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SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANS

KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE

GET MOVING

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET MOVING

ACTIVITY Build a balance beam. Use a strip of tape on the floor or flat blocks and practice walking across it.

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor skills

Materials Tape, blocks

Get Moving activities are designed to either engage your child’s full body in a physical activity to start the day with a jump, OR to start the day planning for play, a critical area of development in organizational thinking.

Get moving

ACTIVITY Use a cardboard box to create a car. Discuss with your child how a car moves. Pretend to drive the car around your house. You can even drive your car outside; remember to obey traffic signs!

LEARNING SKILLS Creativity and Discovery

Materials Cardboard boxes, markers, tape

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET MOVING

ACTIVITY Try using rubber bands and craft sticks to build a catapult. Stack five craft sticks and secure them with rubber bands at each end. Take two craft sticks and secure them with a rubber band at the end. Slide the five craft sticks between the two sticks and secure them with rubber bands. Glue a plastic lid or plastic spoon to the end of a craft stick and add a small item to see how far it will fly.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering, Science and Nature

Materials Rubber bands, craft sticks, glue, plastic lid, website

ACTIVITY It’s always fun to play with marshmallows! Cut an 11.5x7.5-inch rectangle out of a file folder. Make the rectangle into a tube and secure with tape. Put a marshmallow inside the tube and try to blow on one end of the tube and see how far the marshmallow will fly.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering, Science and Nature

Materials Marshmallows, file folder, tape, scissors

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET MOVING

ACTIVITY What does the rain sound like? Tape two cardboard tubes together to make one long tube. Tape one end of the tube closed and add rice and beans. Tape the other end of the tube and turn the tube over to make the rice and beans roll up and down the tube. What does it sound like? Try sticking toothpicks into the tube to see if your child can create different sounds and tones.

LEARNING SKILLS Music and Movement, Technology and Engineering

Materials Cardboard tube, tape, rice, beans, toothpicks (optional)

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SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANS

KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE

GET MESSY

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET MESSY

Get Messy is a section designed for your child to engage in sensory play. Sensory play allows learners to make sense of the world around them by taking in as much information as possible from an experience by using as many intake receptors as possible on their bodies. It allows information to absorb better and with more meaning.

ACTIVITY What is the strongest 3D shape? Use paper (not card stock) and make 3D shapes: one triangle, one cylinder, one square. Stand each shape up on end and slowly stack books on top, one at a time, to see how many each shape will hold.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature, Technology and Engineering

Materials Paper, tape, books

Get mESSY

ACTIVITY Ask your child if it is more difficult to break one piece of spaghetti or many pieces of spaghetti. Get a lot of dried spaghetti and start with one piece and try to break it. Then repeat with five pieces, 10, 15, 20, etc. until you cannot break the spaghetti. Discuss with your child how materials work together to make items stronger. Have fun making spaghetti when you are finished playing! Extend the discussion by having your child predict how many pieces of spaghetti they can break.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature, Cognitive and Mathematics

Materials Dry spaghetti noodles

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET MESSY

ACTIVITY Build a ramp out of stacked books and use a cardboard box top as the ramp. Add paint and a sheet of paper to the ramp. Roll a small ball or toy cards down the ramp to make a piece of artwork. Change the height of the ramp. How does it change the way the artwork looks?

LEARNING SKILLSCreativity and Discovery, Technology and Engineering

Materials Books, cardboard box top, paint, small ball, paper, toy cars

ACTIVITY Build a bridge out of toothpicks and marshmallows. See how high you can build the structure. Test how strong the structure is. Using toy cars, or other small objects, put them on the bridge to see if it holds.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering

Materials Toothpicks, marshmallows, toy cars or other small objects (optional)

ACTIVITY Add sand or dirt to a bin and bury screws, nuts and bolts. Have your child find the screws, nuts and bolts and then try to put them together.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature

Materials Screws, nuts, bolts, sand, bin

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SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANS

KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE

GET FOCUSED

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET FOCUSED

ACTIVITY Read or listen to the story The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires. Have your child create an engineering journal. Ask him or her to draw spaces or environments to build based on your child’s existing knowledge of objects, shapes and sizes. Provide tools (pictures from magazines or printed from the computer, books, drawing tools, etc.) to allow your child to document what he or she is going to build, what kind of shapes or objects he or she is going to use and how he or she is going to use them.

