Week 2 Summer - America the Beautiful
Welcome to summer at Happyland! Here you will find the videos to our weekly themed activities! Don’t forget, if you don’t have the supplies at home, you can purchase them from the school in weekly summer kits! See the link below!
This Week’s Activities
1. Pony Bead Bracelets
2. US Map Watercolor
3. Exploding Fireworks Art Project
4. DIY American Flag Art Project
5. Breezy Windsock Art Project
6. Film Canister Rocket *Parental help and do outside!
Read Aloud - Fourth of July by Emma Carlson Berne and The Night Before the Fourth of July by Natasha Wing
LEGO Challenge - Literacy Skill - Setting
Arthub for Kids - How to Draw a Heart Flag and How to Draw an Exploding Fire Work
Patriotic Necklace and Bracelet
Directions: Set your supplies out, you can place the beads and straw pieces in shallow bowls to make it easier to pickup. String the beads and straws, Encourage your child to identify a pattern first. Twist the pipe cleaner to fit their wrist or neck when finished. You can use scissors to cut off excess pipe cleaner.
Supplies Needed:
Red, White, and Blue Beads
Straw Pieces
Pipe Cleaners
US Watercolor Map
Directions: Prepare your watercolors, paint, a cup of water to clean your brush, and some paper towels. Start by talking about the map and share different places your child may have lived, visited, where relatives live, etc. Then allow them to paint their map. They can be creative and paint it how ever they like! Let the paint dry. Once it is completely dry, identify those special places on the map again and mark them using a small drop of White Elmer’s Glue and place a silver star sequin on the spot. Let dry flat before you display! If you want, you can bring your map back to Happyland and we will laminate it for you to use as a placemat! Make sure your name is on it!
Supplies Needed:
Map
Watercolors
Paint Brush
Star Sequins
White Glue
Exploding Fireworks Art Project
Directions: Use a metal fork and dip the back of the fork into blue paint. Then in a circular pattern, create a firework. Repeat all over the page. Repeat and layer with the red paint. Before it dries, sprinkle with glitter. Lay newspaper or a plastic bag beneath the paper before you sprinkle the glitter for easy cleanup.
Supplies Needed:
White Paper
Blue and Red Paint
Glitter
Metal Fork (from home)
DIY American Flag Art Project
Directions: Start with the blue paint and help your child identify a triangular areas to paint blue. Then rinse your brush and paint the red stripes. Last, have them use their finger to create the white ‘stars’.
Supplies Needed:
Paper Plate
Red, White, and Blue Paint
Paint Brush
Patriotic Windsock Art Project
Directions: Place newspaper or a plastic bag down before starting. Lay the white strip of paper on the covered workspace. Tape or glue the crepe paper on the bottom of the long edge of the paper. Help your child create and identify a pattern with the 3 colors. Turn the white paper over and using the star stickers, paint, glue, and glitter, decorate the windsock. Shake off the excess glitter. Let dry. When finished drying, tape together the short ends of the white paper and tape string at the top to hang your windsock. Last, take it outside and watch the crepe paper move. Observe what happens in the wind , if you run with it., or what it does if you hang it and just leave it be.
Supplies Needed:
White Paper
USA/Star Stickers
Red, White, and Blue Paint
Glitter
Red, White, and Blue Crepe Paper
Tape
White Glue
Film Canister Rocket Ship
Directions: Do this outside! Break up the Alka Seltzer packet into smaller pieces. Pour water into the canister, about halfway and drop in the Alka Seltzer pieces. Don’t use all of them, about half will work so you can try it twice. Quickly put the cap on, place the canister lid down, and step back. Watch your rocket soar! Caution: If it does not launch, wait at least 30 second before examining the canister. Usually the cap is not on tight enough and the build up of gas leaked out.
Supplies Needed:
Film Canister
Alka Seltzer Tabs
Water (from home)
Paper Towels (from home)
Outside!
Art Extension - use your extra art supplies and design the outside of your canister to look like a rocket ship!
Take a picture and/or record your experiment to share with your friends #happylandsteam
LEGO Challenge
Build a model that represents the setting in the story, Fourth of July.
While your child is building, encourage them to be creative using the LEGOS they have. Don’t let them get tripped up because they want to make something but don’t think they can because they don’t have the exact pieces/colors/etc. This is their chance to be creative and think outside the box!
When your child is done building, help them explain their model. Let them share what they did and help them make greater connections to the story.
If their LEGO Challenge build is off topic, or strays from the challenge, it’s okay! If they don’t feel comfortable sharing yet it’s okay! They will get better and more familiar with what they are supposed to do and their models will evolve! If they need help, do the model together and have them talk about their thought process as they go! Even if it is ‘wrong’, try to guide them to a more correct answer without making them feel bad! Working on creativity, confidence, and public speaking is the main goal of this skill, the “correct” answers to the literacy skills will come!
Practice public speaking by recording a video of your child sharing their model and post it using #happylandlegochallenge Let your child watch the other shared videos of their friends for encouragement and creative inspiration!
Arthub for Kids
Share your beautiful artwork at #happylandarthub and check out what your friends are up to!