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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 Have a fun time moving like a dinosaur around the house. How big can you make your dinosaur move?

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor Skills

Materials N/A

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 Explorers like to tour the mountains. Practice stretching moves to plan for a hike or mountain climb. Stretch way up high toward the mountain and way down low toward the valley. Can you stretch like the wind on the mountain top?

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor Skills

Materials N/A

ACTIVITY Create a list of items to find in your backyard. Set a timer and see how fast you can run and find all the items.

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor Skills

Materials Paper, pen

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

ACTIVITY Explorers need to know how to navigate using a compass and the stars. (You can use this tutorial from the Sciencing website to help your child learn.) Draw a map and use the compass to find where you are going in the park or your backyard.

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor Skills

Materials Compass, map, crayons, paper

ACTIVITY One group of explorers were the Norse people, or Vikings. This group of explorers loved to ice skate. Ask your child to put on a pair of socks and pretend to skate around the house.

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor Skills

Materials Socks

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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 Sit down with your child and discuss what makes up a mountain. Take clay or mud and build a mountain range and add rocks. What else can you add? What type of animals might live in the mountains and what do you think they eat?

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature, Creativity and Discovery

Materials Rocks, water, dirt, clay

Get mESSY

ACTIVITY Collect all the old crayons in your house and peel off the paper with your child. Put the crayons on plates and cover with foil. Set the plates outside and track how long it takes for the crayons to melt. Have your child make predictions as to how long it will take. Do you think it will be faster in the sun then in the shade?

LEARNING SKILLS Creativity and Discovery

Materials Crayons, plates, foil

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

ACTIVITY Make a water filter with your child. Cut a two-liter bottle in half, turn the top over and put it in the bottom to look like a funnel. Add a coffee filter to the top and then add by layers cotton balls, charcoal, gravel and sand. Mix up dirt with water and pour it in the filter. What do you notice about the dirt and water when you pour it in the filter?

LEARNING SKILLS Creativity and Discovery

Materials Two-liter bottle (clear), coffee filter, cotton balls, charcoal, gravel, sand

ACTIVITY Did you ever wonder what swims in a stream? What animals do you think you might see there? Make an underwater scope to watch what swims in the stream. Help your child use a can opener to cut off both ends of an empty can. Cut a large piece of plastic wrap, wrap it around one of the can and secure it with a rubber band. Place the plastic-wrap end in the water and watch what swims.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature, Creativity and Discovery

Materials Empty can, can opener, plastic wrap, rubber band

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

ACTIVITY Go exploring with your child and collect pine needles, pine cones, different-color leaves, etc. When you get home, take a Bundt-cake pan and fill it half full of water, add the nature items and fill to the top. Put the Bundt pan in the freezer and once frozen hang outside on a branch.

LEARNING SKILLS Creativity and Discovery

Materials Pine needles, pine cones, different-color leaves, Bundt-cake pan

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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 Go outside and encourage your child to layer mud, water, clay, rocks and stones. Talk about what your child is making. Ask your child to include all the layers. Next, do some digging. Does the earth get hotter or colder as you go? What is the soil texture as you dig? (You can reference this article from Nat Geo Kids for more information.)

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature

Materials Natural materials – water, dirt, small rocks and stones, leaves, shovels or trowels, website

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 Enjoy this classic volcano activity with your child. Have your child gather all the materials and decorate two or three bottles by wrapping a piece of cardboard around each bottle and drawing mountains on the cardboard. Next, join your child and have him or her pour two to six tablespoons of vinegar into each bottle. Mix the baking soda with the red gelatin granules in a small cup. Finally, use the funnel to add the baking soda mix into the bottle, and stand back and watch what happens! Talk about what happened and how the baking soda reacted with the vinegar.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature

Materials Vinegar, plastic water bottles, cardboard, baking soda, red gelatin, a small cup, a small funnel

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

ACTIVITY Try a dinosaur word hunt. Ask your child to write out the word “dinosaur.” Next, ask him or her to write words of things they see in the house or outdoors that begin with each letter in the word dinosaur (e.g., d: door, i: ice, n: nuts). Use a timer to add to the fun. How many words did your child write? You can try this with any animal word for more fun, or allow your child to enjoy some independent play. He or she can even make this into a photo hunt to show you later!

LEARNING SKILLS Language and Literacy

Materials Paper, pens or pencils, camera (optional)

ACTIVITY Have your child make a few sediment jars with water and different types of dirt. Fill the jars three-quarters of the way full of water. Pour the dirt into the jars. Put on the lids and shake! Set the jars in a sunny spot and watch the layers start to form. Try this with different water sources or dirt (e.g., water from a local pond or stream, sandy and clay-type soil). Your child can label the jars based on what is in them.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature, Language and Literacy

Materials Jars, water, dirt, sand

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

ACTIVITY Collect different types of stones and rocks throughout the week. Have your child weigh each rock and sort the rocks according to weight. You can also challenge your child to sort by size, shape, color or texture.

LEARNING SKILLS Cognitive and Mathematics

Materials Rocks and stones of different types and sizes, scale, ruler

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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 Go outside with your child for a walk and look for rocks. You’ll need them for some of the activities, so try to find all different kinds!

