My middle guy and I had fun with Perler beads yesterday. We worked on counting and patterns while making Mickey heads that we turned into bookmarks! The directions are listed under each picture! You could easily attach these to hair clips or magnets! Save this photo to use as a pattern for your Perler beads. You can also draw a pattern on white paper and place it behind a clear Perler board. We counted how many beads of each color we needed and talked about how we would carefully set them up on the board. We worked on placing them on the board together! After your Mickey looks like you want it to, place it under a sheet of parchment paper. It is important that you do not use wax paper, as it will melt. Then use a warm iron pressed on top of the paper and beads to melt them together! Let it cool for a few minutes before removing your creation from the board. We like to use E6000 glue with Perler beads. It tends to stick and stay stuck better than just hot glue. This should be done by an adult!! Attach a paper clip, magnet, or hair clip to the back of the Mickey head using the E6000 glue. Then place a piece of wax paper over the top and place it under something heavy to make sure the glue adheres to both pieces. We used a plastic coated paper clip for this project! Your final project should look something like this! Have fun and be creative with your colors and patterns!
If you like this project and want to see more, be sure to join our Facebook Group, Smart Kids Learn at Disney, where we discuss ways to learn at Disney and how to bring the magic of Disney alive in at-home learning! Click here for a free quote on your next Disney trip!
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Disney has such an array of learning opportunities filling the parks, it is easy to find activities and attractions that will interest your kids! I have broken down some popular attractions into Learning Style categories. After each image you will find a brief description of how these learners absorb new information as well as attractions they may enjoy and ways to extend learning beyond the Disney parks!A visual learner is someone who is partial to seeing and observing things, including pictures, diagrams, written directions and more. People who learn through sight understand information better when it’s presented in a visual way. These are your doodling students, your list makers and your students who take notes. Disney Attractions your Visual Learner Will Love: It's a Small World- visual representations for people from different areas of the globe. Kilimanjaro Safaris- first-hand observation of animals. There are also picture charts on each bus of the animals you will see. Journey into Imagination with Figment- a journey through a vivid sensory lab with plenty to see and explore. Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular- live demonstrations of Hollywood stunts as visual aids to guide explanations . Activities to Supplement your Visual Learner's Disney Trip: Ask your child to create a photo journal documenting his or her favorite parts of your trip with notes on what each picture represents. Have a child find all the countries in the World Showcase on a map. Extend this activity by having your child find the capital for each country and draw their flag! The next learning style we will discuss is the Kinesthetic or “tactile” learners. These learners learn through experiencing or doing things. They like to get right in the thick of things by acting out events or using their hands to touch and handle in order to understand concepts. These are the students who might struggle to sit still, might be good at sports or like to dance, need to take breaks when studying and might not have great handwriting. Disney Attractions Your Kinesthetic Learner Will Love: Test Track (Epcot)- Design your own concept car and then climb in and drive it! Jedi Training (Hollywood Studios)- Your child will learn how to wield a light saber and come face to face in a battle with Star Wars Villains. The Boneyard Dig Site (Animal Kingdom)- a hands-on activity where learners can excavate dinosaur fossils. A Pirates Adventure (Magic Kingdom)- Treasure of The 7 Seas- An interactive hunt for treasure where guests move around Adventureland. . Activities to Supplement your Kinesthetic Learner's Disney Trip: Ask your child to recreate or act out scenes from their favorite ride or attraction and explain why they chose the scenes they did. Have your child collect small physical souvenirs such as transportation cards, magic bands, stickers, ticket stubs, maps, etc. and create a shadow box with them. Auditory learners tend to learn better when the subject matter is reinforced by sound. These people would much rather listen to a lecture than read written notes, and they often use their own voices to reinforce new concepts and ideas. These are the students who like to read out loud to themselves, aren’t afraid to speak up in class and are great at verbally explaining things. Additionally, they may be slower at reading and may repeat things a teacher tells them. Disney Attractions Your Auditory Learner Will Love: Carousel of Progress (Magic Kingdom) - narrated animatronic stage show. The important information is spoken aloud. The American Adventure (Epcot)- narration and songs from animatronic tell the story of our nation's history. Activities to Supplement your Auditory Learner's Disney Trip: Ask your child to help with trip planning by researching Disney podcasts and listening to a few to find tips and tricks for your trip! Have your child create a vlog (video blog) of your trip as a keepsake. Reading/Writing Learners prefer to learn through written words. While there is some overlap with visual learning, these types of learners are drawn to expression through writing, reading articles on the internet, writing in diaries, looking up words in the dictionary and searching the internet for just about everything.
