Father’s Day is an important day for father figures and the kids. It’s not just for biological fathers but for all of the special men in a child’s life who has loved and raised them. It’s a day for a child to celebrate all of them. The following activities will take that into consideration.
It’s good to teach this concept before starting any of the activities because all to often, Father’s Day tends to be overlooked. Many people focus so heavily on Mother’s Day that we breeze past Father’s Day. Honestly though, there are many dad’s, uncles, grandfather’s and other males who love the children in their life and who show them how much they love them every day.
If you or someone you know can relate to this, tell them that story.
Personally, my mother’s father, my papa, was the main man in my life. He raised me for 9 years until my father retired from his job abroad and moved us to Canada. Some of my uncles also helped out whenever they could. I looked up to all of them and wouldn’t be who I am today without their help. My eldest son has been blessed with his dad, uncles and cousin who continue to shower him with love.
Remind your students, especially those who may not have a biological father in their life, that there are many father figures, including teachers who are there to support them.
When you’re ready, enjoy working on the following activities with your students.
The activities listed are great for classroom management, language arts – writing, health and art.
Actionable Steps:
#1. Clay Molds
I’ll be honest and tell you that this idea is not mine. I found a bunch of recipes, and altered them to suit my limited time and small budget. I hope this works for you as well.
Purchase:
If you purchase the ingredients from a craft shop, it can be quite pricey per student. Instead, go to your local grocery store and purchase some flour, and foil (or use a tin pan). I’d also recommend going to your local Dollar Store to purchase some acrylic paint if you want to add a splash of color to the final design. If you’d like to protect your work, you may also want to get some varnish. For each child’s mold, you’ll need to do the following.
Recipe:
- Mix 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of water in a bowl. Add more water if you need it because you want to have it match the consistency of playdough.
- Roll it into a ball.
- Take your rolling pin and flatten it so that it’s in the shape of a circle (it should be large enough for the child’s hand print with a border around it. If you mess up, you can always roll and flatten it again).
- Place it on your foil or your tin pan.
- Take the child’s hand and press it into the mold.
- Optional: If you’d like to add some writing to it, like the child’s name, the date, or a message to their father figure, use a knife to engrave it.
- Let it sit out for about 48 hours so that it can harden and dry (if it’s too moist, it will come apart).
- After 48 hours, place it in your oven and bake it at 200 degrees for about 2 hours. Depending on your oven, you may need to bake it for a bit longer.
- Let it sit and cool after it’s done baking.
- Optional: paint the mold or the border around the mold. Then let it sit for the paint to dry.
- Optional: after the paint has dried, if you’d like to protect the mold, spread some varnish on it.
Once everything has been dried and set, work on step #2. Combine both of them, wrap them and get ready for Father’s Day.
#2. Words of Love for a Father
Download and print these Father’s Day Cards. on cardstock. Have your children answer the questions or enjoy drawing and coloring about their father-figures either individually or in small groups. The cards are for all of the different men in your child’s life, so it’s important to teach the lesson in the introduction ahead of time.
Click the following image to download your cards. There’s no prep required for this activity.
3. Hammer of Love
This is a creative way for kids to celebrate Father’s Day. They can bring hammers from home or you can pick them up from the dollar store. Each child can decorate the handle with things that they enjoy doing with their father or father figure. These can be small hammers because they’ll mostly be kept as keepsakes.
Caution: Make sure to have extra supervision when you’re doing this activity so that your children don’t get hurt. An even better option than doing this activity with the whole class, is to have a parent volunteer come in and have them work 1-1 with your kids to complete this task.
Recap:
Let’s recap really quickly. Today, we looked at the following:
- The importance of teaching children to show appreciation to all of the different men in their life.
- Special and easy Father’s Day activities for kids: clay molds, words of love, and hammer of love.
Free Resources:
For more free Father’s Day activities, CLICK HERE.
If your children are struggling to hand in assignments on time, check out the following video training: 3 Steps to Teach Children How to Overcome Procrastination to Increase Productivity.
In the mean time, if you’re feeling stressed out, overwhelmed and burnout, then I encourage you to check out the following: FREE MASTERCLASS: Systematic Plan to Super Passionate.
Next Steps:
For calm down areas on a budget, for your students who have autism, CLICK HERE.
If you found this video beneficial, would you do me a favor? Share this with your family, your friends, your loved ones, your co-workers or someone who you think could benefit from this. Thank you!
I’ll see you next Friday at 5:30pm PST.
Until I see you next time, remember to create, experience & teach from the heart.
Take care,
Charlotte
