After School Activities – Page 5 – After School Club Ideas

Category: After School Activities

Easter Egg Wars

Posted on March 30, 2010May 7, 2012 by Marie

Do you ever have those moments in life where you participate in something and suddenly realize ~ hey the kids at school would love this activity. How can I incorporate it into my program?

That’s what happened to me on Easter 2007. I was at a Family Easter Party and witnessed a family tradition that intrigued me. We had just finished eating some appetizers when everyone started grabbing some colored Easter eggs (the hard-boiled kind not the plastic variety.) The next thing I knew people were pairing themselves up and challenging their partner to an “Egg War.”

Continue reading “Easter Egg Wars” →

Everyday Craft Items

Posted on March 25, 2010April 4, 2011 by Marie

Have you ever read a cooking article in a magazine or book where it tells you to have “everyday pantry items available?” These pantry items can include things such as: salt, pepper, butter, etc. Having a good supply of basics on hand provides the foundation for many delicious recipes. You can apply the same idea to planning after school activities. Having a properly stocked craft cabinet will provide the foundation needed for an abundance of creative & engaging craft activities after school and save you the headache of starting from scratch each time you want to lead a project.

Items to include in your Everyday Craft supply regimen include:

Markers, crayons, colored pencils, oil pastels, pencils, rulers, white glue, glue sticks, craft sticks (regular and jumbo), white 8 x 11 paper, construction paper – assorted colors, google eyes, washable tempera paint, sequins, glitter, paintbrushes, pipe cleaners, pom poms, cotton balls, balloons, feathers, hole punch, paper plates, paper lunch bags, pony beads, thread, yarn, plastic bowls, and a glue gun.

Some other recommended items I find come in handy and are always kept in my bag of tricks include:

Glue dots – Readily available at Oriental Trading Company or Amazon. For those tricky craft projects where glue and glues sticks just won’t quite cut it. Tip: Purchase glue dots that come in sheets rather than rolls as they are easier for children to use and they will waste less of them.

Vinyl table cloths – easy clean up after messy projects

Shaving cream – great for hands on manipulatives and craft projects

Fuse beads – can be used for a variety of craft projects and tied into a number of themed units. They can be purchased through S&S Worldwide or Michaels Craft Stores.

Happy Crafting everyone!

Marie

School Club Ideas in current economic climate: Art, Music, and Sports Club Ideas

Posted on March 17, 2010July 1, 2010 by Marie

In the current economic climate many schools are being forced to cut out extracurricular programs from the school day such as art, music and to a lesser extent P.E. or Sports. This is devastating for our children as they are missing out on very valuable educational opportunities and access to gaining lifetime skills and appreciation for the Arts and physical fitness. Now granted, I don’t think we could ever expect to replace School Arts, Music or Physical Education programs in an after school setting. I remember going to visit the symphony with my 4^th grade Music Teacher as one of my all time favorite memories from my elementary school years. I do think, however by offering after school programs, with an emphasis in Art, Music, and Physical Education that we can help to maintain that “spark” in children and open their eyes to what kinds of experiences are available to them!

Here are some ideas below about how to incorporate Art, Music & physical education in the after school setting. If you need more ideas about how to plan your club take a look at my article on planning your first after school club.

Music Club Ideas

1) Hand bell Club- You can purchase a set of hand bells for kids that are color coded for the different notes they play. I found a set at Lakeshore Learning. The set came with color coded cards to play different songs such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” You can start by teaching children about musical notes, note values, and scales and move on teaching how to play songs with the hand bells. As a special event at the end of the club event parents and friends to a Hand bell recital.

2) Karaoke Club- If you have a karaoke machine, or even just a boom box and microphone you can host a karaoke club. The children can practice, and you can hold a concert for them at the end of the club session.

3) Music Appreciation Club-Teach children to appreciate music. This can be accomplished in many ways. You can teach the kids to identify some classical music and then play a game of “Name that Tune.” They can listen to various styles of music and paint or draw about how it makes them feel. You can teach them about rhythm and have them clap or dance to different beats. Also, if you have access to a musical instrument set you can teach them to identify various instruments by sight and sound, and have children take turns playing the instruments.

Art Club Ideas

Teach children about various artists biographies and allow them to create art based on their styles. Make sure to allow for some time for children to create artwork base on their own artistic styles. At the end of the club hold an art gallery to showcase the children’s artwork.

Examples of artists you can showcase:

Charles Schulz- kids can create their own comic strips inspired by “Peanuts”
Georgia O’Keefe- flower paintings
George Seurat-Kids can create pictures using pointillism or images that look completely whole but looking more closely are created with series of dots instead of connected lines.

Sports Club Ideas

Some Sports Club would benefit from having a great Coach. Talk with your parents/staff to see if anyone may be interested in coaching a sports club once a week or even once a month. If they are not available for a long term commitment perhaps you can have them come for the last (special event) session to perform a Demo or be a Guest Speaker.

