Pirate Treasure Sensory Bin & Letter Map Match

It's no secret that we love all things pirate around here, so when we saw the chance to join in on the "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" Quirky Blog Hop we couldn't resist. International Talk Like a Pirate Day is actually coming up on September 19th, but today Witty Hoots is hosting this Quirky Blog Hop so bloggers can share lots of fantastic pirate fun to start getting everyone in the mood!

For our pirate activity, we decided to explore the world of pirates with a little bit of letter learning thrown in too! To make the learning as hands on as possible, we put all the materials into a sensory bin.

Pirate themed learning is always fun, and you'll notice at the bottom of this post several other pirate learning posts we've shared before.

Desert Week (A Simple Summer Theme)

So when Big Brother requested a "Desert Week" in our Simple Summer Theme series, I was a little stumped on what we might do for projects and activities.

But, in the end I was excited about some of the different projects and materials we were able to explore. (Although this was a slightly shorter theme week.)

Science Week (A Simple Summer Theme)

This summer we were excited to kick off our Simple Summer Themes with Science Week! Each week of summer vacation we explore a different "theme." We use materials on hand, simple/easy projects that don't take long to complete, hands on activities, recipes, and field trips.

This summer, even more than previous summers, we're truly keeping our themes simple. We're doing something fun with them when we want to, but also making sure we have lots of time for free play and spontaneous summer fun too.

Our first week proved to be a great kick off to the summer as it was exactly what the boys needed - something a little fun that fit into our other summer activities. They loved Science Week so much, they are requesting a lot more Science over the summer!

Magnetic Sensory Bin

As we went through out Simple Summer Theme Science Week, we enjoyed a variety of hands on science activities. This one was very easy to put together and proved to be lots of fun for the boys!

I wanted to put together a sensory bin that explored a scientific concept, but wasn't quite sure what would work. Then the idea of using our growing magnet set seemed like an easy fit!

Word Family Bean Sort

This spring Big Brother has been making amazing progress as a reader, and it's been so exciting for the both of us. As always, I want to look for ways to support his learning but without making our time at home feel like more school. With that in mind, I always try to make his learning at home very hands on.

Lately I've been noticing that he could use some word family practice, which inspired me to create this Word Family Bean Sort.

Show Down: Addition Facts Card Game

While my hope is to just have fun and relax over this winter vacation, I also know that it can be good to keep school aged kids thinking at least a little about both math and reading. The best way parents can do that is by keeping the learning fun and playful. (Which does not mean worksheets.)

A few months ago, I came up with this game for Big Brother and I to play and practice math facts at the same time. It's been a big hit on weekends and vacations since then, and he's not even realizing he's building his number facts as we play.

What are number facts? Addition number facts are typically thought of as addition facts with a sum (answer) up to 20. 

The rules to our "Show Down" game are very similar to the traditional card game "War" with a few math twists. The materials are relatively simple: a deck of playing cards, a sheet of paper, and a marker or pencil. 

Exploring A Recycling Center (Learning Through Adventure Series)

We were really excited when we learned about the opportunity to participate in the Learning Through Adventure Series that is being hosted by Bambini Travel. We're known for being a pretty on the go family, and we're often on the look out for cool places to explore with our kids. Usually we find great resources for learning and exploring first hand! A few years ago we had a blast with our Alphabet Adventures which gave us lots of options for exploring local places.

For this adventure I decided to take us to a place I'd been with students, but not with my own kiddos: a local recycling center.

A little over a year ago as a family we moved to a zero sort recycling system that we share with our neighbors. This meant our kids no longer saw 1) where recycling went and 2) what the categories for recycling were. (They just know we do a lot of it and that every once in a while a large truck picks it up.)