I know it’s only July but back to school is right around the corner! I am particularly excited about going back to teaching this fall because I took the last year off. I LOVED my time away from the classroom but I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss it. Taking the year off has made me realize how much I really do love it. However, like any job there are thing I don’t love about teaching… and that is packing my lunch! I try my best to pack a nourishing lunch the night before to ensure I am not rushing around in the morning in a panic to put something together. But, it never fails at least once a month I’m either too lazy, too busy, too tired, or I just forget and then I’m at school without a lunch. Because I typically do lunchroom supervision, I don’t have the option of going out to grab something so that is why I always have Pacific Foods Light Sodium Creamy Tomato Soup in my desk drawer. It is so delicious, nourishing and organic unlike a lot of pre packaged lunch options it isn’t loaded with sodium and additives. Even when you’re in a pinch you can feel good about your food when you choose Pacific Foods. They use time honoured recipes and simple ingredients, they’re certified organic and have no preservatives. Not only does Pacific Foods make nourishing your body top priority, they feel the same way about the environment implementing sustainable practices which you all know is important to me!

I will be the first to admit that in the past when I would get busy, especially at school, lunch would be the first thing that would be scratched off my list. Since last year I have taken a whole new look at my body and how important it is to make sure I am taking care of myself. Maintaining a balance in my work / personal life, eating foods that are packed with ingredients to fuel my body, and committing to self care are set in my goals as I enter back into teaching full time. Setting these goals means I need to have a plan for when life gets busy- here are some tips I am going to use to try and hold myself accountable:
• book my workouts for the week on Sunday evening. That way they are in my schedule and I am held accountable.
• Set aside 1 hour on Saturdays to meal prep for the week. Cooking big batches of my favourite recipes and then portioning them into lunch portions. My favourite is the Vegan Mediterranean Bowl. It’s even better the next day so it’s perfect for lunches!
• Spend Sundays doing the things that fill my heart and allows me to relax: spend time with family and friends, take a  yoga class, go for a walk or bike ride, bake, take a long bath, cook a healthy dinner, etc.
• Make sure my locker is filled with nutritious snacks and foods like Pacific Foods soups to keep my body fuelled even on the days I forget my lunch.
• Get to bed before 11pm on school nights.

 I’m curious, even when you’re busy, what do you do to make sure you are taking the time to nourish your mind, body, and soul?

Special thanks to Pacific Foods for sponsoring this post!

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Educational Activities That Require NO Tech

Start plants from seed. Observe, document and then enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Make cards for nurses, doctor, grocery store workers or anyone who can’t stay home.

Interview a family member.

Measure the area and perimeter of each room in your home.

Graph the types of birds that frequent your yard or windows.

Plan out a dream vacation.  Set a budget and have your kids plan it out all while sticking to the budget.

Be completely silent for 60 minutes, then write, paint, or talk about the experience.

Write and mail a [real] letter to your teacher or principal or classroom penpal.  Have your child address the letter themselves then walk and mail it.

Build a “fable fort” out of blankets and chairs. Camp in it all day while you create stories to tell your family over dinner.

Learn morse code and use it to communicate with your siblings through walls and floors.

Have them alphabetize the spices in your kitchen.

Stay up late and stargaze then write about what it would be like to live in space.

Call a grandparent or older relative. Ask them to teach your child the words to a song from their childhood days.

Using household materials, help your child build a working rain gauge, barometer, and wind vane.

Determine and chart the times that different liquids require to turn solid in the freezer.

Design and build puppets that perform a show about multiplication.

Teach them to crochet, knit, or even just sew on a button.

Play cards.

Construct a family tree.

Learn ten new big words. Write them in marker on your bathroom mirror. Once they’ve done that have them write a story on the mirror using ALL the new words.

Draw a map of your home.

Sit silently for 15 minutes while you write down every sound you hear. When you are done, classify the sounds (high/low pitch, high/low volume, manmade v. naturally occurring, etc.).

Create a Venn Diagram that compares and contrasts two people in your family, your neighbourhood, or your church, mosque, or temple.

Learn, practice, and perform a magic trick.

Learn, practice, and tell three new jokes.

Use household materials to make and play stringed, percussion, and wind instruments.

