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FAMILY DAY THEME

BACKGROUND

Family Day is the name of a public holiday in South Africa, in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan, and (as "Family & Community Day") in the Australian Capital Territory.

Canadian  Family Day takes place on the third Monday of February and it is a statutory holiday. "There is nothing more valuable to families than time together. And yet it seems tougher than ever to find, with so many of us living such busy lives," Premier Dalton McGuinty said.
 

CRAFTS:

Baby Painting with Q-Tips
Painting with Q-tips and pastel tempera, on small pieces of paper. You can frame their baby paintings on pastel construction paper.

Baby Painting
Remind the children that when babies color they scribble all over the paper. Do a project like a baby. They will scribble all over a white piece of paper and then paint over with a light wash of black paint. The children are fascinated to see how the paint does not stick to the color but only to the white paper. You do have to remind them, however, to color pretty hard when they are scribbling. But it makes a pretty picture when they are through.

Dough House
The children are given a shape of a house. They are then supplied with play dough cutters that are in the shape of a mother, father, child, dog, cat and fish. The children are instructed to dip the appropriate family members in paint and then put in their home. Label the figures with the family member's names.

Family Puppets
Give each child a cut out of a person (kind of like a gingerbread man pattern). You can use the multi cultural colored paper (of course!) then the kids can decorate and make any family members they wish to. Then attach them to popsicle sticks and there you go.

Fingerprint Family
Materials: Non toxic ink pad, Paper, Black pen or crayon
Show your child how to make finger prints on a piece of paper. Have your child draw eyes, nose mouth and hair to create a face. Ask the children to name the people in the picture.

Family Tree
Material: • green felt circle 20 cm in diameter • brown felt rectangle • 3 cm felt circles (5-8) of different colours for faces • yarn/doll hair, googly eyes, fabric scraps for decorating faces • glue sticks and large construction paper.
Directions: Have the kids glue the green felt circle onto a large piece of construction paper. Trim the brown felt to resemble a tree trunk, and glue under the tree top. Glue face felt circles on the tree for every member of the child’s family and decorate as appropriate.

Family Collage
Have the children go through magazines and find pictures of all the things their mothers do. Cut them out and glue them onto construction paper. The same can be done for dad. Another variation is to have the children cut out pictures to represent the people in their family and the things they like to do as a family.

Family Diorama
Bring a shoe box for each child.
Have the children:
Paint a background on the inside of it.
Make stand up pictures of your house and family.
Glue the pictures in your box.

Family Mobile
Illustrate a picture of each member of the family. Include the pet if the child has one. Cut out each family member. Glue each picture on strong paper or cardboard. Hang your pictures on a hanger with yarn or string to make a mobile. Print the last name on a piece of paper and fasten it to the hanger. Hang your mobile in the classroom.

My House
Use a milk carton cut in half and cover with construction paper. Have children add windows, doors, trees, Etc. cut from construction paper (or draw on details) to resemble the child's house. Have the children draw the members of their families (they always want to include the pets also) on tongue depressors and place them into the house. When finished the children form a town and take their "family members" to visit other families.

Paper Bag Family Puppets
Supply each child with a brown paper bag, yarn and other items to make a puppet. The flap at the bottom of the bag is the mouth. Ask the children to give the puppet a name.

GAMES & ACTIVITIES:

Charting Families
Make a chart titled "How many people in your Family?" On a large poster board, list children's names. Glue small people cutouts next to each child corresponding with the number of people in the family. Line them up neatly so the children can compare size of family.

Grow Your Own Family Tree 
You Need:
Large sheet of paper
Colored paper
Scissors
Paste
Crayons, markers, or colored pencils
1) Draw a tree on the large sheet of paper. Be sure to give your tree lots of branches!
2) Cut out a color paper shape to represent you -- a circle if you are a girl or a square if you are a boy. Write your name on the shape and paste it on the trunk of your tree.
3) Cut out shapes for all of your present family members and others important to you -- mothers, brothers, neighbors, pets. Write names on the shapes and paste them on the lower branches of your tree.
4) Cut out shapes for all your past family members and others important to you -- grandparents, great-aunts, friends. Write names on the shapes and paste them on the upper branches of your tree.
5) Draw a picture on each shape that tells something about that person.
6) Congratulations! You have started doing genealogy -- recording your family history!

Follow the Daddy
Select a kid to be the leader. Children all follow the leader, doing as he or she does. Make  alternate suggestions if a child can’t think of an idea. You might want to try this variation. Set up a maze to allow your kids to crawl under a table, up and over a chair, and walk around a pole. You may also make it more complex by getting the kids to follow the actions of a leader (changing arms, head, leg position) as they follow.

Family Memory
Find family stickers. Place 2 identical stickers on the left and right sides of an index card. Cut the index in half, cut the index card in half. You can use these cards to play memory.

Family Bowling
Obtain 10 half gallon milk cartons, or 2 liter bottles. Fill the bottles about 1/8 full with water and seal the lid. Then, decorate the bottles like people, adding yarn for hair, and use permanent markers for the eyes nose and mouth. Set the bottles up like they were bowling pins and have the children roll a ball to try to knock them over. If they don't knock over easily, remove some of the water.

Family - Who am I?
Have parents bring in pictures of themselves when they were younger. Ask the children to find the picture of their Mother, Father and other family members.

Family Portraits
Ask parents to bring in pictures of their families, or take pictures of the families at the center. You can place these on the walls at the children's eye level by covering them with contact paper. The children will really enjoy seeing their picture and pictures of others on the walls.

