of all the photos to share with their class (with parents/carers permission, of course).
We love seeing your creativity, so please do share the photos with us via email - marketing@letterland.com, or on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Step 3: Choose and create your activities
There are a few different ways that you may want to run activities on your Letterland Day:
Video calls - have all the students from your class join a video call, and play games or do activities that can be done on the call.
Web pages - create a web page that hosts video content or activities that your students can access throughout the event. This would allow students with no access to video calls to participate in a virtual Letterland Day. Please note, if you are sharing any Letterland content, you must share it in a private space that only your students can access - otherwise it is a copyright infringement.
If you are creating a web page and you would like to use official Letterland artwork or content, please fill out our Event License application form, and someone from Letterland HQ will get in touch with you.
Activity ideas for video calls:
Sammy's Scavenger Hunt - while on the video call, ask your little learners to go and find items featuring their sound/spelling pattern (in relation to their dress up choice), or do a quick fire round where you shout out sounds that students need to find objects for as quickly as possible. It might be a good idea to warn parents/carers about this game in advance so you don't cause too much chaos in your students' homes!
Quarrelsome Queen's Quiz - put together a Letterland quiz that tests your students knowledge about their beloved Letterlanders! Incorporate questions that will allow them to use their imagination e.g. What does Walter Walrus like to do at the weekend?
Who am I? - describe a Letterlander and have your students guess who you are talking about. You could theme these riddles around certain topics, like food. E.g. "My favourite foods are fried fish and fresh fruit. Who am I?"
Use our Zoom backgrounds for Mac and PC to make your little learners feel like they are really inside a virtual Letterland!
Bouncy Ben's Bingo - share letter bingo sheets with your class in advance, then call out the Letterlanders and wait to see who shouts 'Bingo!' first. Make sure any bingo cards you're using have been sent to students/printed out in advance.
The Letterland Joke Book - check out the Letterlanders' best jokes and have a giggle with your students as you share them!
Munching Mike's Musical Statues - play musical statues with clips from the Letterland songs. Students can dance in the 'style' of a Letterlander, then must freeze doing the appropriate action when the music stops.
For a web page:
Ask teachers or other familiar faces from around your school to create videos dressed as each Letterlander, saying hello to your students, or asking them to do certain activities that are associated with their letter.
List activities under each letter for children to complete at home with their parents. E.g. Clever Cat may have: 'get creative and do some colouring with crayons' or 'make a castle using cans or cups'.
Step 4: Have fun!
You might not all be together, but you can certainly have a good time - plenty of laughter is a necessity!
Got any additional ideas or tips that you think should be included? Pop us an email to marketing@letterland.com or get in touch via Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.