Welcome to our “Mythical Creature Week” – an at home camp filled with days of relaxed learning and fun themed activities all themed to oh-so-fascinating Mythical Creatures – Dragons, Unicorns, Mermaids, and More! For this day, we learned all about awe-inspiring beautiful unicorns!!!
A TYPICAL DAY
All kids are different and you can definitely vary your day with whatever works for you 🙂 But the gist of our day is having our kiddos focus on some work books or online learning tools in the early morning, an intro to the day’s theme after they were done, some videos around lunch time, and themed activities (reading time, writing time, crafts, food crafts/snacks, and games or experiments) in the afternoon. Feel free to pick and choose whatever works for you 🙂
INTRO
Unicorns have long since captured the imaginations of so many! If your little one is just as enthralled by these mystical creatures, then they may just love learning all about them as well! Our unicorn themed learning day focused all on the history of unicorns – where they may have come from, what they symbolized, etc. Then we had a few crafts to bring the unicorn magic home!
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). Below are some of the videos we picked from for the day:
- Did UNICORNS Ever Exist? | COLOSSAL QUESTIONS by Colossal Questions (2m)
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!
For our snack of the day, we picked up some unicorn cookies to add to our healthier snacks. Yes, they are actually called unicorn cookies! While they’re not shaped to match these mythical figures, they do match the color schemes typically associated with these animals.
READING
It’s no secret that reading helps prevent that summer slide. Some even say this is the most important. 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!
- Unicorns & Friends – My Busy Books – If your kiddo is still a bit young and loves playing with figurines, this may be the book for them. It’s a short book but also comes with a playmat and mini figurines for them to play with.
- The Very Short, Entirely True History of Unicorns by Sarah Laskow – This book is a fascinating collection of unicorn history. It may be a bit long for younger kids to get through on their own but an upper elementary kid should be able to get through it in one day/sitting.
- Unicorn Playlist by Dana Simpsom – If your kiddo is a graphic novel lover and adores unicorns, this series is for them! There are 14 books in all (at the time of this post), so it will definitely keep them hooked on reading for a while!
WRITING & WRITING PROMPTS
Just like reading, writing helps prevent that summer slide by both encouraging their creativity but also their motor skills and penmanship.
If you’ve got a little one, have them trace words related to the theme: MYTH, UNICORN, HORN
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 (and we offered up some examples as well) but definitely pick something your kiddo might be interested in writing about!
- If you met a lost unicorn at the playground, what would you do?
- Imagine you were riding a horse through the woods on a normal day and spotted a unicorn! What would your horse do? Would it get scared or curious about this magical creature?
- Years ago, many people believed that unicorns were real and had magical powers. What are some magical powers you would tell people unicorns have?
- Would you put a drawing of a unicorn on your coat of arms? If so, what would it look like?
CREATE & CRAFT
If you’ve got a crafty little one, a simple craft is a great way to keep them interested in the topic. While their creative juices are flowing, you can also chat about what they’ve learned so far or ask them what else they’re excited about learning!
For our crafts of the day, we gave them a few options that would help them enhance their pretend play or add in some of what they learned:
- Unicorn Wind Chime – This wind chime is from the Dollar Tree. While you can also purchase them online (here), if you don’t need a bulk set, it’s best to go in the store if you can to avoid the minimum purchase.
- Unicorn headband – This one is from Michaels (though you’ll need to supplement with glue). If you can get it on clearance (here), it will be just above $1 each. Otherwise, they’re a little under $5 each.
STEM & STEAM ACTIVITIES
While crafting and writing get their creativity and imagination flowing, we also like to add in an activity that gets them thinking along the lines of science, technology, engineering, or math! These engaging activities or experiments are a great way to keep them learning!
- Unicorn Gummy Lab Kit. This is a fun little kit that has everything you need to make some gummy candy. The candy is actually a bit tasty! The instructions have a few suggestions on how to vary creating the candy to see what different results you can get.
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for checking out our at home camp 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 Dragon, Fairy, Mermaid, Unicorn, or Fantasy Ideas, as well as our DIY At Home Camps!
Happy Learning!
