Summer School - Week #3

The Creation/Solar System

Shannans Additions: Print up Fact Files and Worksheets for everyone on http://www.learningpage.com/ (under the “Space” header in the “Theme Sheets” section). Put sheets in brad folders for the kids to read and work independently on throughout the week. And once again - credit for the original lesson and all worksheets goes to Sugardoodle.net!!

Monday

- Start with a prayer.

- Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and/or family motto.

- Song, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" pg. 228

- Scripture - Recite and Memorize Isaiah 45:18.

Opening Excercise - Start out by showing your children a Bible. Open it up to Genesis and say, "This book is called Genesis. The word Genesis means beginning. Today we are going to see what happened in the beginning of the world. In the beginning, on day one, Heavenly Father created the heavens up above and the earth. The earth was empty, so God made light (day) and dark (night).

Blindfold one of your children. Place them with their back facing you. One by one ask them, "Do you believe I will catch you if you fall straight backwards?" Ask the child to fall straight back. Remove the blindfold and ask everyone if they had been able to see, would it have been easier? Why is light important?

Science - You can create constellations by poking holes in construction paper, then place the paper over the end of a flash light. (You can also use a nail to poke holes in the end of a Pringles can to create a constellation viewer. Your children can then view the constellation by looking into the Pringles can.)

Math - Racing Math Rockets (click here to download the worksheet). You can easily turn these worksheets into a file folder game...or laminate one page on front and the other on back and make it into a worksheet.

Music - Sing, "Oh Mister Sun"

Oh mister sun, sun, mister golden sun, (Place hands over head to form sun)

Please shine down on me. (Wiggle fingers while moving hands down)

Oh mister sun, sun, mister golden sun, (Place hands over head to form sun)

Hiding behind the tree. (Place hands over eyes)

These little children are asking you, (Points to children)

To please come out so we can play with you. (clasp hands together like begging)

Oh mister sun, sun, mister golden sun (Place hands over head to form sun)

Please shine down on, (Wiggle fingers while moving hands down)

Won't you shine down on, (Wiggle fingers while moving hands down)

Please shine down on me. (Point at self)

Vocabulary Words - For today's assignment, have the children write each word out on a 3 x 5 card with a sharpie marker. For younger children choose a couple of words and you write the words a few times on the paper for them. Then have them trace the words with a marker.

creation, sun, moon, stars, earth, light, dark, comet, planet, rotate, space

Shannans Additions:
Vocab: I’m thinking about adding the names of the planets to the vocab words for the older kids. We’ll do the same as we did the other two weeks – adding the pictures to the front of the flash cards.
Journal: Which of Heavenly Fathers creations are you most thankful for?
Reading/Flashcards/Computer: You should totally be getting the hang of this!!

Tuesday

- Start with a prayer.

- Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and/or family motto.

- Song, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" pg. 228

- Scripture - Recite and Memorize Isaiah 45:18.

Art - Paper Mache planets using balloon, newspaper strips, glue paste etc. Making them today will allow drying time to be painted at the end of the week.

Having made these, let me offer a few suggestions. Don't inflate balloon to full capacity. Put at least two or three layers of newspaper on the balloon. Even if you think one layer will do it...it won't. It will be fragile and most likely collapse. Allow plenty of time to dry. No need to pop the balloon until it is completely dry.

Math - The colors of God's creation! (click here to download the M& M Math worksheet). For this activity, you will need a candy bar or snack pack sized M & M's. Give your child the package of M & M's and have them sort some of the colors of God's creation using the M & M's. After all the M & M's are in place, have them write the number of M & M's in each pile. For my older child, I had him graph the number of M & M's in each pile on a second worksheet (it's included in the original download).

Anyway, after the activity was complete, I had my oldest divide the pile of M & M's in thirds. He asked me, "What is a third." It was a good opportunity to explain that it is three equal piles of M & M's. So, he sorted them out, "One for me, one for you and one for you...." until they were all gone. This gave one more opportunity to learn math, without them knowing it! : )

Cooking - You will need a tube of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough or make your own. Cut a portion of dough for each child. Have your children flatten out the dough and use their fingers to poke holes in them to make moon craters. If you have black food coloring you can have your children paint their cookies so they can look like the moon. Bake cookies according to package directions. Let cool and eat. (If you have extra dough, use it to make letters to spell some of the vocabulary words).

Language/Vocabulary - God saw that it was good....look at descriptive words putting various objects in a bag that have different textures (i.e. hard, soft, rough, smooth, etc.) Have the children describe the object without looking at it and then try and guess what it is. Choose another object that they can see and they have to describe it using 5 or more interesting words.

Shannans Additions:
Vocab: Copy vocab words 3x each (print for littles and cursive for biggies)
Journal: Pretend our family is chosen to be the First Family on the Moon. How would we get ready for our outer space adventure?
Reading/Flashcards/Computer: Stick with the drill

Wednesday

- Start with a prayer.

- Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and/or family motto.

- Song, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" pg. 228

- Scripture - Recite and Memorize Isaiah 45:18.

Heavenly Father created the universe with all of its planets, moons, and stars.

