Summer Break Part 2: A Theme a Week

Yesterday I posted about SUMMER SCHOOL and how we will be bridging the summer gap between Kindergarten and 1st grade for my older son, with my 3-year old tagging along in our school adventures, too.  However, yesterday’s post was mainly about desk work which will only be taking up no more than 20 minutes per day.

Each week we will have a different THEME which will allow us to EXPLORE in depth different things that kids already ask a bazillion questions about.  The days will be filled with discussions, field trips, science experiments and art projects that go along with that week’s theme.  Will you join us on our journey to have the best summer ever???

Below I have posted activity ideas for weeks 1-3!  Enjoy and help me brainstorm more ideas and comment below!

WEEK 1: SEASONS  (May 27-31)

Here are a few ways that we will be exploring seasons:

Music:  Four Seasons by Harry Kindergarten

And Dr. Jean’s song Macarena Months.  If you remember the Macarena, you can do those motions along with this song.  Who doesn’t love Dr. Jean and the Macarena?  Double bonus!

Art:  4 Seasons Art Project:  We will be gathering lots of random items around the house to design landscapes for each season (ex.  cotton balls for snow, green leaves outside for summer, Popsicle sticks for trees, etc.)

Math and Gross Motor Skills:  Sorting Clothes and dressing for each season!  We haven’t put away all of the winter wardrobe yet, so we will sort through clothes and create outfits for winter, spring, summer and fall.

Writing:  “What is your favorite season?”

Vocabulary:  Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall/Autumn, temperature, months of the year

Science/Math:  reading a thermometer, exploring the tilt of the Earth and how it affects the seasons

Math:  Calendar – taking a look at the summer months and seeing what we have planned

Reading:  We will be heading to our library each week to choose books to accompany our themes.  This is where it’s great to get to know your local librarian because he or she can help you find the books you need – maybe even before you get there!

WEEK 2:  WEATHER (June 3-7)

Music:  Weather Song For Kids: “The Sun Comes Up!”  from Dream English Kids

“Weather Song” from Have Fun Teaching!  This one is very informative and catchy!

Science and Math:  charting the week’s weather by observation, predicting what the weather will be later in the day and tomorrow

Art:  painting different weather scenes

Gross Motor Skills and Science:  playing in the sprinkler (rain) and making rainbows

Vocabulary:  temperature, precipitation, weather, sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy, storm, types of clouds, meteorology, meteorologist

Science:  making water tornadoes with 2 -liter bottles.  Fill one 2-liter 3/4 of the way and duct tape the two openings to the bottles (leave the caps off) together, turn your bottles upside down and gently move the bottles in a circular pattern to make a water spout inside.

Computer:  Interactive Weather for Kids:  http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/

Weather Wiz Kids:  http://www.weatherwizkids.com/

ABCteach:  Weather:  http://www.abcteach.com/directory/subjects-science-weather-10012-2-1

 Music:  “My Whole Body Can Move” by Jack Hartmann

Dr. Jean’s “A Tooty Ta” always gets everyone moving and shaking!

Science and Vocabulary:  Discovering Outside Body Parts (arms, legs, hair, skin) and Inside Body Parts (heart, brain, lungs)

Art:  Bones Project (creating a skeleton using Q-tips)

Chalk Outlines:  we will trace our bodies with chalk in the driveway and will add hair, face, clothes, shoes, etc.

Hand puppets:  we will make sock puppets to use on our hands using old socks, yarn, googly eyes, markers and more

Stick Figures:  drawing specific objects is a learned skill so I will be teaching my kids how to draw stick figure people

Math:  counting fingers, toes, eyes, nose, mouth… What do we have the most of?  How many fingers do you and I have together?

Science:  the 5 senses:  Hear(listening for sounds), Taste (e ating salty and sweet snacks), Touch (feeling different textures), Sight (turning off the lights and shining flashlights on different objects), Smell (flowers, different foods)

Reading:  My Body by Angela Royston and Sally Hewitt

Gross Motor Skills:  Exercise!  Practice hopping, skipping, jumping jacks, bending, and moving your body in every way!  Talk about how important it is to exercise and move your body to stay in shape!

Science, Health and Nutrition:  http://www.nutritionforkids.com/

ChooseMyPlate.gov has information on nutrition for families, eating healthy on a budget, daily food plans, sample menus and recipes and more!  Amazing resource!

Field Trips:  Bowling!  Check your local bowling alley to see if they have the Kids Bowl Free summer program!

Find a local inflatable warehouse for your child to let loose and jump away (great for long naps later in the day)!

Playgrounds with equipment for climbing and balancing!

Computer:  http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/

Please post below if you have any other activity ideas for our first 3 weeks of summer!  I hope you will join us on our quest to have the Best Summer Ever!!!  Stay tuned for updates on our activities, projects and ideas for the our other themed weeks!