We would like even more summer Summer Social Studies activities. Do you have any? - Like Activities
Answer: It's great for parents to do some activities other than reading and math with their children during the summer. Some families devote part of one day a week to visiting new places in the community so their children can learn more about where they live. Here are some more activities:
Social Studies Activity 1: Children always enjoy hands-on activities. By making a papier-mâché globe, they can not only get a picture of where things are located but can also trace routes of famous explorers. Young children can color the oceans and land masses and use a marker to indicate where they live. As they get older, children can add more details such as the names of the continents and oceans and finally the names of major countries.
Here is one recipe to help you get started on this project. Start by using a simple mixture of flour and water. Mix one part flour with about two parts of water until the consistency is like thick glue. You might need to add more water or flour to get this consistency. Mix thoroughly. Adding a few tablespoons of salt helps prevent mold. Blow up a balloon, and then cover it with strips of newspaper dipped in the mixture to form your globe.
Summer Social Studies Activity 2: This week's activity will give your children a head start in learning about the places they will be studying this year in social studies. The more children know about geography, the better they will understand social studies.
Find a map of the region or a country your children will be studying this coming year, such as South America, Europe, the Far East, the United States or Mexico.Quite often it is possible to find blank maps in learning stores as well as online. Have your children use encyclopedias or atlases to fill in the maps with the names of such things as countries, states, capitals, oceans or rivers. They can then color the maps. Laminate the maps, and use them as placemats. Once they are back in school, encourage the children to point to and talk about the areas that they are studying in social studies during family meals.
This activity can be expanded by helping your children learn where more places are located. Hang up local, state or national maps, and then have them circle the places where friends and other family members live.
Summer Social Studies Activity 3: You and your children will find it entertaining and educational to learn about the interesting things that happened on the day they were born. By using a search engine or visiting the Web site www.historychannel.com/this-day-in-history.do, they will be able to find these facts. If they will be studying U.S. history, they should look for facts about this country. If they will be studying another country or continent, they should look for events that occurred in those places.
This activity can be expanded by having your children search online for events that happened on their birthday in different years. Then they can make a timeline of these events, which is something they need to know how to do for social-studies classes. For example, on Oct. 5, 1953, Earl Warren became the 14th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; on Oct. 5, 1983, Lech Walesa won the Nobel Peace Prize; and on Oct. 5, 1984, the first space shuttle was launched.