After-School Programs help students get better grades in school by giving them time to do their homework or letting them have time to independently read. It also helps the students in their social needs by allowing them time to play with their friends.
What about the student who is older than the other kids in After-School are, therefore cannot relate to them? What about the student who is more advanced and becomes bored? What about the student who is perpetually angry and takes it out on the other kids?
A good strong structure in the After-School Program disallows time for the child to become bored or bully. Having a daily activity gives the students an option that keeps them from boredom and gives them something fun to do.
Something that is sneakily educational while super fun is always a good idea for a lesson in After-School Programs. Some of the best ways to teach children is through art. Most children love to make projects. It is easy to find projects that teach a lesson and are fun for all ages and both genders.
Painting
Painting is a sure-fire winner when it comes to kids. Teaching the children different painting techniques is an amazingly pain-free way to get all the kids working together and learning at the same time. A fun lesson plan the connects art and language can keep the children's interest for a week or more.
Salt art is a fun project where the children paint with watercolors and then sprinkle salt onto their picture. While it dries before their eyes, you can explain to them the chemical reaction that is taking place. How the salt is absorbing the water. They not only learn how to paint with watercolors, but they also learn the word “hygroscopic” which means to absorb water.
Cooking
Cooking is a lesson that all children want to participate in every time it is offered. Children love food but they also love the power they are given when they are in charge of something. Whether it is handing out the bowls or utensils or if it is simply stirring the mixture in the big bowl, the child is given a task that is very important, thus making the child important.
Making healthy snacks is a great Friday lesson. It’s the end of the week and it can also be a reward for a good week’s behavior.
The best snack for the children to make is yogurt. Put them into groups where each group gets to choose the ingredients, within a properly set up range of healthy food. Have a contest to see which yogurt is the best, most original, thickest, smoothest, etc.
The children will learn sharing, culinary skills, measuring, compare and contrast and statistics.
Building
When children are believed in, they shine the strongest. Give the children a small project where they have to build a house. If they have been using the blocks, magnets or even the Lincoln logs, then they are prepared for this project. This is usually a week long project.
Show them a building plan or blueprint for any building you can get a hold of legally, or make one up. Explain to them how this plan translates into instructions for carpenters and engineers for creating buildings.
Then help them draw up a very simple plan for a two-room house. Measure it out so that a hamster could fit in it. Then build it. This is a fun project for a small After-School Program that has up to 15 children. More than that would become quite expensive but it can be done. Ask local hardware companies to donate some materials.
Make sure that the teacher is supervising at all times and that the wood is precut to the children’s measuring specifications.
After the building is made, the children can decorate it or auction it and donate the proceeds to a local charity.
Remember
It is easy to come up with projects that all the children want to do and are flexible with the vast age range and intelligence levels of an After-School Program. Remember, the children can have fun and learn at the same time. Most, when asked by their parent, will say that they learned nothing that day, but will be able to measure how much cereal they eat and build a birdhouse without help. Making learning fun makes learning a constant event. Make sure to follow the state standards and observe the children's interest levels because doing so can help you to create lesson plans based on their likes and dislikes.
A. L. Fetherlin - Author of "Brynn, the Exorcist" and former day care teacher who uses her home as an experiment in woodworking and building projects.
Join the Conversation