Inspired by an activity in Multiple Intelligences in the Elementary Classroom: A Teachers Toolkit by Susan Baum, Julie Viens and Barbara Slatin. Take a square box (or die) and put 4 of your child’s FAVORITE multiple intelligences on the sides
Personal Soundtracks
I don’t know about you, but my favorite cassettes and CDs as a kid were the movie soundtracks. They were the ones that best “put me in the mood” for whatever it was I needed to get accomplished…or however I
Butterflies & Blooms
Set a goal to help restore butterfly migration routes in your town by planting a butterfly garden with native plants or seeds. Research the best options to provide nectar, roosting, or food for caterpillars that migrate through your area. After
Out-of-the-Box Gaming
Much of the appeal of video games for kids lies in flexing their logic/strategy muscles and developing spatial aptitude via the game’s fast action and leveled challenges—not to mention getting the opportunity to be a “hero”—all of which can be
Dance Party!
Choreograph a routine to the chorus of a favorite piece of music and teach the whole family the dance. It’ll be like your own personal macarena! Anytime you hear it on the radio, family members listening have to do the
Tongue Twisters
Adapted from a childrens-choice.org activity recommendation (used with permission) Depending on your child’s language level, place varying words on post-its on a twister board, then place the word types on the different spinner sections (e.g. short vowel/long vowel, verb tense,
Touchy Touchy
Watch a well-acted movie scene or play with lots of interaction. Write all of the character names down one column, then make one column for touching and one column for being touched. Have your child make a tally mark by
Summer Reading Recommendations for the “Self Smart” Child
All ages Have You Filled a Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids. By Carol McCloud.Through simple prose and vivid illustrations, this book encourages positive behavior as children see how rewarding it is to express daily kindness, appreciation,
Effective Breakout Groups for Long-Term Projects
Break Apart by Multiple Intelligence FIRST Place at least one child with a parallel preference in each of your breakout groups. E.g., for a history lesson, place a child with and intra- or interpersonal preference in each breakout group; for
It’s (Math) Party Time!
The common core standards set forth the following criteria for math proficiency are grounded in 8 math “commandments” that include contextualizing, strategizing, modeling, precision, reasoning, structure, content proficiency and perseverance. We feel these standards are missing a crucial first step…