40 Summer Bucket List Ideas To Keep You Wondering

Have you created a summer family bucket list yet?  Below are 40 family bucket list ideas complete with Wonders from Wonderopolis to keep you wondering while you complete your activities!

1.  Catch fireflies.
#1201 How Do Fireflies Glow?

2. Make S'mores.
#277 Why Are They Called "S'mores"?

3. Go to a baseball game.
#751 Where's Your Favorite Ballpark?

4.  Make ice cream in a bag.
#92 Why Do You Get Ice Cream Headaches?

5.  Go on a picnic.
#258 Why Do Ants Think They're Invited To Picnics?

6.  Go bowling.
#1072 Why Are Bowling Shoes Slippery?

7.  Go fishing.
#1213 Do Fish Sleep with Their Eyes Open?

8.  Make root beer floats.
#1219 Why Is There So Much Foam in a Root Beer Float?

9.  Have LEGO building competition.
#639 Who Invented LEGO Blocks?

10.  Go to the zoo.
#643 Where Is the Largest Zoo?

11.  Make a time capsule.
#525 What Time Would You Travel To?

12.  Learn how to play a new card game.
#756 Do You like To Play Cards?

13.  Go see a fireworks show.
#550 How Are Fireworks Made?

14.  Go to a drive-in movie.
#249 What Movie Would You Play At Your Drive-In?

15.  Fly a kite.
#157 Who Invented the Kite?

16.  Make a bird feeder.
#144 Do All Birds Fly South In the Winter?

17.  Make friendship bracelets.
#301 How Do You Make a Friendship Bracelet?

18.  Make homemade bubbles.
#57 Why Do Bubbles Float?

19.  Camp in your backyard.
#27 What Would You Do on a Staycation?

20.  Make a family video.
#1127 How Do You Capture Memories?

21.  Make homemade instruments.
#704 Can One Man Be a Band?

22.  Play tag.
#815 Do You Like To Play Tag?

23.  Have a puppet show.
#574 What Are Shadow Puppets?

24.  Go to a local farmer's market.
#649 What Does Organic Mean?

25.  Have a family talent show.
#684 Are You Talented?

26.  Go on a scavenger hunt.
#359 What Is a Scavenger Hunt?

27.  Homemade family pizza party.
#154 Who Created Frozen Pizza?

28.  Play miniature golf.
#353 Why Do Some Golf Courses Have Windmills?

29.  Make tie-dye shirts.
#385 What Is a Hippie?

30.  Read a book in a hammock.
#658 How Do You Make a Hammock?

31.  Go for a boat ride (canoe or paddle boat).
#855 How Do Boats Float?

32.  Tell ghost/scary stories.
#284 What's Your Favorite Ghost Story?

33.  Put together a 1,000 piece puzzle.
#857 What Puzzles You?

34.  Cook dinner over an open fire.
#640 Do You Like To Cook Outside?

35.  Go stargazing.
#182 How Many Stars Are In the Universe?

36.  Paint self-portraits.
#464 What Makes Art Priceless?

37.  Go to a farm and pick fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, etc.)
#288 Why Does a Strawberry Have Seeds On the Outside?

38.  Go swimming.
#957 Can Swimmers Get Dehydrated?

39.  Volunteer
#272 Why Would You Work For Free?

40.  Watch the sunrise/sunset.
#1132 Why Is Dusk Mysterious?

Wonders for May

Here are some Wonders from Wonderopolis you may want to to share during the month of May.

May 1st - Mother Goose Day
#210 Who Was Mother Goose?

May 5th - Cinco De Mayo
#214 Do People In Mexico Celebrate Cinco De Mayo?

May 6th - National Teachers Day
#212 How Do Teachers Get To Be So Smart?

May 10th - National Train Day
#333 Do All Trains Run Aboveground?
#721 What Is the Fastest Train?

May 11th - Mother's Day
#217 Do Moms Have Eyes In the Backs of Their Heads?
#588 How Many Ways Can You Say Mom?

May 12th - Limerick Day
#221 What Is a Limerick?

May 16th - Endangered Species Day
#152 How Does a Species Become Endangered?

May 18th - Museum Day
#1091 What Can You Find in a Museum?

May 25th - Indianapolis 500
#238 What Is Pole Position?

Basketball Wonders at Wonderopolis

With the college tournament starting, it is a great time to do some wondering.  Below are some March basketball related Wonders at Wonderopolis that you may want to visit over the next few weeks with your students.

