Activity Plan – School-Age Program

4th of July

Activity Date June 23, 2021 Lead Teacher Sammy Singer

Why are you addressing this topic? What do the children already know?
What don’t they know? Are there common misconceptions? What
observations lead you to believe this will be of interest to children?

Preassessment This is a relevant topic because the 4th of July will be a couple days after this
lesson. I am not sure what the younger children know about the 4th of July,
but I am sure the older children do have a basic idea of the reason behind
the 4th of July. I think the children will enjoy learning why there are
parades, barbecues, and fireworks for this random day in the summer.
What are the primary learning goals or developmental purpose for today’s
Learning Goals activities?
or
Developmental I want the children to learn about the founding of our country and the
Purpose reasons behind the 4th of July. I also want children to understand the idea
of conservation while playing with the oobleck.
Include a few (not more than four) child specific goals that you and your
staff will focus on today (child-specific touches).
Child-Specific
Goals
1. We will invite Emmy to lead us in singing the Star-Spangled Banner.
2. We will invite Israel to help us be the timekeeper for our schedule.
What new terms or concepts do you hope children will be introduced to
today? What words or ideas should supporting staff help convey?
Vocabulary /
I would like to talk about patriotism, the constitution, and the idea of
Concepts
freedom. I hope to clarify why we celebrate the 4th of July and help the
children to recognize why the 4th of July is so important. I would also like to
introduce the idea of non-Newtonian fluid.
7:45 Staff Arrive and Set Up Clarke/Teepee
8:30 Children Arrivals / Free Play Teepee
8:50 Opening Gathering Ritual/Review Schedule
8:55 Walk to Fields Upper Fields
General 9:10 Choice Activity Stations
Schedule 10:00 Snack
10:15 Choice Activity Stations
10:40 Head Back to Teepee & Last Bathroom
Break
Teepee
 10:50 Closing Gathering / Debriefing and
Reflection / Ritual of Belonging and
Connection
11:00 Child Check-out / Parent Touch Point
11:05 Finish Cleaning Up.
11:30 Debriefing

What general goals do you have for preparing the environment? Are there
particular changes or adjustments you plan to make?

