Lesson 4: Thematic Springboards Part II: Topical Unit Study Ideas
4-4 Activity/Kinesthetic
Here's a lively area for many fun activities in a unit study format. Kinesthetic studies are also absolutely indispensable for the kinesthetic child as discussed in Lesson 2. Frankly, I just have a particular fondness for these types of studies. Any beautiful day that comes along, I look for an excuse to get outdoors. I have a whole host of educational excuses. Here are a few: exercises or lively playtime alternated with or as a reward for educational time, move-about quizzing (answer correctly advance to a great spot, but answer incorrectly move down to a yucky spot.. . . use your imagination on this).
Our all-time favorite activity along this line is a gigantic game where the board is our backyard and the playing pieces are the people . . . us. For game squares I used the big sides of cereal boxes and the like. In bold permanent markers I wrote squares like:
- BIRD BREAK! Take a five minute break to gabble with the flock (we have 150 feathered friends in our family sanctuary)
- OOPS! Caught napping in the petunias go back 3 spaces and lose a turn while digging 5 weeds.
- DETOUR! Take the cliff path (about 10 extra spaces).
Of course, in between are the meaty squares. I had these simply coded to match the categories on a set of grade-oriented, un-trivia cards called Brain Quest. If they get it right they take another turn. If not the next person takes a turn. For the last square we polished the game off with:
FINISH! Take a trip to the beach!(down the cliff).
First player finished gets more beach time. What better prize than that! By the way, being a home school of one student, I often play the role of "second student" for activities like these. But I've also found Jen gets more out of -- and puts more into -- a study when I do the work right along with her. It also helps me see the work more from a student's perspective, helping me produce a better product. Of course, inviting friends and family to share the unit study fun is a great solution, too!
