Educational experiences for kindergartener

[Nik's Mom]

Hi all!
We're pulling my DS out of kindergarten for a week to go to WDW in May. His teacher will be giving some assignments, but we would also like to do some educational activities on our own. Any ideas for activities for each of the parks? I know about the kidcot stations, and we will definitely visit those. What else is there in terms of educational things for kinder age?
Thanks

 

[bethbuchall]

The great thing about that age is that regular life can be so very educational.

Help your son create a vacation journal (which may be one of the assignments you get anyway). It is a great way to end the day to sit down together and talk about the highlights of the day. He can then draw some pictures and write about his day.

Play an alphabet or shape or color scavenger hunt as you wait in lines or head through a park.

Play rhyming or first letter of the word games while waiting in line, on the plane or ride down, while waiting for food, etc. My kids used to do this everytime we got into the car. Someone picks a letter for words to start with or a word to rhyme and you see how many you could get.

Let your son study the maps for the parks and see if he can find his way to a particular attraction. He can learn how symbols on maps stand for things.

Talk to CM's about their hometowns--geography, weather, etc. In the World Showcase, you'll meet CM's from other countries, but it's also interesting to talk to CM's from other parks about different areas of our country.

Animal Kingdom has kid stations. Flights of Wonder is a great show about birds. Lion King is a great introduction to theater. The walking trails have information about animals.

You can let your son work with money to pay for souvenirs/snacks.

You can work on time with show schedules, approximating line waits, etc.

Have fun!

Beth

 

[firsttimedisneymom]

Those are great suggestions!!! We are also pulling my kindergartner out for a week, but in Oct. Can you tell me about Kidcot? I LOVE the idea of the vacation journal .. definitely doing that!!!

 

[ErinInCT]

I made a little passport for dd4 for EPCOT. The front has the flags of the countries & each page (one for each country) has the way to say hello (we've been practicing saying hello in each language), must see attractions for that country, special snacks to try and what characters to find. I left a space for the passport "stamp" (I guess each country has a stamp) and a place to write notes (dd can't write yet but she can tell me what her favorite thing was & I'll write it). The front has a spot for her picture (like a real passport) & info on where to send it if it gets lost! I am not completely done but I would be happy to email it if you want it. PM me. I am going to laminate the cover & print the pages on card stock.

I think EPCOT has a bunch of educational stuff in FW, pretty much EVERYTHING - Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Advance Training Lab in MS, Innoventions, Living Seas, The Land (you can help bake cookies at the Junior Chef program - learn about measurements, etc), and Figment!

I think pin trading can be somewhat educational. You can teach manners (how to ask for a pin, etc) & sharing, etc.

MK has HOP & COP but my dd would be bored stiff & I feel MK should be a break from education!!!

Have fun learning!!

 

[mulanrouge]

You can also go to www.disneydollarless.com (also known as the mouse for less), when you get into the site look to the left and scroll down. There is a section called downloads. They have disney journal pages that you can customize to your trip, as well as "disney homework" that would be ideal for your child in kindergarten (they have disney pages with letters that they trace and then practice writing themselves). My dd is 4 and 1/2 and just missed kindergarten cut off by 19 days. I plan to print these off for her when we go in March to help her with her writing as well as not feeling left out when my ds (8) brings his homework from school.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Thanks for the info! I never knew there were kidcot stations in Animal Kingdom. I'll have to check that out.
Someone asked about the Kidcot stations in Epcot.
They are located in each country of WS. You can create face masks and get passport stamps at each station.

 

[TinknBoys]

Hi , my sons were 9 and 5 (K) the first time that we went to the World. The best advice we received was to go to Epcot first. They both loved it. Spaceship earth is still our favorite family ride. The loved making paper in innoventions and trying all of the experiments. In world showcase start at the first country that you come to and get a face on a stick. There are kidstations marked on your Epcot map. At each country they can color on the mask and the cast member will write their name in the native language and add a little tag that becomes part of the decoration. My boys are 14 and 10 now and still like to do this and make one almost every time we go. We went to Animal Kingdom second. Loved it. Don't miss Flights of wonder, will bring smiles, tears, thrills as they learn all about birds. MGM the 3rd day. Brighter colors, more shows, then finally MK last. Now my 5 year old did say as we walked down Main Street for the first time, Why did you save this for last? And that is exactly why. We wanted them to love all of the other parks for all of the right reasons before we got to MK, plus we had talked to so many who did the opposite order, and never got out of MK, or at least the children felt the let down after MK when they tried the other parks for the first time. We will be going back for our 11th time since 1999 next week and we have made out our schedule, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, MGM, and Magic Kingdom. Designed by our boys. Have a wonderful time!

 

[TerriBelle]

When we went last year in Jan, our twins were in K. They enjoyed doing the Kid stations in Epcot and AK. The AK one's were fun but some of the stations are difficult to find so be on the look-out for them! There is a booklet that gets stamped everytime you complete an activity. I remember one about identifing an animal based on signs that it left behind.