What is The Big Backyard Challenge?

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. I only recommend products that I use and love.

Our school theme last year was nature. We wanted to encourage our students to put down their video games and turn off the TV. There is so much to learn by going outside and exploring the world around you. The book Our Great Big Backyard by Laura Bush and Jenna Bush Hager was our inspiration. Each class read the book at the beginning of the school year.

Then, my friend Kathy, who teacher 4th grade, and I created a Bingo board for each quarter of the school year. To get Bingo, our students had to go outside to complete activities.

The activities include:

• Observe animal footprints in the snow.
• Play a game outside with your friends.
• Find a comfy spot to read outside.
• Do a science experiment.
• Draw animals you see out your window.

We tried to choose activities all ages from kindergarten to 5th grade could do with the help of their families.

How Could You Use the Big Backyard Challenge?

You could do the Big Backyard Challenge at school or at home with your own children. Last summer, my 7-year old and 3-year old completed the summer Bingo board together. They had so much fun!

At school, we sent a copy of the first quarter challenge home with each student the first week of school. They took notes on the back of the paper and turned it in at the end of the quarter. We also posted the challenge on our school website so the students and their families could access the links. That way they could print another copy if they lost the original one.

We encouraged our kids to collaborate as well. Older siblings were allowed to assist younger siblings with the activities. Friends completed activities together. Instead of playing video games against one another, they worked together to explore the world around them.

At the end of the quarter, the students returned their challenge sheets to their teachers. If they completed 5 activities in a row to get Bingo, they received a small prize, like erasers, pencils, bookmarks, and notepads. Any students who completed the whole board got the prize plus a special certificate. Download the certificate at the bottom of this post.

At the end of the year, the students who complete all four quarters of The Big Backyard Challenge were invited to a Big Backyard Celebration. Our school has a “Green Zone” with a pavilion and big grassy area. We had a pizza party there and played outdoor games.

Want to Try The Big Backyard Challenge?

Visit the Teach Without Tears TPT Store.  You can download the challenge for free and encourage your children or students to get up, go outside, and have fun exploring nature with The Big Backyard Challenge!

Discover some ways to save your children from the “summer slide.”

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Join The Differentiation Conversation Community, a free community for elementary teachers where we share practical differentiation strategies, ready-to-use resources, and encouragement to help you meet the needs of all your learners.

What Do You Think?

If you try The Big Backyard Challenge, please let me know what you think in the comments below.

The post The Big Backyard Challenge appeared first on Teach Without Tears.

I know summer is supposed to be a time for relaxation and fun. School is over and the pool is open. Who wants to stay inside and learn? Fortunately, summer learning doesn’t have to mean sitting with a book for hours on end or completing pages of math problems. There are plenty of summer learning activities that will keep young minds thinking while they’re still having plenty of fun.

As a teacher, I can tell you that “summer slide” isn’t just a myth. Students leave school in June reading on grade level. When they return in late August, many of them slide backwards a level or two. The same is true in math. Concepts they learned the previous year have been completely forgotten.

With just 15-30 minutes of brain-boosting activities each day, we can get rid of “summer slide” once and for all. Try these fun summer learning activities to keep your child from slipping backwards.

5 More Fun Summer Learning Activities

 **This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. I only recommend products that I use and love.

#1 – Big Backyard Challenge

Our school theme this year was “Our Big Backyard”. We wanted our students to explore nature and spend more time outside, rather than in front of screens. My co-worker and I developed the Big Backyard Challenge.

We created a Bingo board for each quarter of the school year. We also made an extra one for summer. You can download it for free by clicking on the link above and use it to reinforce science, math, and reading concepts all summer long while playing Bingo. Our students loved it, and I’m sure your children will, too!

#2 – Plan a Picnic

Summer is the perfect time for a picnic! Have your children help you plan the menu, make a grocery list, and estimate how much the ingredients will cost. Just use your local grocery store’s weekly circular to find the prices. If your kids are really adventurous, challenge them to use coupons to save some money on the ingredients. Maybe they can use the extra money to buy something special for dessert.

