June 30, 2020
by: Cami Peggar
Community Impact Coordinator of Health
United Way of Door County
Let’s Get Physical
(While also working those brains)
Let’s face it, kids need to move. They need to move a lot. It’s hard 
for kids to sit still for super long periods of time, unless maybe if they are playing video games or watching Disney+. With online learning now done for this school year, there are some great activities that will keep your kids brains and bodies active. These activities are fun and subtlety add some aspect of a school subject into them so it doesn’t feel like a school lesson. Check out these great ideas and get moving, playing, and learning!
Math:
- Shape Hunt- Print out or draw different shapes. For younger kids stick to circles, squares, triangles and rectangles while older children add parallelograms, ovals, and rhombuses. Take a walk, either outside or in the house, to find items in all of those shapes. Need help thinking of shapes? Visit https://www.planesandballoons.com/2017/11/10/shapes-images/ for a great list.
- How high is that? – This activity is great for those warmer days as water is involved. For this activity you will need measuring tape, water balloons or wet sponges, and a wall. Have your kids take turns standing back and throwing the water balloons or soaked sponges at the wall. After throwing, have them take the tape measure and measure how far up the wall the balloon or sponge hit. Need more of a challenge? Move back the throwing point or add task, such an as turning 5 times, before throwing. This is a great way for kids to practice measuring.
Literacy:
- Lights, Camera, Action! – Read a book with your child then reenact the book. Make if more fun by recording it on a phone or tablet and turning it into a home movie.
- Charades- Charades is a great way to get kids moving and can
introduce many different vocabulary words. Charades consists of one person reading a word and then acting it out without using any words, for the rest of the group to guess. If you need ideas for words to use visit https://icebreakerideas.com/charades-for-kids/.
Science:
- Park Observations- Find a park or trail and get searching. Look for different types of leaves, birds, flowers, and animal prints. Need some ideas of where to go in the County, check out this link.
https://www.doorcounty.com/experience/scenic-attractions/parks
