I decided about a month before school let out that I wanted to do this summer differently. Not only did I want us to do normal fun summer things, but I was feeling really ambitious... we are going to do it all... books, projects science projects, crafts, experiments, cooking, art, music, letters, math, games, and every free community activity I can get my hands on. Well, not only all of that, but I thought, every week we will center all the activities around a special theme to pull it all together and really have an amazing summer! I know what you are thinking... she's crazy! Yes... a little bit. And of course over-ambitious on how much I can get done with a 6 year old, 4 year old, and a 9 month old baby.
My inspiration for the theme idea came from all the summer's my mom did "summer camp" for kids when I was growing up. She always had a million crazy-creative-resourceful ideas that made every day a fun experience. That's what I want for my boys. I spent much of last summer very hugely pregnant... and very hot... and mostly in front of (sorry to say) some sort of kids show. I don't want a repeat of that( the extensive tv time, not the pregnancy.. although I also don't want a repeat of that either)!!!
So, the first week of no school and we are off to a pretty good start on ROCKET WEEK, which with a unanimous vote from the boys deserves an extension over through next week as well. I thought I would try to keep up on everything and post all the fun things we are doing throughout the summer. Here are some of the things we've done so far...
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| 5...4...3...2...1...BLAST OFF! This was our rocket snack... they even made it to the moon! |
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| This is suppose to be a cardboard rocket... it turned out to be more challenging than I had imagined. |
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| The love being the pilot (however, there is only room for one...) |
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| Rocket activity/behavior charts and Rocket themed books |
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| Lunch one day... (cheese roll-up rocket with red pepper wings) |
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| This was a small experiment to show them how combustion works. |
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| We did this experiment too about thrust... very simple. Wish I had gotten a picture of them doing this, they had so much fun! |
We also borrowed a stack of books from the library all about space, the solar system, astronauts, and all things ROCKET! We are having a great time. Even though the days are really busy this way, it makes them more fun and purposeful. We're making messes, mistakes, and lots of memories and loving every minute
What fun!! You are an amazing mom! During my last couple months of pregnancy and this first month with Logan, I admit that we too have been watching more tv than I am comfortable with. Just this week we have unplugged and are trying to do more, as you put it, "purposeful" things. I'm not quite ambitious enough to do an entire theme each week, but we are trying to do some learning activities each day and I've been letting Elaina help more with chores around the house and preparing her own meals. I can't wait to see what you come up with next!
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