I found this great article while on Pinterest looking up lesson ideas tonight and wanted to share some of it with you all.
This is from http://carrotsareorange.com/10-fun-ways-add-learning-day/
1. Visit your local library and borrow some books related to the place you’ll be visiting A mix of both fiction and non-fiction books will add to the fun and learning potential. If you’re planning a visit to the zoo for example, borrow some factual books about animals, and perhaps some story books about visiting the zoo. Borrow the books before the big day out, read them each day leading up to the outing, then continue reading them after the visit. Before the day, ask your kids questions about what they think they might see. Then,
after the trip, relate the books back to what they actually did see and experience.
2. Prepare a scavenger hunt
Draw or print out some pictures of things you expect to see on the day such as animals (for the zoo), sea shells (for a trip to the beach), or a particular painting (for a trip to a gallery). Add the pictures to a single page and bring it along with you. Your kids will have a great time searching for the items and then crossing them off as the discover each one.
3. Do some online research
Using the zoo trip as an example, google pictures of the types of animals you expect to see, or you could even visit the website of the place that you are visiting to plan your day.
4. Make a collage
This could be done before or after the trip. Flip through some old magazines and collect pictures of
anything you expect to see/did see and paste them onto a sheet of paper. You could add glitter,
paint or even your own drawings to the collage too. Go wild!
5. Create a small world play scene
Small world play enhances imagination and fosters language skills. The idea is to create a mini playscape that relates to the place you visited. These invitations to play can be put together easily with recycled materials and items found in your home. For a trip to the beach or aquarium, you could use blue felt or cardboard for the water, add some sand or pebbles and add some sea-creatures found at the dollar store. For the zoo, add some leaves from your garden, a few animal toys, and again some blue felt for a watering hole. Then watch as your kids become lost in their imaginations, making up all sort sorts of funny adventures and stories.
6. Letter reinforcement
Particularly for younger kids, you could create some letter games and crafts, concentrating on a letter such as Z for zoo, B for beach, or M for museum. “We’re going to the Zoo next week! What else begins with Z? Zebra! Do you think we’ll see a Zebra when we go to the Zoo?” You’ll find lots of letter reinforcement games on my Literacy and Numeracy Pinterest board.
7. Hand your child the camera
Let your child have use of a camera for the entire day. If your child is young and you’re concerned about your camera being damaged, why not try a disposable camera? Kids LOVE taking photos. Afterwards, print out the pics, make a collage and hang it on the wall, or create your own mini album by stapling together some sheets of paper and pasting the pics onto each page. You can then use the pics to talk about all the things you did/learnt on the day.
8. Collect items to bring back home
If you’re visiting somewhere natural such as the beach or a nature hike, collect some pebbles, shells or leaves. Bring them home and start a nature table or a treasure box filled with natural items and add to it each time you do something outdoors. For a zoo trip, you could buy just one little toy animal and add to the collection, one animal at a time, each time you return to the zoo.
9. Make up stories based on your day out
After the visit, make up stories with your kids about everything you saw and did. Ask questions like “I wonder what those monkeys get up to at night when all the visitors and zoo keepers have gone home?” and see what imaginative ideas your kids come up with. There’s so much potential for imagination and language development when you make up fun stories relating back to somewhere you’ve been.
10. Cook a dish which reflects the place you visited
Cooking with kids is so beneficial. It boosts their confidence, enhances maths and language skills and is just plain fun! If you went somewhere cultural, such as to an exhibition of Italian painters, then cook some pasta, if you visited the beach, perhaps make a tropical food such as grilled pineapple, or for a zoo trip, how about cookies made with animal shaped cookie cutters?
I hope these ideas have given you some inspiration to add to the fun and learning potential of your next family outing. What are your favourite places to take your family to have fun and learn?
