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As summer fades and the first signs of fall appear, the unmistakable buzz of back-to-school season begins to fill the air. Whether you’re a first-year student or you’ve been navigating school hallways for years, preparing for a new academic year requires some groundwork. In this comprehensive back-to-school checklist, we’ll delve into all the essentials every student needs, from the basic school supplies to the must-have personal items. Remember, being well-prepared is your first step to academic success!
Backpack: Invest in a sturdy backpack with plenty of compartments to help organize your materials.
Notebooks and Binders: Organize different subjects with a dedicated notebook or binder.
Writing Instruments: Pens (blue, black, and coloured), pencils, highlighters, and erasers.
Calculator: A basic calculator for younger students and a scientific/graphing calculator for older students or specific courses.
Planner or Digital Organizer: Keeping track of assignments, tests, and other commitments is crucial.
Rulers, Compass, and Protractors: Geometry essentials for any math class.
Folders: Have at least one for each subject to keep handouts and assignments organized.
Post-It Notes and Index Cards: Handy for taking quick notes or making flashcards for studying.
Art Supplies: Colored pencils, crayons, watercolours, or markers depending on the grade and coursework.
Laptop or Tablet: An indispensable tool for research, writing, and presentations.
USB Flash Drive: For transferring and storing digital projects and files.
Headphones: Especially useful for online learning or study sessions in noisy environments.
Chargers: Keep a backup charger in your bag, so you’re never out of juice.
Water Bottle: Stay hydrated throughout the day with a reusable bottle.
Lunch Box or Bag: Pack your own meals and snacks to keep energy levels up.
Hand Sanitizer: In our current health climate, it’s better to be safe.
Tissue Packs: For unexpected sniffles or messes.
Comfortable Shoes: You’ll be walking a lot, so comfort is key.
Gym Attire: Required for most physical education classes.
Umbrella or Raincoat: Stay prepared for unexpected rain.
A Light Jacket: Perfect for chilly classrooms or the transition into fall.
Study Aids: Subject-specific guidebooks or apps can help you get an edge in your courses.
Library Card: A valuable resource for research and a quiet place to study.
Online Course Subscriptions: Platforms like Khan Academy or Coursera offer additional learning resources.
While every student’s needs can vary based on their grade level and coursework, this comprehensive back-to-school checklist serves as a foundation. Remember, preparation doesn’t end on the first day. Continuously assess your needs, adjust where necessary, and always strive for academic excellence. With these items in your arsenal, you’re bound to have a productive and successful year ahead.
With summer just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to engage your kids in outdoor activities that promote movement, play, and overall physical well-being. Encouraging your children to be active not only keeps them fit but also helps develop their motor skills, coordination, and social interactions. In this article, we’ll explore ten exciting games and activities that will keep your kids entertained, active, and happy all summer long.
Create your own mini Olympic games in your backyard. Set up various stations with activities like sprint races, long jumps, hula hoop challenges, and sack races. Keep score and award medals to add a competitive element and make it even more fun for the kids.
On a hot summer day, there’s nothing better than a water balloon toss. Fill several balloons with water and form two teams. Have the teams stand apart and toss the balloons to each other, taking a step back after each successful catch. The team with the last unburst balloon wins.
Take your kids on a nature scavenger hunt to explore the outdoors. Create a list of items they need to find, such as specific flowers, leaves, rocks, or insects. This activity not only promotes movement but also encourages your children to connect with nature and learn about the environment.
Design a backyard obstacle course using everyday objects like hula hoops, cones, jump ropes, and cushions. Set up challenges such as crawling under a table, hopping through hoops, and balancing on a beam. Time each participant and let them compete to beat their own records.
Plan a family bike ride to a nearby park or trail. Biking is a fantastic way to get moving, explore new areas, and enjoy quality time together. Encourage your kids to learn new bike skills like riding with one hand or standing up while pedaling, making it both fun and challenging.