LEARNING SKILLS Cognitive and Mathematics, Language and Literacy

Materials Paper, staples, scissors, crayons and markers, book or read-aloud, magazines, journal (optional)

Get Focused is a time of day devoted to learning a specific skill. It is a time that is best for children to engage independently or with their parent to fully concentrate and build new skills through hands-on lessons.

Get Focused

ACTIVITY Get out some recycled materials and ask your child to gather other materials he or she may need to build a model of what your child planned in the journal.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering

Materials Recycled materials, art supplies, journal

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET FOCUSED

ACTIVITY At breakfast or during snack time, guide your child in making simple wheels and axles. Watch Let’s Get Rolling! Physics for Kids to learn about wheels and axles. Have your child put the bowl side of a spoon (the part you eat with) in the hole of half a bagel. Do the same with another spoon and tie the handles together to create a wheel and axle. (The spoons make the axle and the bagels are the wheels.) Now enjoy your treat! Extend the learning with another tasty experiment. Put a straw in the hole of a cereal ring and try to wheel it across the table. (The straw is the axle and the cereal is the wheel.) Now enjoy your treat!

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering

Materials Bowls, spoons, straws, bagels, cereal rings, website

ACTIVITY Let’s learn about how airplanes are made and how they fly. Have your child explore the Brain Candy video on YouTube called How Do Airplanes Work? Ask your child to make a few different types of paper airplanes – one fold, two folds, one with an added tail. Test the flights. Which ones go the farthest, and which ones do not work at all? Your child can also decorate the airplanes. Feel free to include other family members and have a contest to see whose airplane goes the furthest.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering, Creativity and Discovery

Materials Paper (different weights and types), scissors, tape, glue, crayons, website

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET FOCUSED

ACTIVITY Read or listen to The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone, or tell the story on your own. Encourage your child to build a bridge. He or she can select the materials, decorate his or her bridge and show how it works.

LEARNING SKILLSLanguage and Literacy, Technology and Engineering

Materials Book or read-aloud, blocks, rulers

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SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANS

KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE

GET OUTSIDE

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET OUTSIDE

ACTIVITY Stack up rocks or sticks and lay a flat board or cookie sheet at an angle to build a ramp. Take small cars or balls and estimate how far they will roll down the ramp. Keep track on a graph.

LEARNING SKILLS Cognitive and Mathematics

Materials Rocks, sticks, board or cookie sheet, toy cars or balls, graph paper or chart with writing utensils

Get Outside is a time of day designed to do just that—get outside and explore. Exploring offers children new ways to relate to their world and engage in physical activities and inquiry-based learning.

Get Outside

ACTIVITY Take buckets and tubes to create imaginative waterways to water all the plants outside.

LEARNING SKILLS Creativity and Discovery, Technology and Engineering, Science and Nature

Materials Buckets, tubes, plants

ACTIVITY Build a pulley system outside with recyclable materials, string and buckets. Try to hoist items with the pulley system.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering

Materials Recyclable materials, string, buckets

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET OUTSIDE

ACTIVITY Discuss with your child what sound a bee makes. Collect all the materials to make a bee hummer outside. Take the craft stick and add the two cap erasers to the ends of the sticks. Cut an index card to fit between the erasers and staple it in place with two inches sticking off the edge. Cut enough string to safely swing the hummer and tie it to the stick next to one of the erasers. Stretch the rubber band from one end of the craft stick to another. Hold the end of the string and swing it in circles. This will sound like a bee humming.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering, Creativity and Discovery

Materials Craft sticks, two cap erasers, rubber band, stapler, index card, string, scissors

ACTIVITY Create a maze outside for small toy cars. Use blocks, cardboard tubes, sticks, leaves, etc. to build the maze. Next, drive the cars through the maze. Extend the activity by building a large maze with sticks on the ground and walking through the maze to find your way out of it.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering

Materials Toy cars, cardboard tubes, large and small sticks, leaves

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SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANS

KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE

GET RELAXED

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET RELAXED

ACTIVITY Try a few yoga poses, as shown in this article from Pure Wow, that fit with our theme such as bridge or tabletop.

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor Skills, Social-Emotional Learning

Materials Website

ACTIVITY Time to stretch. Try a few stretching exercises that fit our theme throughout the day. Stretch high like a skyscraper, reach out like a road and stretch down to your toes. Ask your child to make up a few.

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor Skills

Materials N/A

Get RElaxedGet Relaxed is a time of day to unwind and do something low-key. This allows your child to take a brain-break and rest their bodies so that they can enjoy more active play after they relax or take a rest.

