Amazing
April
By Sandy Fleming
Ah, April! The air is
fresh, and everyone is dying to get outdoors. Whether
or not Mother Nature cooperates, there are loads of exciting
things
to
celebrate and try out during this wonderful month. You can begin
by
celebrating Humor Month. Gather up joke and riddle books from
your local
library and give your beginning readers a treat. Few things are
as fun to
read as riddles and jokes, and you¹ll find that even reluctant
readers will
be drawn to them. Try having a pun contest. Puns are jokes that
rely on
words that sound similar or that are used in unusual ways. The
worst pun can
earn the Two-Thirds Prize: two-thirds of a pun is "P.U."!
Another brand of humor
to explore is the limerick. These funny little poems
have a special rhyming pattern and are invariably silly. See
if your kids
can create a few limericks of their own after you enjoy some
famous ones
together. What a perfect set of activities to introduce on April
Fool¹s Day!
On April 2nd, you can
celebrate the birthday of Hans Christian Anderson.
Have a fairy tale festival and delight in some of his many children¹s
stories. Can you find any new and unusual ones to share? There
are a number
of less-famous tales that you can find in collections of his
work.
The North Pole was discovered
on April 6th. Have a pretend polar expedition
to commemorate this event. Set up base camp by putting blankets
over tables
or chairs to make tents, have a picnic in or nearby, and have
an iceberg
relay race. Use old newspapers for icebergs. Give each child
two pieces of
newspaper. Have them try to go from one side of the room to the
other by
stepping on an iceberg, moving the other piece of paper, then
standing on it
while the first sheet is moved to the front. Find out about arctic
animals
with books and encyclopedias, and use references to discover
who first found
the North Pole and when. Make a picture of a fantasy North Pole
to show
Santa¹s famous home. If there was an East Pole, what would
it be like?
April 4-10 is the Week
of the Ocean. Make a super underwater art project by
drawing on white or light blue paper with crayons, then painting
blue water
color or thin tempera all over the picture. The paint will not
stick to the
crayon marks and will create a wonderful submerged effect. Try
choosing an
underwater creature to feature each day. Get pictures and information
for
the kids to discover and try moving like that animal. Sometimes
it is fun to
design your own animal or write an adventure story about the
murky depths.
Try this watery game with larger groups: Divide the children
into groups of
three or more. Make a chalk mark or other home base for all groups
except
for one. Give each group an ocean creature name. One child is "it." That
child calls different creatures to leave their homes and swim
in the ocean.
When "it" calls "The ocean is stormy," all
of the others leave their bases
and try to take their group to a new base. Anyone caught joins "it" as
a
chaser.
Don¹t forget to celebrate
Earth Day on April 22nd. Find some way to do a
good deed for the environment. Perhaps you could take a walk
to pick up
trash, or inspect the home or building to find things that are
wasting
resources, such as drippy faucets or drafty windows.
April 26-30 is Playground
Safety Week. This is a great time to shake off the
winter doldrums with a trip to the local playground. Make sure
to discuss
the playground safety rules, like using equipment properly, taking
turns,
watching for moving equipment such as swings, and so forth. You
may even
want to have the children inspect their playground for damage,
holes, uneven
surfaces, or other hazards. If the weather won¹t cooperate
(or even if it
does!), try making safety posters and see if your local school,
church, or
library will allow you to display them for a time.
Sandy Fleming
is an educator, author and workshop facilitator. She resides
in southern Michigan with her husband and three daughters.
Sandy leads workshops for daycare providers and parents
in the region, tutors students, volunteers for Girl Scouts
and her church, and teaches online classes for adults and
children. She loves to make new friends, so please drop
her an e-mail at kids@busyparentsonline.com
