Family Projects

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Home : 2003 : July : 9

Family Projects
By Tracy

Hi. I used family projects last year for the first time. Unfortunately, I only did them through December. I just ran out of time...I should have had them planned earlier and I didn't. I strongly recommend planning them
and having all the materials ready in advance. I saw the idea on a website somewhere (I don't have the site...sorry) so I came up with some similar ideas and went from there.
I sent a letter home at the beg. of September explaining "Family Projects." It pretty much said that the projects were optional (most families participated!) I explained that these projects would come home

the first week of the month in an envelope, with most of the supplies they needed. (construction paper shapes, sentence strips, etc.) The families were supposed to work on these projects together. I expected the family to have glue, scissors, crayons, etc. (I was a little surprised to see how many projects came back covered with tape!) The directions were in each envelope for the family to follow. I gave a due date and most children brought their projects back to school. It was obvious which families spent a lot of time doing the project together and which ones had the kids do it all alone. I took the projects and displayed them on the wall in the hall with a cute heading. It was easy to run off the directions, papers, etc., but it was a pain to make an envelope for each child each month. (I teach 1/2 day KDG so I had 48 students...this year I will try to get a parent volunteer to "stuff" the envelopes.) Overall I think the "Family Projects" were successful. I noticed my students asking about the next project...they were very excited to do them. When a student returned their project they got to share it with the class. Here is a list of the projects I did:
September: Apple Person
I sent home a piece of red construction paper with the shape of a large apple, 2 yellow construction paper strips for arms, 2 longer green strips for legs, and 4 white leaves that needed to be colored. Families had to cut out the shapes, fan fold the arms and legs, color and cut out the leaves, put the person together, and make a face. (I started out with an easier project for the 1st time. They were REALLY cute!)
October: Fall Tree
I sent home a white piece of paper with the sentence: In the Fall (student's name)family likes to . This was at the bottom of the paper. In the middle there was an outline of a tree (a tree in winter...no leaves, only branches.) Families completed the sentence, drew their family doing what they liked to do in the fall under the tree, and made fall leaves on the tree. ( I told them they could use any materials...some used crayons, markers, real leaves, paint, craft leaves) I also sent home a piece of construction paper. Families glued their white paper to the construction paper.
November: We are Thankful
I sent home a blank cornucopia on white construction paper. On the bottom was the sentence : The(student's lastname)Family is Thankful for(Write what they are thankful for.) I had families draw, use pictures from magazines, or use real pictures of things they were thankful for. They also colored the cornicopia.
December: Christmas Trees
I sent home a Christmas tree on Green construction paper. Families had to cut the tree out and decorate it using patterns. Families could use any materials they wished.

The Family projects were fun for the students and promoted spending time together as a family. I plan to use these again this year and to come up with more ideas for the rest of the months. Hope this helps! Good Luck!