Theme Park School Project Ideas

[KimWDW]

I'll be pulling my son out of kindergarten for a week next month to go to Disney. I'd like him to do a little project for school. Something age appropriate. Has anyone done this before and what have you done? I'm thinking of maybe doing the EPCOT passport thing (get it stamped at all the countries in World Showcase). I would love to hear other ideas, too.

 

[momandseandodisney]

how about the A-B-C's of disney
cut out pics etc, and glue to paper, decorate etc.

A - animal kingdom

B - beauty and the beast

C - cinderella

D - Dumbo

Etc . . . .

 

[disnut8]

You could also do 1,2, 3, etc. 2 could be Chip and Dale or Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. 7 could be the seven dwarves. You could take pictures of either this or the ABCs mentioned previously during your trip.

You could also do something with colors - find things of a certain color and take pictures. Or, concentrate on the primary colors like blue, red, yellow.

You can check with the teacher and find out other subjects that will be covered in class. You can usually find just about anything appropriate at Disney World.

Or - how about making your own Candyland game but with Disney stuff. Take pictures to replace the ones used in the game.

 

[Minniemouse07]

Dd is in first grade, but we are doing a few things both before and during our trip:

Dd has compared both her height and ds' height from their growth chart, with the ride height requirements for WDW rides. We have a list of what dd cannot go on, and a list of what ds CAN go on.

We made a link chain to mark off the days until our trip. Dd counted the links up to 100 and predicted the pattern for each link (red, white, black). This also gives her a concrete amount of objects up to 100 which she can see and help her estimate how much longer we have left until our trip.

Dd has already done some map reading. We used the Passporter maps as well as the free Disney ones. She identified different symbols from the key and then figured out where we would get on/off the bus, where the bathrooms are, parade routes, monorail routes and which buildings are restaurants, rides, etc.

Dd is "earning" Disney Dollars for our trip. She keeps them in a wallet and takes them out to count periodically! This is her money to spend during our trip. We will try and guide her, but she will need to figure out what to spend it on and make decisions accordingly.

Dd will keep a journal while we are there. I was going to make one but found Guide to the Magic for Kids instead. It has all kinds of places for her to write short sentences about our trip as well as stickers and other info. The Epcot section has places for her to get her passport stamps as well so we may not have to purchase one! Instead of your kindergartener keeping the journal... you could ask him the questions and record his answers!

Dd will also have her camera so we will help her put together a slide show of images for her to share w/ her class after we return.

I'm going to talk to her teacher at Back to School night as to exactly what steps we need to take to have dd excused. I'm going to show her Beth's journal and explain all she's ALREADY done to prepare for the trip at our parent/teacher conference in November.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

How about a study of transportation? You could take pictures of all of the different modes of transportation that you see---bus, boat, monorail, horse and buggy, train, etc..

 

[pixiemel]

In addition to a journal, we have also figured up the mileage and hours traveled to WDW, and also once my dd asked the CM's in World Showcase to write "Merry Christmas" in their language and she did a poster with all of those!

 

[foodrocksluver]

I had an idea for you but then I read about how you have a kindergartener. You could do something about dinosaurs (without having to freak him out on Dinosaur) by taking him on the Universe of Energy or just walking the Cretacious Trail at the AK.
Even something about insects. Like the things he learned from It's Tough to be a Bug (if he's not afraid). Or something about the animals he sees on the safaris.
There seem to be so many ideas that you could probably come up with something from each park.
Oh I just thought of another one. Have him pick a word and find out how you would say it in each of the different countries in World Showcase.

I did an art paper on the achitectural details of the castle and got an A.

 

[Blaze12]

What an awesome thread idea!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cissy]

If you go to themouseforless.com , they have a great section listed under "Just for Kids" and it has journal pages, games, language sheets and all sorts of cool stuff for kids to take to DW.

We are taking our Kinder. and 1st grader in December and I have all these pages printed out and in a folder for them to work on while we travel and during our "breaks." No too much, but enough to cover the slower times.

We are also bringing a small map of the world so we can see each country on it when we visit them in Epcot. We also have a large, laminated, US map on the wall in the playroom. Each time we spend the night in another city, we put a red push pin on the map on that city so they can see all the places we have been.

Best of luck!!

 

[KimWDW]

Everyone, thanks so much for the wonderful ideas!!!!

I want to have a couple project ideas so that when I tell his teacher, hopefully there won't be a problem with taking him out of kindergarten for a week. I truly think it's an educational vacation. I've decided to do the Disney ABC's and the Epcot Passport.

Thanks so much!