While it wasn’t possible to be on the boat during the lockdown period in 2020, we developed some digital resources to share with schools for online learning. It was a way to stay connected and to bring our boats, activities and the river to life.
Here’s the text and the links to the activities to help build your knowledge on the content of School on the River:
The River-Based Experiment pack, with the accompanying video, and the Eco-Activity pack have been created so that the activities can all be completed from home, using equipment that will likely be in your home already. Each activity is adapted from our education programmes and links to the National Curriculum so can be used as a supplementary learning material or as an informative practical activity for children. The experiments in the videos are aimed at KS2 but can also be enjoyed by KS1 as they give a ‘virtual’ experience of being on the river. For the rocks and soils experiment, it is possible to conduct your own experiments at home using improvised equipment (if you have access to). It is worth watching the video first and assisting your children throughout. Otherwise, both experiments have been recorded so that children can still get the full experience from the video, without requiring any equipment. Feel free to pause, rewind and fast forward the video in order to get the most out of the clips. In the activity pack, the Eco-Boat activity is aimed at KS1 and the Eco-Audit is for KS2, but both can be completed by all age groups with assistance. The activity packs have clear instructions for each task and what equipment will be needed. We hope these activities will help to keep children engaged until schools can join us on the river once more!
Links to resources:
River Thames Boat Project 