Frontline Heroes Themed Ideas and Activities for the Whole Family!

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Florence Nightingale: The Lady With The Lamp

We couldn’t talk about the frontline heroes and not mention the iconic founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale.

After all, 12th May celebrated her 200th birthday, and our emergency COVID-19 hospitals have been named in honour of her. Florence Nightingale was a staple topic in Junior School history lessons, but we’re embarrassed to admit we don’t remember as much as we should. Yet, delving into her history shows just how phenomenal she was!

Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy on 12th May 1820 (I wonder how her parents decided on her name…) but grew up in the UK, as her parents were only in Europe for an extended honeymoon. She grew up in a wealthy household and had a very privileged childhood, with a winter home in Hampshire and a summer home in Derbyshire to while away the days.

In Victorian Britain, it was quite rare for girls to receive an education. Still, Florence’s father William was determined to give her and her sister a proper start in life, making sure they were educated in a number of subjects – including literature, philosophy, mathematics, history and numerous languages. It was even rarer for a woman of Florence’s class to work – her job was supposed to be to get married, have children and run the household – but that didn’t stop her from being employed (eventually)!

At the age of 16, Florence experienced several “calls from God” asking her to help those who were suffering, and decided she wanted to be a nurse. Her parents weren’t supportive of this decision – hospitals were dirty and full of disease, and nursing was not a respectable profession! Florence respected her father’s wishes but rebelled against what her ‘duties’ were meant to be. She continued educating herself, travelled extensively and even ended a nine-year courtship in case it would get in the way of her career goals.

Her travels took her to Rome – where she met politician Sidney Herbert and his new wife on their honeymoon – then on to Greece and Egypt. She sailed up the Nile and absorbed all the history and learning she could, constantly writing about her experiences and documenting her further calls from God. By 1851, 15 years after her original calling, and seven years after approaching the subject with her family, William Nightingale finally gave in and let his daughter train to be a nurse.

Florence Nightingale is most famous for her work during the Crimean War, which broke out only a few years after she began her training. On 21st October 1854, she was sent to the Ottoman Empire, alongside a team over nurses, under the authorisation of her close friend Sidney Herbert. On arrival, she found the hospitals in a very poor state – they were dirty, overcrowded and infested with rats. It was no surprise that diseases were spreading rapidly amongst the patients and infections were cropping up everywhere.

Florence used her contacts and her knowledge to ensure the hospital conditions were improved. She had equipment brought it, had the wards cleaned and ensured her patients got the food and care they needed to recover. She went above and beyond her role: writing letters home on behalf of patients and patrolling her wards with a lamp while everyone slept – earning her the nickname ‘The Lady with the Lamp‘. In her brief time actively nursing, she saved countless lives.

You’d think one woman’s life couldn’t get more extraordinary than that, right? Well, despite returning from the war in poor health herself, Florence Nightingale dedicated the rest of her life to improving the medical industry. Although she hated the fame her work in Crimea had brought her, she was able to use it to influence those in power and get the ball rolling on reforms amongst the army medical facilities. In 1860, the Nightingale Training School for Nurses opened, teaching women how to care for patients properly and uphold Florence’s standards, while importantly removing the stigma around a career in nursing.

A remarkable life and a remarkable woman, it seems fitting that the country pays homage to The Lady with the Lamp at a time when the NHS is the shining light in the darkness.

To complete it, you will need:

1 chair.
1 wall.
1 person with a camera or video recording device.

and here’s what to do:

Stand facing the wall. Take three footsteps backwards, still facing the wall.
Place the chair against the wall, in front of you.
Keeping your legs straight, bend forwards at your hips, over the chair, making a 90-degree angle with the top part of your body, so that your torso is parallel with the floor.
Adjust your position slightly if you need to, to make sure the top of your head is touching the wall.
Put your hands onto the chair and lift it directly upwards to your chest. You must keep your head against the wall as you do this!
No here come the tricky part… Without moving your feet, Try to stand upright, lifting the chair with you as you go.

Easy, right?

Hopefully you’ve filmed this and if so, don’t forget to share it with us on Facebook with the hashtag #MummyHeroics.

To demonstrate how easy this is, a News team from America took on the challenge. Here are their results…

Fresh air fun:

The Treasure Trails Garden Games Modern Pentathlon for 2020

Is it getting close now athletes? Time to ramp up the competition with your next pentathlon event! Head out in the garden and get ready…

If you’ve missed them, you can click on the following links to head back and participate in the first event, The Paper Aeroplane Javelin the second, the Synchronised Garden Swimming and the third, the Egg and Spoon Steeplechase.

Before we get onto this next event, here is a reminder of the ground rules on scoring, and those suggestions on how to make your events even more spectacular!

