Art Project Idea Resources
UKkidswindows - public group on FaceBook for art project ideas
Pinterest - for thousands of project ideas!
YouTube - search for "How to draw a _______ for kids" or "How to make a ________ for kids"
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Storytime - part 2
Stories being read to you:
Audible - https://stories.audible.com/start-listen
Eric Carle reads "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"
https://youtu.be/vkYmvxP0AJI
Storyline Online Youtube Channel - Celebrities read picture-books to you!
https://www.youtube.com/user/StorylineOnline/videos
Looking for more?
https://growingbookbybook.com/online-literacy-resources/?fbclid=IwAR16zqopF18haP9fpdgG8eDjO6kvRLS0p8iYZY81mZ3mC7_616w1iQdjo-o
Audible - https://stories.audible.com/start-listen
Eric Carle reads "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"
https://youtu.be/vkYmvxP0AJI
Storyline Online Youtube Channel - Celebrities read picture-books to you!
https://www.youtube.com/user/StorylineOnline/videos
Looking for more?
https://growingbookbybook.com/online-literacy-resources/?fbclid=IwAR16zqopF18haP9fpdgG8eDjO6kvRLS0p8iYZY81mZ3mC7_616w1iQdjo-o
Online Field Trips and Classes for Kids
Many people and organizations are offering unique Field Trips, Classes and resources online for free! In no particular order:
Marine Biology Camp
https://www.geekwire.com/2020/whale-experts-launch-free-virtual-marine-biology-camp-entertain-inform-kids/?fbclid=IwAR1kMOt4eKPzQcTIMIQsShpolSoSn0E5IxBivpLrfx67WTrOBmrVSfp_-b8&linkId=84964803
Let's Draw a Cat (from "Let's Draw a ____ series on YouTube)
https://youtu.be/X9qVV3uj5MM
NASA's entire media library for free!
https://www.diyphotography.net/nasa-makes-entire-media-library-publicly-accessible-copyright-free/?fbclid=IwAR3J6WkmjwMKMQjpOzehWqD9rPaaY6KCJNHeS7PQgXIOhSNxcz5420vRgDs#disqus_thread
Scholastic Learn at Home website
https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html
Marine Biology Camp
https://www.geekwire.com/2020/whale-experts-launch-free-virtual-marine-biology-camp-entertain-inform-kids/?fbclid=IwAR1kMOt4eKPzQcTIMIQsShpolSoSn0E5IxBivpLrfx67WTrOBmrVSfp_-b8&linkId=84964803
Let's Draw a Cat (from "Let's Draw a ____ series on YouTube)
https://youtu.be/X9qVV3uj5MM
NASA's entire media library for free!
https://www.diyphotography.net/nasa-makes-entire-media-library-publicly-accessible-copyright-free/?fbclid=IwAR3J6WkmjwMKMQjpOzehWqD9rPaaY6KCJNHeS7PQgXIOhSNxcz5420vRgDs#disqus_thread
Scholastic Learn at Home website
https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html
Monday, March 30, 2020
Logic Puzzles and Strategy Games - part 1
Have you played "Tic Tac Toe" (aka "Xs and Os" or "Naughts and Crosses") recently?
Do your children know how to play?
Did you know you can take this simple strategy game to many, more challenging levels?
Tic Tac Toe
Level 1 - play the standard game on a 3X3 grid. Rather than wasting a lot of paper by making large game boards, click below for a printable page with many small grids. Print on both sides to get even more games on a single page.
Level 2 - try playing on a 4X4 grid or a 5X5 grid. Is one more satisfying than the other?
Level 3 - 3D Tic Tac Toe! Imagine a regular 3X3 grid on the table, with another hovering directly over it, and a third hovering directly over that. Now you can get three in a row vertically as well as horizontally! It takes some serious thinking to play this one!
You can play this on paper using 3 grids side by side, imagining their spatial arrangement as top, middle and bottom.
Tic Tac 15 - Player one can only place even numbers in the grid. Player two can only use odd numbers. Win a round by making 3 numbers in a straight line add up to 15!
Tapatan - (like Tic Tac Toe, but even more fun!)
Download a Tapatan board (link below). They're easy to draw, once you know how. Each player uses 3 game pieces that can be moved around the board.
The game is played in two parts. The first part looks just like Tic Tac Toe, trying to get three pieces in a row. If a player does this, that round is over before you even get to part two!
If part one is a draw, players now take turns sliding one of their pieces along any line to an adjoining empty circle. The first player to get three in a straight line wins.
Nine Men's Morris - (a level more advanced than Tapatan, and still fun for Middle-School and Adults!)
Nine Men's Morris was played by knights in castles more than a thousand years ago. It's a great strategy game with simple rules.
Download board and instructions (link below)
Click here to download game boards from my collection
Do your children know how to play?
