
#182153373 / gettyimages.com This lesson allows students to create a two week menu and shopping list that will include all of the food and beverage items they will need to survive two weeks without starving or becoming dehydrated. To…

There are times throughout the year that I need some “filler” activities due to testing schedules, the loss of seniors partybecause of graduation, etc. I don’t want to give my students free periods so I came up with a practical, creative project of planning a child’s birthday party. Originally this project was designed for my child development class as a team building activity but it could be used in a family unit as well. While this project is just about planning a party and the concepts that go with it, and fit into my time frame, you could easily adapt this project and make it relate to budgeting by giving students price limits or even make it a competition and incorporate a “cupcake wars” style approach. Either way students enjoy planning parties!
There’s a lot of buzz out there about this popular TV show called “Duck Dynasty” so I decided to watch it and discovered that it would be a great show to illustrate the traits of a strong family. This lesson introduces the traits of strong families to students, helps them recognize the traits in their own families as well as others, and then students create a PSA to help spread the word on the importance of strong families.

Tired of posters or PowerPoint presentations? This activity allows students to create their own infographic based on statistics and facts found on the Centers for Disease Control. An infographic is a visual way to represent facts and information. There are a few free sites that have templates to create infographics quickly. This mini project allows students to practice using data and creating graphs.
For years I struggled with how to teach decision making more interactively. I wanted students to know and understand the process and be able to apply it to important decisions in their lives, but I also wanted an activity where students…