February
Fun activities for you and your preschool child
1. February is Black History Month. Read The Nutmeg Princess by Ricardo Keens-Douglas.
2. Take out your child's baby book and look through it with him. Read it and tell him stories about himself.
3. Let your child see you reading today. Let her know how important it is to be able to read.
4. Have a "no TV" day today. Read and play games instead.
5. Create a dictionary with your child using a scrapbook. Label each page with a letter of the alphabet. Cut out pictures of people, places and objects that start with the letters and glue them to the appropriate pages. Then, help him label the pictures.
6. Practice counting "without using fingers" with your child.
7. Let your child have a friend over for dinner. Ask the children to help you decide on the dessert.
8. Read a story to your child. Let her choose her favourite story.
9. Ask your child "what if" questions. What would happen if we didn't shovel the snow?
10. Use medicine droppers and coloured water to experiment with mixing colours.
11. Hide an object and give your child three easy-to-follow clues: "Walk to your bedroom, go to the bed, lift up the pillow."
12. Ask your child to help you prepare a grocery list. Visit the grocery store and let him help you find the items on the list.
13. Make a family valentine with your names in it. Help her cut out a heart shape and decide who she'd like to send hers to.
14. Plan an indoor treasure hunt to celebrate Valentine's Day. Make the treasure a special treat your child will enjoy.
15. Ask your child to find as many different shapes in the kitchen as she can.
16. In stocking feet, shuffle across the living room carpet together. Touch your child's fingertips with your own to feel the spark caused by static electricity.
17. Make a "touch box." Fill it with cotton balls, rocks and pieces of tree bark. Can your child guess what he's touching?
18. Tell your child a story from your past. Have your child use his imagination to illustrate the story.
19. Have your child complete sentences about colour: The apple is red, the banana is _____."
20. Cut sponges into different shapes. Encourage your child to paint with them.
21. Go outside and build a snowman together. Make sure to dress warmly.
22. Draw a picture of your family together. Start by drawing a picture of your child and let her finish the rest of the picture.
23. Ask your child to help you set the table. Count as you go: "One plate, two plates, three plates" and so on.
24. Use an empty milk cartons for sorting items. Sort coins or candy.
25. Practice tying shoelaces today. Practice makes perfect.
26. Have an indoor picnic. Spread a tablecloth on the floor, wear summer hats and serve sandwiches. Ask your child to tell you an activity that he would like to do when spring arrives.
27. Write instructions on pieces of paper, such as hop, crawl and skip and put them in a hat. Draw each instruction from the hat and ask your child to demonstrate the action.
28. Decorate a paper plate. Add holes for your eyes and mouth to create a mask.
29. 2012 is a leap year. Explain the significance of this day to your child.
Fun activities for you and your elementary school child
1. February is Black History Month. Pay a visit to your local library and borrow a book called Minty: a story of young Harriet Tubman by Schroeder & Pinkney.
2. Using an empty box, have your child start a time capsule for the current year.
3. On this day in 1947, thermometers in Snag, Yukon registered –64 C, the lowest temperature recorded in Canada. Ask your child to check today's temperature. Calculate the difference between today's temperature and that of Snag in 1947.
4. Have a contest. Who can name the most parts of the body?
5. Encourage your child to keep a diary of his daily activities.
6. Today for dinner, put a "price" on each item you pack in your child's lunch. Help her figure out the "total" cost.
7. Let your child help make the dessert for dinner tonight. Include a new fruit.
8. Start a list of places you'd like to visit this month. Have your child write letters to obtain brochures for these places.
9. Encourage your child to get ready for school by packing his knapsack the night before. This will help get him organized in the morning.
10. Borrow a book on papier-maché from the library. Plan a papier-maché evening this weekend.
11. Is there an ethnic grocery store in your community? Visit it and choose one new food to try.
12. Write your child's name in a vertical line. Ask her to use each as the first letter of a word that best describes her.
13. Plan to take your child and a few of his friends to a movie this weekend.
14. Let your child plan the menu for a special Valentine's Day dinner. Make sure that she includes nutritious foods.
15. Make tonight a "no TV" night. Listen to the radio instead.
16. Play a game that uses math skills. You might try Monopoly, Go Fish or Gin Rummy.
17. Put a leafy stalk of celery into coloured water. Watch the colour rise into the stalk over the next week.
18. Make sure your child knows what to do in case of an emergency. Review safety tips and your home's escape route with your child.
19. Go for a walk around your community tonight. Notice something you haven't noticed before.
20. Plan an outdoor physical activity with your child. Enjoy a cup of hot apple cider together afterward.
21. Ask your child to keep track of the weather today. Have him tell you if yesterday's forecast was correct.
22. Check the community newspaper for things to do with your child today. Pick an activity the whole family will enjoy.
23. Play charades with your child tonight.
24. Ask everyone in the family to discuss how they used math today.
25. On this day in 1940, the Montreal Canadiens lost 6–2 to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Gardens during the world's first televised hockey game. Were viewers able to see the red and blue sweaters the Canadiens were wearing?
26. Listen to some of your favourite music today and ask your child to identify the different instruments.
27. Give your child a measuring tape. Ask her to measure and record the dimensions of objects in her room.
28. Start a sentence-a-day story. In a special notebook, ask your child to write a story one sentence at a time.
29. 2012 is a leap year. Explain the significance of this day to your child.
Fun activities for you and your middle school child
1. February is Black History Month. Encourage your child to learn more about how the month will be celebrated in your community. Borrow from the library, Escape from Slavery: Five Journeys to Freedom by D. Rappaport. Consider visiting a historical site.
