Day 6: What’s Cooking?
Maybe it’s because my kids are eating everything in the cabinets now that they are home all day, or maybe it is the videos of empty shelves at grocery stores around the country, but today, I can’t stop thinking about food! Today, let’s look at great lessons you can use when you feel the same way!
Elementary Lesson-Story: Learn about making good food choices on PBSKids’ Fizzy’s Lunch Lab. 
Watch HERE.
Still thinking about breakfast? Read along with the fun tale of “Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast” by Josh Funk.
Watch it HERE.
One of our absolute favorite books about food has got to be Strega Nona, by Tomie dePaola!
Watch this read-aloud of Strega Nona – read by the author.
Strega Nona is a fantastic book that teaches kids so much about reading fluency, the lyrical quality of reading and of course, the importance of following directions! Expand the fun by using this activity packet from abcteach.com.
Try this sequencing activity for Strega Nona.
Have students identify how the characters feel during the story. Do their feelings change as the story goes on? How?
Older students can write about what they would have done differently or what advice they would give to Big Anthony or Strega Nona.
Learn about Italy! This site contains fun facts, common words and phrases and colorful pictures!
https://www.kids-world-travel-guide.com/italy-facts.html
Cooking and baking are a great way to practice math and science skills. Identify the states of matter (solid, liquid, gas), measuring ingredients, calculating how many servings a recipe makes and whether you should double it or not, sequencing and following directions are all skills that kids learn in the classroom and the kitchen!
Make homemade pasta with this easy recipe from one of my favorite online food bloggers, Ali at Gimme Some Oven.
https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/homemade-pasta/
Secondary Lesson: Watch this video about the book Hungry Planet – What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D’aliusio. Students should take notes on common food items they saw across the families. What stood out to them? What was different than their family? What was the same?
Click HERE to watch the video.
You can listen and read along in more detail here.
When some kids think of global eating, they may think that other people eat bugs or other weird or gross things! Maybe WE should eat more bugs?
Watch this Ted Ed video about the subject then decide!
Plan a meal together. Have your child gather the ingredients and prepare a meal or dish for the entire family. Try a dish frequently made by people living in another country, perhaps! This article from epicurious.com offers some great suggestions!
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes-menus/international-ethnic-dinners-for-kids-gallery
Or, try making chocolate chip cookies with a protein punch (compliments of crickets) Watch this great video to see how to make them and how they taste!
Keep kids learning about meal planning and balanced eating with the newest myplate resources. Lots to choose from and get kids thinking about what they eat and how to plan meals responsibly.
Click HERE to find out more!
Day 7: For the Birds!
Elementary Lesson/Story: Watch this read-aloud of the Mo Willems classic, “There Is A Bird On Your Head.”
P.S. If you are not watching Mo Willems Lunch Doodles yet, I recommend checking it out. Each day, Mo Willems shows kids how to draw some of his most beloved characters, takes them on a tour of his studio and connects with the kids! If you’ve got a Pigeon fan in house, it’s a must-see! Find out more HERE.
“Owl Babies” by Martin Waddell
Watch it Here
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell from Candlewick Press on Vimeo.The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has live nest cams all over the country! Check them out!
Play Bird Song Hero HERE.
Try downloading the Audubon Guide field app on your phone or tablet and take it with you to the park or as you walk around the neighborhood. How many birds can you identify?
“When kids are out of school, it is perfect time to hit the trail, walk in the woods, and watch birds. I have found a wonderful app that will help you on birds: Audubon Birds – A Field Guide to North American Birds.”
Activity: Make a bird nest! This STEM challenge can be as simple or complex as you’d like! Some kids can take a walk in the yard to gather supplies. Others may use string, yard, craft sticks or toothpicks, etc to build a bird nest. Have kids draw a plan for their nest and maybe brainstorm supplies before going outside. Have them draw a picture of their nest when it is finished. What worked the best? Why do you think this is the case?
PBS has an entire episode of Sid The Science Kid about birds, along with extended activities. 
You can find it all HERE.
Secondary Lesson: How do birds fly? Find out by watching this great video that explains the fundamentals of flight and how it applies to birds.
Perhaps the question on your mind is, “Why don’t some birds fly at all?” For that answer, you can watch this great TedEd video!