Family Project
Make outlines (silhouettes) of different family members: mom, dad, brother, sisters, self, and even pets and the children make a family collage. You could send home a piece of paper with a note asking for each member of the family to trace or have traced their handprint on the paper. Each person could decorate any way they wanted to. The children enjoy talking about their family's handprints. Then hang them on the bulletin board.

Family Book
Each child is given a book at the beginning of the unit with a caption on each page. (Books can be made using newsprint and construction paper.) My mother is special because... My dad can... Grandparents are special because....The best part of being a brother/sister is... Each day the children are asked to draw a different picture and complete the sentence with you help. A wonderful book to bring home and 'read'.

Family Duck, Duck, GOOSE!
Substitute other names in this game to suit your needs. Try Duck/Duckling, Cat/Kitten, Mommy/Baby, Daddy/Baby etc.

Hug Tag
This friendly form of tag is a good way to promote peace. The only way a player can be safe from the tagger is to hug someone. Don’t be surprised to see a few giant hugs as the game proceeds.

I Love My Family Because....
Have the children finish the sentence "I Love My Family Because..." Write down the children's answers and post them on a bulletin board.

My Mommy Says
This game is a variation of the old favourite, “Simon Says”. One person leads the action and the others follow only when the leader starts the action with the words, “My Mommy Says.” Let kids take turns being leaders. Those who make mistakes should remain in the game — this isn’t a contest. It’s for FUN.

More Family History Fun! 
Take your tree to a family gathering! Ask if there are more family members to add to your tree. Remember to add pictures, too.
Make a memory book! Have family members tell you their favorite family memory. Write them down in a notebook.
Create a scrapbook! Collect photographs, postcards, souvenirs and other items from your favorite family activities. Save them in an album or box. 

Rock Families
Take a walk and have the children collect four or five different sized rocks to make a family. Bring them back and paint them. Then let the children play with their families. Encourage them to make up stories about their rock families. For example have them name their rocks and tell what each one likes to do. Help them expand their stories by asking questions.

Together, Together
This game is similar to “Follow the Daddy”, but is played sitting down. The leader says, “Together, together, let’s all (do an action, clapping hands, snapping fingers, etc.) together.”

Who's That Baby?
Have the children bring in their baby pictures and after the children have guessed who is in the picture, have that child come up and talk about the similarities and the differences between the child as a baby and the child now. Then talk about what they can do now that they couldn't do as babies. This helps them to realize that even though sometimes they feel like they're too little to do a lot of things, there are really a lot of things that they can do.
 

SONGS:

Do It For Grandma Song
Sung to the Tune of Did You Ever See a Lassie
Let's clap our hands for Grandma,
for Grandma, for Grandma,
Let's clap our hands for grandma,
Let's clap them this way.
Clap this way and that way,
Clap this way and that way,
Let's clap our hands for Grandma
Let's clap them this way.
Have the children do the proper actions. Use these other actions also: Let's stomp our feet, Let's nod our heads, etc.

Families
Some families are large. (spread arms out wide)
Some families are small (bring arms close together)
But I love my family (cross arms over chest) best of all!

My Family
Here is Daddy. (thumb)
Here is Mommy. (index)
Here I am for three. (pinky)
Together we're a family,
As happy as can be! (clap!)

My House
Here are the windows,
Here is the door.
Come on in, I'll show you more.
Here is the kitchen, the living room too.
A bathroom, three bedrooms, and a room for you!
An attic, a chimney, and a roof above.
And my house is a home,
'Cause it's filled with love!

Music In Our Home
Mother plays the violin.
Daddy plays the flute.
Big brother blows the horn,
toot-toot-toot-toot.
Little sister keeps the beat
By clanging on a pot.
And I try to sing along
Whether I know the words or not.

My Puppy
My puppy has a doghouse,
just outside my door.
He licks me when I pet him
and wags his tail for more.
He's always there beside me,
no matter what I do.
My puppy is my special friend,
and a family member too!

Song-"I Love Mommy" (or Daddy, Brother, Sister, Etc.)
(tune: Frere Jacques)
I love Mommy, I love Mommy.
Yes I do; yes I do.
And my mommy loves me,
Yes, my mommy loves me,
Loves me too; loves me too.

With My Family
Sung to 'The Muffin Man'
Tell me what you like to do
Like to do, like to do.
Tell me what you like to do
With your family.
___________ likes to rake the leaves
Rake the leaves, rake the leaves.
________ likes to rake the leaves
With his family.

(fill in the blank with child name)

STORIES:

Have any good stories? Let us know!
 

FOOD SUGGESTIONS:

Baby Food
Let the kids try baby food, or puree fruits and vegetables for them to try. 

Family Trees
Place broccoli stalks on each plate with a cherry tomato for each family member. Serve ranch dressing on the side. 

Food Experience
Have parents share favorite family recipe or tradition. Have parents come in and read to children.

Food Group Snacks
During family week take the time to discuss what we should eat to stay healthy. Talk about the different food groups and a food group for each day.
Encourage your children to have healthy eating habits.
Milk Products- milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese
Fruit - fruit salad, fruit kabobs or sliced fruits.
Vegetables - an assortment of fresh vegetables, vegetable soup or a garden green salad.
Grain Products - muffins, crackers, toast or cookies for a real treat
Meat & Alternatives - chicken, peanut butter, eggs and tofu for something new.

Graham Cracker Houses
Spread with peanut butter and apply to sides of SMALL milk carton, decorate the houses with mini marshmallows, red hots, raisins, Etc.

TIPS/NOTES: