School Age Activities

[TGT09]

OH good grief...I had 2 new SA's start this morning. They are awesome kids and fit in perfectly but I've been having issues with keeping them busy! I only have them 2 days a week but I do have 2 other SA's beside them. PLEASE, please help with activities. I had decided to not do Funshine for the summer but now I'm re-thinking it so maybe I'll start it for July.

What are your kids favorite games?
What are some of your favorite crafts?
I need some ideas and quick! :-)

Thanks!

[momofboys]

OH good grief...I had 2 new SA's start this morning. They are awesome kids and fit in perfectly but I've been having issues with keeping them busy! I only have them 2 days a week but I do have 2 other SA's beside them. PLEASE, please help with activities. I had decided to not do Funshine for the summer but now I'm re-thinking it so maybe I'll start it for July.

What are your kids favorite games?
What are some of your favorite crafts?
I need some ideas and quick! :-)

Thanks!

Not sure if these are options for you but we have been doing the water sprinkler outdoors. But then I only have my boys ( 6 1/2 & 8 1/2) & a 5 year old DCG that I watch. My boys have been keeping her busy thusfar playing with hotwheels but she also LOVEs doing play doh. I hjave a ton of cookie cutters & I roll out the dough for her & she goes to town making shapes & then puts them on a plate to "bake" them. I have also been doing a science experiment with my SA everyday. It does not take long, maybe 15 min but they seem to enjoy it & we talk about why something happened. If you need ideas I can post some easy ones. Last week we did a "Volcano" & we also did an easy one that involves milk, food coloring & dish soap. I can post directions if you like.

[Greenshadow]

Check out this website: http://www.childcareland.com/ There is a section called "Teaching Ideas" that would be perfect for you!!

[momofboys]

Simple Volcano:

Take a tall clear glass. Fill it half full with white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Place the glass on a plate. Squirt in a drop or two of red food coloring. Put plate on center of table for all to view. Place 3-4 tsp of baking soda in the glass & watch it overflow.


Dancing Colors


Have 3-4 small bowls & place 1/4 cup milk in each. Microwave each bowl for 15-20 seconds, just enough to get the milk warm. Give each child a bowl. Place 2-3 drops of food color in each bowl (different colors is good). DO NOT STIR!!!! Give each child a tooth pick that has had the end dipped in dish soap. Have the child place the end that was dipped in the soap in the center of the bowl. Watch the colors instantly scatter (or dance) to the sides of the bowl. It's super cool! My kids love it!

[AfterSchoolMom]

My SA's are 6-11 years old. Here are some of our favorites:

Sidewalk chalk murals

Make your own salt dough (recipes online, but only involve flour, salt, and water)

Scavenger Hunt - I put clues inside of plastic eggs that lead the kids to a prize at the end - something like "to find the surprise that you seek, find a place with a swing that squeaks". You can make the clues easy or harder depending on their ages. The kids love it!

Paper "me" - you can get a huge roll of paper from a teacher supply or craft store for about ten dollars. Have the kids lie down on the paper and trace each other's outlines - then they can color their "Me's" any way they want. We did this at Halloween, and each child drew their dream costume.

Beads - buy craft lace or yarn and beads in a selection of different sizes/shapes. Just let them go to town! This keeps them busy for a long time, but is an activity that is best saved for rest time, as the beads are dangerous for smaller kids.

Making things out of leftover cardboard boxes, plastic containers, recycling items, construction paper, and rolls of masking tape - houses, robots, cars, spaceships...let their imaginations run wild.

Tie dyeing shirts, bandannas, socks, etc.

Candy making

When in doubt, board games, reading, legos (again, watch the smaller kids), hide and seek, water balloons, painting, movie day, and outside sports such as baseball, basketball, skateboards, etc. are fun!

[TGT09]

You guys are awesome! I LOVE some of these ideas and will be starting today! I have a huge roll of paper so I think I'm going to have them trace their bodies today!

[Pammie]

My school agers stay busy for hours on end with:

Playdoh
Perler Beads (the beads that fuse together when you iron them)
Pot-holder loom weaving

Sometimes, I just give them a BIG box of odds-and-ends craft supplies and junk and tell them to make whatever they want - - they LOVE that the most - and really come up with some creative ideas!

