Disney Family.com

I just read this great article from a DisneyFamily.com writer/blogger and wanted to share it.


Mom's Museum School
by DreamTeamAme
"I'm sorry. Our summer classes are filled. For all sessions," the lady at the regional children's museum added definitively -- sounding anything but sorry.
We've been shut out of the museum school summer classes for the past two years. Their popularity, coupled with alumni first-chance registration policies, makes signing up harder than scoring Super Bowl tickets.
"Mama, were we too late again?" Grace, 7, asks, with a disappointment flattening her voice.
"I'm afraid so," I said, feeling quite dejected myself.
Later that afternoon I bemoaned our museum school blacklist status to my friend Jennifer, who just happens to be an elementary school librarian.
"Oh, we never get in either," she assured me, then added, "So I just do my own."
She explained her simple "museum school by Mom" premise. With her kids, ages 4 and 6, she picks a theme and plans daily activities and projects around it.
The best part of this do-it-yourself plan is that you get to choose topics that are tailor-made for your kids and their interests -- dinosaurs, space, insects, mountains, trains, horses, fairies, travel, music, flowers -- the sky's the limit. Even better, you can set your own schedule. You can do it as casually as going to the library and checking out a few topic-specific books to enjoy, or really get into it by planning daily itineraries replete with activities, crafts and field trips. Online projects and ideas help bring it all to life.

Below is an example of five days planned around an "ocean" theme.
Mom's Ocean-Inspired Museum School
Monday, Shells
Book: Way Down Deep by Jan PeckActivity: Shell Painting

Tuesday, Sharks
Book: Smiley Shark by Ruth Galloway
Activity: Bake S is for Shark Cupcakes.
Game: Sharks and Fish

Wednesday, Boats
Book: Toy Boat by Randall de Seve illustrated by Loren Long
Activity: Build your own little Jet Boat.

Thursday, Fish
Book: The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister and J. Alison James
Activity: Sticker Stories. Have each child draw a background of the ocean then supply a variety of fish and other sea critter stickers with which to populate your sea. Then invite them to share a story about their drawing.
Craft: Make Good Luck Gold Fish.

Friday, Beach Party"Beach" Picnic and Sunny Day Reading: Pack a picnic and blanket and head to the nearest body of water (lake, ocean, pool, or fountain) to enjoy an al fresco lunch and some more sea-worthy books in the fresh air:
I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry
Out of the Ocean by Debra Frasier
What Lives in a Shell? (Let's Read and Find Out Science 1) by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld and Helen K. Davis