A Successful Food Drive

It’s the holiday season, which is the most common time of year for there to be food drives in the community. Is your school hosting one? Maybe just your classroom? We have some tips to help make your food drive go over better than you could have hoped.

·        Find out what food pantries actually need. Some food banks, for example, may have recently received many donations of canned vegetables and pasta, but be very low on canned protein. This way you can provide a list of items that are the most needed to your students.

·        Ask students to donate healthy food items. Food banks and food pantries are usually looking for non-perishable, nutritious foods that are low in sodium and sugar. While they will take a donation of chips or candy, it is not what people down on their luck really need.

·        Challenge your students to think like a person or family going to a food pantry. What if that person is homeless? What if their electricity is turned off? It is important to donate many types of food. A box of pasta can feed an entire family, but what about people who cannot cook? Make sure to ask for items that don’t require a stove such as peanut butter, instant oatmeal, and granola bars. Canned goods that have a pop top are great as well.

·        Consider collecting cash as well as food items. Food banks often have connections with wholesale establishments, enabling them to get food at a much cheaper price than us. Money goes a long way when it comes to food drives.

·        Set a goal. Your students will be more motivated if there’s a goal they’re supposed to reach. You may choose to reward them if they meet the goal, such as by giving a pizza party.

·        Worried about your students understanding the importance of a food drive? Work it into your lessons. Use a holiday themed story such as “A Christmas Carol” to show how important it is for us to help those in need.

·        Don’t rule out collecting other items that are needed besides food. You can collect toys for local toy drives, or toiletry items. Another great item to collect, especially for those of you living in colder climates, are items for cold weather (hats, mittens, scarves, coats, etc).

We hope these tips will help your food drive to be a huge success. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and don’t forget to take some time to help those who are not as fortunate as yourself. 

Halloween Writing Prompts

October is nearly over, which means Halloween is nearly here. This makes it the perfect time to give your students some Halloween themed writing prompts. We’ve put together this list of prompts that you can use in the classroom for students of all ages.

1.      The pumpkin grows up watching the other pumpkins around it get picked. Describe how the pumpkin feels.

2.      People have been telling stories about a haunted house in your neighborhood. Write about a kid who decides to investigate. What kinds of rooms do they find? Is the house really haunted?

3.      A kid wants to go trick-or-treating, but doesn’t have the money for a costume from the store. Write about how they create a costume from items they already have at home.

4.      Do you love Halloween? Do you dislike it? Write about the thing you like most about Halloween, and the thing you like least.

5.      The friendly ghost can’t understand why everyone seems to be so afraid of it. Write a short story about how the ghost makes friends.

6.      Create a monster. How many eyes does it have? Does it have teeth? What color is it? Tell me all about what makes your monster unique.

7.      Halloween is not celebrated across the entire world. Write a letter describing what Halloween is, including Halloween traditions.

8.      The lonely vampire never wanted to have to attack humans. Write a story about the vampire keeps humans safe instead of hurting them.

9.      The zombies are attacking! Write about your daring escape to safety.

10.   The mayor has decided to cancel Halloween. Write a letter to the mayor explaining why they should reconsider their decision.

These creative writing prompts are great for many grade levels. Use some of them with your students to see what spooky tales they come up with!

Fall Bucket List

Fall may not be officially here yet, but it’s just around the corner. We’ve put together a Fall bucket list. These are great activities that celebrate the season that are perfect for families, classrooms, or field trips.

1.      Go apple picking. This allows students to get fresh produce and helps to show them where their food comes from.

2.      Go through a corn maze. This classic activity is a great way to build problem-solving skills.

3.      Hike through a forest. It’s a great way to teach about different types of trees and plants.

4.      Bake a traditional fall desert, such as pumpkin pie. This shows students the work that goes into a baked good.

5.      Head to a pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin. It’s much more personal than grabbing one from a grocery store, and there’s often other education activities.

6.      Get crafty with fall items such as fallen leaves, pinecones, sweater material, and more.

7.      Take a ghost tour. This may be a bit much for younger students, but it’s great for older ones. A ghost tour gives a lot of history about local buildings in your town!

8.      Go leaf peeping. It’s a great way to take in the beauty of fall, and teach about leaves at the same time.

9.      Decorate pumpkins with the class. To avoid the dangers of pumpkin carving, instead do pumpkin painting. It’s a great way to let your student’s creativity shine.