Did you know you can take this simple strategy game to many, more challenging levels?
Tic Tac Toe
Level 1 - play the standard game on a 3X3 grid. Rather than wasting a lot of paper by making large game boards, click below for a printable page with many small grids. Print on both sides to get even more games on a single page.
Level 2 - try playing on a 4X4 grid or a 5X5 grid. Is one more satisfying than the other?
Level 3 - 3D Tic Tac Toe! Imagine a regular 3X3 grid on the table, with another hovering directly over it, and a third hovering directly over that. Now you can get three in a row vertically as well as horizontally! It takes some serious thinking to play this one!
You can play this on paper using 3 grids side by side, imagining their spatial arrangement as top, middle and bottom.
Tic Tac 15 - Player one can only place even numbers in the grid. Player two can only use odd numbers. Win a round by making 3 numbers in a straight line add up to 15!
Tapatan - (like Tic Tac Toe, but even more fun!)
Download a Tapatan board (link below). They're easy to draw, once you know how. Each player uses 3 game pieces that can be moved around the board.
The game is played in two parts. The first part looks just like Tic Tac Toe, trying to get three pieces in a row. If a player does this, that round is over before you even get to part two!
If part one is a draw, players now take turns sliding one of their pieces along any line to an adjoining empty circle. The first player to get three in a straight line wins.
Nine Men's Morris - (a level more advanced than Tapatan, and still fun for Middle-School and Adults!)
Nine Men's Morris was played by knights in castles more than a thousand years ago. It's a great strategy game with simple rules.
Download board and instructions (link below)
Click here to download game boards from my collection
Make a Family Video!
My friend Bob Dawe, a realtor in Vancouver, recently posted some ideas for families at home. One of his suggestions was to make a family video together.
When I was young, I remember my sisters playing dress-up, (mostly in parents' old clothes), and making up "plays". Why not take this a step further? SmartPhones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers have built-in cameras and video software.
Teens might enjoy making a stop-motion animation video, or writing and recording a Rick-Mercer-style "rant".
Have fun getting creative together!
When I was young, I remember my sisters playing dress-up, (mostly in parents' old clothes), and making up "plays". Why not take this a step further? SmartPhones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers have built-in cameras and video software.
Teens might enjoy making a stop-motion animation video, or writing and recording a Rick-Mercer-style "rant".
Have fun getting creative together!
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Word Games
Do you have any word games at home? Do you remember any that you played as a child?
Board Games / Boxed Games
Word Games using pencil and paper
Word Games - no equipment required
Looking for more ideas? Try:
https://www.todaysparent.com/family/activities/word-games-for-kids/#gallery/9-fun-word-games-for-kids/slide-4
What other word games were fun for you when you were a child?
Board Games / Boxed Games
- Scrabble™
- Jr. Scrabble™
- Boggle™
Word Games using pencil and paper
- Hangman
- Word Searches
- Crossword Puzzles
Word Games - no equipment required
- I Spy With My Little Eye
- Cumulative word games :
- Player 1 "For the picnic I brought a watermelon."
- Player 2 "For the picnic I brought a watermelon and a cheese sandwich."
- Player 3 "For the picnic I brought a watermelon, a cheese sandwich and a ...."
- (keep going until someone forgets something, have a good laugh, and start a new list!)
- Repetitive chants - Eg. "Going on a Lion Hunt"
- Storytelling chants
- Call and response chants
- Make up a story together - leader says part of a sentence, then lets the next person fill in an important detail and continue the story. Keep passing it along, and see how the story evolves!
- Places in the world game - Player 1 says the name of any real place in the world. Player 2 has to use the last letter of that place as the first letter of another place in the world. Keep going until somebody is stumped!
- Silly sentences - make silly sentences using the same letter to start almost every word in the sentence.
- Tongue Twisters
Looking for more ideas? Try:
https://www.todaysparent.com/family/activities/word-games-for-kids/#gallery/9-fun-word-games-for-kids/slide-4
What other word games were fun for you when you were a child?
Saturday, March 28, 2020
More Educational Websites & Parent/Teacher Resources
My original post about Educational Websites was posted on March 25th.
Here are some more:
BBC Schools (no longer updated, but still has some great activities!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/index.shtml
Enchanted Learning (a goldmine for parents and teachers of elementary/primary school children!)
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/siteindex.shtml
Magic Schoolbus
https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/books/the-magic-school-bus/
Kids.Scholastic.com
https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/home/
Here are some more:
BBC Schools (no longer updated, but still has some great activities!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/index.shtml
Enchanted Learning (a goldmine for parents and teachers of elementary/primary school children!)
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/siteindex.shtml
Magic Schoolbus
https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/books/the-magic-school-bus/
Kids.Scholastic.com
https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/home/
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