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature

Materials Rocks

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 Collect different-size stones and fill a bin with water. Have your child predict what will happen and then drop each stone individually into the water. Have your little investigator keep track of what happens when each hits the water. You can use rulers to extend this activity into an interactive math lesson. Predict, in inches, how high the water will get. Use the ruler to test your predictions.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature

Materials Rocks, bin, water, paper, writing utensil, ruler (optional)

ACTIVITY Discuss with your child what animals live in the mountains and what sounds they make. When outside, act out these sounds. Why do you think they make the sounds that they do?

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature

Materials N/A

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

ACTIVITY Take your child on a treasure hunt. Fill a box with items and bury the treasure box. Then create clues with your child to use them to find the box. You can hide the box ahead of time so that he or she can find it. Take another approach and do this with him or her so your child can work through sequencing, measuring and directional skills.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature

Materials Box, items for treasure box, paper, writing utensils

ACTIVITY Make a telescope out of cardboard tubes and take on a hike to look for nature items.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature

Materials Cardboard tubes, glue

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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 Visit the Weather Wiz Kids pages on volcanoes. Ask your child what he or she thinks about volcanoes. Show your child the different types of volcanoes.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature

Materials Website

ACTIVITY Do a few “earthly” yoga moves such as tree or sun pose, as shown on Kids Yoga Stories.

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor Skills

Materials Website

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 Take a few minutes to explore what fossils are and talk about the fossil types. The site DKfindout! has a great fossil exploration page. Explore the fish fossil. What do you see? What do fossils tell us?

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature

Materials Website

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

ACTIVITY Watch and sing along to this fun, fact-filled song about the planet Earth, from Silly School Songs on YouTube.

LEARNING SKILLS Music and Movement

Materials Website

ACTIVITY Use smooth stones that fit comfortably in your child’s hands. Practice slow breathing exercises with eyes closed. Explain that the stones are collecting negative emotions. Try another step by asking your child to squeeze and then relax his or her grip on the stones.

LEARNING SKILLS Social-Emotional Learning

Materials Rocks or smooth stones

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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 Use different-color molding dough and let your little explorer make the layers of the Earth. Your child can label the layers by color or draw the layers and label them.

LEARNING SKILLS Language and Literacy, Science and Nature

Materials Colorful molding dough, markers, construction paper

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 Show your child pictures of the Earth and provide him or her with various art materials. Ask your child to use the different materials to create the oceans and landmasses on Earth. Encourage your child to get creative and try to make a 3D representation of the planet.

LEARNING SKILLS Creativity and Discovery, Science and Nature

Materials Pictures of the Earth, various art mediums or recycled materials

ACTIVITY Get out some clay or molding dough and small natural objects (collect a few items from nature outside as well). Have your child make fossil prints in the clay and let them dry.

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature, Creativity and Discovery

Materials Clay or molding dough, items from nature, miscellaneous small objects

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

ACTIVITY Using the rock and stone collection from the Get Focused activity (above), have your child decorate the rocks. Your child can write names on the rocks or even mark them to play a game with them.

LEARNING SKILLS Creativity and Discovery, Language and Literacy

Materials Rocks, stones, crayons or paint, markers

ACTIVITY Encourage your child to make a weathervane using this tutorial from the PBS Kids website, showing the directions of the Earth and then determining the wind direction. Your child can decorate the parts of the weathervane. Who might need to know the direction of the wind?

LEARNING SKILLS Creativity and Discovery, Science and Nature

Materials Piece of clay, small square of cardboard, pencil with a fresh eraser, pin, straw, scissors, construction paper, markers, crayons, compass

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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 with family and friends how to make something that has layers like the Earth (e.g., birthday cake, sandwich, pizza). Now enjoy the results – yum!

LEARNING SKILLS Creativity and Discovery

Materials Recipe ingredients

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 Use the stones and rocks your child decorated in the Get Creative activity and have your child package and send them to friends to use as paperweights or napkin weights. You can also use the ones with names as nameplates for the table. Take your child on a walk and have him or her leave a few of the decorated rocks along the way for others to enjoy!

LEARNING SKILLS Social-Emotional Learning, Language and Literacy

Materials Rocks, shipping materials, postage, writing utensils

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

ACTIVITY Everyone can shake off some stress by doing earthquake moves. Raise the Richter scale (seven really gets you moving) and move faster; lower the scale (try a two) and move more slowly as you shake off your stress. What number do you think you would hit on the scale if you were a mouse? What about if you were a giraffe or a dinosaur?

LEARNING SKILLS Gross Motor Skills

Materials N/A

ACTIVITY Have your child guide the family through a family recycling plan and talk about what things you can avoid using to help the Earth. Each person can talk about one thing he or she will do.

LEARNING SKILLS Cognitive and Mathematics, Science and Nature

Materials Paper, writing utensil(s)

ACTIVITY Make cupcakes together and share. Demonstrate the Earth’s core with a fun cupcake activity from Earth Science Week. YUM!

LEARNING SKILLS Science and Nature, Cognitive and Mathematics

Materials Cupcake ingredients, a small knife, paper, frosting, food coloring, foil baking cups, toothpicks, plastic transparent straws