ACTIVITY On a partly cloudy day, have your child lie on the ground and talk about the shapes viewed in the clouds. What do you see? Watching the clouds move by can be soothing.

LEARNING SKILLS Social-Emotional Learning

Materials N/A

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET RELAXED

ACTIVITY Sing a classic song with your child such as “London Bridge Is Falling Down” and then talk about what works in building bridges.

LEARNING SKILLS Music and Movement

Materials Tune for reference

ACTIVITY Read or listen to How a House Is Built by Gail Gibbons and talk about your home.

LEARNING SKILLS Language and Literacy

Materials Book or read-aloud

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SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANS

KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE

GET CREATIVE

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET CREATIVE

ACTIVITY Explore what wedges are by visiting the Kids Kiddlesite on wedges. Demonstrate for your child a simple use for a wedge such as a doorstop. Have your child demonstrate what happens to a door when you do not use the doorstop and then what happens when you do use it. How and why does your child think it works? What other uses do we have for wedges? Have your child make wedges out of a variety of materials.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering

Materials Blocks, clay, craft supplies, website

Get CreativeGet Creative is a time of day designed for your child to have open-ended experiences with a variety of mediums. By giving them opportunities to create with no specific outcome in mind it exercises their creative thinking skills allowing them to be better communicators and problem solvers.

ACTIVITY Have your child create a racetrack using this idea from the Peep and theBig Wide World website. Your child can make his or her own design. Use the tubing or rolls. Encourage your child to make it long and place the tubes over tables, lean them against things and connect them using tape. Now test the track. Does the small ball go all the way through the tube without stopping?

LEARNING SKILLSTechnology and Engineering, Creativity and Discovery, Cognitive and Mathematics

Materials Multiple lengths of PVC tubing, wrapping-paper tubes, small ball or marble, website

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET CREATIVE

ACTIVITY Encourage your child to build with pasta and marshmallows (the marshmallows link the pasta together). Get creative with different types of pasta.

LEARNING SKILLSTechnology and Engineering, Creativity and Discovery

Materials Variety of dried pasta, small marshmallows

ACTIVITY Make a pinwheel with your child. Cut a six-inch square out of paper. If you’re using white paper, have your child draw and color on the paper or use paints. Trace lines from corner to corner and then cut along the lines going up a third of the way on each line. Pull the edges of the paper to the center and insert a hole. Push the paper fastener through the hole. Glue the stick to the pinwheel. Enjoy blowing on the pinwheel. Younger children may need help with cutting and fastening.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering, Creativity and Discovery

Materials One sheet of colorful or white paper, ruler, scissors, paper fastener, straw or craft stick, paint or crayons

ACTIVITY Encourage your child to build a small dollhouse (or miniature toy house) out of plastic tubs and cups (or you could use blocks). Challenge your child to create windows and a few rooms in the house.

LEARNING SKILLSTechnology and Engineering, Creativity and Discovery

Materials Plastic food-storage tubs, plastic cups, blocks (optional)

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SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANS

KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE

GET CONNECTED

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET CONNECTED

ACTIVITY Share the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff with family in your child’s own words and talk about the story from the troll’s point of view. How was he tricked?

LEARNING SKILLS Language and Literacy

Materials Read-aloud, for reference

Get Connected is a time of day to connect with family members or loved ones in a variety of ways. Social and emotional connections are imperative to all learning. If a child does not feel secure and connected, they cannot engage appropriately and cannot learn effectively. So, have fun with these ideas for both virtual and personal connections!

Get Connected

ACTIVITY Each person can make a paper airplane before a live chat. During the chat, everyone can show off their planes and have a test flight. This is also fun to do as a family activity.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering

Materials Paper

ACTIVITY Have your child conduct a yoga and stretching session with family using the poses and ideas above in Get Relaxed.

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor Skills, Social-Emotional Learning

Materials N/A

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SUMMER LEARNING SUMMER LEARNING FUN WEEKLY PLANSKINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL AGE • GET CONNECTED

ACTIVITY Get out 20 or more cups and have a cup-stacking race. Each person must use all of his or her cups. Set a timer for 30 seconds or one minute. What else can each person build with the cups? Take pictures and share.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering

Materials Plastic or paper cups

ACTIVITY Have your child demonstrate how to make a wheel and axle using a bagel and a spoon (see Get Focused above). Share other ways to make wheels and axles.

LEARNING SKILLS Technology and Engineering

Materials Bagel, spoon, other household items