2. Let your child stay up past his bedtime tonight – only if he's reading.
3. On this day in 1947, thermometers in Snag, Yukon registered –64 C, the lowest temperature recorded in Canada. Ask your child to check today's temperature. Calculate the difference between today's temperature and that of Snag in 1947.
4. Ask your child to tell you about her day at school. Ask her to tell you about something that made her laugh or about something she learned today that she didn't know before.
5. Start a family book club. Take turns making selections. Everyone read the same book and share insights.
6. Review what your child should do in case of an emergency. Don't forget to go over escape routes in your home.
7. Encourage your child to read bedtime stories to his younger siblings.
8. Invite your child's friends over for dinner. Have them set the table and clean up after they're done.
9. Do something active with your child. Try skating, tobogganing or indoor roller-skating.
10. Ask your child to keep a family TV diary. See what—and how much—family members are watching.
11. Purchase a magazine you think your child might enjoy and read it with her. Discuss her favourite article.
12. On this day in 1994, a group of 100 people walked the 50 km Channel Tunnel for charity. They were the first humans to walk from France to Britain since the ice age. Ask your child to calculate the time it would take to walk 50 kms.
13. Teach your child a three-step process for any job: plan, do, finish.
14. Find a special way to show your child you love him on Valentine's Day.
15. Brainstorm a dream vacation for your family. Encourage your child to do the research.
16. Let your child calculate the tip at a restaurant.
17. Let your child know how important it is to get to school on time. Encourage her to pack her knapsack the night before.
18. Encourage your child to find the fastest way home from school or a friend's house. Have him plan a couple of different routes and time how long it takes to get home.
19. Review your child's homework with her. Ask her where she's having difficulty and help her come up with strategies that will make things easier.
20. Make your child's favourite lunch tonight. Include a special note in his lunchbox.
21. Discuss with your child the importance of waste reduction. Ask her to record everything she consumes for one day – food, water, paper, entertainment, transportation, energy, etc. Does watching TV consume energy? Reading a book? Ask her to think of ways your family can consume less.
22. Encourage your child to participate in extracurricular activities at school. Talk to him about joining a school club, sport or community activity he would enjoy.
23. Encourage your child to be assertive and express her ideas and opinions. Give her a journal to express her ideas through writing.
24. Watch TV with your child. Talk with him about the programs he likes to watch. Why does he like them?
25. On this day in 1940, the Montreal Canadiens lost 6–2 to the New York Rangers in Madison Square Gardens during the world's first televised hockey game. Were viewers able to see the red and blue sweaters the Canadiens were wearing?
26. Have your child keep track of all the words she hears today that she doesn't understand. Look them up together in a dictionary tonight.
27. Spend an hour with your child doing his favourite activity. Let him plan the activity.
28. It's not too late to check on your child's progress in school. Make an appointment with her teacher.
29. 2012 is a leap year. Explain the significance of this day to your child.
Fun activities for you and your teenager
1. Encourage your teen to learn more about Black History Month. Visit some web sites together that feature unique stories and contributions of Canadian leaders. Consider borrowing Towards Freedom: The African-Canadian Experience by Ken Alexander and Avis Glaze.
2. Let your teen invite one of his friends over for dinner. Ask him to plan the meal. Don't skip the vegetables.
3. Read your teen's school newsletter. Talk to her about the issues you think are important at her school. Ask her what she thinks the important issues are.
4. Make tonight family game night. Play your teen's favourite boardgame tonight.
5. Encourage your teen to start thinking about careers that interest him.
6. Help your teen learn about investments. Invest an imaginary $1,000 in the stock market. Encourage your teen to keep track of the investment..
7. Can your teen sew on a button? If not, provide a quick lesson to teach this skill.
8. Help your teen make a "to do" list. Organization is the first step towards independence.
9. Have your teen sort through her clothes and donate those she doesn't want to charity.
10. Choose an outdoor physical activity the whole family can enjoy. Plan to do it this weekend.
11. Make your teen's favourite meal tonight. Ask him to help with dessert.
12. Mail your teen a valentine so it will arrive in the mail for him in time for Valentine’s Day.
13. Look through magazines your teen enjoys. Have her pick a favourite and subscribe to it.
14. Make heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast to celebrate Valentine's Day.
15. Is your teen thinking about getting a part-time job? Discuss the need to balance school and work.
16. Have "no TV" night. Enjoy each other's company by telling stories.
17. Help your teen get organized. Help create a filing system for her to store her schoolwork.
18. Ask your teen, "If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?"
19. Review the goals your teen set at the beginning of the school year. Talk to him about which goals have been met and which ones need more attention.
20. Take the whole family tobogganing today.
21. Take your teen out for lunch. Talk about her goals for the next few years.
22. On this day in 1994, a Health Canada project found traces of cigarette smoke compounds in fetal hair. It was the first biochemical proof that even offspring of non-smoking mothers are affected by passive smoke. Talk to your teen about other health risks associated with smoking.
23. Take a walk in your community today.
24. Visit the library with your teen and borrow two copies of a best-selling novel. After you've both finished the book, discuss what you liked and disliked.
25. On this day in 1940, the Montreal Canadiens lost 6–2 to the New York Rangers in Madison Square Gardens during the world's first televised hockey game. Discuss with your teen the impact television has had on sports.
26. Talk to your teen about vacations or activities he would like to participate in this summer. Help him begin a savings plan for those activities.
27. Watch and discuss the news with your teen. Which story does she find the most interesting? Why?
28. Encourage your teen to form a study group before a big test. There's great benefit in working in study teams.
29. 2012 is a leap year. Explain the significance of this day to your child.
