Honoring military veterans, the holiday Veterans Day falls on November 11th.  This is the anniversary date of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War 1.  In the 1950′s the name of the holiday Armistice Day was officially changed to Veterans Day to honor all veterans.

Each Veterans Day check your local area for celebrations, parades and activities.

Here are a few things and activities to do with your family at home:

IDEAS:

READ STORIES (Appropriate for age)

My favorite book is The Wall by Eve bunting. Most of her books are my favorite!

• Activity Idea:  In the story they make a rubbing of the name on the wall, you could place objects like a quarter under paper and rub with the side of a crayon to make your own  rubbing.

Books about Flag

• Design flags
• Write words/phrases on flag as below that have to do with story read or Veterans Day

Here is the plain flag that was bought from the store. The child could draw or paint the flag and then write on it when it is dry.

The words were written on the flag with a fine point sharpie permanent marker.  The words below were written by an eight year old boy who studied the civil war in his second grade class and also had just read the Star Spangled Banner.  That may explain some of his words he chose to write on the flag!

WRITE LETTERS

• Design notes and letters to send to troops or veterans.
• Younger children draw pictures and have the adult write a short message and note the child’s name and age.  If the child would like a certain message, put quotes around the message along with child’s name.

If you do not know anyone to send letters to, we  have found troops to send to through churches, local VA medical centers and check with local retirement center for veterans that would like to receive notes of thanks.

RESEARCH

Older children can research American war heroes such as George Washington. Have them write or present their findings. They could even act out the part for a meaningful experience they will not forget!  Give some creative free choice on how to present the material, children (and students) always amaze me how creative they can be when allowed the time.

The beginning of the school year is the perfect time for children to discuss and write about what friendship “looks” like.  This is a great writing activity and a way for classroom teachers to start creating the community of friends and learners they desire for the rest of the year. In a classroom, these pages could be collected and copied into a recipe book for each to take home or just to keep in the class library. The same thing could be done for a family, small group organization such as Girl Scouts etc.

As the children head off to school you may feel relief or sadness. Either way, make the first day a special and memorable time for them!  Start the tradition of a first day celebration.  Invite a few children over after school for a small get together and yummy snack.

Ideas:

Bake cookies: Prepare cookie dough ahead and have children cut out shapes, letters and numbers. Bake, frost and enjoy!

Homemade popsicles and swim or run in sprinklers:

Use popsicle molds or ice cube trays to freeze any juice or nectar. Make a creamy treat by adding ice cream. Use one cup juice (we like orange) and 1C vanilla ice cream, stirred together until runny but not liquid, and pour that into the mold to refreeze.  For a yogurt treat, blend plain yogurt and fruit (you can add powdered sugar to taste) and pour in molds to freeze.  There are many popsicle recipes, that include sugars and gelatin to make the popsicles not melt as fast, but we just keep the ingredients simple.

Design a scrapbook for the school year. Have everyone design a cover page and a first day page.  Take pictures at school to add later. Use pre-made scrapbooks or use a binder with page protectors to add to throughout the year.  This is a good place to keep school papers, pictures, and report cards.

Design a frame:  Make frames and decorate. Take a picture of child and friends to place in frame.

A mellow evening with just the family. Order pizza and eat a picnic style dinner outside, give each child  journal or new book to read that night as a family.

Thanksgiving was not an official holiday until 1863 when President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November “a day of thanksgiving and praise.”

75 years later, in 1939, President Roosevelt set Thanksgiving one week earlier to lengthen the shopping period before Christmas. Finally, in 1941, Congress ruled that the fourth Thursday of November was going to be the legal federal holiday to celebrate Thanksgiving.

A few writing ideas for a classroom or family at home:

Pretend you are president. Write a proclamation for Thanksgiving Day.  When do you think it should be and how should we celebrate?

Make up your own holiday and describe what should be done on that day.

Read a book about the Mayflower’s trip to America. Write about what it would be like on the Mayflower. If you could only bring one or two items from your home, what would it be?

Keep a Thanksgiving journal. Every year, write the things you are most thankful for and let each member of the family contribute. What a neat tradition and keepsake to look at every Thanksgiving!

These simple napkin rings jazz up any celebration and a perfect craft for the little ones to help out during any holiday, especially Christmas and Thanksgiving.  A great center idea for the classroom, and makes a nice gift for mom and dad.

Cut paper tubes (paper towel rolls or wrapping paper tubes) into desired width. We cut about two inches wide. Then decorate the rings to match the holiday!

• Choose paint colors and sponge paint the rings. Allow the rings to dry and then roll a napkin and insert it through napkin ring.
• Use glitter glue, buttons, confetti or other items to decorate.

If you use paper napkins you can decorate those too.

This easy craft is fun and children love to dip the string in paint!

Dip string into white paint.  Press the string between two sheets of black or a dark color construction paper.  Then, remove the top paper and string.  The design will look like a spider web.  Just in time to decorate for halloween.

A good snack to make for your hungry little ones in the fall!  Children can easily help in every step, except the oven.

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 1/2 cups Bisqick mix

Flour (to cover board)

Milk (to brush over biscuits)

Butter or honey

Combine pumpkin puree and bisquick mix, turn onto floured board.  Knead until dough is stiff.  Roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into 1 1/2 inch rounds. Place ungreased pan and brush with milk (my kids like to “paint” the biscuits!)   Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Serve warm with butter or honey.  Makes about two dozen.

A yummy fall snack that the littlest ones can make on their own!  Have an assortment of cereal in large bowls.  For example, Cheerios, Chex and mini-Shredded Wheat.  All of these have the organic equivalent at most grocery stores. Each child gets a baggie or small bowl to create the combination he or she wants.

A mini math lesson can easily be created with the cereal mix.  

Skip counting: Two, three or four of each cereal placed in a group. Practice skip counting touching the piles as you count.

Addition:  Grab any of two kinds of cereal (three for three addends), separate into piles. Count the amount in each pile and write on paper or whiteboard in a number sentence or equation (Example: 6+7=).  Count the total to get the answer.

Subtraction: Count the total amount of cereal and eat three (whatever number you want) then ask how many are left.  Write the equation out or if child is older have them write.

Division and multiplication:  Start with a number of cereal such as 15.  Have the child separate into equal groups, so they could make three groups of five, five groups of three or even one group of 15 or 15 groups of one.   For younger children guide them with the amount of groups.  You could say, “How can you make three even groups with your cereal?”  You can even draw three circles on paper to make it easy for them to divide.   Multiply or skip count once they are separated to show the relationship with multiplication and division.