Family Classroom Activities
Teachers work to incorporate different aspects of a child's life into the classroom. Doing so helps students become better able to understand the material and creates more of an interest in the material as it relates to their lives. A child's family is a big part of his life, and teachers can use activities to tie that into the classroom.
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Me and My Family
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Send a note home to the parents explaining this project so they can help their children fulfill the requirements. Each child should create a poster or photo collage with the help of her parents. Pictures of each family member and pets should be included. Children can also include pictures of special events, vacations and other memorable moments with their family. Once the poster or collage is completed, each student can get up in front of the room and share with the class. Students should tell about each family member and pet, as well as the events pictured. This activity helps students with public-speaking skills.
Me and My Family Pictures
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Students can learn how to draw things more accurately and use their critical thinking skills. Let each student look at himself in the mirror, noting the color of his hair and eyes and any other features. Instruct the children to draw pictures of themselves as accurately as they are able. Ask the students to think hard about the other members of their families and try to remember what they look like. Tell them to add other family members to the pictures.
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Family Quilt
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This is an activity that shows children how families work together and how the members of a class create another type of family. Send a 12-inch-by-12-inch square of poster board home with each student with a note detailing the project for the parents. Each child should sit down with his family and create a square that is unique to the family. Any materials can be used to decorate the square, such as fabric or paint. Collect all of the squares from the students when they have been completed and attach them to a bulletin board to create a family quilt. Using ribbon between the squares and around the edges creates a more quilt-like look.
Family Tree
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Children often enjoy finding out where they come from and seeing how their relatives work together to form families. A family tree helps a child see how a family line works and allows her to work together with parents and grandparents. Create skeleton family trees for the whole class that are large enough to attach pictures. Send these home with each student to complete with her family. Students should fill in their own names at the bottom of the tree and branch out into parents, grandparents and possibly even great-grandparents. Instruct the children to include a picture of each person on the tree if possible. Once the project is complete, students can present their trees to the class.
Family Mapping
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Families that live in the United States can be traced back through the years to other countries. A vast majority of those in the U.S. today have ancestors that lived in other countries. Have each child ask her parents about the ethic history of the family. Children should be prepared with this information when they come into class. Put a world map up on a bulletin board in the classroom and have pushpins ready. Each child should get up in front of the class and tell the class where her ancestors came from. The student can then find the appropriate country or countries on the map and use push pins to mark them. Once all of the students have presented and placed their push pins, add up how many families came from each country. These statistics can be used for a math lesson on percentages and fractions as well.
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References
- Photo Credit family image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