10.   Take students to a family farm. This may just be to visit, it may be to volunteer. It’s another way to teach students about where their food comes from and animals. At these farms students can often pet animals, get samples, and sometimes even help harvest.

This is only ten ideas of many. We focused on fun fall activities that also have some educational or creative benefit, making these things easy to tie into your lessons.

Happy Fall! 

Keep Kids Writing all Summer

We all know that writing is an incredibly important skill that is needed not just during school, but throughout our entire lives. That’s why it is important for you to encourage your kids to keep writing all summer to keep their skills from getting rusty. But this isn’t always easy. We’ve put together some writing ideas to keep kids writing all summer, and not only that, but to make them excited to write all summer.

One of the most basic ways to keep kids writing is to have them keep a journal. Writing a journal will not only keep kids writing, but it will give them something to look back on years later. It cements memories, and plenty of kids are already interested in keeping a journal. Make it fun. Take them out to pick up a nice notebook for their summer journaling. They may even choose to keep up the habit when school has started.

Another fun way to encourage writing over the summer is to have kids keep a nature journal. Not only will this keep them writing, it will force them to make observations and document data. Kids may keep track of flowers, record observations about a vegetable garden, track animal patterns, and more!

Have your kids write reviews for things they do over the summer. Reviewing allows children to express their opinion, which they can pass on to friends and family members. Almost anything can be reviewed; museums, movies, the zoo, restaurants, ice cream shops…let them go wild! Assemble all the reviews in a folder that can be referenced when making future plans!

If your kids don’t love the idea of putting pen to paper, what about fingers to keyboard? Have them set up a blog where they can write about whatever they want to the public. Kids will love seeing their writing online. This could be a personal daily journal or a blog focused on their interests. Maybe your kid loves geek culture and wants to write posts about that. Or maybe they like cooking and want to make a cooking blog. Put no restrictions and let them have fun!

Encourage your kids to take a stab at fiction by writing a book. Technically speaking, a novel is 50,000 words or more. Your child’s story doesn’t have to be that long, but it should be just that…a story with characters, setting, and a plot. Once your kid is done you can bind the pages together to turn it into a book format. This could really encourage young authors!

If a book seems like a bit too much, which requires original characters and settings, why not suggest fanfiction? Fanfiction is prose that is written based on characters and locations that already exist in the fiction world. Say for instance, that your child is a big fan of Harry Potter. Your kid can take their favorite character and make up a story about them. What does Hermione do during her summer vacation back in the muggle world? What is it like for Draco Malfoy back home? What happens to Harry Potter after the last book? This type of writing can be applied to just about anything; Disney, Avengers, Star Wars…the possibilities are endless. This allows your kids to write about something they are already passionate about.

For kids who are particularly resistant, suggest they create their own comic book. While this involves more drawing than writing, it still forces your kids to consider plots and characters, and write some dialogue!

There’s tons of writing options for kids, and it is likely you’ll be able to make at least one of these stick. Who knows, it may even be the start of a new passion for your child!

5 Ways to Encourage Summer Reading

Summer may be ending within a month, but that’s a valuable month your kids could be using to read during. If you’re a parent and you find you are having a hard time getting your child to read, you’re not alone. A recent report shows that the amount of children who are frequent readers has declined. A lot of this has to do with the digital world we now live in. Kids are surrounded by screens of all sorts, whether these are phones, video games, computers, or tablets. While there is nothing wrong with kids consuming social media and playing video games, these activities build fewer skills than reading does.

But how do you encourage your reluctant child to pick up a book during the summer? We have the answer!

1.      Introduce them to summer reading programs. They may be starting late, but they still have a whole month to participate. It is likely your local library has some sort of summer reading program going on. It could involve reading for prizes, different reading challenges, story events, and more. A summer reading program is a great way to get kids more interested in reading.

2.      Encourage kids to pick out what types of books they want to read. Don’t push them to stick to a summer reading list. Your kid is much more likely to read voluntarily if they are allowed to pick out the books they want. Take them to the library and let them go wild. Drive them to the bookstore and let them find a book or two they’d like to take home. Giving your kid the freedom to find their own reading materials will make reading feel less like an assignment.

3.      Keep reading materials around your house. This includes more than just novels. Have magazines accessible. Newspapers. Vacation guides. When we think or reading we think of books, but that’s not the only medium out there. Show your kids how much reading there is to be done just by having these materials around your home.

