Activity Idea: An Apple A Day...

Objective:

To introduce children to a variety of apples using their senses.

Procedure:

Display and label 5 or 6 different types of apples, with samples available for each.

Provide slips of paper for children to jot down words to describe each apple.

(Perhaps provide a list of descriptive words that the children can learn in order to accomplish this task)

Have a ballot box at the end of the display for the children to vote for their favorite apple.

Follow up activities:

1. Blindfold guessing game--taste and identify.

2. Have the children chart the results.

3. Have the children prepare a campaign advertisement for their favorite apple.

a.) could be a radio ad.

b.) a magazine ad.

c.) a TV ad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Linking the standards:

Note that there are many standards being addressed by the follow up activities.

Science Standard 3.2 B

Describe objects in the world using the five senses.

- Recognize observational descriptors from each of the five senses

- Use observation to develop a descriptive vocabulary

is addressed in the jotting down activity and in the blindfold guessing game.

Math Standard 2.6 B

Interpret, construct and draw conclusions from bar graphs, pictographs, tally charts and/or tables

is addressed in having the children chart the results.

Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening 1.2 D

Demonstrate a rich listening and speaking vocabulary, the ability to understand (receptive) and

use (expressive) words to acquire and convey meaning

is addressed in having the children prepare a campaign advertisement for their favorite apple.

Art Standard 9.1 K

Create works of art based on varied styles within all art forms

is addressed in having the children make a magazine advertisement.

Who Says you need the Beach to have Fun??

Materials:
-A Digital Camera with video taking capacity.

-Beach Accessories (Beach Towels, Beach Umbrella, Sand Toys, Bathing Suits, goggles, squirt guns, hats, floating accessories (like wings, inflatable toys, life jackets etc), picnic baskets, beach chairs) old magazines, tents, etc.
-If possible: borrow a "sound machine" or a CD with ocean sounds.
-buy a cheap plastic baby pool fill with two or three bags of playground sand available at home depot.

Various Activities leading up to the "Beach Day:"

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Map the nearest beaches to where you are.  Find its distance. Look for pictures of the place and check out the different activities the beach offers. 

With the children's help, plan and set up a beach area.

Brainstorm on all the elements that make a day at the beach, fun,

-picnic

-water play

-sand play

-shell hunting

etc.

Come up with solutions with the children to have makeshift substitutes.

For example: 

Water play: squirt guns, water balloons, painting with paint brushes/water/colored chalk, watering cans, wading pool, sprinkler and hose if possible. Slip and slide, etc.

Sand play: fill a child's plastic wading pool with three bags of playground sand.

Shell hunting: purchase shells from a craft store.

SCIENCE:

-Purchase a hermit crab from a pet store and have the children care for it. 

-Teach the children water safety

-Teach the children how to do CPR.

MUSIC:

Make a beach music list.  Have the children vote on their top 50 selection.

Burn a CD to play on "beach day"

See if you can borrow a steel drum or have someone do a steel drum demonstration.

Look up other various forms of "island music"

On "Beach Day" have children wear their swim suits, or clothes they can get wet in.

GROSS MOTOR ACTIVITIES:

-Have a paddle ball tournament.

-Frisbee toss.

-Beach ball volleyball

-Long jump contest.

-Water balloon toss  (the furthest toss)

-Limbo under the stream of a water squirter.

-Slip and slide.

FINE MOTOR and ART:

-With Buckets of Water, Colored Chalk and paintbrushes have a boardwalk where artists can display their side walk art.

-Have children create sand sculptures in your makeshift sand box.

-With paper and glue create sand pictures drawing with the glue and shaking sand on the glue.

DRAMATIC PLAY: 

-Have various groups pose for their beach scenes and take pictures. 

-Discuss how advertising agencies use pretty pictures to sell products. Have children 

pose for advertisements/magazine ads.  

-For older children--discuss how some advertisers use subliminal messages to sell products. Have children plan their own indirect way of taking pictures to sell products and have others guess what product they are "selling."

-Encourage children to make their own music videos using the beach props.

MISCELLANEOUS:

- Hide shells (purchased in bulk at a craft store) all around the "beach area" and have the children find them.  Give them a maximum of how many each children can take home, so that everyone gets a chance to "find" shells.

-Have a picnic.

-Make a fresh fruit salad.

-Popsicles

-Make ice cream (or serve ice cream)

Have Fun.

Activity Idea: Top Ten Lists

Create Top Ten Music Lists

Materials Needed:
CD player and CDs (with headphones if possible)
Wide variety of different types of music (screen ahead of time for appropriateness)
Comfortable places to sit (large pillows, beanbags, rugs, etc)
Paper and pens
Posterboard and markers

Create a comfortable area where children can sit and listen to music. Invite children to visit the area regularly to listen to a wide variety of different types of music. Point out that music can communicate many different feelings and moods. Also, point out that the same music can communicate different things to different people. As children visit the area each day to listen to music, have them build individual lists of the music they really like a lot-music that really speaks to them. Encourage children to rank the music on their lists from 1 to 10, with 1 being their facorite piece of music or theme song. Have each child transfer his/her list to posterboard and write a brief description of why he/she likes each piece on the list. Display the posters in the quiet listening area to encourage others to check out the music on the Top Ten Lists.

Note: Younger children may want to come up with a word, a phrase or even a drawing to describe each piece of music on their lists rather than writing full descriptions.

(Source: Communication Connection 100+ activities by Roberta Newman)

**A variation on this activity would be to have children listen to music and vote or rate what their favorite to least favorite songs are. Post it. Let children discuss what appeals to them, or what they do not like about certain music.

How to Make Cooking with a Group of Children Stress-Free

Some practitioners shy away from cooking activities because they dread the mess and the chaos that is sometimes associated with children and cooking. Cooking in after-school is a great time to incorporate reading, math, science and social skills.

