Parents / Grandparents / Friends / Caregivers,
We recognize the demands you have on your mind, your patience, your time, your space and your resources. We also recognize your love for your family supersedes all. We know this because we have families ourselves. We have set this site up as a menu to spark ideas should your imagination well temporarily run dry. The goal of it is to support your learners' independence and give parents the opportunity for some independent time of their own!
Encourage at home collective buy-in by letting kids be part of the decision-making process! Ensure that they complete their assigned work from their teachers, but beyond these requirements let them play, wonder, invent, imagine, create and engage meaningfully in their passions and hobbies. Provide students with choice and utilize the many online resources and ideas that are both fun, and educational to fill the additional hours spent at home during this complicated time.
Check out the various ideas below to encourage students in grades 4-6 to become active, creative, mindful and helpful students, while they live and learn at home. Click on the images to take you to websites with more ideas!
Active
Invent a new game that can be played outside or safely in your home. Handball baseball? Soccer tennis? Frisbee Bop? Be creative! Come up with all the rules and decide how the different teams will score points and who will win!
Use items around your home and in your yard to create your very own obstacle course. Include things to jump over, to climb under and to run around! Time how fast you can go through the course.
Join your family, siblings, or head out on your own for a bike ride! Make sure to wear a helmet and be safe as you ride. And remember to stay 6 feet or more away from other people out walking or riding their bikes!
Enjoy a game of frisbee or catch with a family member. If your family is busy, toss the ball for your dog or see if you can knock a water bottle off a chair or fence by throwing a ball or frisbee directly at it. Get out and move!
Roller Skate or Ride a Scooter
Feel the wind rush through your hair and breath in the fresh air as you roller skate around the block or take your scooter out for a spin. Check out the scenery as you roll on. Wave to people at a distance and enjoy being outside!
Fill up balloons with water, so that you can participate in a backyard water balloon fight with a family member. Play hot potato, balloon basketball or make a balloon relay race. If your family is busy, throw darts and pop the balloons!
Creative
Being outside is powerful for the soul. Take some time to hang outside in nature. Bring a pad of paper and some pens. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you imagine? Let the world inspire you to draw or sketch.
Make a Stop Motion Movie
Instead of watching lots of movies while at home, make your own! Come up with an idea, write a script and use things you have around the house and a stop motion app to bring your movie to life! Share your finished movie with family!
Choreograph a New Dance
Learn a new fun dance online or find some good music and choreograph your very own dance. Figure out what moves that you want to include and time them to the rhythm or the beat of the song. Practice until it is perfect!
Use paints or some watercolors to add color and life to a simple drawing or sketch. Check out famous artists and their styles. Try to recreate them at home or try out a fun new painting project. Then, come up with your own painting project to create!
Read famous poetry from different poets around the world. Then, begin writing your own! Do you want your poem to rhyme or flow freely?How can your poetry emit emotion or tell a story? What style or form do you want your poem to be in?
Embroider, Sew, Crochet, or Knit
Have you ever wanted to make a scarf, a hat or sew your own clothes? What about adding embellishments to your current clothes? Learn to embroider, sew, crochet or knit and get creative!
Helpful
Being kind to others is so important! One kind thing said at the right time can change someone's entire day, outlook or life. Join others around the world and participate in the Kindness Rocks Project. Paint a kindness rock and leave it somewhere that people will find!
Each and every night, your family has dinner. What can you do to help them in preparing the food? Can you wash the vegetables? Sprinkle the cheese? Set the table? Try out a new recipe as a family and do what you can tonight to help your Mom or Dad prepare the food for dinner!
When people spend lots of time together inside a home, it can potentially get messy. Support your family by helping them keep your home clean. Vacuum up all the carpets! Sweep the floors and the kitchen! Dust in hard to reach locations. Help make your home sparkle!
Bring joy and kindness to the world and the people in your neighborhood by joining thousands across the world in participating in the Chalk your Walk Challenge. Leave a messages of hope, love and positivity for people to enjoy during this confusing time in our world.
Being stuck at home provides the perfect opportunity to declutter! Help your family reduce anxiety and stress by going through the different areas of your home and organizing them. Put essentials in easy to reach places, create a system and remove things that you don't need.
Recycling is really important to preserve the environment and to leave the planet in a better condition than we found it. Learn all about how to reduce, reuse and recycle. Do your part by helping your family sort their trash, recycle or reuse items and reduce their overall waste.
Mindful
Did you know that daydreaming is actually an indicator of an active and well-equipped brain? Sitting back and letting your mind wander can activate different parts of your brain. So encourage creative problem solving, and strong working memory and take some time to daydream today!
Not only can music be relaxing but it can also be a powerful way to encourage reflection and overall brain development! Curl up in a chair, rest or go on walk with some headphones and listen to your favorite music. Consider exploring some new songs, musical genres or up and coming artists.
Go on a scenic drive with family
Even though current social distancing and quarantine prevent us from being around one another, you can get out of the house for a little bit and go on a scenic drive with your family. Turn down streets you've never been! Explore and discover new things in your area from the safety inside your car!
Read the bible! Say some prayers or start a reflection journal. Our current reality can be somewhat taxing on our hearts and our souls and it is important to take care of ourselves. Center yourself and be mindful of your own feelings and do your best to feed your soul during this time.
Everyone loves knowing that someone out there in the world is thinking about them. Connection is important and during this time, we need it even more. Email one or two different people each day! Send them a note, a picture or a funny meme. Reach out and show them that you care!
Do you have a younger sister or brother? What about a grandparent or younger friend? Read a story to them! You can do this in-person, if they live with you, or virtually, if they don't. Read a story that neither of you have ever read and have fun discussing what happened afterwards!
Learn
Do you miss your friends? Host a virtual game or trivia night! Utilize a video conferencing app like Zoom or google Hangout and either come up with questions on your own or use an online trivia program to play!
Have you ever wanted to learn a new language? Maybe you've wanted to learn Spanish or Mandarin or American Sign Language? Check out a program like Duolingo and practice during quarantine!
Just because you're home alone doesn't mean you have to read alone! Gather some friends together that are interested in reading the same book. Create a book club that meets virtually! Hold weekly meetings to discuss the story!
Do you have paper lying around the house? Why not learn a new skill and a learn about a new culture. Check out various online websites that teach and show videos of how to fold everyday paper into fun and creative origami shapes!
Ever wondered about Ghengis Khan, how deep the ocean is or why bird why south for the winter? Pick a fun topic that you've always wondered about and look into it. Read books, visit websites and watch videos to learn more about it.
We may not be able to travel now, but use this time to dream about where you will go someday. Research different places, learn about different cultures, food, and landmarks to make a travel journal of all the places that you'll someday go.