4.      Connect with your kids, and allow kids to connect with others, through books. One great way to do this is to read the same books your kid reads so you can talk about it, or simply let them tell you all about the story. There are book discussion groups just for kids as well. You can also encourage your kids to share their favorite books with friends to encourage connection. When kids have someone to talk about reading with, they are more likely to enjoy it.

5.      Be a positive role model by reading yourself. You can’t tell your kids to read if you never spend any time reading yourself. And no, don’t just read newspapers in the morning. Read novels after dinner. Take a book with you to the beach. Browse a magazine in your downtime. If kids see you reading, they are more likely to model your behavior. 

Stop Boredom in its Tracks

Summer has just begun, and a long summer of possibilities stretches in front of your kids. For now. Unfortunately, there will be days, sometimes even weeks, when kids grow bored during the summer months. While you likely have some time before that happens it’s better to be prepared now. We’re helping you out with this list of fun summer activities for your kids to do this summer!

~ Have a campfire with your kids. Cook hotdogs over the flames, make s’mores, and tell ghost stories. You don’t need to go camping to indulge in a bonfire!

~ Host a cookout for your children’s friends. Invite everyone over and cook some hamburgers, hotdogs, roasted corn, and whatever else your kids like. Pull out some yard games for a great party.

~ Take kids on a picnic. Do it up right; the basket, the blanket, and the classic picnic foods (sandwiches, chips, watermelon, pasta salad, lemonade, etc).

~ Go stargazing. You’ll want to get away from city lights for this one. For an extra treat, go during a meteor shower.

~ Go fishing. You may be surprised how much kids love it! If kids aren’t quite patient enough to simply sit and wait, have them invite friends to talk to or bring a book.

~ Take kids berry picking. It’s strawberry season right now, in fact. They can see where their food comes from and pick a delicious treat!

~ Spend a day on the water. Take a boat right or swim in the ocean. Summer is a great time for being around water.

~ Have a baking day. Bake cookies, pies, cakes…whatever you want. Encourage kids to challenge themselves to something difficult.

~ Go to a national park to explore the natural beauty of this planet. Take kids camping, or go for the day to hike.

~ Hold a rummage sale and encourage kids to choose items they want to sell. Let them keep the profit, which they can save or use on a fun treat.

~ Visit county fairs and local festivals. Admission itself is often free, and there’s tons of great activities for kids. Games, rides, food, music…festivals really have it all!

~ Take kids to a farm. They’ll get to see where food comes from, meet the animals, and maybe will even be allowed to help out.

~ Start a garden. It can be large or small. Ask your kids what they want to grow. It may be flowers or vegetables that you can eat come harvest time!

There’s so much you and your kids can do during the summer months. This list doesn’t even account for a fraction of the things you can do over the summer. Give this list a try, and if you finish it a Google search will give you hundreds if not thousands of additional ideas. 

Quick and Easy Memorial Day Ideas

The end of the school year is approaching, which means students are getting anxious and you’re very busy. If you’re looking for some quick and easy Memorial Day lessons, we’ve got you covered. Read on for some quick tips to educate your students with little preparation needed.

While Memorial Day is about honoring those who died while in service, you can also choose to have students honor soldiers that are still living. It is important to teach your students about the sacrifices soldiers have made. This will help your students understand the risks are soldiers are currently facing.

·        Have students write letters to soldiers overseas. Letters can also be mailed to veterans. These letters should thank them for their service and offer encouragement. It’s a great way to get students thinking about the military and the sacrifices soldiers have made.

·        Give a lesson on veterans that served in your local community. This can give students a more personal tie to Memorial Day. You may also ask if any of your students know of anyone who have served or are currently serving in the military.

·        It’s a bit last minute, but it may be possible for you to bring in a speaker. Veterans are often willing to discuss their time abroad. This will be made easier if you know a veteran yourself.

·        If you can’t get a speaker, provide soldier’s stories in another way. You can do this by reading them to your students, showing clips and art, and more. Hearing a story of war from a soldier is the perfect way to make it more real.

·        Provide students with a list of local activities happening over the weekend. This may include flag ceremonies, local community celebrations, and special events at local museums.

·        Give a quick lesson on memorials around the country that honor our soldiers. This not only encourages students to think about soldier’s sacrifices, but it also may inspire them to travel and see these places themselves.

·        Create charts or graphs showing the casualties of different wars. This really puts things into perspective for your students.

These are just a few quick ideas that will hopefully help you out in the classroom. Many students just see Memorial Day as a long weekend right before summer vacation starts. It’s important to make sure they know what the holiday is really about.