Let's Go On A Picnic!

Picnics are a lot of fun! With Independence Day just around the corner, it's a good time to talk about picnics and even to go on one! What could be better than playing outside with our friends and family and then sitting on a blanket on the ground and eating your lunch? Not much, I say!

CIRCLE TIME

Ask the kids if anyone knows what a picnic is? Has anyone ever been on a picnic? What was your favorite part? Discuss the different reasons you may picnic such as a day at the beach, at a lake, at a park. Ask if they can think of more reasons. You don't even need a reason! Sometimes it's just fun to take your lunch in your own backyard and eat it there! Just being able to enjoy the outdoors with your friends and family make a fun activity.




Reading and Letters

For the rest of the summer,  we are going to put the letter review and reading lessons on hold. You are welcome to continue using Readingbear.org and Starfall.com for reading lessons for your kids if you wish. Continue to review the reading tools we have made up to now. We will begin these lessons again around the end of August, or when "school starts" again!

Also, be sure to read to the kids daily! I will still have book recommendations here for you. Studies have shown that reading to young children daily really increases their ability to learn to read and their reading comprehension.

SCIENCE

Special Picnic Drink Experiment

Ingredients:

3 oz. fruit punch

3 oz. blue Gatorade (not sugar free)
3 oz. diet Sprite (must be diet)

Fill the glass (use clear glasses for best results) 1/3 full with ice cubes. Pour fruit punch almost to top of cubes. Fill another 1/3 with ice cubes and slowly pour Gatorade almost to top of cubes. Fill the last 1/3 with ice cubes and slowly pour diet Sprite almost to top of the cubes. 

How do the colors stay separated? The sugar in the fruit punch is heavy, so it will stay on the bottom. The Gatorade is lighter, so it will "float" above the punch. The Sprite, which doesn't have any sugar, is the lightest so it will "float" above the rest of the drinks.

**Its a great idea to print this recipe and instructions out for the kids to take to their parents! They may enjoy doing this experiment at home, and also drinking it on the 4th!


Printable recipe for parents!




MATH

Loading up the Picnic Basket

Print out the picnic foods HERE. Be sure to print out more than you would need for each child to have one of each item. Also provide a basket that will be your picnic basket. Have the kids count how many people there are in the class, including teachers and aids. Write that number on the chalkboard or white board where they can see it.

Ask the children to place enough of each food item into the basket so that everyone would have 1 of each item. They should work as a team.

(this is great for counting and problem solving!)

Ant Counting

Print the worksheet HERE from free-teacher-worksheets.com. 
Count the number of ants on the page. Then follow the mazes from the picnic blanket to the foods.







FINE MOTOR

Tracing Practice

While on your picnic you see some butterflies! Trace the zig-zag lines on the page to help the butterflies get where they need to go!
http://kidslearningstation.com/tracing-lines/worksheets/traceable-lines.pdf

ART/CRAFT

Art - Ketchup & Mustard Bottle Painting

Materials Needed:

Squirt Bottles (you can find these cheap at stores such as Wal-Mart)

Red Paint

Yellow Paint
Construction Paper

Pretend the paint is ketchup and mustard! Allow the kids to squeeze the paint onto their paper. This can be pretty messy, but the end result is generally pretty cool!







Craft - Circle Bear Craft (goes with the Teddy Bear Picnic song below!)

Print the template from DLTK HERE!

Cut out the circles, or allow the kids to cut them out if they can. Sort each size and kind of circle into piles before beginning. 

• Glue the medium circle (the muzzle) onto the big circle (the head).
• Glue the smallest circle (the nose) onto the muzzle.
• Glue the small circles (ears) onto the head and the smaller circles (ear middles) onto the ears.
• Glue the eyes, nose, and freckles where they belong
• Glue the whole bear head onto a craft stick or pencil to use when singing the song!

MUSIC

Teddy Bear Picnic!

This is the perfect song for this week's lesson! See the lyrics and hear the tune HERE!



BOOKS

On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Were-Going-Picnic-Pat-Hutchins/dp/0688167993/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370972380&sr=1-10&keywords=let%27s+go+on+a+picnic

Great story about some animals who decide to go on a picnic, but run into some trouble along the way.



  On Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Freda-Plans-Picnic-Stuart-Murphys/dp/1580894577/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370972527&sr=1-2&keywords=packing+for+a+picnic

This is a great story to help learn to plan, organize and execute packing for a picnic.



COOKING

Pack Up For A Picnic

Plan one day to have an actual picnic. Try for outside, but if it's too rainy or hot, you can always have a carpet picnic!  Allow the kids to help pack up the picnic items. If you are having sandwiches, they should help spread the peanut butter. Let them help bag up enough chips for each person. Make sure each person gets their cookie! Don't forget to pack plates and napkins too. You could even draw out a checklist for them to follow! It is a great activity to help them learn to make a plan and carry it out.

ACTIVITY

Picnic!

Enjoy your picnic. If you can go to a park and have your picnic, all the better!


GROSS MOTOR

Simon Says

This is a great picnic game! Tell the children to line up facing you. They will need to make the movement you tell them to, but ONLY if you say "Simon Says" first! If you make a move when you haven't said "Simon Says" then you are out!

Say "Simon Says Jump Up And Down"
"Simon Says Wave Your Hands In The Air"
"Shake Your Leg"  Uh oh...who moved? You didn't say Simon Says!

Whoever makes it to the end of the game should get a small prize.