Create a mini-golf course in your backyard using simple household items. Set up obstacles using cardboard tubes, plastic cups, and ramps. Provide each child with a putter and a ball, and let them take turns navigating through the course. You can even keep score to add an element of friendly competition.
Turn up the music and have a dance party right in your living room or backyard. Encourage your kids to freestyle and show off their best moves. Dancing is not only a fantastic way to promote movement but also boosts creativity, coordination, and self-expression.
Set up a makeshift net using a string or a jump rope and blow up a balloon. Divide into teams and play a game of balloon volleyball, where the objective is to keep the balloon off the ground using any part of the body except hands. It’s a great way to improve hand-eye coordination and teamwork.
On scorching summer days, set up a sprinkler in your backyard and let your kids run and play through the water jets. Jumping, dancing, and splashing around will not only keep them cool but also provide an excellent cardio workout.
Gather the family and divide into two teams for a classic game of tug-of-war. Use a rope or an old towel and mark a line in the middle. Encourage your kids to give their best effort to pull the opposing team across the line. Tug-of-war promotes teamwork, strength, and friendly competition.
This summer, make it a priority to engage your kids in fun games and activities that promote movement and play. From backyard Olympics to nature scavenger hunts, these activities will keep your children active, entertained, and physically fit. Remember, the most important thing is to foster a love for movement and encourage your children to enjoy the great outdoors while spending quality time together as a family. So, get out there and create lifelong memories filled with laughter, play, and adventure!
Mood-boosting activities can do wonders for you and your students’ overall well-being. Aside from elevating your mood, these activities offer plenty of other benefits, such as reducing stress, nurturing cognitive skills, and promoting values like responsibility and teamwork. We’re sharing our favourite 10 mood-boosting activities you can introduce in your classroom.
Music can be used as a powerful tool to reinvigorate your students when they’re feeling a bit flat. It can also be a source of inspiration for them, as well as a tool for emotional support. Moreover, listening to music has a host of benefits. It can reduce stress and anxiety, improve your mood, and enhance mental alertness. Ask your students what songs they like listening to and use their suggestions to create a unique playlist for the classroom. You can also encourage your students to get up and dance, as movement can be one way for them to process what they’re feeling. If you’re feeling a bit low yourself, you may want to join in on the fun and experience the power of music.
It might sound like a cliché, but laughter is indeed the best medicine and offers several short- and long-term benefits. A good laugh can help ease tension and stress as it can lower cortisol levels, helping you and your students feel more relaxed. Moreover, laughter improves your endorphin levels, giving your mood an instant boost.
You can start by cracking a joke or two to break the ice. You can give your students a heads-up that they’ll be asked to share their favourite jokes, or you can do it spontaneously to get the ball rolling.
Engaging in physical activity promotes better physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It can improve cognitive function and sleep, as well as reduce anxiety and depression. It can also help you and your students manage stress. The thing is everyone has different thresholds for physical activities. But there is some good news—you don’t need to engage in strenuous exercises to reap the benefits of physical activity. You can do something as simple as stretching, dancing, jumping, or playing indoor ball games.
Practicing mindfulness brings in a lot of benefits. It can improve not just your physical and mental health but also your overall well-being. Regular mindfulness practice can help reduce stress and hone our capacity to be aware and observant.
One of the most common myths about mindfulness and mindfulness exercises is that they’re only for adults. The good news is anyone can practice mindfulness, even kids. Plus, there are many ways to practice it. You can ask your students to sit down, stand, or move around. The key to mindfulness practice is paying attention and being present in the moment.
If you can, schedule a regular nature walk for your class. Being in nature and breathing fresh air can elevate your mood and give your energy levels a boost. It can also help reduce stress and promote better sleep. Plus, you can do it for free. Check your local area to see if there are any parks that you and your class can visit.
Gardening is a great mood-boosting activity that can easily be done in the classroom. It can reduce stress, help with fine motor development, especially if you’re with younger children, and it teaches them early on about responsibility and patience. It’s also a wonderful way for kids to use all their five senses. Plus, a classroom garden doubles as a teaching tool. As you plant, you can teach your students about how plants grow or what they need to thrive.
