BUSY THINGS

Busy Things is award-winning numeracy, literacy and creative online software for children in Early Years, Key Stage 1 and 2.

It includes activities that cover: Art, Citizenship, Design, English, Geography, History, ICT, Languages, Mathematics, Music, PE, Religion, Science

This is a learning resource that quickly engages young minds and retains their interest through quality animation, vibrant colour, wacky sounds and an injection of Busy Things humour. After being a clear favourite among EYFS and KS1 teachers, where the importance of play is never underrated, there are also many activities for KS2 with lots more being added as the software is updated, including resources with a more teacher-led focus. It is particulary useful for teachers of children with SEND because differentiation is supported in almost every activity and the interface is so engaging. There are some great phonics and typing exercises, as well as comprehension and word recognition activities

How is it used?

Busy Things is LGfL’s most heavily-used resource. It is a wonderfully quirky online educational resource, featuring many excellent curriculum-linked games, activities and downloadable resources.

If you are in a London school getting  broadband from LGFL then you will have free access to Busy Things. If you are a teacher or pupil in one of those schools then you will be able to login at home as well, (using your USO login, your LGFL credentials).

Once logged in you will choose your Key Stage and then the appropriate year group.

What else is there?

Rigorous pedagogy underpins BusyThings, as every activity is designed to support individual descriptors from the revised 2014 Primary and EYFS curricula across the Foundation Stage and Key Stages 1 & 2 (with curriculum mapping throughout).

The latest version sees a refresh of the interface, the addition of  new functionality, new resources and tablet compatibility for nearly all activities. The best way to get to know Busy Things is to explore it.

Busy Things has hundreds of resources across the whole curriculum range and the whole primary age range.

There is a curriculum browser so you can search for content, all of which is mapped to EYFS and NC learning objectives. The Teacher Mode is an area for planning, customising, gathering evidence and general organisation and the Teacher bar is always visible.

 

Teachers can alter difficulty levels and create custom collections of content to make lessons engaging for all types of learners at different ability levels.

Also there are hundreds of printable PDF resources, including extensive worksheets linking to interactive activities and a Phonics Resource Maker Tool so that you can create custom phonics paper-based games and worksheets – like letter formation, captioning and matching etc. Also included is an extensive clipart library featuring the Busy Things characters.

Busy Things will work on tablets, as well as interactive whiteboards, desktop and laptop computers, and some activities particularly lend themselves to front of class demonstration to invite discussion, create engagement and encourage experimentation.

There is also a “My Files” area for gathering evidence, saving and recording children’s work for individual portfolios.