The following recipe was shared with us by:
Mrs. Dorothy Clark (a 20 year veteran in the school-age care field)

CORN SALSA

1/2 tsp. coarsely ground pepper
1 can (15 1/4 oz.) DelMonte Whole Kernel White Sweet Corn, drained
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) DelMonte Diced Tomatoes with Garlic and Onions
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained

Combine corn, undrained tomatoes and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Stir in beans; heat through.

TIPS

Brace yourself. Know that children will be excited about cooking:

• Many children do not have the opportunity to participate in cooking at home.
• The anticipation of eating the end result makes children more active.

Give children tasks that not only preoccupy them but teach them something. For example:

• Even if you know the recipe calls for 1 can of corn, have a child measure it out. See how many 1/2 cups there are in a can.
• Even if the canned tomatoes are already diced, you can have a 6 or 7 yr old cut them some more with a regular butter knife.

Engage children in conversation by asking questions like:

• "How many quarter cups make a half cup?"
• "Who knows where the corn in a can comes from?"
• "What should we with these empty cans?" (discussion about recycling or recyclable art)
• "Discuss how cornstarch thickens liquids"
• "Safety tips while cooking (using a stove or hot plate, knives, etc)

Give each child a role. For example:

• can openers
• corn drainer
• someone to measure the corn
• bean drainer/rinser
• someone to measure the black beans
• tomato dicer
• stirer (everyone should get a chance to stir)
• clock watcher (timer)
• ground pepper and cornstarch adder/mixer
• someone to add the black beans at the end.

Use the cooking activity to instill certain values such as:

• Cleaning up after yourself
• Sharing and taking turns
• Table manners

Thanks for this recipe Mrs. Clark and congratulations on your 20 years at LEDP!

Activity Idea: Thaumatrope

In this activity, children will build a thaumatrope and learn the basics of modern-day animation.
• Small pieces of paper (about the size of an index card)
• Pencils  
• tape or stapler.
• Drawing materials

The thaumatrope, invented in the 19th century, is known as the precursor to modern-day animation.
Thaumatrope is just a fancy word meaning “turning marvel."
The thaumatrope relies on persistence of vision to create an illusion by blending two images drawn, into one.


PROCEDURE
Instruct children to draw a line down the center of their paper.
On the right-hand side of the card,  draw an object, person, or animal to be
placed into another object (e.g.,goldfish outside of its bowl,  bird outside of its cage).
On the left-hand side of the paper, draw the object that they would like the first object
to go into (e.g.,goldfish bowl,bird cage).
Instruct your students to fold the paper in half,
so that the drawings are facing outward, and then tape or staple the edges together.
The students should slip the folded card over the end of the pencil. 

Make sure they tape along the upper and lower borders to secure the card to the pencil.
Instruct your students to place the pencil between the palms of their hands. 

If they quickly roll their hands back and forth, they should see an interesting illusion.

EXPLANATION
As the thaumatrope spins, the two separate images appear as one!
The brain has trouble keeping up with the speed of the rotating card, so it blends the two images. and sees a goldfish back in its bowl! Ask the children to experiment with the speed they use to rotate the cards.

Activity Idea: Mummy Pizzas

(image and recipe from familyfun.com)
Disguises aren't just for Halloween. Children enjoy making these dressed-up, spooky-looking snacks any time of year just as much as they enjoy eating it. 

Children spoon the pizza sauce on the English muffin and make the mummy face with the cheese and vegetables.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
English muffins
Pizza sauce
Black olives
Scallions
Red or green pepper
Cheese sticks or slices

1. Heat the oven to 350° F. For each mummy, spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce onto half of an English muffin
(toast it first, if you like).

2. Set olive slices in place for eyes and add round slices of green onion or bits of red or green pepper for pupils.

3. Lay strips of cheese (we used a pulled-apart cheese stick) across the muffin for the mummy's wrappings.

4. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the muffin is toasty.

Activity Idea: Speed Stacking

Cup Stacking is a growing sport.
School-agers love it!
Check out this amazing video and start a stacking craze in your site.

To learn more about speed stacking click here.
To see how cup stacking is linked to the NAA standards click here.

Activity Idea: Tinikling

Activity: Tinikling
Materials:
Open Space
2 long bamboo poles (in the US, this can be purchased in Pier 1 Imports for about $4.00)
Energetic children

Tinikling is an energetic dance or rhythmic game that originated from the Philippines.
It is done with two long bamboo poles, that are tapped together and on the floor to a certain beat.
The object is to be able to dance or move through the poles without getting your ankles caught.
There are many versions of this--some traditional while others do an adaptation of it with a modern twist.

This video shows a little bit of both.

Activity Idea: Drawing like Michaelangelo

Introduction to the activity:
The artist Michelangelo painted 12,000 square feet of the Sistine Chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. The Sistine Chapel is in the Vatican City, Italy.
Exposing children to different artists' contributions introduces them to arts and culture.
This activity will allow children to experience the process of creating drawings/paintings in various styles.

Materials:
Low tables
Tape
Butcher paper

Tape paper underneath the tables and have children draw and color on it.
Make sure to ask them process questions like, whether it is easy or difficult to work with your arms up or lying on your back. Ask them how they thought Michaelangelo felt as he was doing this.

*When we first did this at our School-Age Care site, we thought only the young ones would be interested. Much to our surprise, even the "big kids" were totally into it!
Perhaps the novelty of working underneath a table combined with adapting various techniques for drawing "upwards" made it challenging for them...enough to stick to it for a long time.
We had our own display of 'Sistine Chapel Art' when the day was done.

Related Reference:
Getting to Know the World's Famous Artists by Mike Venezia.