We will bring everything to the fields before children arrive. I want the
Environment
environment to give the children lots of space to create and use their
imagination. I don’t plan to make any major changes in the environment.
All of the activities will take place at the fields in order to have a space for
children to make the oobleck, be able to play soccer, and do their parade.
All materials or resources that you’ll need for your activities outline by the
center or activity.
1. Opening Gathering Activities
a. Mud Kitchen
b. Book about 4th of July, America, the Constitution
c. Friendship Bracelets
2. Firecracker Oobleck
a. Cornstarch
b. Water
c. Pop Rocks
d. Containers/plastic bags
3. Make your own flag
a. Paper
Materials by b. Colored Pencils or markers
Center or 4. Paper Pinwheels
Activity a. Paper Squares
b. Staws
c. Pins
d. Scissors
e. Colored pencils to decorate
f. Clip Boards
5. Fire Station Dramatic Play
a. Fire station hats and coats
b. Pop Up firetruck
6. Giant Bubbles
a. Bubble Solution
b. String
c. Straws
7. Parade
 a. Boxes
b. Scooters
c. Masking tape
d. Markers
e. String
8. Bean Bag Target Practice
a. Bean Bags
b. Bean Bag Toss board
c. Sliced Pool Noodles
d. Plastic Containers (Beautiful Junk)
9. Squirt Bottles (2)
10. Soccer Balls
All of the materials that are NOT available in the
labs, but will be brought by you or an arranged
person. Please indicate responsible person.
Arranged 1. American Flag Sammy
Materials 2. Bean Bag Toss Brother Dennis
3. Boxes for the parade Brother Dennis
4. Tarp Brother Dennis
5. Bubble Solution Anna George
All materials not available in the lab or arranged,
Purchase
which will need to be purchased. Include the cost.
Requests
1. Pop rocks Sister Pond
Describe each activity and include major steps and enough detail that
another staff member could facilitate the activity without assistance
1. Opening Gathering Activity
a. Books - Children will be able to choose from different books
about our country and the 4th of July.
b. Mud Kitchen – Children will be able to dig and move the dirt
around
Activities: c. Friendship Bracelets – Children will be able to braid and
Detailed Steps create bracelets with two different materials. The
or Description embroidery floss will be used for the older children and the
by Activity or rubber bands for the younger children.
Center 2. Soccer
a. Children will be able to use the fields and soccer goals to
play soccer with one another.
3. Firecracker Oobleck
a. Children will engage in sensory play by mixing cornstarch,
water, and Pop Rocks together. The pop rocks will start to
pop while the children are mixing the materials, which will
add another sensory experience to the oobleck.
4. Bean Bag Target Practice
 a. Children will be able to throw bean bags at various targets
that have been hung or placed around the exercise
equipment at the fields. The targets that will be hung are
slices of pool noodles. Other targets will include various
empty plastic containers from Beautiful Junk.
5. Paper Pinwheels
a. The children will be able to cut paper and pin it onto a pencil
in a way that makes a pinwheel. There is a good tutorial on
the link in my second reference. Children will be able to
decorate the paper that they use to make the pin wheels
and will enjoy blowing hard or soft to make the pinwheel
spin faster or slower and will use the pinwheels in their
parade.
6. Giant Bubbles
a. Children will be able to make giant bubbles using string and
straws. They will dip their string and straws in the bubble
solution to make large bubbles.
7. Parade
a. Children will put on a parade where they show off the flags
and pinwheels that they have made. They will also be able to
walk with stilts and tape decorated boxes to scooters to
make a float. They will also be able to use the materials from
the firehouse dramatic play to be the firetruck in the parade.
8. Make your own flag
a. Children will be able to decorate a piece of paper to make
their own flag. They will glue the piece of paper to a popsicle
stick so that they are able to “wave” their flag for the
parade. The concept of flags will be introduced at the
opening gathering.
What adaptation or scaffolding might you provide to keep the activities and
center both challenging and doable for children of different ages (ZPD)?
Adaptation or
In the craft activities, some of the younger children may need more help
Scaffolding
than others. I hope to have the older children guide the younger children in
some of the crafts. In the bean bag target practice, we can move the targets
further away or have the hanging targets be swinging.
How will you debrief the activities, and help children draw connections to
the life skills and personal interests (relevancy)? What questions will you
ask? How might you connect activities to the Life Skills wheel?
Debriefing &
Life Skills
I will ask children the following questions during debriefing:
Connection
• What was the most meaningful thing you did today? Take some
time to write about it in your notebook.
• What did we learn about the American Flag?
 • What does it mean to be free?
• How did you help someone else today?
Sammy 1. Lead Teacher, Opening Gathering, Debriefing,
Cynthia 2. Snack, Pinwheels, and Parade Floats
Jennifer 3. Snack, Soccer, Make your own flag
Staff Roles &
Natalie 4. Firecracker Oobleck, Parade Floats
Responsibilities
Anna G. 5. Giant Bubbles, Check in/out
Anna L. 6. Bean Bag Target Practice, Check in/out

Include here any other considerations that should be noted such as:
• Focus on the reasoning behind the 4th of July!
• Try to make sure children have a meaningful part to play in the
parade.
• Have children help clean up mess from oobleck and clean up all of
the other materials.
Other Children’s Roles:
Considerations
• Photographer - Stella
• Flag Holder - Jepson
• Wagon Pushers – Elsy & Grace
• Quarter Masters – Taycen & Eden
• Greeter - Israel
• Squirt Bottle Mister - Addy
• Snack Helper - Camilla
What internet or print resources did you draw upon in developing your
activity plan. Please acknowledge your sources by referencing in APA style.

Kesterson, J. (n.d.). Kids' Craft: Easy Pencil Pinwheel. HGTV.

References https://www.hgtv.com/design/make-and-celebrate/handmade/kids-
craft-easy-pencil-pinwheel.

Underwood, C. (2019, October 8). Firecracker Slime. Growing A Jeweled

Rose. https://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/06/pop-rock-
goop.html.