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If you’re a parent or carer of a primary school-age child, you've probably felt exasperated at times trying to manage their time and your own daily tasks. It can be hard to do that and keep your child occupied when it's a school holiday - and they probably aren't getting anywhere near as much exercise as they would be getting in the playground.

But help is at hand - we’ve got some fun films here to help keep them active indoors over the holiday and there's the added bonus of some stealth learning as they move along.

Physical activity has been shown to boost concentration and learning, and being active for 60 minutes a day is the minimum recommendation for children in the UK. With that in mind, these films have been designed to help you get your child moving in a small space – so you can do this at home without having to brave bad weather.

1. Times Tables for Key Stage 1

Over the years people have learned times tables in lots of different ways. Often parents are baffled by the way some subjects are now taught and Maths is definitely one of the subjects with techniques that leave parents scratching their heads.

But try this for size – for kids at Key Stage 1 (and their smaller siblings) it is the 2 Times Table with Chelsea FC mascot Bridget the Lioness. They will learn the times tables as a song with rhymes to help them remember and a fun call and response section to test their memory.

Older kids? Yes, there’s something for them too! And there’s nothing like a Unicorn for bringing the kids on board…

2. Times Tables for Key Stage 2

The Rapping Unicorn will get them through that tricky 9 times table. With some easy to follow unicorn dance moves and the “9 times table bounce” to get them jumping along to the song. It will either introduce them to this table or help refresh it for children who are already familiar with it.

And if you loved these two films – there are times tables up to the twelve times table and Scottish and Welsh versions of the times tables featuring different mascots and characters.

3. English for Key Stage 2

Other Key Stage 2 videos cover key concepts like conjunctions, relative clauses and word families while Key Stage 1 films feature punctuation, rhyme and reading aloud amongst others. Speaking of which…

4. English for Key Stage 1

Here’s Strictly Come Dancing star Karim Zeroual and his furry friend Hacker T. Dog telling younger children where and when to use question marks and exclamation marks in a sentence in a funny and funky video.

5. Maths for Key Stages 1&2

As well as the times tables films, there are a host of other videos to help you and your children with other maths concepts for KS1 and KS2 and their equivalents in the nations. This is one of the films featuring social media singing stars Max and Harvey helping to explain units of measurement including which unit of measurement to use for lengths, volume, mass and time.

6. PSHE for Key Stages 1&2

These are trying times for all ages and normally children will be learning about emotions and behaviour through play and in school. One way they learn this is through PSHE which covers Personal, Social, Health and Economic education, where they understand skills, ideas and attributes that will set them up for life. Super Movers have films for KS1 and KS2 including this upbeat song about self-belief, thinking positively, overcoming doubts and accepting mistakes.

These videos are from Super Movers, which is campaign from the ������̳ and the Premier League.

Super Movers has been used by thousands of primary school children across the UK, mainly in classrooms, but also at home with a series of Just For Fun films.

The campaign was developed to help address falling rates of activity in primary school children.

As well as improving health and fitness, physical activity helps with academic achievement, behaviour, concentration and self-esteem. Just five minutes of moderate exercise can significantly improve engagement in lessons, so a quick blast of moving and singing can set help get that home-schooling back on track.

See which of these films works best for you and the kids and if you like them you can check out more Super Movers content including fun, free inclusive Paralympic sport resources to help your kids get active.

This article was published in 2020.

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