#166 Who Invented Basketball?
#183 What Is a Slam Dunk?
#341 What Is Your Favorite Mascot?
#490 Why Do Referees Wear Stripes?
#561 Who Invented the High Five?
#703 Who Jumps the Highest?
#838 Does Practice Make Perfect?
#840 Why Do Your Muscles Cramp?
#876 Why Do Athletes Stretch Before They Work Out?
#933 Are You a Good Sport?
#1049 How Do You Become a Referee?
#1090 Does Your School Have Spirit?
#1104 Is Winning Everything?

WONDER WEDNESDAY - Asking and Answering the W Questions

Happy Wonder Wednesday!

One of the Common Core Standards we have worked on all year in second grade is:

RI.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.  

This is a standard for both informational and literary text.  We have worked on asking and answering our own questions during read alouds, independent reading, while reading poetry, and while reading informational text.  Another great resource we've used to work with this standard is Wonderopolis.

Yesterday's Wonder of the Day was #1188 How Do Crickets Talk?  It was a perfect Wonder to use to continue modeling and practicing our work with this standard.  Students had a lot of background knowledge about the Wonder which helped them answer the questions and write about their thinking in their Wonder Journals before going over the Wonder.  Many had misconceptions about how crickets talk which was cleared up when we read the Wonder. 

My students write their thinking or answer to the question before going over the Wonder and then write new learning after reading together as a class.  Here is an example of a student's thinking and then new learning.

After reading over the Wonder together, I had students write in their journals who, what, where, when, why, and how and leave spaces.  We discussed what we learned and even went back into the text to clarify (yes, I did use that word with my second graders) some of the information we were confused about.  

Here is a student example of the who, what, where, when, why and how of the Wonder.  I took this opportunity to talk about and use highlighters.

I worked with students who are still struggling with the who, what, where, when, why and how.  Here is what we came up with together.

Every Wonder of the Day at Wonderopolis would be great for asking and answering questions.  Here are some additional Wonders that you may want to try:
#129 Why Are School Buses Yellow?
#227 How Hot is Lava?
#274 Who Made the American Flag?
#295 Why Is It Called "Old Faithful"?
#323 How Do You Hula?
#730 What Makes a Ball Super?
#852 Why Do Zebras Have Stripes?
#937 Why Do We Need Trees?
#1146 How Are Pop-Up Books Made?
#1184 Why Do Bats Sleep Upside Down?

Wonders to Use in March

Below are some Wonders from Wonderopolis.org that you may want to share with your students throughout the month of March.

#34 Why Do We Change the Clocks Twice a Year?
http://#116 Why Do Rainbows Appear?
http://#159 How Do You Tap a Maple Tree?
http://#163 What Are the Ides of March?
#165 Who Was Saint Patrick?
http://#168 What Is the Vernal Equinox?
http://#171 What Was the First Girl Scout Cookie?
http://#192 What Are Sakura?
http://#531 Are Leprechauns Real?
http://
#1166 Do All Plants Bloom?
http://A collection of Baseball Wonders
http://

Wonder Wednesday - Ways to Wonder Video

This week I am taking a break from my normal Wonder Wednesday format to share a special WONDER video.  I'm sharing today because the main child in the video is my daughter Betsy (my proud mom moment).  I'm also excited to share the video on this Wonder Wednesday because all of the other children in the video are from my school, Monroe Elementary and my classroom is featured in the video (my proud teacher moment).  I love that Wonderopolis used real, authentic users of their website to star in the video.  I also love that the new video shares natural ways that you can wonder as family or with your students in your classroom from a kid's perspective.

After watching the video, I leave you with these questions:  

• How do you WONDER? 
• How do you share your WONDER with others?
• Why do believe WONDER is an important component of learning?

Happy WONDERing!

Wonder Wednesday - Wondering About Flying

This week's #WonderWednesday inspiration comes from flying across the country yesterday.

Some wondering I have about flying:

• How many airports are there in the United States?
• How many flights fly everyday?
• How many people fly those flights everyday?
• When and where did the first commercial flight fly?
• What affects does flying have on your body?
• How much luggage is lost daily?

Related Wonders from Wonderopolis:
#59 Who Was the Most Famous Female Aviator?
#75 Who Were the Wright Brothers?
#265 Why Do Airplanes Leave Tracks In the Sky?
#809 Does My Luggage Travel First Class?
#886 How Do You Prepare for Takeoff?

What are you wondering about on the is #WonderWednesday?