Think Smart with Weekly Themes (Ages 3 through 6)

There is a lot of flexibility at the Summer program I work at, and there's lots of room for creativity.  I get to collaborate with a team of creative teachers who love to do crafty activities with the children.  From arts and crafts, movement and dance, and other fun activities and lessons, we have a blast with the kids.

We find at our school that weekly themes work great for Summer Camps.  For me, I find that themes can be successful and productive as long as you step up the education from what might be offered some typical day cares and preschools.  I only say that because I have worked at one before, and there really wasn't much to the curriculum, at least to me.  I had to take it upon myself to make the most of it, which I think many good teachers do.  I know there is good reasoning for keeping things very simple and standard with lesson plans, but I find that the more we teach the children using creative approaches, the more opportunity we are giving them to explore, learn and think for themselves.  Many modern educators agree that children don't always have to understand everything you are teaching them, as long as they are having a positive experience in the process.  For example, if the theme is "Outer Space," you might explain to the children what a star is actually made of, followed by real imagery of stars, instead of simply showing them the most popular 5 pointed icon.  Maybe a giant ball of gas won't make much sense to a 3 year old, but when they see that stars come in all different sizes and colors, this can seem really magical.  And who knows, this positive experience might spark a real interest in later years when studying the galaxy in a science class.  So before you follow a very standard curriculum for weekly or monthy themes, think about how you can step up your themes by introducing more information in a fun and exciting way.  I find that teaching more topics on real facts is beneficial to me to.  It helps me to brush up on old subjects I learned way back and often times, I am learning something new, too.

Some references that may help you to "step up" the education are right at your fingertips with the internet.  Here is a fun website that will start giving you ideas about topics to start looking up:
http://www.brainpop.com/science/seeall/  

Save the Cardboard Lids from Your Pizza Boxes for Art Activities

As you know, typically pizza boxes cannot be recycled, because of all of the grease left behind, but more often than not I find that the lid is usually clear of any grease.  So whenever we have a pizza day at our school, I started cutting the lids off and collecting the cardboard for art projects.

The lids can be good for the kids to paint on, use as a base for clay models, etc.  So the next time you have pizza, cut the lid off before tossing the entire box in the trash.

If you are concerned there still might be some hidden grease, you could always paint a gesso base over top of the lid (the white paint that is painted on fresh artist canvases) and let it dry before handing it over to the kids to paint on.  

Jars, Containers and Lids used to Create a Fine Motor Skill Activity for Kids

Age level: 1.5 through 6.

Take different sized Jars and Containers with lids, put them on a tray or basket, and offer this simple activity to your classroom.  Step by step, show the children how to open the jars and containers and then show them how to put the lids back on each one.  When putting the lids back on, it helps to have one hand holding the jar down and the other hand twisting or pressing the cap down. This is great for children's fine motor skills and they really enjoy these simple kinds of work.  

This was a lesson that I came across while studying and teaching the Montessori Approach.  The idea was presented and got me thinking of some extended ways to keep it fresh:

Rotate the containers and jars and present them in different ways to spark new interest.  Remove or keep the labels on recycled jars, or create your own labels, perhaps to teach about colors.  In addition, you can have an item in each Jar that the child may take out and play with before putting the object back in.  For example, a block or a couple Legos can be placed in each jar for the child to build with before putting them back in the jars.  To teach children about color, color coordinate the jar labels to the colors of blocks or Legos.  For children ages 2 through 4, it might be best to keep the work simple as the more steps they have the harder it is to remember and to follow through.  Older children from ages 4 and up might enjoy more steps to work.  You could incorporate language by labeling each jar with a letter from the alphabet and add small objects in each jar that begin with that particular letter.  The child may take out each object and play with them, and when it is time to clean up the items, that child will be challenged to think about which letter each object begins with.

I suggest keeping it simple and starting with the easiest types of containers for the young children to simply gain the concept of putting lids on.  Later, you can always add more jars and containers that are a little trickier to put back on, followed by any extensions that will challenge them.

Dig Through Your Recycling Bins for Material You Can Use for Your Classroom!

I was given a hard time by friends and family for hoarding things, but once I proved them wrong, some of them started following my footsteps.  Now, as many of you educators know, it is helpful to collect these items as they will certainly be useful.  Jars, containers, and even cardboard could be enough to start building your own classroom.  Just try to be as organized as you can about it and keep this "junk" out of other people's sight until you are ready to use it.  I have proven over and over again that saving recyclable items can be very useful in the classroom.

Just a few ideas off of the top of my head include:
-Using Cans for messy art activities to hold paint brushes, water and paint
-Using containers to separate small items for art projects and activities such as beads, stones and shells
-Cans and yogurt containers can be used to hold crayons and colored pencils

These are all common sense ideas that many educators already use, and there are so many more ideas all over the web.

Saving these items can also be useful around the house.  I will likely be posting some ideas on my blog below:

 DIY Sweet 'N Simple with Angelique

 Stay tuned and start collecting.

I have lots of fun ideas that I will be sharing here.

Welcome Educators!

Hello Educators!

 I have so many ideas, concepts and information to share with everyone and I'm excited to get started.  The information I will post here are techniques that have been successfully used in my classrooms.  I love sharing ideas, especially if it will help educate today's youngsters, so please feel free to try these ideas out and let me know how it worked out.  That being said, I am also interested in sharing ideas that I have learned from other educators.  So go ahead and comment, make suggestions, or share your ideas here, as I am always looking to improve and share new things with the kids.

Stay tuned for new and creative ways to educate your children.



Enjoy!

~Angelique Buman