For the first time, I am making my own holiday cards this year. I realized while I was doing this, that I have a huge stash of new holiday cards from previous years that I will probably never use. I did a little digging on line and found out that nursing homes love to receive new holiday cards for their residents to use.
This would be a great authentic project. Collecting new cards and donating them to a local nursing home. Finding out which nursing homes or organizations would like cards donated, organizing this, getting the word out, having a drop off spot…
All of these authentic activities could cover many different academic goals. Reading – researching on line. Math – counting, tallying, predicting, graphing. Writing – composing letters/emails to ask for donations, writing to organizations asking if they would like new cards donated. Social Responsibility Skills – donating time and effort for others.
This may also lead to an authentic project of sending greeting cards to residents of a nursing home or hospital.
I also have a collection of cards that I have received over the years. They are just too gorgeous to throw out. I found out that St. Jude collects used cards to recycle for future use. Just doing the on-line research is an authentic activity that could lead to many authentic projects.
Safe and Happy Holidays!
The Educational Journey 