They also liked last summer when I gave them a bunch of shoe-box sized boxes and showed them how to make it into a little house with walls made out of construx paper - and then a family made out of in-shell peanuts. They spent a whole week making and decorating their houses and made little clothes for their peanuts and everything!

[JJPlaycare]

This summer so far, my SA are having a a good time being my helpers! I have put the ones that can read in charge of story time and they are also helping out a great deal with circle time, I told them that they are my teachers for the summer! They love having this responsiblity and the younger ones like listening to them as well, in stead of just me!

They also are having fun organizing and cleaning, and I am enjoying this as well! They love having these responsibilities and it keeps them very busy!! I give them baby wipes and they wipe down the toys and the chairs and things! We also have cleaned the wood floor during naptime, we call it water skating! I fill the sink with warm, soapy water and they each get two rags, in which they use under their feet and then they scrub the floor - we usually do this quietly during naptime, when the little ones are sleeping because we don't want anyone to slip and get hurt! We pretend we are quiet little penguins skating on the ice, once the floor is wet I give them each two dry clothes to skate on! LOL They also love to organize- they have organized the book shelf and many toy bins- they love sorting everything out and putting it where it should go! I don't know maybe it is just my group for the summer, but I am definately enjoying them helping out so much and they seem to be too! They ask me what can we clean/organize next! LOL

We also do alot of outside time, sprinkler time, walks, and scavenger hunts!! Good Luck with your group! : )

[Janet]

Older kid activities

I've gotten pretty good at this because even when my dcks are elementary school aged, I still have them during summers and on school breaks. Here are a few of the things that we've done

As a group:

Mentos and Diet Coke explosion (it's amazing if you do it right!!!)
Weekly litter pick up in the surrounding areas
Various science experiments from the Encyclopedia of Immaturity
Find funny YouTube clips
I let them read at circle time


Things that they can do independently:

Lots of arts & crafts (as long as they put it back in cabinet when done)
Organizing art cabinets and other things like that (to earn incentive coins)
Helping out with lunch and snacks
Watch movies while nap is in progress
Collect nature items for collages while we are outside

The list goes on and on! I try to encourage them to be as independent as they can be. Also, they get to be an active participant in lesson plans quite a bit. I will bounce ideas off of them and listen to their suggestions. We have a yearly "Daycare Olypics" that we do in the summer and they help come up with the events and make the medals! We have "Daycare Idol" also! I include them and that makes the daycare environment more fun for them!

[TGT09]

Awesome, awesome! Even more ideas that I love!

[melskids]

we do alot of the activities already mentioned

the last two weeks of summer we spend "building" carnival games. anything we can think of....ballon pop, knock down milk cans, whack a mole, putt putt golf, all sorts of things, just like at a carnival. the last day of summer we set up the yard just like a real carnival. balloons, streamers, flags, you name it. we really go all out. we have hot dogs and popcorn, lemonade, cotton candy, candy apples, ice cream, (not all at once, i send alot home...). they have to "buy" tickets and win prizes. all the parents and family are invited. this year, ( the kids dont know, its a surprise) i'm going to add a bouncy house, clown, and pony rides. eventually, as $$ allows, i would like to invite the whole town (its a small town, only about 400 people) and do it as a fundraiser.

[TGT09]

we do alot of the activities already mentioned

the last two weeks of summer we spend "building" carnival games. anything we can think of....ballon pop, knock down milk cans, whack a mole, putt putt golf, all sorts of things, just like at a carnival. the last day of summer we set up the yard just like a real carnival. balloons, streamers, flags, you name it. we really go all out. we have hot dogs and popcorn, lemonade, cotton candy, candy apples, ice cream, (not all at once, i send alot home...). they have to "buy" tickets and win prizes. all the parents and family are invited. this year, ( the kids dont know, its a surprise) i'm going to add a bouncy house, clown, and pony rides. eventually, as $$ allows, i would like to invite the whole town (its a small town, only about 400 people) and do it as a fundraiser.

Great idea!