We divide the year into seasons. Each season usually relates to differences in weather. Some countries have four distinct seasons, others have wet and dry seasons, some countries have other seasons such as a 'hurricane' season.

The topic of the seasons touches on many elements of the school curriculum, for example, climate and weather, differences around the world, how changing seasons affect animal behaviour. You'll find resources about the seasons on LearnEnglish Kids on this page: http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-topics-seasons.htm

With these materials children will be able to:

			practise words related to nature and the seasons
			learn about how animal behaviour changes in different seasons
			learn about different seasons around the world

Activities are marked with a symbol on the topics webpage (http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-topics-seasons.htm) to indicate the best age group and level. Look at these when you choose which activities to use with your child.

Younger children will enjoy the simple action song 'The Leaves on the Trees' and the story 'The Lazy Bear'. There is also a simple 'colour and read' worksheet, and some ideas about craft ideas that you could do with your child. How about making a spring flower crown?

Older children may be interested in how changing seasons affect animals - you could find out about what happens to animals in each season where you live. Or older children may be interested in telling us about the seasons where they live and finding out about what happens in other parts of the world - you'll find notes about this activity below.

SOMETHING YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR CHILD

This is an activity for children who can read and write simple sentences in English. In this activity children read about the seasons in Japan, and write about the seasons where they live. You will find the activity here:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-games-gapfill-seasons.htm

			Tell your child that the activity is about the seasons in Japan - have a look at an atlas to see where Japan is.
			The activity has eight sentences about the seasons in Japan. There is a word missing in each sentence. The words are above the sentences. Use the mouse to put the words in the sentences. Try not to help too much - your child might need to try different combinations.
			When you are happy with the words click on 'submit' to see if you are right.
			Now you know about Japan - we'd like to know about the seasons where you live. Discuss these questions with your child, speak in your own language if you like: * What seasons do you have where you live? * When is each season? * What is the weather like in each season? * What are the hours of daylight?
			Write down the answers to these questions and send them to us: learnenglish.parents@britishcouncil.org