Scoring System

If there are enough members in your household, create teams of two people to compete instead of competing as individuals.
Points are awarded per event. After competing in each event, rank the teams from first to last. The winning team should be awarded five points, the second team four points and so on.
The team that has the most points after the final, fifth event will win the gold medal (and eternal glory!).

Some Fun Ideas!

Want to go all out and make these events a really memorable experience for the whole family? We’ve got some great ideas for you:

Create your own Garden Pentathlon torch.
Split into teams before you start tackling the events and have each team design and create their own flags.
Hold an opening ceremony, with teams marching into the garden, with their flags and torch, to the tune of Chariots of Fire.
Prepare sporting themed party food if you’ve got the supplies, or channel Wimbledon with post-event strawberries and cream.
Create your own gold, silver and bronze medal ribbons, and hold a closing ceremony for the prize-giving (to the tune of We Are the Champions, of course!).

Ready to get started? Let’s crack on with your fourth event!

Instructions:

Count out as many pieces of paper as there are balloons. Roughly split the amount into thirds then write on the pieces of paper as follows:

Numbers between 1 to 10 on one third of the pieces of paper, 10 to 20 on another third and then 20 to 40 on the last third.
Those between 1 to 10 will go inside the balloons which are closest to the players and easiest to hit. 10 to 20 in the middle distance and 20 to 40 being the furthest away to the players and the most difficult to hit.

Fold the pieces of paper and place them inside the balloons before they are blown up. Keep the different categories of balloons separate from each other, so you know which are the easy, medium and difficult ones.

Blow up the balloons, and when you are ready to play the game, take the balloons and secure them to the grass.

Teams must take it in turns to shoot at the balloons using the three darts. Each player shoots a total of 3 darts which contribute to their team’s total score. If you have enough balloons, have more than one round.

Garden Games Committee rules and safety regulations:

Each balloon is worth a number of points ranging from 1 to 40. Players must not know the precise value of a balloon until it has been hit.
The team with the highest number of combined points wins.
Please make sure that all players and yourself are standing behind a throwing line when play commences.
Do not place any of the balloons close to where damage could occur from a stray dart!
Please closely supervise any mini-athletes when they compete.

What are the origins of Pizza?

Pizza is a simple food with a surprisingly long history. Flatbreads with toppings were consumed by the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. But the modern birthplace of pizza is southwestern Italy’s Campania region, home to the city of Naples.

In the 1700s and 1800s Naples was a thriving waterfront city notorious for its large numbers of working poor, or lazzaroni. These Neapolitans needed inexpensive food that could be consumed quickly. Pizza—flatbreads with various toppings, eaten for any meal and sold by street vendors or informal restaurants—met this need. These early pizzas consumed by Naples’ poor featured many of the tasty garnishes which are still popular today, such as tomatoes, cheese, oil, anchovies and garlic.

In 1889 King Umberto I and Queen Margherita visited Naples. Legend has it that the royal party grew tired of their steady diet of French haute cuisine and asked for an assortment of pizzas from the city’s Pizzeria Brandi, the successor to Da Pietro pizzeria, founded in 1760. The variety the queen allegedly enjoyed most was called pizza mozzarella, a pizza topped with the soft white cheese, red tomatoes and green basil. (It is probably no coincidence that her favourite pizza featured the colours of the Italian flag.) From then on, the story goes, that particular topping combination was renamed Pizza Margherita.

According to a recent survey the average person in Britain will eat 731 pizzas in their lifetime – that’s 5,847 slices! Whatever you estimate your personal consumption to be, there is no doubt that pizza is a very popular food in the UK.

For our foodie task this edition, we think a pizza is exactly what’s called for. But we don’t want you to make just any old pizza…

We suggest purchasing a cheese and tomato pizza at a suitable size to feed your family – or you could always buy smaller individual ones for younger siblings to create their own. We then want you to create a pizza from toppings of your choice, with a message to say thanks to all our heroes!

What form that takes is entirely up to you, but here are some suggestions:

It could have a smiley face in pepperoni
A thumbs up icon from anchovies
It could have a tick made out of mushrooms
It could have the word “THANKS” made from pieces of ham or pineapple

If you are feeling especially clever and creative you could even take a leaf out of this gentleman’s book to make your pizza resemble your hero!

If you have a little more time on your hands, you could always take a masterclass from these two, to find out how to create that perfectly light, fluffy dough we all aspire to:

Call the Cops… Or the Fire Brigade. Possibly even a Midwife?

So you’ve got the kids to bed after a long day of learning, garden games and Joe Wicks workouts.

You flop on the sofa and wonder what on earth to watch – can you really justify seeing The Tiger King for the fifth time? Well, we’re paying homage to the fantastic frontline workers with some emergency services inspired boxsets.

We don’t want to miss out on re-watching our favourites, so we’ve listed our top five binge-worthy boxsets for a kid-free evening. Not all of them are totally kid-friendly – we’d advise giving them a quick flick through to decide suitability if your Mini Detectives aren’t quite ready for bed yet.

Line of Duty

At Treasure Trails HQ, we love a gritty British crime drama – not surprising really when we spend a third of our time working on Detective Mystery Trails. One of our ultimate favourites has to be Line of Duty – focussing on the anti-corruption unit (the police who police the police…).

The story follows Steve Arnott, who is transferred to the department after refusing to participate in a cover-up when an anti-terrorism raid goes wrong. Each season investigates the corrupt actions of a different DCI after other routine procedures go wrong. With twists and turns galore, and a stellar cast, it’s so easy to get sucked into the lives of those in the ACU. If you’re anything like us, you’ll be so hooked that you’ll plough through all five seasons in no time at all!

Want to catch up on the corruption? You can stream all five seasons of Line of Duty on BBC iPlayer. Each season is also available to purchase from Amazon Prime.
Please note, this show is rated 15.

Call the Midwife

Originally based on the real-life memoirs of Jennifer Worth, Call the Midwife is a fantastic period drama, set in the 1950s. The show follows the lives of the midwives of Poplar, a poverty-stricken London district, and the impact they have on their local community. Starting by tackling the crisis of the baby boom and post-war Britain, the show has now grown beyond the memoirs, exploring the impact of historical events and delving into issues present into the early 1960s.

Although there is lots of fluffiness, with babies born every episode and the true community spirit always shining through, Call the Midwife has not shied away from some of the harsh realities of the time period. In fact, the show has been praised for tackling several difficult, historically accurate storylines (some still relevant today), from teen, unmarried and unwanted pregnancies, to illness and diseases, vaccines and medication to racism and so on. It paints a rich picture of the lives of parents and grandparents led while holding on to the true British sense of endurance.

Ready to hop on your bike and ride around the streets of Poplar? You can stream all nine seasons of Call the Midwife on BBC iPlayer, while seasons 1-7 can be found on Netflix. Each season is also available to buy from Amazon Prime.
Please note, this show is rated 12.

London’s Burning

This long running series was spun off from the original gritty TV movie penned by Jack Rosenthal, which aired in 1986.

It follows the exploits and daily dramas of Blue Watch, a team of firefighters based in the fictitious East London based Blackwall Fire Station. The series ran across 14 series up until 2002.

It was certainly a show that wasn’t afraid to court controversy and tackle contemporary issues from the off, with the pilot movie, seeing a female firefighter join the team. This was quite a controversial move at the time, which initially upset the all-male Watch, until she finally won their trust and was accepted as one of the team.

Over the years, it saw several key characters come and go and didn’t shy away from depicting events that could certainly be encountered by real-life fire crews, dealing with topics like death and grief realistically, yet sensitively. Although, possibly, the episode from the final series featuring a Russian spy satellite falling out of orbit and breaking up over London could be stretching it a little bit too far…

You can join the team and stop the fires in their tracks by watching all 14 seasons of London’s Burning on UKTV Play.
Please note, this show is rated 15.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Let’s head overseas for a bit of comic relief. We couldn’t help ourselves with this one – Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a show that can’t be missed. Following the immature, but very talented, Detective Jake Peralta, this comedic police series explores the hilarious goings-on of the cops in the fictional 99th precinct of the NYPD.

With a stand-up cast of comedians and actors, over the years the show has managed to balance silly scenarios with serious issues, all while keeping a sense of humour where appropriate. With catchy phrases, hilarious ongoing jokes and some superb scenes (this one goes down in comedy history), you’ll easily get caught up in the lives of the team and find yourself re-watching episodes any time you need a good giggle.

Step into the precinct and enjoy the antics by watching the first six seasons on Netflix. Season 7 is currently airing in the US. Each season is also available to buy on Amazon Prime, including a season pass for series 7, which gives you access to each new episode as it’s released here.
Please note, this show is rated 12.

Porters

Let’s keep the laughs going, but back on British soil. Sadly, there aren’t that many episodes of Porters to stick your teeth into, but this original comedy from Dave is a great tonic for a bad day. Simon Porter has a silly idea – he wants to become a Doctor, so he’ll start at the bottom and work his way up. His first step? Becoming the best porter the NHS has ever had.

From day one it all goes wrong for Porter Porter, as he’s forced to impersonate a real doctor and try not to get caught. Unlock a secret underworld and explore areas patients never get the chance to see, meeting fab characters along the way – all of whom are vital for making the place tick (or so they think).

To have a giggle while celebrating the NHS, watch both seasons of Porters on UKTV Play and Sky TV.
Please note, this show is rated 15

For this edition’s competition we want to recognise the incredible and selfless efforts that have been made by ‘ordinary’ people in recent times. We would like you to pick the person who sums up what a hero is to you and turn them into a Superhero!