Science - Make an edible Solar System. Use a paper plate. Make the solar system using different candies. Just check around your house and see what will work best, but here are some suggestions in case you need ideas. First, have them draw circles to show the rotation of each planet. Then, have put the candy on the planet it represents:

Sun - butterscotch candy
Mercury - orange jujube

Venus - Nestle Snow Cap

Earth - blue skittle

Mars - red skittle

Asteroid belt - candy sprinkles

Jupiter - peppermint with red hots stuck on top

Saturn - lemon drop with twizzler wrapped around it

Uranus - green jujube

Neptune - aqua skittle

Pluto - Did you know it is no longer considered a planet?

Vocabulary - Using any kind of cereal, have the children spell the vocabulary words for this week. For older children, tell them a word and have them sound it out and spell it on their own. For younger children, tell them the word and how to spell it. For example, "The first letter is e. Use the cereal to make an e. Okay, the next letter is....."

Poetry - Poem from Blue's Clues -

The Sun is a hot star
Mercury's hot too
Venus is the brightest planet
Earth is home to me and you
Mars is the red one
Jupiter's most wide
Saturn's got those icy rings
Uranus spins on its side
Neptune's really windy
Pluto's really small
We wanted to name the planets
And now we've named them all.

Story - Goodnight Moon by Margeret Wise Brown. Read books that pertain to the creation or solar system. Use your own or rent some from the library.

Lunch Idea - Make moon pizzas with English muffins - English muffins resemble the moon's surface with lots of craters.

Shannans Additions:
Vocab: The vocab activity today with the cereal is great!!
Journal: Imagine you discovered a new planet? What is it like? What would you name it? Describe your planet and draw a picture!!
Reading/Flashcards/Computer: Stick with what works!!

Thursday

- Start with a prayer.

- Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and/or family motto.

- Song, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" pg. 228

- Scripture - Recite and Memorize Isaiah 45:18.

Activity - Let the kids watch this short video clip online.

Thursday and Friday are dedicated to reviewing the seven days of creation.

Read the scriptures listed and do the corresponding activity together. (If you have the church's Old Testament Stories book you can have the children draw their own books. Type up each day (1-7) at the bottom of the page and then they can draw it and staple the book together at the end. For younger kids you can draw pictures and they can color it in.)

Day 1 - Read and discuss Genesis 1:1-5.
Activity - Sunshine gives us warmth and light. It also helps the plants grow which give us food. Discuss what life would be like without the sun. Express gratitude to Heavenly Father for giving us sunlight.

Day 2 - Read and discuss Genesis 1:6-8.

Activity - Boil some water in a pot (or a tea kettle) until steam forms above it. Then fill a pie pan with ice cubes and hold it above the pot in the steam “cloud”. Have your children observe that when the steam comes in contact with the cool air from the pie pan, drops of water form and fall back into the pot like rain.

Day 3 - Read and discuss Genesis 1:9-13.

Activity - Use washable markers or stamp pads. Stamp the side of your hand for the trunk of a tree. Then you use your finger in green for leaves and red for apples or cherries. Stamp side of palm multiple times to make tree trunk. Use your fingers to stamp other parts of the picture.

Day 4 - Read and discuss Genesis 1:14-19.

Activity - Have the children use their journals to draw the first four days of creation.

Shannans Additions:
Vocab: write definitions for vocab words
Journal: See above activity…record everything (observations, art, and entries) in your journal.
Reading/Flashcards/Computer: You know…

Friday

- Start with a prayer.

- Recite the Pledge of Allegiance and/or family motto.

- Song, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" pg. 228

- Scripture - Recite and Memorize Isaiah 45:18.

Day 5 - Read and discuss Genesis 1:20-23.

Activity - Animal Matchup. Print out the following worksheet. Cut out each animal. Glue the large animals around the edges of a paper plate or 8.5 x 11 sheet of cardstock (laminate). Glue the smaller animals onto clothespins. Match each animal.

Additional Note - I printed the animals in black and white and glued them onto 3X5 cards, and then made a Memory game out of them. Way more fun.

Day 6 - Read and discuss Genesis 1:24-31.

Activity - Give each child a ball of play dough. Explain that Heavenly Father and Jesus created Adam and Eve. Using a person-shaped cookie cutter, have the child create a person. (If you don't have a cookie cutter, have them use a plastic knife and have them cut out their own.)

Explain that we are really all the same, regardless of color. We were all created by a loving Heavenly Father. Also explain that even though child 1 may use the same cookie cutter as child 2, their creations are still going to be different. Ask your child how that could be so. Emphasize that each one of us is unique and special.

Day 7 - Read and discuss Genesis 2:1-3.

Activity - Rest and relax! Pamper yourself. You've all done great this week. Ask your children what they like to do when they relax.

* If you made paper mache planets earlier in the week, they should be dry and ready to paint.*

(The above picture shows what happens if you don't have enough layers...despite my counsel, we have a squashed sun. the bottom picture shows a perfectly round earth!!!)

Make a planet from our Solar System

Optional Field Trip - Visit a planetarium or go star gazing.

Shannans Additions:
Vocab: Spelling test for big kids, vocab match for little kids
Journal: same journal as Thursday, only for the last 3 days of the Creation
Reading/Flashcards/Computer: I think I’m going to stop writing this…
Field Trip: The planetarium would be great!!