Classroom pets not only promote curiosity and learning but also help improve children’s self-esteem and teach them about responsibility. Moreover, class pets can provide richer experiences in the classroom for young learners and gives them something to look forward to when they go to school. Lastly, having a classroom pet can help enhance the well-being of your students and become a great alternative to screen time. Pets can relieve stress, offer emotional support, and enable students to feel more at ease.
Reading is always a welcome activity, whether it’s at home or in the classroom. It supports the development of students’ critical and analytical thinking skills, improves their self-esteem, and nurtures their imagination. Reading can also do wonders for your mental health. It can help reduce stress and give your students a way to cope with daily stressors, making reading an excellent mood-boosting activity.
Allot a specific schedule or time for reading, such as making it a weekly or monthly activity. Set up your classroom to make it more conducive for reading, like bringing pillows or blankets. You can also ask your students to bring some snacks.
Group activities like art projects give children the opportunity to learn about cooperation and teamwork. Moreover, art and art education are powerful tools for learning, self-expression, and creativity. It can relieve stress, keep students engaged, and make them feel excited. After all, isn’t it exciting to see your ideas come to life? Moreover, learning how to make or appreciate art can help young learners become happier.
Unstructured play allows your students to simply have fun while squeezing in some physical activity. In unstructured play, they can run around or dance to some of their favourite tunes. This not only gives them a sense of freedom, as structured play can feel a bit limiting sometimes, but it also helps elevate their mood.
Aside from introducing these activities, you can go a step further and create your own mood tracker for the classroom. Your students can select colours or icons like emojis that represent their mood. This way, you and your students can monitor the state of their mental health regularly. A mood tracker will also let you see any progress or fluctuations, allowing you to take the appropriate action to help your students effectively manage their moods.
An education in the arts empowers children and youth in so many important ways. It encourages self-expression, curiosity, innovation … and, of course, creativity. Now more than ever, this world needs creative thinkers. We need people who can imagine beautiful and radical possibilities for our future, and who have the courage to manifest those possibilities in the world around them: through song, dance, images, and through the relationships they forge with their peers. I look forward to helping my students cultivate these skills, so that they can move forward into this challenging year with hope, confidence, and kindness. – Mirka Loiselle
Thinking back to my school years, the happiest and most exciting memories are not associated with studying a multiplication table, or writing endless chemical equations. It’s the priceless experiences and discoveries born in the playground. It’s all the valuable lessons learned while making DIY costumes for a talent show, rehearsing choreography, or creating props for a school play. Today, more than ever, children need more opportunities to connect, collaborate, and have a feeling of togetherness. I believe our programs can help make a difference. Participation in fitness based activities and creative discovery will ultimately help kids to be more emotionally resilient and deal with many challenges they are faced with today. – Alena Tuchina
As adults, we are responding to this pandemic differently. Some of us with courage and compassion, and others with reasonable fear. I’m curious about what kids are thinking. If we can unearth their inner thoughts, we can help the next generation of leaders to become aware of uncertainty, and to respond with strength. Lively debates, “what if” scenarios, and multiple perspectives can foster empathy. Let’s give little humans an opportunity to have many thoughtful conversations about our current realities. – Orchid Chen
Extra-curricular programs and the arts are the reason I am the person I am today. As a professional dancer, I have realized through the pandemic that no matter where I am – I need to dance. Whether in my living room, an empty yet spacious Wal-Mart parking lot or a studio, dance is my fuel. It has been the bright spot in my day for the six months and having a moment to connect with other dancers sharing that same need for joy gives me so much energy. I have been fortunate enough to dance across the world and if there’s one thing I know, it’s that dance is a universal language that connects us all. It’s organizations like Playocity that we need more than ever right now, wherever you may find yourself. – Bailey Woodman
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