Your hero could be a relative who has perhaps been working on the NHS frontline. It could be your gran’s next-door neighbour who has been getting her shopping for her whilst she’s self-isolating. It could be the person who has been keeping your village shop open at personal risk to themselves, or the postman or postwoman who has been bringing letters from distant friends and relatives.

These are just suggestions – you will doubtless have more of your own!

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

Thank you so much for all your fantastic entries – the winners are all featured below:

The Heroes Mini Treasure Trail

While we can’t ACTUALLY get out to explore at the moment – there’s no reason why we can’t make like Supergirl / Superman and VIRTUALLY fly about a bit!

Here’s a third MINI VIRTUAL Trail for you to explore with. All you need is a device with internet connection and access to Google maps and Streetview.

Click the image on the right to download the Heroes Mini Trail – and good luck!

(PSSST, stuck a bit? Don’t worry, you don’t have to use your laser eyes, the answers for it can be found here!)

Tris’s “Evil” Observational Puzzle!

Lizard Point

Lizard Point is home to two of the three remaining former RNLI (Who are OBVIOUSLY Heroes!) Lifeboat Stations. The first was built in 1859 at the top of the cliffs and served the area until a second one at the bottom of the cliffs was constructed in 1885. The third station, with an incorporated slipway was completed 1914 and in operation until 1961.

Since then the more recent stations have been located further East along the coast at Kilcobben Cove.

For this issue’s “Evil” Observational Puzzle, study the image here that was taken along the route of our Lizard Driving Trail. You can click on it to enlarge and study it and then answer the three sneaky questions of various difficulty beneath.

Easy Peasy…
Our easy level question is:

What is the most southerly Rock visible on the map?

Mind Twister…
Our medium level question is:

Using the whole board, multiply the number of green acorns by the number of black mugs. Then from that, take away the total number of white P’s on a black background. What is your grand total?

Brain Buster…
Our hard level question is:

Work out what this sequence is – and fill in the missing blanks:

6,8,7 – 6,4 – 6,3 – 5,3 – ?,? – 5,6 – 8,4 – ?,? – 7,4 – 4,4 – 3,6,4 – 5,6 – ?,?.

(Don’t worry – we won’t make you wait a month for the answers – if you are stuck, they can be found here!)

by Treasure Trails May 22, 2020

Tags: 2020 May Activities Ambulance Service Doctors Family Fun Fire Brigade Free Stuff Frontline Heroes Garden Games Home Activities Home Treasure Hunt Hospitals Ideas Indoor Games Inspiration Just for Giggles Lockdown NHS Nurses Police Puzzles Quizzes Self-Isolation Social Distancing Treasure Hunt Around the Home TT Strange Times

Frontline Heroes Themed Ideas and Activities for the Whole Family!

Inspirational People –For Inspirational Times...

Let'sGet Moving…

Getting YUMMYWith it…

Our TOPFive...

CompetitionTime!

PuzzleTime…

>> NHS – Symptoms and what to do–Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Inspirational People – For Inspirational Times:

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale: The Lady With The Lamp

We couldn’t talk about the frontline heroes and not mention the iconic founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale.

Let’s Get Moving:

Time for some Physical Activities!

The Mighty Superhero Chair Lift Challenge!

It takes a real superhero to complete this challenge…

The Treasure Trails Garden Games Modern Pentathlon for 2020

Is it getting close now athletes? Time to ramp up the competition with your next pentathlon event! Head out in the garden and get ready…

Scoring System

Some Fun Ideas!

Event 4: Balloon Target Shooting

Place balloons worth different points around the garden, and then use darts to “shoot” at them to seek glory!

You will need:

Instructions:

Garden Games Committee rules and safety regulations:

Awarding of Medals

Getting YUMMY With It…

Make your own Hero Pizza!

What are the origins of Pizza?

>> Gov.uk – Coronavirus (COVID-19): what you need to do

Our TOP Five…

Emergency Services Boxsets

Call the Cops… Or the Fire Brigade. Possibly even a Midwife?

So you’ve got the kids to bed after a long day of learning, garden games and Joe Wicks workouts.

Line of Duty

Call the Midwife

London’s Burning

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Porters

Our Survey Says…

Competition Time!

Time to release your inner Picasso!

Draw your very own Superhero!

Recent developments have shown that heroes come in all shapes and sizes!

Puzzle Time…

Time to Grab That Thinking Cap Again!

So now’s your chance to get your mind active…

Here’s our latest selection of mind-twisting puzzles for you to wrap your super-elastic mind around…

The Heroes Mini Treasure Trail

Heroic Acrostic

Tris’s “Evil” Observational Puzzle!

Lizard Point

>> Download and print your NHS – Heroes Poster here

Inspirational People –
For Inspirational Times...

Let's
Get Moving…

Getting YUMMY
With it…

Our TOP
Five...

Competition
Time!

Puzzle
Time…