Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Children's Memorial Day Flower Boats


What better way is there for children to learn about the holidays than to participate in them!  Here's an idea that will help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make!  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing artificial flowers to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, read a poem, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging activity.

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Describing why U.S. citizens celebrate Memorial Day is a Virginia Standard of Learning for Second Graders (2015 History/Social Science 2.5 - C)
Maybe you're thinking, "Yikes!  It's the end of the school year!  I don't have time for this!"  Well, let me just mention that the end of the school year is one of the best times to plan highly motivating learning activities to keep students focused and to maintain positive behavior.  This activity is very simple and you probably already have a little plastic pool floating around the school from your field day event.  Plus, you'll be hitting a history lesson that incorporates creative writing with a class-created poem for your event.


Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Toy boat floating in water.

I created two versions (Balloon Boat and Toy Boat) of this project and tested both of them out in a lake.  I was thrilled that both boats actually floated!  Keep reading if you would like to see what materials I used and read a step by step tutorial.

Balloon Boat:
  
I found everything I needed for the balloon boat at Walmart and the Dollar Tree.  The balloon boat was less than $5.00 to make!  I used a blue foam board called a "kickboard" from the Dollar Tree to make it.  It's made of the same material as pool noodles.  I also bought one set of decorative patriotic garland flowers that are leis.  I needed a balloon so I purchased a package of patriotic balloons.  Then I went to Walmart and bought a red colored parachute cord which is 18 feet long.  I had scissors and glue so I was finished with shopping for the balloon boat. 


Materials Needed:

Kickboard - $1.00
Flower Garland - $1.00
Balloons - $1.00
Parachute cord - $1.97
Non-Toxic, Multi-Purpose Glue
Scissors
Source of Water (A child's plastic pool will work.)
Total cost:  $4.97 (plus tax)  

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Flower garland, parachute cord, balloon, glue, scissors.


Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Foam "kickboard"

Directions:

1.  Separate the flowers on the garland by cutting them apart.

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Cut apart the flower garland.

2.  View the two sides of the kickboard.  One side is curved upward at the center.  This is the side you will glue the flowers on.  Have the children glue the flowers on the kickboard.  Allow the glue to dry.

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Glue flowers on the foam kickboard.

Note:  We allowed 2 hours for drying time.  Due to the time limitations we had, we proceeded with the activity although the glue was not completely dried.  If possible, allow to the project dry overnight.
3.  Poke a small hole in the center of the kickboard.  (I used the blade of my scissors to do this.)  

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Poke a hole in the center of the kickboard.

Feed a balloon (not inflated) through the hole.  The opening of the balloon is on the opposite side as the side where the flowers are glued.

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Push a balloon through the hole made in the center of the kickboard.

Note:  Make the hole as small as possible.  If the hole is too large the tied knot in the balloon will slip through the hole.
4.  Poke another hole through the front of the kickboard.  

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Poke another hole in the front of the kickboard.

Feed the parachute cord through the hole.  Tie a knot at the two ends of the cord.

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Thread parachute cord through the hole in the front of the kickboard.
Note:  I was at a lake and therefore used the full length (18 ft.) of the parachute cord so that I could easily draw the boat out of the water.  If you are using a child's plastic pool, you might only need half of that length.
5.  Blow up the balloon and tie a knot at the opening.  

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Inflate the balloon.

The inflated side of the balloon is on the same side as the glued flowers.  The knot is on the opposite side.  

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Tie a knot in the balloon on the other side of the kickboard.

The inflated balloon assists the boat with floating.  This is important because of the added weight of the glue and the flowers.  The lightweight leis worked beautifully and they didn't get soggy in water!



Plan your observance!  Find a list of names of military men and women from your area who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.  Create a class poem of gratitude.  If nothing else, plan to have a moment of silence.  The key is to get all of your students involved in the project.  This was an easy project because the kickboard and the flowers can be set out in the art area.  The children can add flowers to the kickboard as time permits ahead of the event.

Help your students observe Memorial Day with a flower boat floating event.  These patriotic flower boats are simple to make.  Children can help decorate the boats by gluing flowers on to them.  Float the boats in a small plastic pool, pond, or other body of water.  Have a moment of silence, give thanks, or read the names of local men and women who died while serving the United States Armed Forces.  Children love the idea of floating boats which makes this a highly engaging Memorial Day activity!
Children can glue flowers on as time permits when this project is put in the art area.

