This was a pretty busy week with our family visiting from out of state, but we still managed to sneak in some toddler theme exploration. And this week we added another country to our Children of the World series -- France. It's perfect timing for learning about France, too, because they celebrate French National Day, or Bastille Day, on July 14th. This date commemorates the start of the French Revolution. Coming on the heels of American Independence Day, it gave me a little bit of a reference point for explaining to Mia the significance of this holiday as well.
As a fine motor skills building activity, we worked on building structures with marshmallows and toothpicks. Once Mia got the hang of it, we set to work building an Eiffel Tower-shaped structure. We also attempted an Arc de Triomphe but ran out of marshmallows. I'm not going to name any names (cough, Mia), but someone was eating on the job.
Another day, I surprised Mia with build-your-own crepes for breakfast. My crepe making skills are sketchy at best, but World Market sells a pack of pre-made ones that you just heat & fill. I set up those, strawberries, bananas, and Nutella, and then let her assemble her own. I gave her crepes (she went back for seconds) a little dusting of powder sugar just for good measure before she devoured them. I filled all of the leftover crepes with ham and shredded Gouda cheese and we saved them for lunch.
Lastly, we learned a couple of words in French. This is our first country in the Children of the World series where English is not the native language, so we first had to discuss the idea of other languages. I'm not totally sure she grasped that concept, but we did have fun practicing how to say hello and goodbye -- bonjour & au revoir.
A summary of all France & Bastille Day week activities with links:
ACTIVITIES: Tried to build a replica of the Eiffel Tower with marshmallows & toothpicks, Read about France in our Maps book
ART PROJECTS: Watercolored the French flag, the Tricolour
OUTINGS: Went to the French bakery for some bread and treats
SNACK: Filled our own crepes with fruits and Nutella
BOOKS: Henri's Walk to Paris by Leonore Klein, Eloise in Paris by Kay Thompson, Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans, Oops! by Jean-Luc Fromental & Joelle Jolivet
If you'd like to share a photo of your kid doing theme week activities, you can email it to me (email button in the left menu) or tag me on your Facebook photo or use the hashtag #weeklytoddlerthemes on Instagram (if you are private, just make sure I'm following you or tag me in the photo).
LOVE THIS! wish I'd had it when mine were little. Or even something like it as we homeschooled thru the years. Wd have been a fun adventure part of our lives!
ReplyDeleteOh thank you! It's been a really fun thing for us to do together and I've learned so many neat things about my kids from all the exploring. I guess we all learn ;)
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