Once your picnic is planned, all you have to do is find the perfect spot outside to enjoy it. Your kids will have so much fun, since they were involved in the whole planning process.

#3 – Cooking and Learning in the Kitchen

My kids have always enjoyed helping me cook, and they can learn so much just by measuring ingredients and reading recipes. Spend some time cooking and baking with your kids.

#4 – Play-Doh

If it’s a rainy day, Play-Doh can come to the rescue. It entertains my kids for hours! Plus, it can be great for learning activities. For younger children, you can practice colors, shapes, and numbers. Older children can use a Play-Doh tool to write words and math problems. Even using their creativity to build new things is a great learning experience.

#5 – Sidewalk Chalk

You may already have some of this laying around your house. My kids got a big box of it for Easter. Take the sidewalk chalk outside, and use it to practice many different skills. It’s amazing how much more willing your children will be to write with chalk outside than with pencils inside. Give your child sight words to spell or math facts to write.

#6 – Online Learning Activities

I know it’s summer, and we don’t want our kids in front of screens for long periods of time. However, there are so many great learning activities online! Kids absolutely love them, and they are learning while they are playing.

Here are my favorite online learning programs:

Math

• XtraMath – great for practicing basic facts
• Prodigy – a fun game to practice math skills

Reading

• Epic! Books – 25,000 books online
• Reading Eggspress – books and passages with comprehension questions

Check with your child’s teacher to see if the school pays for any subscriptions. Many of them still work over the summer. My son’s school subscribes to Reflex Math and Storia. He will have access to both of these programs over the summer, so we will use them to reinforce skills he’s learned this year. My daughter is in pre-K and loves the ABCya! website. It has activities for pre-K through 5th grade.

#7 – Car (or Airplane) Games

A lot of us travel over the summer. That traveling often involves long hours spent in the car or on an airplane. Use that time to play games with your children to keep them learning. My favorite travel game as a child was the ABC game. Choose a category, and see if you can think of a word that starts with each letter of the alphabet. For younger children, it will reinforce their ABC’s and letter sounds. Older children can expand their vocabulary by finding new words that start with each letter.

Another great car game is Bingo. Make Bingo cards before you leave with things you might see while you’re traveling. For younger children use pictures, and for older children write the words. See if they can get Bingo before you reach your destination.

My second grader even loves doing math facts in the car. He tries to see how quickly he can answer addition and subtraction facts. Memorizing basic facts will help children with math for all their years of school.

#8 – Nature Walk

Go on a nature walk around your neighborhood or a local park. Count how many animals you see. Use your senses to identify sounds and smells. Collect rocks, sticks, and other items along the way. When you get home, sort the items and compare them based on size or color. There are so many things to learn from nature.

#9 – The Library

The library doesn’t cost any money. Just get a library card, and you can check out new books all summer long. Allow your children to help choose the books. That will increase their motivation to read. Depending on the age of your children, you may want to select some books they can read on their own and some to read together. Even older children still enjoy having a parent read to them.

#10 – Bedtime Story Time

I know a lot of you probably already read with your children before bed. This is so valuable and will help them develop a love of reading. Even if you didn’t have time to do any of the other activities during the day, spend just 15 minutes at night before bed reading. Your children can choose the books. If they’re old enough, they can read to you.  This special bonding time will be a great way to end your fun summer days!

You’re Invited!

Looking for ways to differentiate your lessons and meet the needs of all your students without adding more to your plate?

Join The Differentiation Conversation Community, a free community for elementary teachers where we share practical differentiation strategies, ready-to-use resources, and encouragement to help you meet the needs of all your learners.

What Do You Think?

What are your favorite ways to beat the “summer slide”?

Let me know in the comments below.

The post 10 Fun Ways to Beat the “Summer Slide” appeared first on Teach Without Tears.

What I Love About Epic! Books for Kids

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. I only recommend products that I use and love.

#1 – Epic! creates a profile for your child.

