We began with ourselves and our communities, explored the natural world around us and now, for the final week of the Smart Summer Challenge, we’re off to outer space!
My father was one of the engineers who worked on the space program in the 1970s and he is a wealth of knowledge about space. So, I think this will be a fun way for the kids to bond more with papa when he visits next week!
Last year, my children and I made a Rocket Ship Craft and read books about astronauts.
Here are our planned activities…subject (as always) to change based on the weather, sudden brainstorms, children’s moods, or just random whims:
- Re-enacting the paths of the Earth and Moon
- Making the phases of the moon out of sugar cookies
- Reading books about our solar system
- Making constellations out of glow-in-the-dark stars
- Practicing our star-spotting
* What is the Smart Summer Challenge? Amy of teachmama.com, MaryLea of Pink and Green Mama, and I are challenging our community to beat the “summer slide” (the learning loss that can happen over the summer).
We’ll be posting our activities daily, loosely following this calendar of educational summer ideas, and hosting a weekly linky (with PRIZES) for others to share their ideas and activities.
The Week 5 Linky, sponsored by Guidecraft, is up and will remain open through Thursday, August 4. Week 6 Linky, sponsored by HP, will go up FRIDAY, August 5!
You are invited to find an opportunity for learning with your children every day–it can be as simple as reading a book or playing a game or as involved as a themed craft and activity. You don’t have to follow our themes or suggestions–just commit to making time to learn together!
There’s also a Smart Summer Challenge facebook page so we can all add our own tips, links, and photos!
Hope you will join us and add your ideas to the linkies each week!
