Take Kids on Make Believe Vacations!
Batters up for imaginary baseball! Take students on a Make Believe Vacation to a famous ballpark. Stop by a Magical Sports Store on the way.
Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!
Summer, fall, winter, spring…some children don’t get opportunities to take family vacations during the year.
What to do to help these kids feel the excitement of a getaway and get some good learning on route?
Take them on Make Believe Vacations!
When you take children on Make Believe Vacations you:
* introduce them to new experiences
* make learning magical
* build their skills and self-confidence
* add joy to their lives
First stop…
Visit The Magical Sports Store – Tweak the English expression, “Just like a kid in a candy shop” into “Just like a kid in an amazing, magical sports store.”
Wow! When you step up to home plate and bat a ball with this magical bat…automatic HOMERUN!
Catch the class’ attention by announcing that you’ve got a mini-vacation planned for language arts time.
Hold up a plastic bat (or other piece of sports equipment popular in your region of the world) and explain that you’ll be taking an imaginary (or virtual, if you have online access in your classroom) trip to a famous ballpark.
Explain that the bat you have in hand has magical powers. Every time a player steps up to home plate and swings at a baseball with this bat…
Automatic HOMERUN!
When kids ooh and aah, tell them that they have a chance on this make-believe vacation to write about the experience of being at bat with a magical bat.
What short stories will they tell?
Ballpark Math with a Make Believe Vacation as a Sports Reporter – Some students might choose to report on a ballgame rather than play the sport itself.
No problem…
Invite kids to track the stats on a Make Believe Vacation as a sports reporter.
Tracking stats is all about math and a love of numbers about super sports stars.
Tie math to language arts (a S.T.E.M. activity) by explaining how the collection and reporting of sports stats requires knowing who, what, when, where, and how…
key questions in non-fiction reading comprehension and non-fiction writing.
Where else can you take kids on a Make Believe Vacation? (more…)
Barbara Cleary has been serving as a resource to hundreds of educators for more than 25 years.
An award-winning writer, producer, teacher, and trainer, Barbara’s focus is on offering easy, fun tools and tricks that support K-5 curricula and assist teachers with classroom management.
