Camping and Fishing

Raise Awareness:
Go camping or fishing. Look at photos taken of family camping trips. Eat fish for dinner. Sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor of your bedroom. Go on a walk or hike. Use a trail map.
Books:
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, Just Camping Out or Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer, Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert and Over in the Meadow by Ezra Jack Keats.
Art Connection:
Draw a trail map to use on a pretend hike in your home or backyard. Include rivers, mountains, trails, camping areas, etc. Draw and decorate paper fish for display or for fishing in a stream (blue cloth).
Literacy Connection:
Children can write a different letter on each fish, such as the letters in their name. Luke dictated to me a story about a fish he named Egore. Then he illustrated it. He also wrote the words "map" and "fish" on his trail map and fish art.
Math Connection:
Measure the length of different size fish. Practice subtraction by counting how many fish you catch and throwing some back into the stream. How many fish do you have left?
Science Connection:
Introduce the compass. Use it to label the walls of your play room with the directions north, south, east, west. In which direction does the sun rise and set? Watch the night sky. Look for constellations and draw the moon each night to see how it appears to change shape.

Pizza Parlor

Raise Awareness:
We went to our favorite pizza restaurant (Litza's Pizza) for dinner. A week or so later, we made a homemade pizza together. We talked about the different toppings a pizza can have. We also used play dough to make pretend pizzas.
Books:
Curious George and the Pizza Party by H.A. Rey, Pete's a Pizza by William Steig, and The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane Auch.
Art Connection:
We needed some pizzas for our dramatic play area. So, we made paper-plate pizzas using red-colored glue for the sauce, yellow yarn for the cheese, and a variety of other shapes cut from paper to represent toppings. We stored our paper-plate pizzas in the carry-out box we had brought home from the pizza restaurant.
Literacy Connection:
My children took turns being the owner and customer at a pizza parlor. They read menus and a toppings list, and wrote on a clipboard to take orders. They listened to follow directions and prepare a pizza to complete customers' orders. Luke also wrote the word "pizza" to make a sign for our restaurant.
Math Connection:
We measured and cut paper circles that had a diameter of 8", 10" and 12" to represent small, medium and large pizzas, respectively. We hung them on the wall of the pizza parlor so the customer could specify the size of pizza they wanted, when they placed an order. This gave them good practice at cutting, measuring, and thinking about size. They also counted money when they paid for their pizza at the register.
Science Connection:
In summer, we used pizza boxes to make solar ovens and bake s'mores. My kids also tested what melts and what doesn't melt. This winter we did experiments with yeast, e.g., fed them different kinds of food (oil, sugar, flour, salt) to see which one makes them grow the fastest. Children love to watch pizza dough rise and find it intriguing that the yeast make it happen.