Check out the many games and resources on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website! Seriously, you can learn all about bird anatomy, habitats, and even DJ some wild animal sounds on the Beastbox game. Find it all HERE.
Get out those red pencils, this Everyday Edit is sure to test your grammar skills, while teaching you a little about Whooping Cranes. You can download it here. edit0303-download
Take another look at the connection between today’s birds and the dinosaurs with this great article from Readworks. Find it HERE.
Activity: Research fatal bird collisions with plate glass, radio towers and wind turbines. Write a proposal for changes that can help birds survive the ever-changing footprint of humans. Start by checking out flap.org.
Day 9: Kites and Flight!
Breezy spring days are ideal for flying a kite! Nothing sets the tone for this kind of high-flying fun like this gem from Mary Poppins!
Elementary Lessons/Videos: Check out Crash Course Kids’ great video lesson on flight! https://youtu.be/lSdaf8_Mr8E
Enjoy this short video about the Japanese Kite Festival.
There are so many great read-alouds about kites and flight! For starters, Will Hillebrand’s “Kite Day”
Little learners will enjoy many of the activities in this downloadable packet from Teachingmama.org. KisforKite This packet includes tracing pages, pattern pages, counting and sorting activities.
Make paper airplanes and have a contest to see whose flies the farthest, the highest or the fastest! Need instructions? Find some HERE. /dart-plane-56a6d5b45f9b58b7d0e5084e.png?w=1070&ssl=1)
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum offers an entire site of info, demos, videos and activities! They even have printable paper for airplane making! Check it out HERE.
Secondary Lesson: Brainpop offers a great introductory video and materials about flight. Check it out HERE. 
Brainpop also has videos about The Wright Brothers (HERE) and Space Fight (HERE).
What goes up, must surely come down, but which would hit the ground first: an elephant or a feather? 
The Physics Classroom website is LOADED with high school-level curriculum,including this great demo that illustrates the principles of air-resistance, gravity and mass. Find all the fun HERE.
Want to know how kites fly, as apposed to airplanes? The folks at the Smithsonian have a wealth of information! 
Find out more HERE.
Activity: Build your own kite from a garbage bag. These kites are more successful than traditional paper kites. Find the details HERE.
Day 10: Let’s Get Growing!
Elementary Lesson/Video: How do seeds become plants? Find out more by watching this quick video.
Watch a bean seed spout in slow-motion!
Check it out HERE.
Activity: Make a sandwich bag greenhouse and sprout some seeds at home!
- Simply round up some seeds – they can be old ones from last year’s garden, new ones from the store, or even ones you get from the inside of a pepper, apple, or lemon!
- Soak the seeds overnight in a little water.
- Dry the seeds in a paper towel the next morning.
- Dampen a paper towel and fold it into the sandwich bag.
- Place the seeds along one side of the bag, pressing them against the paper towel.
- Seal the sandwich bag tightly and hang in a window using tape.
Your seeds will begin to sprout in a few days. They will eventually grow right to the top of the bag!
Read aloud: Lois Ehlert’s vivid classic, “Eating the Alphabet”
Watch it HERE.
“The Tiny Seed” by Eric Carle
Watch it HERE.
Activity: Alphabet Hopscotch
To Play: Draw the alphabet randomly on the sidewalk or driveway. Better yet, have your child write the letters with you! Call out a letter and the child must hop, leap or jump onto that letter. Have them shout out the sound the letter makes when they land on it. This can also be done with the numbers, and even expanded to have them jump from number to number in a problem and then ultimately, onto the answer. For example, they could jump from 2 to 3 and then to 5. You can expand this concept many ways! Be creative!
Printables: Sites like edhelper.com are offering free resources to families during the school closures. Find a myriad of printables (readers, coloring pages, fact sheets, etc.) to suit your child(ren) HERE. 
Secondary Lesson: Let’s explore the world of carnivorous plants!
Check it out HERE. or go to Brainpop and watch their video HERE.
Read up on some popular (and common) carnivorous plants HEREor HERE. se the internet to find some pictures of these plants and create a collage of plants, their descriptions and their prey. Use cut-out pictures, words, markers, etc. Get creative with it!