Show us how you’re having a Smart Summer!
I’ve been sharing my family’s Smart Summer activities this week: painting life-sized portraits, reading picture books about cartography, mapping our neighborhood, listening to world beats, and using maps to navigate nature walks.
[Update: I’ve highlighted some posts from this week at a Me on the Map Linky Round-Up]
We’d love for you to share your ideas–you can add a link to a post on your blog or even a photo set on Flickr or any types of publicly viewable “journal” entry on a social media or community site.
Not a blogger? If you do not have access to posting entries on any public site, you can also leave a comment on this post, sharing the learning opportunities you incorporated into your week with your children.
Your post (or comment) can be something from your archives that speaks to our theme for the week (Me on the Map) or it can just be a general post about how you are fitting fun learning into your summer activities. You can find our weekly themes on our calendar of ideas but ANY learning activities, big or small, are welcomed!
Just add your link(s) (as many relevant links as you would like) to a specific post or page (i.e. http://www.naturallyeducational.com/2011/06/fight-the-summer-slide-with-the-smart-summer-challenge/ NOT http://www.naturallyeducational.com) to the link widget below.
WIN PRIZES!
Every link you enter in the widget below (or your comment) during the week will also enter you to win our AWESOME prize of the week: $100 to the local bookstore or toy store of your choice from Juice in the City.
Juice in the City is unique because of our mission to save local! Our sales force is comprised of moms who source deals based on their personal experience in local businesses. We believe in supporting the community while at the same time, empowering moms!
Official Rules
The linky and giveaway closes at 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, July 7…and then we’ll see you back Friday morning for more fun! You may enter as many links as you wish and each will count as an entry. Comment entries are limited to one per person. US Shipping only for prizes, due to sponsor requests, but international friends are still encouraged to play and add their links! Winner will be chosen at random from valid entries.
You retain the rights to all entries but grant us permission to share your links along with a short excerpt and thumbnail entry.
We reserve the right to disqualify entries at our sole discretion and change the rules or prizes without notification beyond updating the page.
Spread the Word!
We’d love you to help spread the word–please feel free to link back and/or grab the code for the button below. And don’t forget to visit us on Facebook where we are sharing some more ideas from the community! Feel free to also post photos, questions, and ideas on the Facebook page, too: http://www.facebook.com/smartsummerchallenge.
Thank you for taking the Smart Summer Challenge!
Your hostesses,
Candace at NaturallyEducational.com, Amy at teachmama.com, MaryLea at PinkAndGreenMama
<a title="smart summer button '11" href="http://www.facebook.com/smartsummerchallenge"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5194/5829107237_2558c61bf9_m.jpg" alt="smart summer button '11" width="150" height="150" /></a>
We mapped our house! This was fun for my daughter and got daddy involved too. Daddy drew all the walls and then we went through and put in all the furniture. Next: making dolls of the family to play with on our house map!
I am having problems doing the Linky, but wanted to add our Smart Summer Challenge post too. 🙂 We’re having a great time participating!
http://sit-a-while.blogspot.com/2011/06/smart-summer-challenge-i-like-myself.html
This week we read Ladybug Girl, made ladybugs (paintings) and went on a hunt for bugs at the local nature trail. My 3 year old changed the “lesson” on us after a bit. She wanted to find different color flowers and count them. Ended up a great learning experience!
I don’t have a blog (although I’m so inspired by this challenge that I may start one) but this week we’ve read Mapping Penny’s World, a book called I Live in the Universe that talks about how all these places fit together, put together a puzzle map of the United States, and made an American flag. I also printed out a google map of our neighborhood, drew the pool on, and we followed the map from our house to the pool.
I don’t a blog YET!!! This week we did a map of the human body with labels and picture of organs (see FB pic), which finished up our Human Body Lapbook. In that he measured the distance of different parts of his body (knee to ankle). Then we started a new All About Me lapbook since he just turned 5. I interviewed him questions, talked about favorite things, and did a timeline.
It’s funny where the week takes you.. We had planned to roughly follow the calendar, but it ended up being a week about dinosaurs. For birthday present my son got a dino dig site which he worked on (those are hard work)!!! Then to continue on that theme I found a printable where it says, “You have just discovered a new dinosaur. Draw a picture and name it” That was fun to see his creation. Then we did some dino addition where he added pictures of dinosaurs to finish it up.
Okay last post (I promise)! This week we also started a summer long nature journal using REI’s Kid’s Adventure Journal. You can download a free one from http://www.rei.com/pdf/kidsPassport/2010_kids_adventure_journal.pdf. I got the idea from Go Explore Nature blog at http://goexplorenature.blogspot.com/2011/06/fun-friday-summer-adventure-journal.html. We have done two nature walks where we talk about weather, sounds, sights, and draw a picture of what we saw. It has been one of my favorite things this summer!
Great link-up … it’s fun to see what everyone’s doing this summer! Have a Happy 4th of July! 🙂
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Im impressed, I have to admit. Seldom do I come across a blog thats both equally educative and amusing, and let me tell you, youve hit the nail on the head. The problem is something which too few people are speaking intelligently about. Im very happy I came across this in my search for something regarding this.
Currently it sounds like Expression Engine is the preferred blogging platform available right now. (from what Ive read) Is that what youre using on your blog?
Currently it sounds like Expression Engine is the preferred blogging platform available right now. (from what Ive read) Is that what youre using on your blog?