Kids Activities

Posted by Elece Hollis

Dear Readers,

Spring is here and the farm is a great place for children to learn about baby animals and see them up close. Children love animals and are thrilled with the wonder of baby animals. They may see colts, calves, kids, lambs, kittens, piglets, and chicks.

Do some reading and researching at the library then head for the country on a mission to see some newborn animals. If you can arrange a visit with a farmer or just take in drive by glimpses of animals grazing, it will be an adventure for a child.

If not, why not take your trip to the zoo to look for babies there? Visiting farm babies is a late spring event. Your children might want to make it a spring tradition. Don't forget the camera!

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Friends, Teachers, Parents, and Grands,

Are your children itching to get their hand dirty? Do they want to dig and garden with you? Here is a good way to growplants even in a small space. Does your child want to plant something?

A container garden is an ideal way for any child to experience the joy of gardening. With containers a child can plant flowers and even fruits and vegetables where there is no room for a full scale garden. With some container creativity, a child can plant in an old shoe, a bucket, a pickle crock, even a basket leftover from Easter.

Study gardening and do some reading and you are on your way to a happy adventure and a beautiful container garden.

Grab a trowel and some potting soil and come on!

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Teachers,

Your students will love reading and reasearching different trees and presenting tree artwork through the Arboretum project. The students will study trees together as a group, and then study on their own one specific tree. They will be making a small book about their tree listing its information.

They will be directed to collect tree bark , cones, flowers, nuts, and leaf specimens and to make a large drawing of their tree. Students can write reports or poetry about the trees.

The class will host an arboretum in their classroom where guests can tour the tree displays and look at the student's work. This is a hands-on tree study project that will work well in the classroom or for groups of homeschool students.

Kids will enjoy not only the learning from books, but learning from observing trees in the area and preparing and presenting a unique program for classroom visitors and parents.

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Friends,

Collage, melange, hodgepodge--call it whatever you please.This art project provides a great way for children to occupy themselves in an artistic endeavor. It allows them to openly express themselves.

The making of a collage is very hands-on and messy--cutting, arranging, and gluing fun from beginning to end. Kids of all ages love making collages. Then too, every young artsist has the leeway to create his own way--with bright colors or dark, pastels, or fantastic.

Collage is an art form that allows the child a great deal or room for creative expression. There are really no "wrong" collages, so any child, whether he happens to be talented at drawing or not, can succeed with collage.

I hope you will enjoy the tips and tricks for collage artists in The Art of Collage.

~ Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Friends,

Americans are intrigued with sushi. Many people think sushi is very complicated food made with raw fish and shrimp wrapped in seaweed. Really, sushi is rice cooked, cooled, seasoned, and formed into rolls to be sliced and eaten with gusto. Sushi incorporates vegetables and other healthy goodies.

Sushi is fun to prepare, fairly simple, versatile and healthy. It is one of the fast foods of Japan. Why not try it with your children or students? It would be a good precursor to a study of the country of Japan. You may find you like sushi enough to make it a part of your own home meals.

Children will love learning some foreign words and new cooking methods. They will try some new flavors and new foods--good for them. Sushi making--It all starts with rice.

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Friends,

Americans are intrigued with sushi. Many people think sushi is very complicated food made with raw fish and shrimp wrapped in seaweed. Really, sushi is rice cooked, cooled, seasoned and formed into rolls to be sliced and eaten with gusto.

Sushi is fun to prepare, fairly simple, versatile, and healthy. It is one of the fast foods of Japan. Why not try it with your children or students? It would be a good precursor to a study of the country of Japan. You may find you like sushi enough to make it a part of your own home meals.

Children will love learning some foreign words and new cooking methods. They will try some new flavors and new foods--good for them. Sushi--It all starts with rice.

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Friends,

Tired of the election already? Collecting is a hobby many children relish and as they collect and label their keepsakes from the election, they will gain knowledge of the candidates and the issues. They will take an interest in something parents and teachers hope they will not ignore --an American political process--the election of our nation's chief executive.

Later, the items children have collected, whether they are items that pertain to the new president or to one of the candidates who lost, will be fun and of value. A collection will help them understand how our freedom to choose our leaders works and why they should feel blessed to live in a free country.

Thanks for reading Election Collection. I hope you teachers will try the study project which involves graphic design. Also, see other recent articles pertaining to the US Presidents, the Electoral College and the process of Election.

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Dear Readers,

Want to take advantage of all this spring wind? Why not do a unit study with your children about kites?Kites has been around for centuries and have served as an inspiration to poets, artists, inventors and scientific researchers.

What can your children learn through studying kites? Plenty! From the basic physics of flight, to how weather forecasters gather data. Kites come in all sizes, shapes, and materials.

I used this kite study sucessfully with my own students. The boys seemed to get into it most.

One student who loves origami, tried designing mini-kites and flew those. He also built kites out of diverse materials and in shapes that I did not believe would fly. He proved me wrong. There is room here for imagination, initiative, and an inventive spirit . I hope you will enjoy the Kite Project.

Enjoy those children and don't forget your camera!

~ Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Dear Readers,

How important is it in this election year for students to understand how we as a country choose our President ? We all may tire of election news, but this is a great time to give kids a grasp of the details of something big they will soon be part of.

Voting turnout has been pathetic in America in recent years. Are voters feeling overwhelmed by the process? Could it be that many citizens lack knowledge of the election process? Help your children and students to become strong citizens who will someday exercise their right to vote with pride. Knowledge helps overcome fear and frustration.

In this article, American Presidents, you will find a list of the forty-three US Presidents in order with their terms of office. I include the inaugurattion oath and also list the qualifications for running for office .

Try these ideas and simple games for learning the Presidential facts.

Two of my previous articles deal with the electoral college and how a person is elected to an office through the use of a mock election in the classroom. Read Election Fun.

Good day,

~Elece

Posted by Elece Hollis

Hello Teachers,

My recent article is a simple project for studying the counties, townships, or parishes within your state. With a few reasons presented stating why learning the counties will be beneficial to students of any age. Often you need to know where a county is without stopping to drag out an atlas or road map. Where are the weather forecasters saying a storm is brewing? Where can you vote? What county and where is something happening?

This project helps you teachers drill the students on this important piece of knowledge painlessly.

I have used the project with my own students in fifth, eigth ,and tenth grades. They liked making the state map poster. Some took greater interest and pride in theirs than others, but I think all the students learned. I was able to add in loads of interesting facts and trivia about our home state in two classes a week over a six week period. Read this article today and see if you can use it in your school room.

I think you will enjoy studying counties. This will relate also to my articles on elections since voting is carried out and reported in the news by counties.

~Elece