Learning Outdoors Gets Fun

Studio 5 contributor Mary Margaret Pingree from Utah Idaho Supply shares some of her ideas for taking learning outdoors.


1-Go on a Number Hunt

Kids and parents love walks in the summer. Make numbers a fun part of your evening strolls. For small children, simply look for numbers as you go for a walk. House numbers, streets signs and
license plates provide fun place to spot numbers. See how many “sevens” you can find or see who can add or multiply the four address numbers on the next house the most quickly. Have them put the house numbers into an equation and then tell everyone the answer. The first person to identify the equation wins.

Tie in: Dice, math bingo

Multi Colored Dice

12 Sided Dice

2-Keep an Insect Log

Every day or two find an insect and keep it in a jar while you look on the internet for information about it. What does it eat? Where does it live? What does it do to survive? List as much information as you can find. Observe your specimen for a couple of days and then let it go. Create an insect book where you draw your insect and what it eats, or draw what its habitat looks like, or even some of the things it does.

Tie in: Sketch pads, colored pencils, insect habitat, butterfly catcher (net), magnifying glass

LCI6236 – Happy Giddy Net $6.99

LCI 6233 – Happy Giddy House $9.99

681108 – True to Life Colored pencils $3.99

PAC4790 – Sketch Diary $4.19

MEA54028 – Sketch Book $5.39

Magnifier $1.29

3-Make a Nature Bracelet

Take a piece of duct tape and put it around your child’s wrist to make a bracelet – sticky outside. As you walk through your neighborhood, take a hike or amble through a campground, tell your child to pick up the things that he or she finds interesting and attach them to the bracelet. When you get home find out more about what you have collected. What kind of flower is that? Does that twig belong to a bush or a tree? Explore the things that interest you.

4-Find a Local Pond or Lake

Fill a jar with water from the pond and set it in a sunny place. Watch it for a few weeks and see if anything interesting happens.

Tie in: Magnifying glass

Magnifier $1.29

5-Summer Poetry Notebook

Have each child pick a specific item in your back yard or neighborhood. Ask them to describe this item in their notebook with as many descriptive words as possible without using the name of the item. For example if they choose a tree trunk, words could include: rough, bumpy, striped, jagged, or slippery. Ask older children to compare the item to something else that is completely unlike it. For example my tree trunk is like an old river, dried up and cracked. Use these descriptive words and comparisons to write a poem. It’s easy once you have list of ideas. You’ll be amazed at their creativity and fresh way of looking at common things.

Tie in: Sketch pads, colored pencils

681108 – True to Life Colored pencils $3.99

PAC4790 – Sketch Diary $4.19

MEA54028 – Sketch Book $5.39


These items are all available at Utah Idaho Supply. You can find them at www.uisupply.com.

NEW THIS YEAR!!!

Kick Off Back to School our Back to School Sale on July 8th 2010!

One Day Only!

Live Remotes by KOSY 106.5 and Munchkin Radio

Meet a Monster [see store for details]

Demonstrations by Scholastic, trend, Magformers, Bic, and more!

Prizes, Drawings and Extra Savings

The first 200 people at each store will receive a Children’s First tote.

Doors open at 9:00 AM at all 5 locations
[West Jordan, Sugarhouse, Layton, Ogden and Lindon]

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