Summer:Tinkering

This week is all about tinkering, or creating something and working to make it better! This reminds me of when I was little and my siblings and I wanted to make a teepee at my fort. We worked for hours finding the right pieces of wood and placing them in just the right spot just to try to get it to stand. With some trial and error, and a whole lot of perseverance, our teepee stood tall! Let's jump into what this week has to offer:

Suggested Book List-Try to find these at your local library!

• Doll-E 1.0 by Shanda McCloskey

• Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty

• Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane by Kristin W. Larson

Activities

Squishy Stone Tower Challenge (ages 2-5) Challenge your child to some sensory-play and problem-solving using stones and play dough.

Materials

• Playdough

• 10 or more stones

• Measuring Tape or Ruler (optional)

Steps

1. Allow your child some time to play with the stones and play dough.

2. Encourage him or her to try squishing the play dough between the rocks and stack and build with them.

3. Challenge him or her to build the tallest tower he or she can. Encourage your child to try different strategies to make the tower sturdier and taller. Allow your child to talk about what they think could work (hypotheses) and encourage them to experiment with their ideas! Talk about what they notice works and what they noticed that did not work, and why.

4. Measure the tower with a ruler or measuring tape. Have your child try to build it even taller after each time measuring.

(Bonning-Gould et al., 2019)

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Make the World's Best Obstacle Course (ages 5-9): Use your imagination and materials around you to create The World's Best Obstacle course! Then, invite your friends and family to try it out.

Materials

• Outdoor toys (hula hoops, balls, pogo sticks, etc.)

• Various materials (cardboard boxes, paper, chalk, rope, etc.)

• Paper

• Pencil or crayons

Steps

1. Make a plan for your materials by making a blueprint of your yard or space that you will be setting up your obstacle course. Draw a picture of how you will use your materials and combine them to make the challenges that people will have to do.

2. Once your design is done, start setting up your space! At first, follow your blueprint, but then see if there is a way to make your design even more challenging.

3. Once you have completed it, go through your obstacle course and see if there is anything you can improve or that needs to be fixed.

4. When you feel like you have achieved the World's Best Obstacle Course, invite friends and family to enjoy it with you!

5. Bonus Challenge: Time each person who does your obstacle course and see who can do it the fastest! You can even turn it into a relay race and work together as a team to complete your obstacle course!

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Outdoor Adventure Bucket List

***PLEASE REMEMBER to modify these for your child's age and always do with adult supervision and permission!***

• Make Sun Tea- Use a glass jar or pitcher with a lid. Put water in your container, add 5 or 6 tea bags, and then set it out in the sun to soak up the sun! If you put it out in the morning, you should have tea ready to drink by the afternoon!

• Take a Picture from a High Spot- Go on a hike in a hilly or elevated area and challenge yourself to get to the highest spot! Once you are up as high as you can, take a picture of your view.

• Have a Water Fight: Fill up water balloons, squirt guns, or buckets and try to get each other as soaked as you can! Make sure to keep it friendly!

(Tornio et al., 2013)

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Sources

Bonning-Gould, K., & Rosenberg, N. S. (2019). In The outdoor toddler activity book: 100+ fun early learning activities for outside play (p. 73). essay, Rockridge Press.

Tornio, S., Keffer, K., & Riordan, R. (2013). In The kids' outdoor adventure book: 448 great things to do in nature before you grow up (pp. 62, 70-71). essay, Falcon Guides.