When you first sign up for Epic!, your child will answer some questions about his or her reading preferences. It asks for the child’s age and favorite genres to read. From that, Epic! will create a library of books your child might like. This can help him or her discover new books and authors.

#2 – There are “Read to Me” books and “Audiobooks”.

Epic! has lots of books that children can read themselves, but there are also books that read to them. That means Maddy, my 4-year old, can benefit from Epic! books even though she can’t read by herself yet. She loves looking at the pictures and listening as the books are read aloud to her. We still read together every night before bed, but Epic! allows her to listen to books while I make dinner or do school work.

#3 – Epic! has an incredible selection of books on all topics!

There is a wide range of fiction and nonfiction books. There are chapter books and picture books. You can find any type of children’s book on Epic! They have many popular books as e-books, like The One and Only Ivan, Goosebumps, and Rainbow Magic. There are also nonfiction books on every subject. My son, Jamison, came home from school the other day and wanted to learn more about the grasshopper he caught at recess. He signed into Epic! and found 3 books about grasshoppers. He read them all and is now sharing the facts he learned with everyone he sees.

#4 – There are educational videos about many topics.

My children also love the educational videos on Epic! There are short learning videos on many different subjects. My son likes to read a book about a topic and then watch the video to learn even more.

#5 – Many of the books have a quiz.

When a book is finished, the children often have the option of taking a quiz. This is a great way to check for reading comprehension. Each quiz has a few questions to see how well the child understood the book. My son loves taking the quizzes and seeing if he got all of the answers correct.

#6 – There are collections of books on Epic!

Collections are groups of books about one topic. If you want your child to read about a specific subject, search for a collection, and it will bring up a bunch of books about that subject. For example, I thought Jamison might be interested in other types of insects besides grasshoppers. I helped him find a collection about insects with 68 books in it. He spent hours reading the books and learning even more facts.

#7 – Children earn badges for reading.

As your children spend more time reading and read more books, they earn special badges. This is very motivating for them. They love to see how many badges they can earn. My kids beg to go on Epic! to increase their collection of badges.

#8 – You can set up 4 children’s accounts with one subscription.

If you have children of different ages, like I do, you can set up a different account for each of them with one subscription. That way, when they log in, they will have access to books that are perfect for their age and interests. Jamison’s library is filled with nonfiction titles and beginning chapter books. Maddy has lots of “Read to Me” books and fantasy princess stories.

#9 – Epic! saves you money.

Books are expensive! I went to the Scholastic Book Fair at my son’s school last week and spent over $20.00 for 3 books. Epic! costs just $7.99 per month, and you’ll have access to 25,000 books. Plus, Epic! is currently running a special where you get the first 30 days free! If you don’t like it, you can cancel before paying a penny.

#10 – Epic! saves you space.

I have thousands of books in my house. The bookshelves in the basement are filled with children’s books and both of my kids have bookshelves in their bedrooms. That doesn’t even count the books in my classroom library at school. Books take up lots of space. Plus, most children read a book one time and then it just sits there. You have to donate it or try to sell it at a yard sale. With Epic!, all you need is a computer or tablet. No extra space is needed for these 25,000 books!

Get Epic! Books for Kids Now

As a third grade teacher and mom of 2, I highly recommend Epic! I have yet to find a student who can’t find books they enjoy. Some of my students who told me they didn’t like reading on a survey at the beginning of the year beg to go on Epic!

Epic! also makes the perfect Christmas or birthday present for a special child in your life. Why buy one book when you can put 25,000 books at their fingertips for an entire month?

Sign up now and read FREE for 30 days!

You’re Invited!

Looking for ways to differentiate your lessons and meet the needs of all your students without adding more to your plate?

Join The Differentiation Conversation Community, a free community for elementary teachers where we share practical differentiation strategies, ready-to-use resources, and encouragement to help you meet the needs of all your learners.

What Do You Think?

After you try Epic! books, let me know what you think in the comments below.

I hope your kids love it as much as mine do!

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The post Epic! Books for Kids: Inspire Your Children to Love Reading appeared first on Teach Without Tears.