Learn to shine a pair of shoes.

Collect leaves from ten different (non-harmful) plants. Sort them by size, color, and texture.

Put your favourite book, toy, and keepsake on a small table in sunlight. Draw or paint a full colour still life.

Find, pick, and dissect a flower.

If you have stairs, walk up and count them. Walk down and count by twos. Walk up and count by threes. Continue through tens.

Determine the volumes of ten containers, them display them in order on your porch.

Write a poem on your sidewalk using chalk.

Classify twenty everyday objects by shape, size, colour, height, mass, and material.

Measure the length of your bed using five different nonstandard units.

Call a person who speaks a language you do not. Ask them to teach you five common words or phrases.

Create and use a secret code.

Using one type of paper (constant), build three different paper airplanes (independent variable) and test to see how far they fly (dependent variable).

Set a clock three hours and seven minutes ahead. Whenever someone needs to know the time, help them figure it out by subtracting.

Write down every adjective you say for one full day.

Learn three new jokes. Tell them to an aunt or uncle.

Design a map of every state ever visited by people in your family.

Write or tell a story titled “What if humans had to leave the Earth and no one remembered to turn off the last robot?”

Find ten rocks smaller than a dime.

Using paper, tape, and string, design, build, and test a device that warns you when someone opens the kitchen cabinet.

Imagine, create, and fly a full size flag that tells the world about you.

Build a castle out of items from your pantry.  Deconstruct and sort the shapes. Have them explain their sorting rule.

Build a ramp and send hot wheel cars down it.  Measure which car goes the farthest using string to compare.

Create patterns using Fruit Loops. Turn them into candy necklaces!

Practice Dolch Sight Words by building them out of play dough.

I hope this helps! I will continue to put together list, share ideas, and just try to support you all in any way possible! I hope you’re staying home if you can, staying healthy, and enjoying this extra time with those closest to you!

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Today in Saskatchewan, they announced that schools would be closed indefinitely. That really hit home for me and suddenly made it feel very serious.  As I’m sure many of you know,  they never do that.  It could be -1000 degrees with a full on white out blizzard and the schools would be expected to remain open and operating as per usual.

I’m not going to lie, I feel a bit weird being on social media right now as I really don’t know what to say.  I am not a news outlet and I really don’t know a lot about this virus (I am reading more to educate myself) but one thing I do know is kids and teaching. So, I thought I would put together a list of online educational resources (most free) for you to use during this time. Obviously, non educated activities like cooking, going for walks, baking, cuddling up for a family movie are all great things to do as well!

Online Education Resources:

Online read alouds with Peter H. Reynolds!
Peter is one of my favourite authors he has written the book I am Peace, Be You!, and The Dot!
Scholastic Canada: Free activities, quizzes, Discussion Guides, videos.
Vooks– Streaming service of animated storybooks. Right now they have a one month free trial… let’s hope they extend it!
San Diego Zoo Live Stream: Tune into an animal of your child’s choice.  The San Diego Zoo has 24/7 live cam on most of their animals! Your child can research online, observe via the live cam, and create a report (written essay, picture book, oral presentation, depending on age!) to show their learning!
Fun Brain– Free Math Games (Pre k- Grade 8)
Math Playground– Free Math Games (Grade 1 – Grade 8) This is a US based website so grade levels and curricular content may be different than Canadian content but worth a shot!
Nasa Kids Club– Primary Science activities, resources and worksheets.
Nat Geo Kids: Science Experiments, videos and so much more!
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems – Mo welcomes you into his studio at home and guides you through drawing activities using one of his favourite characters as inspiration! Mo Willems was always super popular in my classroom- I’m sure your young kids will love this!
Ryan’s World– tonnes of fun science experiments!
Go Noodle– This was my favourite resource for brain breaks when I was teaching!
Teachers Pay Teachers– this is an online teacher resource centre.  FREE (and ones you can pay for too) lesson plans, math work sheets, novel studies, phonics sheets, literally anything you can imagine. I would suggest supplementing the online resources and read alouds with this material if you want!

This is just a start, I will update this with more resources as I discover them! I hope you find these helpful! I am sending you all lots of love during this crazy time!

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