Summer Fun School….a tragic Tale

Hi y’all.

You may remember when I started summer school off with a huge list of themes? I had 8 weeks planned. And I accomplished 4.

I was off to a pretty good start. Then we went on vacation, came back, my mom came to visit and we had a staycation of sorts….then I never got back up to my old speed. Especially because I started teaching in Young Women’s again, sewed something for a friend, and started exercising everyday (which I’ve done for 2 weeks now! Go me!)

Needless to say, if I wanted to get any rest at all, or have time to stare into Leo’s baby blues, summer fun school wasn’t going to happen. Being a teacher to your kids, along with normal life, is hard  y’all. Major props to the homeschoolers out there. I don’t know how you do it.

But I have a ton of compiled ideas for the other 4 weeks. So here are the ideas, in all their glory.

Science Fiction – aka Princesses, Unicorns, Dragons and Mermaids

1. Make mermaid tails out of pillowcases (From make and takes- scroll down to middle of post)
2. Dragon puppets out of old socks- dye green or tie dye
3. Unicorn Headbands
4. Make up your own fairytale book about people in your family. Have the kids dress themselves- and make up costumes for parents, act out the book and take pictures or video tape. If you take pictures, print them out, have the kids dictate the story.
5. Princess relay races- sack race with mermaid pillowcases, cinderella race with one high heeled shoe on, snow white-bob for apples
6. Braided necklaces- I don’t know why, I just thought princesses would like it. And they know how to braid.

Farm Animals

1. Make little pictures of animal food- carrots, apples, corn seed, hay, grass, etc. Match farm animal figurines with their diet
2. Make pictures of animal products- eggs, bacon, leather, hamburger, wool, etc. Match with farm animal figurines.
3. Animal riddles. i.e.- I’m pink and I love mud. What am I? Have the kids make them up for each other. Sophia LOVES this game.
4. Make butter or ice cream from milk in plastic bags. Milk goes in one, placed inside bag of ice. Let kids churn.
5. Make yogurt in a crockpot. Google it- its not that hard
6. Draw a farm animal picture, or construct one using simple construction paper shapes. Use farm animal crackers to play or act out a farm story ($1 white bag of animal crackers from kroger are the best in my opinion)
7. Animal foot print stamps
8. Sing Old Mac Donald and “ Down on Grandpa’s Farm” – of  course!

Buildings

1. 3 little pigs- make mini houses out of straw, twigs, and then legos. Have fun blowing them down.
2. Graham cracker houses- try to build one in a pile of sugar and one on a plate or a solid block of wood. Talk about foundations.
3. Play Jenga.
4. Have a tower building contest as a family- give awards for most creative, shortest, most square, etc.
5. Save your cereal boxes for a few weeks, then take them apart and make a doll house. Spray paint or Decorate with scrapbook paper, scraps of fabric, cotton balls for pillows, buttons for clocks, the possibilities are endless…

Bubbles and Experiments

1. Make Pinwheels.
2. Bubble blowing- bubble snakes ( water bottles and fabric), huge bubbles (with string and a washer), using random objects (slotted spoon, straws, etc.)
3. Gak/Ooblek
4. Chocolate bowls with balloons
5. Shrinky dink with #6 plastic (take out container plastic)
6. Bubble Painting or Ice cube painting on sidewalk (talk about temperature)

Come to think of it, maybe I will try to squeeze in one activity every day or do a few for family home evening. 

Now go have some fun with your kids!