Ever wonder how many parents over the years have heard the phrase “I’m Bored!” during the summer months from their child or children? In this “Project: I’m Bored!”,
students research and curate activities to engage children of all age groups to not only prevent boredom, but help promote the developmental areas (PIES). This project is a great end of the year assignment or could even be used as a project for a substitute if you have to be out for day or two! Be sure to read on to learn more…
Did you know there are six types of picky eaters? I think we’ve all been exposed to at least one of them in our classrooms, especially when trying foods prepared in
the lab! So, what’s a parent to do when they have a picky eater? This Picky Eaters lesson has student groups exploring the six types and perform skits as they present the information on why it occurs and what parents can do.
When creating lesson plans and activities, one of my goals is to try to incorporate as much movement and hands-on engagement as possible. Not only do students
enjoy it, but it seems to pique their interest and gives them a little break from the screens. I love how Shannon Stevens, a FACS teacher from Ohio, does just that in her Interactive Bulletin Boards for Child Development project! Additionally, Shannon wanted to encourage the use of “soft skills” with her students and this project requires student teams to collaborate and communicate with each other as they create and finally provide feedback to other teams after class presentations. While this lesson focuses on child development, the interactive bulletin board concept can be applied in any content area. Read on to learn more…
Several years ago I learned about the teaching strategy called Hexagonal Thinking. There are many variations on how to utilize the concept in class, but the one I want to focus on is the Hexagonal Keyword Links for FACS Content. This is a great brainstorm, review or assessment activity to use with your students to see how they apply the information related to topics you are covering. Read on to see how Hexagonal Keyword Links works and all of the ready to use examples. As always, if you have ideas for others, please let me know.
I love when teachers take ideas from the website and add to them! That is exactly what Shannon Stevens, a FCS teacher from Ohio, did with my P.I.E.S: The Areas
of Development lesson. Shannon created the P.I.E.S: Puzzle Piece Activity to use with students in her Child Development class. She wanted to add a component for the students to share their knowledge of P.I.E.S. along with something that could be displayed in the classroom for other classes to enjoy. Additionally, she wanted a technology free activity!
you’re like me, you don’t always want to teach things the same way; you want a refresh! When teaching about prenatal development and the changes associated with both mother and baby, the Prenatal Mystery Bags assignment offers just that…a refresh! This ready to teach assignment is one I did years ago, but decided it needed an update so, in this post, you will find two different ways to use this with your students. Choose the one that works best for you and incorporate many of the 4 C’s (communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity) as your students work through the activity!
Problem based learning projects are a great way to engage your students and incorporate some rigor. How, you ask? Problem based learning projects incorporate
many, and sometimes all of the the 4 C’s; Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Creativity. The Family Medical Leave Work Dilemma takes a real world problem inspired by a Washington Post article and provides just enough information for students to come up with a viable solution. If you’ve ever wanted to try problem based learning in your family or parenting classes, why not start with this one?
Teaching about the brain is one of my all time favorite units in Child Development! I find it interesting and feel like I’m teaching students something new in a fun way. If you’ve used my Navigating the Brain lesson, you know that I had students create a Play-Doh brain. While I still like that assignment, I wanted something a bit more challenging. The Brain Puzzle is a creative, engaging way to apply the information learned and can be used as a review activity or an assessment!
If you incorporate reading children’s books into your Child Development classes, this Children’s Book Journal, shared by Anna Hall from Ohio, may be just the activity you’re looking for! This can be used in a variety of ways including bell-ringer activity, early finishers, in-class activity for shortened period days when there are assemblies or even as a sub-plan when you know you have to be absent! Check it out!
Who knew something as simple as crayons could teach some important life lessons? The Crayon Life Lessons teaches students a variety of lessons about acceptance, diversity and uniqueness that can be used in all settings from home, to school, to work in a unique way. I used it in my child development classes, but it could be used in any class as an enrichment activity!
