Spring Spotlight

•  Read the Easter accounts from the Gospels as a family.  Imagine what it would have been like to be some of the different people in the story and discuss what you would have felt and thought. Younger students: Read/listen to the Easter story as retold by several different children's Bibles or Easter story books and imagine you are some of the characters from those stories.
• Read the lyrics to hymns traditionally associated with Easter. Pick several hymns to compare and contrast.  Listen to several hymns and see if you can identify the rhythm and cadence of the lyrics as you read or follow along.  
  • Many hymns use words and language we don't often hear now!  Practice dictionary skills by looking up words that are unfamiliar.
  • If you explored Christmas hymns over the winter, consider how the Easter hymns are similar and how they are different.  Feel free to use T-Charts and Venn Diagrams if they're helpful!
• Enjoy a deluge of spring-related books and novels. Here are some recommended reading lists for you to investigate:
  • Younger students: 23 Picture Books about Spring
  • Middle grades: Chapter and Middle Grade books for Spring
  • Upper grades: 16 "Must-have" Young Adult books for Spring Reading
• Play with Creative Communication's Poetry Machine to create some fun Spring-time poetry that encapsulates what spring and/or Easter mean to you. Consider sharing your poetry with us at our Arts Showcase in March!
• Writing Contests:
  • K-12th grade: Write a children's book featuring an anti-bullying theme for a chance to win cash prizes and a chance to be published. (Deadline is 7/15/24 & can be entered as a team.)
  • K-12th grade: New Voices One-Act competition for Young Playwrights. (Deadline 5/1/2024) 
  • 8-12 year olds: Betty Award Writing Contest - submit your short story for a chance to win cash prizes. (Deadline 5/4/2024)
  • 13-16 year olds: Twisted Winter Tales Young Adult writing contest This UK writing contest is open to anyone within the age range and offers the opportunity to win an Amazon gift card as well as have their writing formally published.(Deadline 10/1/2024)
  • Middle & High Schoolers: Chill out with these New York Times writing competitions geared just for you!

We're counting on these unbe-leaf-able math-themed extension opportunities to bring in some fun!

• Patterns and Geometry in Nature:

  • Learn more about the Fibonacci sequence and discover how it shows up repeatedly in nature. Go outside and see where you can see evidence of the Fibonacci sequence in your own yard or neighborhood.

  • Design a garden bed. Younger students: What shape and size will your garden bed be? What will you put in your garden and how many seeds can you plant? Older students: Design your garden to the nearest eighth inch or millimeter and calculate how much soil or compost you'll need to fill your 3-D bed.  Research how close together different plants can be and figure out how you can maximize the space you've created.

  • Find a patch of flowers where there are many of the same type of flower together. Examine the flowers to see if there are any patterns you notice in how the flowers are designed, or the number of petals a flower has.  If you see the flowers growing in patches, how many flowers on average are growing in each patch?

• Easter math fun!

  • Make Resurrection rolls to practice skills like measuring, counting and conversions.  Older students: figure out exactly how many you need and divide the recipe accordingly, or choose friends to give rolls to and multiply the recipe accordingly. 

  • Students take charge of the egg-dying experience!  Figure out how many eggs you'll need, how much vinegar or how many drops of color you'll need to make your dye, and play with timers to discover what the perfect length of time is leave your eggs in the dye to get that "just right" color.

  • Create an egg-hunt for younger students, or younger students, design an egg hunt for your parents or older siblings!  Things to consider:
    How many eggs will you need? 
    How many pieces of candy/prizes will you need versus how many bags of candy will you need to purchase? 
    What is a reasonable budget for your egg hunt based on the number of eggs and prizes you want to buy? 
    If you have a set budget already, what's the greatest number of eggs and prizes you can get for your budget? 
    How does your budget vary if you change what type of candy or prize you want to put in your eggs?

  • Read the Easter accounts in each of the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John).  Keep track of how many similarities there are versus how many differences there are.  Create a chart to show the data you've collected!

