In going through my emails this morning I found a link to this Heart of the Matter article, Adventure Boxes.   What a great idea.  I then clicked over to Angela’s blog as she’s doing the same thing.

These ladies are putting together hands on activities, books, movies – all sorts of activities for the child to do in order to develop skill or knowledge on a particular subject.    Their plan is to use this box of activities during the summer. 

It is much like putting a unit study together except maybe focusing on more hands on activities and things that can be done independently.

I like this idea.  I think there is merit in Heather’s final comment though – why wait till summer (or for us over here in Australia, why wait till the term breaks?).  I think this will help me in helping Daniel use his free time productively.

Over the last few months I’ve been trying to get my head around how I could tweak Sue Patrick’s Workboxes to help Daniel with his free time.  I think this idea will work better.  It will give him choice (he needs to learn to make good choices on how to spend his time), it can incorporate all the learning styles and senses (hands on, reading, writing, viewing etc) and best of all – it is all in one box!!

Daniel has just made a soft toy/doll – a pirate and is in the middle of making another.  He has all sorts of design features he wants to do differently on this 2^nd doll – make a beard and a hook on the hand for starters!  I think I’ll build a box of activities around this theme.  A quick brainstorm has come up with these ideas – any suggestions welcome!

Keywords:  Pirates, treasure, treasure hunters, boats, oceans

Talent twist: 

• Camera – using your pirate boat, take photos making a story sequence
• Make another pirate doll

Hands on (preferred learning style)

• Make a treasure chest (this could become his gift box for gifts he has ready to give)
• Create a treasure hunt – make a map of our back yard, and bury your treasure. 
• Make a compass – map skills
• Make snakes and ladders game, but with pirate theme
• Drawing boats

Academic (teaching independent learning skills):

• I have downloaded a Hands of a Child lapbook from currclick.  This will require me to read a segment to him but then give him independent writing focus.  It will also give him scissors and glue practice as he works with making mini books.
• Books from the library
  • Fiction – either myself or one of the big kids will type his oral narrations
  • Non fiction – I’ll help him with key word outlines and summaries (Just one a week)
• Internet research:  building on internet skills
• Study flags used for nautical signs

Just for Fun

• DVD – Pirates who don’t do anything (Veggie Tales)
• Family Read aloud – Treasure Island (we’ve already started this so that ties in nicely)

Pulling this together:

Recently I have been made aware afresh, of the benefit of being prepared.  You can only go by the seat of your pants for so long and still be effective.  The key for this Adventure Box to work for Daniel is my preparation.  I am going to write an activity card for each of the above activities.  This card will tell

• Adult involvement rating – Independent, Adult needs to be available, Adult needs to be with you.  This will help him decide an appropriate activity to match the other family activities going on.
• Notes to myself on moral or character issues I want to discuss at that time.
• Materials and Instructions for the activity, including internet links where necessary.
• A space for Daniel to write about the activity – did he enjoy it, what did he learn etc. Space for a photo of a hands on activity completed.  This can then be filed and become a part of a permanent record of learning.

I am excited about this…. I’ll get back to you to tell you how my plans have gone!