Family Fun Inspiration for May 2019

April was a whirlwind. May snuck up on us. I’m glad that the weather is finally starting to cooperate, at least for the garden. Taking a look at this month ahead, our activity calendar is filled with classes, crafts and things to learn about: heritage months, Mother’s Day! and reasons to get outside.

The kids have a renewed interest in making clothes out of random scraps of paper. I blame an episode of Pinkalicious & Peterrific. And while we wade through endless scraps of paper and mounds of tape littering the floor, we’re working on our patience to just let them create. It’s not always an easy feat as clutter tends to stress us out.

Last month, I checked out a gold mine of inspiration from the library – a book written by the producers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, that basically outlines episodes from Fred Rogers’ timeless program with his “thoughts for the week.” They also have song lyrics and activities featured in the show to further explore the themes. I was almost giddy turning through the pages. I’ve borrowed some ideas from this book for crafts as well as a few from our Oak Meadow curriculum.

My inspiration this month also comes from PBS KIDS, PBS LearningMedia (a great resource for media-integrated learning), our local library and parks department. The kids recently got a gift subscription to Kiwi Crate so we’re excited to try that.

On a personal note, I’m continuing my elimination diet journey (another post) so I’m mixing in some treats for the kids and I to make that the whole family can enjoy.

Here’s our list of inspiration for the month of May:

MAKE

Crafts and activities

• Paper plate masks

• String paintings

• Vegetable prints

• Playing with boats

• Teacher thank you cards (Teacher Appreciation Week is May 6-10)

• Felt hand puppets

• Everlasting calendar 

• Ice sculpture 

• Night sky constellation pictures

Eats

• Chocolate Covered Strawberry Ice Pops

• Easy Apple Cookies

EXPLORE

Learning beyond our home…

• Park play dates

• Pollinators in the garden class (local Master Gardeners workshop)

• Kids book club (King County Library System)

• Little builders club (King County Library System)

• Kids engineering with Legos class (local parks department)

• Continuing class: ballet

• Kids to Park Day (May 18)

LEARN

Between every activity, class and field trip, we’re always learning. Here are a few extra things we’re throwing into the mix this month.

• Kiwi crate (first box!)
• Mother’s Day resources (PBS LearningMedia)
• Memorial Day resources (PBS LearningMedia)
• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month resources (PBS LearningMedia)

JUST FOR PARENTS

As parents, we like to learn too!

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Resources for Classrooms (Common Sense Media)

• Cultural Diversity: Arthur‘s World Neighborhood Lesson Plans (PBS LearningMedia)

• Device-free dinner resources (Common Sense Media)