Dragon Explorers (Age 3 - Kindergarten)

List of 10 items.

• Week One: June 13-17    Dragon Explorers: By the Campfire

  Join us the first week of summer programs when we explore camping experiences. We will learn traditional camp songs, explore nature through a variety of outdoor activities, discuss the variety of camping opportunities (tents vs campers, day vs overnight, campfire vs grill), and talk about what we might bring with us to do all the fun activities you could do while camping! A naturalist from Marshy Point/Cromwell Valley will lead us on a nature hike around campus. We cannot wait to see what there is to discover right under our noses! 

• Week Two: June 20-24 Dragon Explorers: Around the World

  During this week, we will travel around the world in FIVE days! We will visit the continents of the Arctic/Antarctic, North America, Africa, South America, Europe, and Asia. We will explore the different cultures, foods, music, and languages that each continent has to offer. Be sure to check our passports when we arrive back at HDS each day to ask us about what we learned! Every day we will virtually visit a new place! 

• Week Three: June 27-July 1 Dragon Explorers: In Outer Space

  We cannot wait to soar into outer space! We will learn about a day in the life of an astronaut (what they wear and why, what they eat, what they do in the spaceship and in space), explore the planets, and learn about the phases of the moon and sun. We will have a special visit from the traveling planetarium for a 45 minute journey through the universe! 

• Week Four: July 5-8 Dragon Explorers: Down on The Farm

  This week we will learn all about farm life! We will explore farm equipment and tools, livestock, crops, and harvest, and fruits and vegetables. Blue Sky Puppet Theatre will visit and perform a show called Bananas! 

• Week Five: July 11-15 Dragon Explorers: Traveling Back in Time

  This week we will travel back in time to explore different eras from the past. From the Prehistoric Era (dinosaurs and fossils) to the recent past of the 1980s (what did people DO without ipads?!), we will journey to a variety of points in time. The children will learn about animals and life well before they were born. Eric Energy or Rocket Reba will visit with their show "Yo-Yo mania" featuring the oldest toy that is still used today! 

• Week Six: July 18-22 Dragon Explorers: Exploring Biomes

  What are biomes, you might ask? Great question. Biomes are: aquatic, grassland, jungle, desert, tundra and rainforest. Who lives in each biome? What animals dwell in each location? What is the terrain like? We will explore the various animals, people, and geographical characteristics that each biome has to offer. 2001 HDS grad, Margot Wohl, PhD will visit us and share some buggy specimens with us! Margot is a postdoctoral fellow of neurobiology at Johns Hopkins studying mosquitoes.

• Week Seven: July 25-29 Dragon Explorers: Exploring Jobs and Community Helpers

  What do you want to be when you grow up is a common question children are asked. How are they supposed to know when they have been exposed to a limited amount of careers and folks who help in the community? This week we will explore a variety of careers from plumber to CEO and learn what role the careers we discuss play in our community and our lives. We will be inviting family volunteers (parent, grandparent, sibling, etc.) to visit the classroom to share about their careers throughout the week, reach out to Janelle Schmidt to volunteer. Chesapeake Therapeutic Riding will visit us and share about the unique work of therapeutic horses and how to care for them, with their equine friend, Buttons.

• Week Eight: August 1-5 Dragon Explorers: Future Engineers

  STEAM - Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math fill our world. We will use a multisensory approach to encourage meaningful learning experiences throughout this week; seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling. STEAM Quest kids will visit with their Mad Science class where the children explore chemical reactions (baking soda/vinegar, elephant toothpastes for example) and they take home a color changing sensory bottle that they make. 

• Week Nine: August 8-12 Dragon Explorers: On The Move

  This week, we will explore various transportation modes including air, water, and land. We will learn about various uses of transportation, types of transportation, and explore the evolution of transportation over time. We will virtually visit with the B and O Railroad Museum to explore: Railroad Signs and Signals: The Evolution of Visual Communication on the Railroad. Eric Energy or Rocket Reba will present Spark Attack and transportation themed scientific extravaganza! 

• Week Ten: August 15-19 Dragon Explorers: Big Earth, Little Me

  This week we will learn all about Earth. What are the layers of the Earth? Why is the weather and climate variable in certain places - why does it snow so much in some areas and not as much or at all in other areas? How can we help the Earth by recycling and reducing our carbon footprint? Blue Sky Puppet Theater will join us with the show “The Three Green Pigs”.