Let’s Go!

Adapted with permission from Chicago Park District’s “Once Upon a Day Camp” Guide

Find a large, open space and have your child start walking around the room or space. Then, say “Let’s go to [A PLACE]!” (The place can be somewhere like the North Pole, the middle of a tornado, skiing/snowboarding down a mountain, etc.) Ask your child what it feels like to be there and act out what they are imagining. What do they see? What do they hear? What can they smell? What do they taste? What does it feel like? Try the same activity with one or two more places you call out. Now, sit with your child and write a poem about their favorite place. The poem will have 5 lines—one for each sense. (e.g. see, hear, smell, taste, touch) If your child is too young to write, write/read it for him or her. When s/he has finished the poem, have them not only read it to you, but act it out.

Enhances linguistic intelligence through poetry and a kinesthetic lens.