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Welcome to our “Soaring High – Flight Week” an at home week filled with days of relaxed learning and fun activities all themed to things that can fly as well as some famous flight pioneers!
For this day, we learned about the Wright Brothers, their history, and their flights! Read on to check out a fun filled day of learning, reading, crafts, and activities all themed to the Wright Brothers!
A TYPICAL DAY
All kids are different and you can definitely vary your day with whatever works for you 🙂 Our relaxed & learning fun day kicks off with an introduction to the day’s theme. Then, we move onto videos and themed activities (reading, writing – or story telling – time, crafts, food crafts/snacks, and games or experiments). Feel free to pick and choose whatever works for you 🙂
INTRO
The Wright Brothers are so famous, they’ve been featured and/or mentioned in several family friendly movies, cartoons, & books! But, if you’re looking for some more quick facts, check out these great sites:
- Taking Flight With the Wright Brothers by National Geographic Kids
- Wright Brothers – Curriculum Materials by National Park Service
- Wilbur and Orville Wright by Britannica Kids
- 12 Interesting Facts About Wright Brothers For Kids & Parents by Cool Facts for Kids
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:
- The Wright Brothers for Kids | Bedtime History by Bedtime History (10m)
- “Great Inventors: The Wright Brothers” by Adventure Academy (3m)
- Who Was Show S1E11: Pablo Picasso & The Wright Brothers
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 decided to see if there was any information on what the Wright Brothers liked to eat! After a quick search, we found quite a few articles on their pantry at Kitty Hawk! They’re great reads – check them out: Wright Brothers Pantry by Edible Pantry and favorite foods of famous people – wright brothers by Food Timeline. And so, in honor of Wright Brothers Day, we snacked on some biscuits!
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:
- First Flight the Story of Tom Tate and the Wright Brothers by George Shea
- First Flight The Story of the Wright Brothers by Caryn Jenner
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: FLIGHT, AIRPLANE, WRIGHT BROTHERS, KITTY HAWK
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!
- The Wright Brothers first became interested in flight when their father gave them a toy helicopter. Were you ever inspired to create something after you played with it?
- Airplanes and flight are possible because of the inventions of the Wright Brothers.. have you ever flown in an airplane? What did you think of it?
- If you could time travel back in time to interview the Wright Brothers, what are some of the questions you would ask?
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 decorated our Model Airplane Kit!
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!
- Science Activities to Celebrate the Wright Brothers by Teaching Channel
- Levitating Ping Pong Balls by National Park Service
- Model Airplane Kit
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 Soaring High -Flight Week Days or our other DIY At Home Camps!
Happy Learning!
