Around here, this week is back-to-school week. While my two oldest will be gone all day, I will be trying to come up with ideas to keep my little guy engaged and learning.
When my other two were preschoolers, one of the things I did that they absolutely loved was assign themes to each week. We then planned activities accordingly to reinforce what I was trying to teach. We started with a week loosely based on each day of creation.
So for example, when we were talking about ocean animals God made we: visited the aquarium, went to the beach and saw baby sea turtles, glued seashells together and added googlie eyes to make our own “animals”, drew pictures of animals in the ocean with crayons and then painted over with watercolors, the kids earned ocean animal silly bands for good behavior, painted wood sea creatures from the dollar section at Michael’s, checked out books from the library on sea creatures and we may have watched Finding Nemo a few times. The emphasis was always on who made the animals, “Kids, who made this Loggerhead turtle? Yes, God made the turtle!”
Other ideas for weeks could be:
Day 1: Earth, Day & Night
• Shadow play with flashlights
• Shadow play with flashlights
• Glow-in-the-dark paint
• Homemade sand playdough
• Homemade sand playdough
Day 2: Skies with Water Below
• Talk about the globe or play with globe “beach balls”
• Water play (we made a pvc “water park”), water ballons, go swimming
• Lay on your back and make animals out of the clouds
• Talk about the globe or play with globe “beach balls”
• Water play (we made a pvc “water park”), water ballons, go swimming
• Lay on your back and make animals out of the clouds
Day 3: Sea, Grass, Plants & Trees
• Trip to the plant nursery or arboretum
• Apple or berry picking at an orchard
• Leaf rubbings
• Rake & jump in the leaves
• Plant wheat grass indoors & watch it sprout in just a few days
Day 4: Sun, Moon & Stars
• Phases of the moon chart
• Rhymes like “I see the moon & the moon sees me”
• Make constellations on the ceiling with glow in the dark stars
• Trip to the plant nursery or arboretum
• Apple or berry picking at an orchard
• Leaf rubbings
• Rake & jump in the leaves
• Plant wheat grass indoors & watch it sprout in just a few days
• Phases of the moon chart
• Rhymes like “I see the moon & the moon sees me”
• Make constellations on the ceiling with glow in the dark stars
Day 5: Birds & Sea Creatures
• Visit a petstore and check out the fish and birds up close
• Visit the aquarium or the tidepools
• Art using craft feathers
• Go fishing
• Trip to the zoo
• Bake cookies with gingerbread men shaped cookie cutters & decorate
• Check out animals books from the library or the video series Planet Earth
This way of teaching your kids is really only limited by your creativity and imagination. Have fun with it and don’t take yourself too seriously.
• Visit a petstore and check out the fish and birds up close
• Visit the aquarium or the tidepools
• Art using craft feathers
• Go fishing
Day 6: Land Animals & People
• Trace the outline of the kid’s bodies, make handprint art• Trip to the zoo
• Bake cookies with gingerbread men shaped cookie cutters & decorate
• Check out animals books from the library or the video series Planet Earth
This way of teaching your kids is really only limited by your creativity and imagination. Have fun with it and don’t take yourself too seriously.
What are your favorite ways to teach your children?
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