1) Jogging Club- You can teach the importance of stretching and warming up. As a special event you can hold a jog-a-thon, and let the children help choose a great cause to earn funds for.

2) Basketball Club

3) Football Club

4) “Yoga for Kids” Club- Many DVD’s or cards are available that teach fun yoga moves to kids

5) Dance Club

Homework Club/Help in After School Programs: How to make this time productive

Posted on March 12, 2010April 4, 2011 by Marie

Many after school programs offer a Homework Club or hour. Some are required to do so and some do it to add to their beneficial daily programming. Whatever the reasons it can be quite a challenge to have a successful homework program in an after school setting. Here are some tips to hosting a successful homework time

1) Construct a Parent/Staff/Student Homework Agreement: Expectations should be clearly outlined on this agreement. Be sure to have the Parent/Child sign it and keep it in a safe place. Important questions/points to consider and include on this agreement are:

Are children who are signed up required to attend Homework time?
Discipline Policy and Procedures are clearly outlined and parents are aware of it. (see #4 sub-heading below for more on this)
How long will Homework time last?
How many Staff will be supervising Homework time?
Center responsibilities – are they responsible for making sure homework is completed or corrected? Will the center be providing materials such as pencils, rulers, lined paper, dictionaries, etc. If so, list what will be provided

2) Provide a Daily Sign In/Out Log: Keep track of student attendance in HW Time and place it in the Parent area at the end of the day for their review

3) Post Homework Time Rules: Make it clear what is expected of the children while they are in HW Club

4) Provide a suitable Homework environment: Ideally a room with tables and dedicated only to Homework time. If you have a large number of students or mixed ages you may want to make a seating chart. Try to minimize distractions as much as possible. Set up a corner where children can sign in and out and check out pencils, paper, dictionaries, rulers, erasers, and calculators (optional.) It is best not to have an electronic sharpener in the room as it can become quite a distraction. Try to have Staff make sure pencils are sharpened beforehand and if necessary hand out handheld sharpeners, which are much more budget friendly anyway.

5) Instill a Discipline Policy: The goal is to provide an atmosphere that is conducive for everyone to complete their Homework. Set up Homework Club Discipline Guidelines and be consistent about enforcing them. Example~ 3 Step policy if children are being disruptive 1) Verbal Warning 2) Move their Seat 3) Dismissal from Homework Time.

6) Provide Rewards & Incentives: Reward positive behavior during Homework Time. Try to to recognize not only their good behavior but also how well they are staying focused on their Homework and completing it. You can use a Smiley Sticker Chart, and have a Homework Party after a certain number of stickers are earned. You can also put up a WOW Board, showing off children’s stellar work.

7) Have Break Time Before Homework Time: Try to have a 15 to 20 minute window between the time school gets out to when Homework time begins. During this break the children can relax, have a snack and then re-focus on their work without feeling burned out.

Best of Luck having a successful Homework Time at your program. As with any new idea with children, you may want to adapt or change a few things here and there to fit the needs of your program.

The Elusive Leprechaun

Posted on March 10, 2010May 7, 2012 by Marie

It is very fascinating to me as an adult to watch how children’s eyes sparkle when they talk about magic and make believe. With St. Patrick’s Day approaching I am hear more and more talk about the Elusive Leprechaun. 1^st and 2^nd graders are conspiring about how to catch him in their homemade leprechaun traps and having discussions about the last time they made traps. “I saw him last year,” one would say or, “His coat got stuck in my trap,” and another would add, “He left me a gold coin!”

Meanwhile the kindergarteners are trying to find out who left such a big mess in the classroom and why the water has turned green. “It has to be the leprechaun,” they say, “We have to search for clues!” The next morning they arrive to see tiny green footprints all over the window along with a letter enticing them to search for his treasure. They find more and more clues around the school and finally find his treasure.

Now my older students are great with the younger students. Most of them seem to no longer have the same belief in magic and make believe but they are good at letting the younger students have their fun (with the occasional snicker here and there of course.) One year to my utter astonishment I had two 5^th and 6^th grade students who still believed. I had accidentally misplaced one of the kindergartener’s clues to find the leprechaun’s treasure along with the leader’s “map” of where the clues were to be hidden. The wind had carried it to a small grate under our building. While the two boys were playing ball they stumbled upon the missing clue along with the map. They ran up to me very excitedly and said, “We found the leprechaun’s treasure map, he left it where we could find it so we could find his treasure.” And off they went to find their treasures ~ it was precious and inspiring to me. Maybe sometimes those older kids who we think are past believing in magic and make believe still believe but just aren’t willing to show it!!

Tiny Leprechaun Footprints

Materials needed- green tempera paint, dish soap & 2 hands.

Directions:

1) Mix 2 tbs green tempera paint with 1 tsp dish soap (for easy clean up and disposal of the evidence)

2) Make a fist, use the pinkie and side of the palm as the base of the foot and use paint brush to cover in paint. Use your fingers or handle of large paint brush to make five toes.