Around the World in 80 Days: Summer Fun 2011

Yesterday was our kickoff to another adventurous summer.  My friend Val and I came up with an exciting theme - Around the World in 80 Days.  With planning help from our good friend, Ann, we are ready to "travel" around the world this summer learning about different animals, habitats, and cultures.

The kids have been admiring the new world map I put up in the kitchen and they spent the morning decorating (and fighting over) our summer banner.  I encouraged Adam to draw a jet or a rocket.  He illustrated an airplane and then a boat with a stow-away being fed to a shark.  Nice.

 

 

After an overly dramatic bursting through the banner (really, at least four times to get it to rip and make sure everyone had a good turn) we headed to Val's house for our Summer Introduction.

I taught a quick intro on world geography.  We sang about the continents and did a simple worksheet.  We read about languages around the world and talked about different ways to travel. 

Val taught the kids about habitats and weather and then we divided into centers. 

Ann helped the kids make cereal box suitcases while the others enjoyed books, built a helicopter and an airplane, and ate yummy snacks like car shaped marshmallows and cracker wheels.

When the weather turned cold we headed home to play a round of Ann's Habitat Matching Game.  By the time we had finished lunch I was thoroughly exhausted and put the little boys down for a nap then passed out on the couch.  Maybe jet lag?