Take your boat(s) to your water source and float your boat(s).  Read the poem your class created out loud, have the children take turns reading the names of the men and women from your list, or have a moment of silence.  When you are finished, remove everything from the water.  You want to make sure that fish and other wildlife continue to enjoy their home!  Keep in mind that young children need CONSTANT supervision.  If you are planning this at a nearby pond, lake, or other body of water, you'll need one chaperone per child.

This idea was inspired by a Memorial Day flower boat craft activity using paper plates.  See that idea here:  Memorial Day Craft.

Keep going if you'd like to read about the Toy Boat version of this.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Addition Sentence Fact Cards Freebie

Here's a lesson from my personal experience about the importance of following directions for assembling things or at least skimming the directions.

A few weeks ago I was perusing through Walmart's Easter goodies for children and I couldn't resist getting an inflatable ring toss bunny. 

Turn a ring toss game into an outdoor math station for first graders!  Use addition sentence cards and let the learning fun begin!  Students withdraw a card from a bag or hat which has an addition sentence written on it.  Children create the corresponding math fact by placing the rings on the left or right ear of an inflatable bunny.  There is a free set of addition sentences that can be downloaded from this blog post.  The cards include addition facts (two addends) for sums from zero to ten.
0 rings on one ear plus 4 rings on the other ear equal 4 rings in all.
I was envisioning outdoor fun by tossing the rings onto the bunny's ears.  All I needed to do was blow up the two air valves on the inflatable.  One valve was on the back of the rabbit and the other was on the base.  This was going to be a snap! 

I don't always read the manufacturer's directions.  I don't want to waste my time reading directions for things I already know how to do.  Or should I say THINK I know how to do!  How difficult could an inflatable bunny be anyway?  There are two air valves.  Blow air into them . . . right?  So I blew up the rabbit.  Afterward, my little rabbit would not stand up.  There was no way we could use it when it kept falling down.  I thought, "My inflatable is defective!  It's standing up in the photo on the product packaging but not for me!  See the photo below.

This is the packaging from the product.  The directions are on the back of the package.
I felt disappointed in my purchase.  I thought, "This is a cheap product that doesn't work!"  I gave up on the idea of having a ring toss.  Later on, I had a few minutes to reevaluate the "rabbit" situation.  I was almost ready to locate my receipt and make a return trip to Walmart.  Then I looked at the packaging and decided to read the directions.  Sometimes what seems to be the obvious process is not what is intended.  The valve on the BACK of the rabbit is for AIR.  The valve on the BASE is for WATER.  The water acts as a weight to hold the inflatable upright.  I removed all the air and started over again.  This time I filled the base valve with water.  Viola!  It worked like a charm and I had no issues with the bunny falling over.

The ring toss activity is a cute idea but little kids might become frustrated attempting to toss the rings on the rabbits' ears.  I would allow the children to simply place the rings on the ears instead of tossing.  If you use outdoor learning stations, this might be something that could be adapted as a first grade math station.  Students could read an addition sentence on a 3 x 5 card and arrange the rings on the rabbit's ears accordingly.  (There were four rings included with the inflatable which makes this work with sums up to four . . .  unless you have additional rings.)

Turn a ring toss game into an outdoor math station for first graders!  Use addition sentence cards and let the learning fun begin!  Students withdraw a card from a bag or hat which has an addition sentence written on it.  Children create the corresponding math fact by placing the rings on the left or right ear of an inflatable bunny.  There is a free set of addition sentences that can be downloaded from this blog post.  The cards include addition facts (two addends) for sums from zero to ten.

It's almost Teacher Appreciation Day so I made a freebie for you!  It's a set of addition sentences for sums up to ten.  They're 3" x 5" cards.   I've included the combinations for two addends.  Get creative and make up your own activities with them or use the suggestions I've included in the file.  Click on the first image shown below the get the original freebie.  Click on the second image shown to get a version that does not display the sums.

http://bit.ly/addition-sentence-cards


That's all for now!


Copyright 2017 Molly McMahon, Lessons by Molly