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AN ORIENTATION DAY – WHAT IS A NEW WONDER OF THE WORLD?
Welcome to our “Wonders of the World Week” an at home week filled with days of relaxed learning and fun activities all themed to a few of the new wonders of the world! Part history, part cultural studies, this week was definitely a thrilling, whirlwind adventure as we “traveled” to a different Wonder each day, learning a bit about the man-made construction, time period, and culture of each magnificent structure. We did not have time to study each wonder (and we did sneak in a few runner ups) but it was an awe-inspiring week that fueled many more questions and self study!
Like most of our at home camp weeks, we kicked off the week by easing into the topic with an introductory day. We started off with setting up the camp area with some large world wide maps – this gave us a good idea of where we are as well as where some of these new wonders are! And, like all days, we added in some interesting books, writing / storytelling prompts, short videos, and activities to keep them learning! Read on to check out the fun!
INTRO
It’s very possible that your little one has already seen or heard of a few of these new wonders, so we started off by describing what the “7 New Wonders of the World” is and how they were determined.
We also talked about the “Ancient Wonders of the World” list (especially since they were surprised that the pyramids weren’t on the final list. Then we learned about the process of selecting the 7 Wonders, the nomination list, and the other finalists.
We also had them think of any monuments that they know of, then we tried to find them on the list (nominee, finalist, etc). It was interesting to see where some of these ended up in the process!
These sites are also great resources with pages on history, concepts, and activities:
- New Seven Wonders of the World by Britannica
- New7Wonders of the World facts for kids by Kiddle
- NOMINEE LONG LIST by New 7 Wonders of the World
Once they’ve gotten the idea of what the new wonders were (as compared to the ancient wonders) as well as how they were voted on, then it was off to setting up the learning area – always a fun activity – and then reading, writing, crafting, and other activities!
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!
To decorate our camp area, we set up some world maps as well as created a few of our own!
WEEKLONG PROJECT
At the start of the week, we also introduce a weeklong project – this is great for reinforcing concepts learned throughout the day as well as allowing them to build time and project management skills.
For our weeklong project, we had the kiddos create a mini-campaign similar to how the 7 New Wonders were voted upon. We had them start with creating a list of some wonders they’d like them to vote on. If there is one in particular that you want to win, try convincing others why they should vote for it. At the end of the week, hold your vote. What were some challenges you faced? What was easy about this initiative?
Throughout the week, we also had them add each new wonder to their hand drawn map along with some quick facts about the wonder (when it was created, why, etc.. )
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:
- New Seven Wonders of the World by The New7Wonders Foundation, 2007 With all Facts and Details by MilkTeeth TV (9m)
- The 7 Wonders of the Modern World || Explained in Short by Culture in Short (5m)
- Do You Know All The 7 Wonders Of The Modern World? | Educational Videos for Kids by Tiny Teachers TV (6m)
- 7 Wonders of the Modern World | World Wonders | Educational Video for Kids by Pants Bear Cartoons (5m)
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!
In a nod to the foundation that initiated the vote (based in Switzerland), we opted for snacking on some Swiss chocolate 🙂 Alternatively, if you can find any other snacks from Switzerland, that would be a great thing to try too!
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:
- How the New Seven Wonders of the World Were Built by Jiri Bartunek
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: WONDERS, WORLD, SEVEN
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 could create a new wonder of the world, what would it be? How would you build it?
- The vote for the new seven wonders of the world was not fully supported by some organizations. What do you think could have made it more scientific and unbiased?
- Imagine you were the architect of any one of the seven wonders of the world and just traveled through time to the present. How would you feel about being a finalist?
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 History Weeks as well as our DIY At Home Camps!
Happy Learning!
