Looking for Elementary School Program Ideas

Updated on October 26, 2010
K.S. asks from Waltham, MA
6 answers

hi, i am researching program ideas for my kid's elementary school, either for an after school weekly thing or for a one-time school asembly sort of thing. Definitely interested in something that is entertaining but with a message (i.e., nutrition, science, math, safety, history, etc). And of course very budget conscious. If anyone has had a program that they considered outstanding, i'd love to hear about it! Also any tips on keeping costs low given today's reality. Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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M.M.

answers from Washington DC on

Go to a community college or college near you and ask the Chemistry class if they can do some fun experiments in front of an audience.
OUrs just did a "Science Day" for the moms and dads, it was parent weekend and they burned salts, made "gold" out of pennies, put balloons in dry ice. It took about an hour.
It was very entertaining.

Or ask their orchestra to come and play.
Do they have a theater dept?
College kids need audiences and elementary schools are good candidates.

1 mom found this helpful
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D.N.

answers from Boston on

If you are interested in art projects that are related to the academic curricula, try http://www.MrsBrownArt.com/ for ideas. This is a web site maintained by an art teacher in Framingham (K-5). She has "followers" from all over the world.

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E.C.

answers from San Francisco on

Check if your local hospitals, animal shelters, or emergency service providers have community outreach programs. Some of the assemblies that have come to our school include a healthy lifestyle one from the Kaiser Foundation hospital (which was very energetic and engaging - I was working in the school kitchen and could hear the whole thing!), "Junkology" - a recycling education program with lots of cool hands on projects http://www.junkology.com/index.htm , one on composting that I think was arranged through our local waste management company. Your local chapter of SafeKids USA could probably provide resources for a variety of safety-related topics (car safety etc.) http://www.safekids.org/educators/

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M.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Talk to your PTO-they most likely get a ton of flyers/email advertising programs offered in your area.

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S.B.

answers from Dallas on

You could call the local museums and zoos and aquariums or symphony. In our area, all of them have outreach programs and can bring it to your campus. There are fees involved, but most of the time they are very cost effective (considering what it would cost to provide bus transportation and admission. Can you get a grant locally? Target is into funding reading and arts grants. Does your school district have an education foundation? Good luck!

L.C.

answers from Washington DC on

The best way to go about this is to contact schools near you to find out what they liked. Ask to speak to the PTO or PTA president - since the PTO usually pays for it, they know what the kids liked and what they didn't.
There are hundreds of programs available.
At the elementary schools in Wilmington, they used to have a visiting author come and spend a week. The author spends time in each classroom - more in the upper grades. I know they've had terrific authors there - contact the Woburn Street School to see if they still do it. (It's been a LONG time since I was there.)
LBC

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