Let your creativity BLOOM! 
Here are some of our favorite spring-inspired ideas - don't forget to enter your creations in March's Arts Showcase:

Drawing/Painting tutorials:
Younger grades
Favorite spring "How to Draw" lessons
Salt Rainbows
Warm/Cool Heart Prints
Middle - Upper grades
Creating incredible flowers by String Painting
Create easy but exquisite flower doodles or discover these no-fail watercolor beauties!

Animals and Rainbows:
- Create a PomPom Zoo!  (younger students will need help)
- Easy Origami Rainbow Circle Fan (younger-middle grades)
- Watercolor paint your pet!(middle-upper grades)
- "Zen tangle" a rainbow or animal of your choice

Spring Art contests to enter:
Children's Favorite Bird Art Contest (deadline is 2/29/24)
Science Without Borders Art Contest (ages 11-19 - due 3/4/24)
Google Doodle Art Competition (deadline 3/14/24)
CelebratingArt! Art contests (deadline 4/1/24)

Spring Performing arts ideas:
- Create a spring playlist using Spotify, Prime Music, etc.
- Put a spring-themed poem to music.
- Pick a song that reminds you of spring and
choreograph your own dance for it.
- Imagine yourself as a seed and act out all the stages of plant development - OR create a stop-motion video that
shows plant development.
- Grab some friends and a Bible and re-enact the Easter story.

Spring into action with these movement-oriented activities picked just for you:

• Go on a nature walk! See how many different colors/textures/shapes you can find on your walk.

• Invite family or friends to give you ideas for things to look for on an outdoor scavenger hunt through your neighborhood or at a nearby park.  Take pictures each time you find someone's recommendation and send it to them!

• Head out the next time it's raining and find the biggest puddle you can find. Explore different ways to jump into the puddle to make the biggest and smallest splashes possible.

• Challenge your friends to a game of kickball at a nearby park.

• February is Heart Health month!  Keep your heart healthy with activities like jumping rope, swimming, cycling and even playing tennis!

• Check out these epic spring hiking trails right here in GA - make a bucket list and see how many trails you can hit this spring. Not local? No problem!  Take inventory of hiking trails near you and see how many you can visit in the next several months.

• Stuck inside on a rainy day? Play "The Floor is Lava!" by turning a room in your house into an imaginary volcanic landscape, complete with obstacles and mini-islands. Have fun hopping across pillows, cushions and furniture to avoid burning up on the lava-covered floor.

These Science, Technology & Engineering opportunities are sure to make your curiosity come alive!

• Plant a flower or vegetable garden and see what grows! Research how to make the best soil for your plants or set up an experiment by planting seeds in different types/brands of soil.

• Check out these rainbow-related STEM activities for all ages that range from crystal rainbows & making rainbows in your home with CDs/DVDs to exploring rainbow density and creating foaming rainbow Easter Eggs. *Scroll down about 1/3 of the way past science fair info for the "ultimate list of rainbow stem activities.

• Upper grades: Engineer a greenhouse for growing microgreens!  You'll need the worksheet here.

• Use Tinkercad to create your own 3D model of a flower.  You can find tutorials on YouTube by searching "Create flowers in Tinkercad."

• Dive deep and explore all things "Deep Sea" then create your own artwork to submit to the Beyond Science Art Contest (ages 10+ - deadline 3/4/2024) Don't forget to also submit your art to March's Arts Showcase!

Dust off the cobwebs with these stimulating
Social Studies & History related ideas:

• Every month is a good month to explore Black History.  Check out these websites for excellent videos, activities and discussion starters:

  • Excellent ideas sorted by ages (toddlers through teens)

  • Project based ideas for elementary & middle schoolers

  • Celebrate Black history & culture by exploring Black music, dance, art, writers, and even restaurants/food.

  • Locate an Afro-Carribean restaurant near you, and/or Black-owned local stores to enjoy.

• Learn history and fun facts related to the Easter holiday:

  • Younger grades: Easter Fun Facts

  • Middle grades: A short but complete history of Easter and Easter facts for kids 

  • Upper grades: History of Easter