Disney Attractions Your Reading/Writing Learner Will Love: Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom (Magic Kingdom)- Visit the firehouse on Main Street to get your free cards and map! Then help Hades find his missing crystal shards in this interactive scavenger hunt! DuckTales World Showcase Adventure (formerly Agent P's World Showcase Adventure) (Epcot)- Use your smartphone or one provided by Epcot to read clues hidden throughout the World Showcase. Wilderness Explorers (Animal Kingdom)- Stop by any of the Wilderness Explorers kiosks to get a booklet. Visit the kiosks around the park to complete activities, many of them involve reading and writing in the booklet! . Activities to Supplement your Reading/Writing Learner's Disney Trip: Have your child read a trip planning book and write down notes on attractions and rides they want to visit. Ask your child to keep a diary each night of your trip so they do not forget their favorite parts of each park visit! You could use these entries along with pictures to make a photo journal keepsake. This is a fun game for Disney movie lovers compiled by the moms of Smart Kids Learn at Disney! Print it out on card stock and punch holes in the cards. Attach them to a key ring or tie them with string. Then keep them in your Disney bag or purse for a quick on-the-go game! Click here for the document!
Click here for a creative writing prompt with endless possibilities! Select Disney characters from different stories and ponder what it might be like if they had a chance meeting! Use the questions on the top of the prompt as a guide, but be creative! Follow this link to join our Smart Kids Learn at Disney Facebook group and let us know what kind of story your child came up with!Grab a Disney Parks map prior to your trip and let your child notice the colors, symbols and text. Take some time with your child to explain the Map Legend and the different symbols you see. Ask your child which words and pictures stand out to him or her and why they stand out. Next, ask him or her to find different places on the map using the legend! The legend on a Disney map is very long and detailed, so you may need to help with this portion. After your child is familiar with the park map and how it is set up, have him or her use the map to help plan the best route for visiting some of your must-see attractions. For older children, you can have them write out the directions for the plans they created (start at Cinderella’s Castle and turn left, etc.) For younger learners you can extend the activity by having your child draw a map and key for a place he is very familiar with, like your house or local park! If you book with a Smart Moms Travel Agent (like me) , you will get FREE copies of Disney park maps mailed to you prior to your trip! To me, there’s nothing like having my hands on an actual park map! You can also order them on ebay or sometimes amazon, grab them in the parks, or print them from the internet. Your My Disney Experience app also has maps!
tiny.cc/Bookwithashley We love this game in my family! Besides being super fun and a great way to pass time in places that require waiting (cars, Doctor’s offices, restaurants), this game can help increase critical thinking and opinion writing skills. If you play Would You Rather and ask “why?” after your children answer, it allows them to practice coming up with details and facts to support their opinion! This is a valuable skill that will help to improve your child's writing skills.
Our group members in Smart Kids Learn at Disney (A Smart Moms Group) put our brains together to create this Disney Would You Rather game just for you! Click here for your copy! We hope you print, play and learn with this game! What does this quote mean to you? Are you living a life that helps to foster and nurture the minds of our children?
If you're interested in discovering ways that Disney can make learning fun, you should join us in the new Facebook group, Smart Kids Learn at Disney. This dynamic group is a space where we can discuss how Walt Disney World parks are educational, and how we can incorporate Disney into our children's every day learning!
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