We're Going to the Fair Lesson plans
Inspired by a learning activity from Linda Dobson's The First Year of Homeschooling, my family likes to put together a carnival of our own this time of year. We usually create our carnival in conjunction with Dixon's May Fair, but there are so many county fairs to celebrate.
Fair Food
There are a number of great fair foods you can create in your own home. Popcorn and lemonade are a great starter, as both can be really simple. Taste of Home has a great collection of recipes including funnel cakes, corn dogs, deep-fried oreos and more. If your refrigerator has a crushed ice setting, you can easily make your own sno-cones with some Kool-aid, juice or soda for the syrup. Making food together is supposed to be a great way to get your kids to try new food. That doesn't always work for my two kids, but they love measuring, mixing and creating together. Plus cooking is a great use of math and science skills.
Games
What would a fair be without some games to play? There are so many variations of fair games to try out. The engineering involved in creating them is a great way to put your kids imagination to work. We were inspired by the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series on Amazon. In one episode, moose wins some muffins and that eventually leads the gang to create an arcade in their backyard with soccer games, a maze and a crane game. It's not hard to add a little education to some games at your fair besides the engineering. Create your own bingo board around a topic like food groups, fairy tales, sight words, or equations. Line up some Solo cups for a ball toss, but have each cup represent a vowel. Give the kids a list of a few words with the vowels missing and try to fill them in with the vowels from the ball toss. Go magnet fishing. We like to use paper clips on some paper fish with simple words written on them. We fish for matching rhymes like cat-hat, wish-fish, car-far, etc. We like to stack old cans in a triangle. Toss a bean bag to knock them down. For a little math fun, write numbers on the bottom of the can and add up the ones that were knocked down. Aim for a certain total or over in order to win the game. Don't forget the tickets. Kids will love collecting tickets for small prizes or to pay for their fair food. Prizes could include bubble, chalk, face painting, or balloon animals.
Exhibits and Shows
Family fairs are a great chance for your kids to show off some of the work they've done this year. Let them pick a few favorites to display or create a poster board teaching a lesson from a topic they enjoyed. 4-H covers a large variety of topics for kids to choose from for county fairs - from animals and babysitting to sewing and writing. Let your kid shine. Create some blue ribbons out of paper and work together to give each project a unique award.
If you've got a performer, set up some space for some shows. You might have musical or dance performances. Melissa and Doug have a few simple magic trick sets available. My kids have been practicing with the Hocus Pocus Collection, trying out some disappearing tricks. Add some juggling and bubbles, and you can have a great performance. You can even create your own demolition derby, if like my son, you have a large collection of toy cars. Design ramps to have your cars jump over a line of cars. How far many cars can they launch over?
Rides
If you have a playset in your backyard, you're all set for some fun rides. You can change things up with adding water to the slide, or trying out different materials to slide on. For those without playsets, Geek Dad offers instructions on how to make your own slip and slide. Create your own "fun house" obstacle course with outside toys like pool noodles, hula hoops, cones, and jump ropes. For older kids or those with an engineering mindset, try to make your own miniature rides. A little cardboard and some time reviewing simple machines, and you may find all sorts of fair ride inspiration. Some tubing and marbles, along with supports for the tubing and you can design a roller coaster while talking about force, momentum, gravity and potential versus kinetic energy. Or for a different building experience, K-nex offers a large kit with 13 different rides designs from roller coasters and ferris wheels to swings and boat rides. A smaller kit has three rides - the ferris wheel, swings and a boom ride. There are some cute Lego kits as well, but don't worry about designing the perfect ride. Just work together to build some fun.
Fair Food
There are a number of great fair foods you can create in your own home. Popcorn and lemonade are a great starter, as both can be really simple. Taste of Home has a great collection of recipes including funnel cakes, corn dogs, deep-fried oreos and more. If your refrigerator has a crushed ice setting, you can easily make your own sno-cones with some Kool-aid, juice or soda for the syrup. Making food together is supposed to be a great way to get your kids to try new food. That doesn't always work for my two kids, but they love measuring, mixing and creating together. Plus cooking is a great use of math and science skills.
Games
What would a fair be without some games to play? There are so many variations of fair games to try out. The engineering involved in creating them is a great way to put your kids imagination to work. We were inspired by the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series on Amazon. In one episode, moose wins some muffins and that eventually leads the gang to create an arcade in their backyard with soccer games, a maze and a crane game. It's not hard to add a little education to some games at your fair besides the engineering. Create your own bingo board around a topic like food groups, fairy tales, sight words, or equations. Line up some Solo cups for a ball toss, but have each cup represent a vowel. Give the kids a list of a few words with the vowels missing and try to fill them in with the vowels from the ball toss. Go magnet fishing. We like to use paper clips on some paper fish with simple words written on them. We fish for matching rhymes like cat-hat, wish-fish, car-far, etc. We like to stack old cans in a triangle. Toss a bean bag to knock them down. For a little math fun, write numbers on the bottom of the can and add up the ones that were knocked down. Aim for a certain total or over in order to win the game. Don't forget the tickets. Kids will love collecting tickets for small prizes or to pay for their fair food. Prizes could include bubble, chalk, face painting, or balloon animals.
Exhibits and Shows
Family fairs are a great chance for your kids to show off some of the work they've done this year. Let them pick a few favorites to display or create a poster board teaching a lesson from a topic they enjoyed. 4-H covers a large variety of topics for kids to choose from for county fairs - from animals and babysitting to sewing and writing. Let your kid shine. Create some blue ribbons out of paper and work together to give each project a unique award.
If you've got a performer, set up some space for some shows. You might have musical or dance performances. Melissa and Doug have a few simple magic trick sets available. My kids have been practicing with the Hocus Pocus Collection, trying out some disappearing tricks. Add some juggling and bubbles, and you can have a great performance. You can even create your own demolition derby, if like my son, you have a large collection of toy cars. Design ramps to have your cars jump over a line of cars. How far many cars can they launch over?
Rides
If you have a playset in your backyard, you're all set for some fun rides. You can change things up with adding water to the slide, or trying out different materials to slide on. For those without playsets, Geek Dad offers instructions on how to make your own slip and slide. Create your own "fun house" obstacle course with outside toys like pool noodles, hula hoops, cones, and jump ropes. For older kids or those with an engineering mindset, try to make your own miniature rides. A little cardboard and some time reviewing simple machines, and you may find all sorts of fair ride inspiration. Some tubing and marbles, along with supports for the tubing and you can design a roller coaster while talking about force, momentum, gravity and potential versus kinetic energy. Or for a different building experience, K-nex offers a large kit with 13 different rides designs from roller coasters and ferris wheels to swings and boat rides. A smaller kit has three rides - the ferris wheel, swings and a boom ride. There are some cute Lego kits as well, but don't worry about designing the perfect ride. Just work together to build some fun.
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