Educational (yet fun) Disney Ideas

[jaycns]

Just a random jumbled list of books/ideas to get you going! Going to Disney can be fun and educational!! My kids are really enjoying our summer full of Disney learning!! The first topics I chose to round up info on was Walt E. Disney himself and pirates!! I will be starting in on other topics soon.

Please feel free to contribute any ideas you have on these or other Disney "learning" adventures!! THANKS!

 

[jaycns]

So far the very best pirate resoure (at a children's level) that I have found is this REALLY neat complete activity guide from the Pirate Soul Museum in Key West.

I am so excited about the site that we will be making time to explore their museum on on Key West day on our Disney cruise!!

Here is the link:
http://www.piratesoul.com/downloads/Pirate_Soul_Educators_Guide.pdf

It really is worth a look!!

And after finding it...I think I am happy as a clam!

Also, if you are in FL or will be in Key West on vacation(we will be visiting Key West on our Disney Magic cruise this September)...make sure you stop by and visit this museum.

Two really good books I found are:
How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long. It's a good picture book that makes all of my boys giggle and say ARRGGHHHH!

What's Inside? A Pirate Ship It's published by Back Pack Books and illustrated by Brian Lee. It's an interesting book full of cut away pages. It's written for an elementary school crowd (or should I say drawn).

Treasure Island would be a great book to listen to on tape or assign to an older child to read or to do as a read aloud for the entire family. This is one of my 9 year olds top books of all times. Also...this is DISNEY...so follow it up by watching Treasure Planet and then doing an adaptation of the story your own way!! That was fun for us!!

Also, be sure to check out the web links at the end of the Pirate Soul unit, they are great fun!

 

[jaycns]

The "big man" himself...Walt E. Disney...this was a fun topic to look up. And one my kids have had a ball learning about!

Books:

1. From the Childhood of Famous Americans series, Walt Disney: Young Movie Maker by Marie Hammontree. The card catalog describes the book as "A biography concentrating on the boyhood of the cartoonist and film maker who created Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck." AGES 9-12 are the reccomended ages. However, both my 6 yr. old ds and 5 yr. old ds love hearing it read aloud to them. My 9 yr. old ds loved reading it to himself.

2. Discovering Walt by Jean-Pierre Isbouts. The suggested reading level for this book is grade 4-8. My 9 yr. old ds enjoyed this book. My younger two ds's didn't have near as much interest. Although many photographs/pictures are included it is more biography than a story and thus not as riveting for the younger ages. THIS IS A GREAT BOOK!!

3. The Story of Walt Disney: Maker of Magical Worlds by Bernice Selden. Another biography about Walt Disney...this one has the suggested reading level of grades 4-7. We have yet to read this book but my eldest ds will be starting soon.

4. The Man behind the Magic : The Story of Walt Disney This book is rec. for grades 5 and up.

5. From the "I Like Biographies" collection: Read about Walt Disney by Stephen Feinstein. This book is suggested for grades 4-8.

6. From the "Community Builders" series: Walt Disney: Creator of Magicial Worlds by Charnan Simon. Suggested for grades 4-8.

7. Walt Disney: His Life in Pictures by Russell Schroeder. Suggested for grades 4-6.

Although all of those books are suggested for my 9 yr. old ds's age group I have found that reading them to my younger ds's works well.

A great site on the internet is: http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/collection/childrensguide.html


Ideas for study/discussion/writing projects:
-animation (tons of good how to draw character books out there...also lots of good history of animation books)
-imagination
-business (how Walt worked his way from the poor house into the "Castle")
-following your dreams
-create your own cartoon character
-write out movie story boards and then act out your characters adventures
-food for thought: What do you think Disney would like most about WDW today? What do you think he would like least? What would he be most proud of?
-design your own theme park layout
-design your own theme park ride (build a model)
-Why do you admire Walt Disney?
-make a Sculpey clay model of your very own cartoon character

Okay, not so much on the organization front...but that's my jumbled folder of ideas/finds.

Of course this all ties in with "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream" at MGM and also would work well with The Magic of Disney Animation.

Next up I will post some info about Pirates (great PoTC tie in).

I hope this is of use to someone!!

 

[Schmeck]

Are you planning a WDW trip too? Even if you're not, have the kids learn how to say hello, thank you, and goodbye in each of the languages of the countries around World Showcase. Have them learn a fun fact about each country as well.

Do you have any maps of the parks? We did a great transportaion theme study packet for my DD8 when she missed school fpr a WDW trip. We used the maps to show the different ways to travel around WDW.

For older kids, have them compare the Disney version of classic fairytales to the original versions (I wouldn't recommend this for little ones, who wants to know that Ariel turned to foam at the end, and didn't get the prince? )

 

[ZipaDeeDooDah]

Cool ideas - subscribing!!!

 

[jaycns]

just a bump...I would love to see if anyone else has any ideas! Thanks!

 

[tbthomps]

Great Ideas!!!

Thanks for sharing.

 

[jaycns]

Are you planning a WDW trip too? Even if you're not, have the kids learn how to say hello, thank you, and goodbye in each of the languages of the countries around World Showcase. Have them learn a fun fact about each country as well.

Do you have any maps of the parks? We did a great transportaion theme study packet for my DD8 when she missed school fpr a WDW trip. We used the maps to show the different ways to travel around WDW.

For older kids, have them compare the Disney version of classic fairytales to the original versions (I wouldn't recommend this for little ones, who wants to know that Ariel turned to foam at the end, and didn't get the prince? )

Great ideas!! Yes, we will be going to WDW for 2 and 1/2 weeks this September. I am SO looking forward to it!

I already had the "hello goodbye" in different lang. idea on my list but I have added the fun fact idea as well (I love that idea!!). Also, the park map thing is AWESOME! Thanks for that idea too! And the fairy tale thing is a GREAT idea!!

THANKS!

 

[ainmama2001]

My dd was only 3 last year when we went so I printed out letter tracing pages for her to work with on the plane with pictures on it (A for Ariel, B for Belle....) then we picked a letter each day and had a treasure hunt for things that started with that letter in the parks. It kept her busy in line!

 

[jaycns]

My dd was only 3 last year when we went so I printed out letter tracing pages for her to work with on the plane with pictures on it (A for Ariel, B for Belle....) then we picked a letter each day and had a treasure hunt for things that started with that letter in the parks. It kept her busy in line!

I love the idea of the letters treasure hunt. I will use that one with my 5 and 6 year olds!! THANKS for a great idea!

 

[laceemouse]

Read "Swiss Family Robinson" and watch the movie. Compare the two (we love to do this with any book/movie) and then visit the treehouse at MK and see how realistic it is! Read "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckeberry Finn" and explore TSI at MK. For older kids, roller coaster physics is always fun! What is a centrifuge (MS)?, you could even study racism in relation to Song of the South (SM.) Pretty much everything at EPCOT is educational, but I feel every park has learning potential. Read up on all the animals you will see at AK!

 

[VolleyballQt07]

This is my dd13 's screen name..Sorry, mine won't come up...anwyas..... I bought my dd7 some Disney themed workbooks at the dollar tree ($1 store). The Reading Comprehension one is cute because it is all short stories about the princesses, then there are a few questions at the end relating to the story. There were also math and spelling ones, abc's etc....maybe not necessarily dealing with disney, but they all are disney character themed.

How about learning about the Presidents, then when you go to MK at the Hall of Pres, you can "match" the person to the names you learned about.

Are your kids ok to ride It's tough to be a bug or Dinosaur?? Learn about some of the bugs and dinosaurs you'll see and see if they can name them during the show/ride.

Another fun thing, while not necessarily "educational", but it is fun, about Disney and more importantly uses some good family time...play a round of Disney Trivial Pursuit or Disney Scene It. Lots of fun trivia questions all about Disney. Both have questions for younger kids as well as older. You wiill learn all kinds of things about Disney.

Grow a vegetable garden and compare your results with the garden on the Living with the Land boat ride.

Learn about the countries in It's a Small World (a spin on the suggestion to learn the Epcot countries). Maybe find and draw a picture or make a banner of the different flags that represent each country. Or find a simple recipe to a food from each country and have an around the world tasting party.

I love some of the ideas aleady mentioned!! I think I need to start my own list of things to start doing as we approach our 2 month point.!!!

 

[jaycns]

Awesome ideas!

I am looking forward to trying them out! Any other great ideas lurking around out there?

 

[RockyMtnMaria]

Does anyone have a list of hello and goodbye in the World Showcase? That would be a fun one! I think I will offer a prize to anyone who can learn these and use them as we "tour".

We do educational stuff all the time. Now I'm having to take time to make sure my children are familiar with the Disney movies and shows, lol! I've promised myself to do my best to not turn this into an educational event, because this is a once in a lifetime deal for us, and I have a habit of making everything educational. Besides... I know they will learn anyways, tee hee hee.

I'm still looking for ideas, and plan to check out that website with my second son (the artistic one) and I am sure that my oldest would be fascinated with some of the books you listed! I really appreciate you taking the time to share your research with us.

 

[jaycns]

I know someone has to have something like this stuffed away in some old file on their computer!! Anybody have any other ideas? THANKS!

 

[bjakmom]

Here's a link to the 'hello, goodbye, thank-you' thread for the WS countries: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1002636
DNeph printed these right in his WS Passport book for each country - kept him busy on the plane ride down!

 

[jaycns]

Here's a link to the 'hello, goodbye, thank-you' thread for the WS countries: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1002636
DNeph printed these right in his WS Passport book for each country - kept him busy on the plane ride down!

Thank you!!

 

[RockyMtnMaria]

Thank you bjakmom! That is perfect. We will work on learning these words in the car and on the plane.

Here's a link to the 'hello, goodbye, thank-you' thread for the WS countries: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1002636
DNeph printed these right in his WS Passport book for each country - kept him busy on the plane ride down!

 

[ilovepooh]

Great thread! Thanks for the ideas! I will have to think of something to share back with all of you.

 

[jaycns]

Another area of MK I have researched a bit...Liberty Square.

1. Presidents, presidents, presidents!! So many resources out there. Just grab a few that look good and seem to hit the target age of your kids and read on!!

A few good online resources for presidential stuff for kids are:
www.whitehousekids.gov
http://www.kidinfo.com/American_History/Presidents.html (lots of links to all kinds of info)

2. Colonial Times.
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002611F/index.htm (a neat site by kids for kids)
http://www.macomb.k12.mi.us/wq/WebQ97/COLAMER2.HTM(more of a lesson plan, has GREAT suggested activities, great resource texts, great ideas for discussion)
http://www.nps.gov/fofr/col_kids.htm (what was life like for kids back then)
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/colonial.htm(ONE STOP shopping for tons of colonial sites...so many to chose from, so little time!!)
http://www.kidinfo.com/American_History/Colonization_Colonial_Life.html (just one more great list of other sites to visit on the topic)

The Childhood of Famous Americans series has many books featuring presidents and/or those who lived during the colonial period/revolution. For instance, Paul Revere, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson etc.

Colonial Kids, An Activity Guide to Life in the New World by Laurie Carlson is a great book packed full of fun things to do. We made orange peel candy. Seeing the time it took to make a sweet treat and learning how rare sugar was then had a big impact on all three of my boys. Lots of fun and learning activities in this one!!

Of course this can all lead to many more interesting topics. But this is the stuff I dug up!

Hope it's of use to someone else as well!