Welcome to our “Circus Week” – an at home camp filled with days of relaxed learning and fun activities all themed to the oh-so-fun circuses and carnivals! After all, what better way to get them to keep learning than to pick a theme they already think is fun! For our first day, we introduced the theme of the week and studied the history of circuses and carnivals!
Like most of our at home camp weeks, we kicked off the week by easing into the topic. We started off with setting up the camp area with some upcycled carnival booths! And, like all days, we added in some interesting books and some writing / storytelling prompts to keep them learning! Read on to check out the fun!
INTRO
Almost every child is familiar – at least in some capacity – with the circus, carnival, or funfair. BUT, this week, we used those familiar games and attractions to bring in some great learning concepts!
Here are some great articles for some background information for your little ones (or you to brush up on!)
- Circus by kids.britannica.com
- Circus by kids.kiddle.co
- Carnival by kids.britannica.com
- What Can You Find Under the Big Top by wonderopolis.org
- Circus Facts for Kids by kids.kiddle.co
- History of the Circus by historyofcircus.com
And if you need some inspiration for more learn at home activities, Ringling has a great collection of articles and links on their: Learn from Home page!
Once they’ve gotten the concept of what a circus or carnival is, then it’s off to setting up the camp area – always a fun activity – and reading, writing, crafting, and experiments!
DECORATE THE CAMP AREA
Decorating the ‘Camp Area’ or the room / area of your house where you’ll have most of your activities is a great way to get the kids excited about the theme of the week! If they’re incredibly crafty and creative, having some extra and opened-ended crafts would be great to keep them engaged. Otherwise, a prepared activity would work well!
If you’ve got any circus/carnival stuffed animals or souvenirs filling up your kid’s room, then bring them out to ‘enjoy’ Circus and Carnival!
We also picked up a packet of Big Top Photo Cards. BUT rather than just adding in a picture, everyone one drew one of themselves as their favorite circus performer 😉
For our camp area, we decorated the space with a few DIY Circus Snack Booths, similar to what we did for our Vintage Circus Party. We also had some red and white ones color blocks all around the area 🙂
WEEKLONG PROJECT
In addition to introducing the topic of the week, we try to give the kids a week-long project to help reinforce what they learn throughout the day. It’s also a good way to help them learn how to manage their time and plan out their week 😉
For our project of the week, we had them build up stations so they could do some circus performances at the end of the week !
For added fun, we also brought out our Red Admit One Ticket Roll (This link will take you to a different design but it’s the same concept: Bulk 2000 Pc. Carnival Roll Tickets). We used it as a ‘reward chart’ instead of tracking on a star chart or paper 😉
WHAT TO WATCH
We find that mixing in a short video themed to our day is a great way to add some learning fun! We try to pick informative videos OR mix in a cartoon favorite (where they don’t even realize they’re learning). Here are some of the videos we picked from for the day:
- A, B, Circus! | Episode 1 | History of the circus by Cirque du Soleil (5m)
- Ringling Brothers: Greatest Circus Ever by Biography (45m) This is a very informative video but isn’t specifically made for children, so you may want to preview and/or just show bits & pieces of it. I
FOOD CRAFTS / SNACKS
What’s more fun than taking a break and having a simple snack??? Including the snack in your theme of the day! We find that our kiddos are more than happy to eat the snacks they create especially when they can arrange them into fun shapes and scenes!
The thought of the circus or carnival may bring up sooo many foodie favorites – hot dogs, corn dogs, cotton candy, popcorn.. There’s so much to pick from 🙂
READING
It’s no secret that reading is an important part of learning, which is why we pick out a handful of books that are fun and filled with some learning tidbits. For our older ones, we have them fill out some worksheets (or let them create some of their own comics) to describe what they read and/or learned! These are a few we picked from for the day:
- If I Lived At The Circus by Tracy Shambis
- Paddington at the Circus by Michael Bond
- Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer
- Tents, Tigers and the Ringling Brothers by Jerry Apps
- Who Was P. T. Barnum? By Kirsten Anderson
WRITING & WRITING PROMPTS
Just like reading, writing is a great way to keep kids learning by both encouraging their creativity and thought process as well as helping them practice their motor skills and penmanship.
If you’ve got a little one, have them trace words related to the theme: CIRCUS, CARNIVAL, FUNFAIR
If you’ve got older children, have them write a sentence or two up to a page or two (depending on their age). Encourage them to be creative AND give reasons for why they made certain choices. This was our writing prompt of the day but definitely pick something your kiddo might be interested in writing about!
- If you were part of the circus, which circus act would you be a part of?
- Have you ever been to the circus? If so, what was your favorite? If not, what would you be most excited to see?
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for checking out our at home learning fun article! If you enjoyed this post, please let us know what you think in the comments below and/or follow us on Pinterest
Also, if you haven’t already, check out some of our other Circus Week days, Circus and Carnival Ideas, as well as our DIY At Home Camps!
Happy Learning!
