Camping Day!

For the last week of school my grade level does a bunch of fun "theme" days to celebrate.  We have had Game day, Movie day, Awards and Ice Cream day, Water day, and this year we started Camping day.

Camping day consisted of different activities in the classrooms that all revolve around nature and common things one might do while camping.  I say one might do because my version of camping would be in a hotel walking into nature for a day trip.  I don't like to "rough it".  

So here's what my class did.

*Solar Oven Smores

*Toilet Paper Bird Feeders

*Macaroni Picture Frames

*A Nature Activity Book (compliments from our town)

*Camp Sing-a-Long with the grade level outside

*Watching part of A Bug's Life movie, 

though for a minute in time I wished I owned Camp Rock.  

Solar Oven Smores

My class set these up pretty easy this morning.  I went into our local Round Table last weekend and begged the manager into donating 8 small pizza boxes to help my cause.  I then followed these directions from Family Fun to cut the box lid and get everything prepped for the kids.

At school this morning my students got into teams, and folded the lid up.  They taped foil to the flap, put foil on the base of the pizza box, and added a piece of black paper.  They then taped a sheet protector into the window of the box lid.  When they completed that portion, they used a BBQ skewer to prop the flap open.  

I think they turned out rather clever.  I was the one that stuck the graham crackers and marshmallows in the ovens, and moved them onto chairs set up outside.  All in all, it took about 75 minutes to make the 

marshmallow soft and squishy.

Then the kids formed an assembly line, took another graham cracker and chocolate chips outside where they created their smores sandwich.  

It was delicious!  

The Set Up - 4th graders can handle creating it.

All our smores in a row - being held down from the wind with packages of index cards.

 Toilet Paper Bird Feeders

My class also made toilet paper bird feeders today in our camping experience.  

 Step 1: Smear Cream Cheese onto Toilet Paper Rolls 

(I used cream cheese due to allergies and that I have learned 

Peanut Butter can cause bowel issues in birds.)

 Step 2: Roll it in bird seed (Yes, I used a big tub lid to catch the bird seed.)

 Step 3: Cut yarn, slip it through the middle of the tube, tie it, 

and stick it in a bag to take home.  

It was a crazy assembly line, but the kids had fun 

(and now birds are well fed tonight.)

Macaroni Picture Frames

This was another fun, simple project for the kids today.  Very easy to do, and cheap!  Pasta was $1, and I already had a huge box of popsicle sticks 

and old card stock paper.  

 They glued a frame onto the paper, it took a little bit to dry.  Then they chose their pasta to add to the frame.  Some kids got very elaborate with their designs.  The big thing I wanted them to do was to realize that there are so many everyday items they can use to create art.  

Thanks for visiting!

Sincerely,

  

Homemade Ice Cream In A Bag

Last year I did this recipe with my students.  I loved it so much that yesterday I did it again with my students and our 1st grade reading buddies.  

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/homemade-ice-cream-in-a-bag-684806/

It really is an easy recipe, if the students actually listen to the directions.  All in all, at the end of the day I was covered with a mixture of rock salt, milk, and vanilla from helping them shake it up.  It was worth the mess!  

Here's how I set it up for a class of 32 (well actually 64).

I bought from the store:
2 gallons of milk (one per class)
Vanilla extract (16 tsp. worth)
Rock salt (2 boxes)
40 pounds of ice
Bag of sugar (64 tbsp. worth)
Quart sized bags for each student (64)
Gallon sized bags for each pair of students (4th grader and 1st grade buddy - 32 total)

1. First I scooped 1 tbsp. of sugar into a quart sized bag for each student (no little fingers touched the sugar, I wanted to be able to use the rest of it for another project). 
2. I poured the rock salt into a big bowl and the students measured out 6 tbsp. into a gallon sized bag.
3. I poured 8 tsp. of vanilla into each gallon of milk, then shook the milk pretty hard to mix it up.  
4. The students took their gallon bags outside and scooped ice about halfway into the bag. (They needed adult supervision on this, as some of them decided "halfway" was the entire bag.)
5. I poured about a 1/2 cup of the milk/vanilla combo into each quart sized bag and made sure it was sealed.
6. The students then took it and placed the sealed bag into their ice bag, sealed it up, and shook it for about 5 minutes.  Now, some students weren't listening and decided to pour the milk bag into the ice bag - so they had to start over.
7. How we adapted for reading buddies was they placed both their bags into the same ice bag and took turns shaking it together, some even had fun tossing it back and forth.
8. When it was a thick texture, like frozen yogurt, it was ready to eat.  We passed out spoons and the kids dove right in. 

This is something I would definitely recommend to another classroom.  Actually I have, and my grade level has tackled it alongside me.  It's messy, but the kids get a kick out of making it themselves.  Definitely try it!

Sincerely,

It's Going To Be a "Kool" Summer

This isn't my own idea, but I ran with it.  I originally got the idea from Classroom DIY, and then adapted it for my own gift for the kids.  This is a last day kind of gift.  

It's pretty simple - you just need a silly straw, package of Kool-aid, and a note for the student.  I get a good deal at the neighborhood Winco - 10 packages for $1.  Target had silly straws for $3 for a package of 12.  All in all it didn't hurt my teacher wallet as much as it could have.   

Yes, it's going to be a "Kool" and "Sweet" Summer!

4 more days to go!

Sincerely,