Catapult History Fun

This is a fun activity to do when learning about a time period in history when they used catapults when fighting. We did this when learning about Alexander the Great. Our resource book was the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History. 
Here is what we did.
On regular paper, I typed up questions that I wanted my girls to find the answers to as they read in the book. Then I cut the questions apart and crumpled them up to be little wads of paper and put those in a cup.  Those would represent the rocks that Alexander the Great used in his catapults. Then I made a simple target for the wall. The plastic spoon became the catapult, although it would be fun to also make a real catapult with craft sticks.

 The girls took turns picking a paper wad an catapulting it toward the target. After a few tries they opened the paper wad and read the question. Then they had to read the information in the book to find the answer.

After they answered all the questions they played a fun online game about Alexander the Great. The link for the game is below:

http://www.kongregate.com/games/FreeWorldGroup/alexander-the-great-game

Archery History Fun

 

This is a fun activity that can be done with any history lesson that relates to archery. Tape questions onto your arrows, shoot them off with your bow, and then retrieve them and find the answers to the questions. We used archery when learning about the Scythians in Ancient World History (700-100 BC) because they practiced archery. I chose six questions from pages 162-163 of the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History. I printed those questions and taped them onto "arrows" made of the cardboard hanger tubes (just cut the hanger wire and pull the tube off). Then the girls each took turns shooting one of the arrows with a PVC tube bow. Then they had to retrieve the arrow and read the question. Then they had to find the answer as they read through the pages of the book.

Hoop Multiplication Review

This is a fun way to review and brush up on the times tables. Here's what we did. First I gave each of the girls a stack of 12 cards and had them pick one of the multiplication families that they felt they could use some review on. Then they each wrote one of the multiples of that number on each card. Then we picked one of the sets of cards to use with our activity.
Set up and review
We used hoops but you could do it with just the cards if you don't have hoops. Start by scattering the hoops around the room and randomly placing the cards inside the hoops. First we sang the multiplication song for the number chosen, and the girls had to step in the correct hoop as we did the skip counting in the song. After that, I drilled them on 4 of the factors at a time -- selecting the ones they needed most help on, until they showed they had mastered those facts. Then we did four more and so on until we got all twelve facts. After that we were ready to add the action with the hoop review game.
Hoop Review Game
Shake a 12-sided dice and call out that number times the number you chose for that multiplication family. Then the students race to the hoop with the correct product. Continue shaking the dice to get new products until you feel the students have mastered that number. Rules: No grabbing, pushing, tripping, or holding the other person.Once they have mastered that number family trade the cards for another number family and do the same activities. 

Fun and Action in a Jar!

Here is a fun way to add a little action and diversion into your school day.

Just print off and color a label and tape it onto a can or jar.

Write a quick fun and active thing to do on slips of paper and fold them up and place them in the jar. Then as a child completes a problem or task, he or she picks a card and does what it says.