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On Monday, Whit wrote a stimulating column about gifted children. It sparked some great comments and I found myself thinking more about the “Afterschooling” approach that I am adopting this year. One thing I am realizing is that more than changing what we are doing, this approach impacts the way I think about what we are doing. Why do it? For me, it’s one way to stay a bit more active and involved in mothering. It’s assigning meaning to an activity that we may have done a million times, and planning how I can extend my children’s interest when it’s appropriate. It’s a way to supplement the learning that happens in school and own a larger portion of my children’s education.

An example of how we afterschool:

One of the things my kids like about me is this: I like to make up games. I am not excellent at sitting and playing a 12 hour game of Candyland. I am not a fantastic player of Clue Junior or Sorry or Trouble. While I like card games (Uno! and Blink! to name 2), what I like best is making up games on the fly.

Allow me to share a recent game that the House of Hatch is enjoying this week:

Football Golf

This game was born of a recent interest in Putt-Putt (my husband just confessed that the only thing he hates about me is that I call mini-golf Putt-Putt). My boys (5 and 7) visited their first miniature golf course this summer. To say that they loved it is an understatement. They. Really. Loved. It. Also, although we are not a video game family (no PSP, X-Box, or Gameboys here), we do have a mini golf game that connects to the tv. It eats double As like I eat chocolate, but that is a different story. We have had a couple of killer family tournaments over the past few weeks. The enjoyment of these activities led to the creation of Football Golf.

Ages:

Tested on various ages from 3-35

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1. a small football (any ball will do, but it is called “Football Golf”).


2. a pail that the aforementioned ball will fit into.


3. more than 1 person (unless you are really bored).


4. a front stoop (or any other starting point).

Object:

To have fun together!

Directions:

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1. Select one person to “design” the course. This lucky player chooses where to place the pail (which acts as the the cup or hole).


2. Select a different person to start the game. This player holds the ball at the starting point. They first guess how many throws it will take to get the ball into the “cup.” Then, they begin tossing the ball. Each time they throw the ball, it counts as one stroke.


3. Walking or running while holding the ball is not permitted, although running to the ball is strongly encouraged.


4. The person that scores the fewest strokes has the distinct honor of determining the placement of the “cup” for the next hole.

Obviously, the concept is simple. It’s a variation of golf. The fun comes from claiming it as your own. Choose a different ball or cup or change up the rules. There are lots of learning extension opportunities (for many different ages) when you play “Football Golf.” Here are a very few possibilities (depending upon how you execute):

1. Design score cards: fine motor, computer, alphabetical order, spelling, creativity, planning, color recognition, number recognition, letter recognition, reading, etc.


2. Identify math opportunities: number recognition, estimation, addition, subtraction, graphing, value (more/less than), etc.


3. Gross motor/movement: skip or gallop or hop or walk like a crab to get the ball. The point: exercise!


4. Curriculum development: read biographies about golfers, research the history of golf (how exciting!), practice golfing with a real club, create math problems about golfers, talk about the science of golf (why does a ball roll?), gravity, inertia, make a golf course in a shoe box for indoor play, etc.

See where I am going with this? A simple activity that is fun is also chock full of teachable moments. On the surface it’s a simple game, but if you think about it a little differently, and plan a little differently, it can be much more than just a fun way to spend an hour.

Please tell me how you “afterschool.” Feel free to leave a comment or write your own post on the topic and leave a link here.

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[tags]afterschooling, homeschooling, parenting, games, play, home learning opportunities, gameplay, education, edutainment, football, golf, uno, blink, cards[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by Hc_07, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved