Tag Archives: Activities

Nussknacker / Nutcracker 2020 – Part 9

Posted in 1st - 4th Grade, 5th - 6th Grade, Coloring Pages, German Culture, Holidays, Mazes, Projects, Uncategorized, Word Play by

All those fabulous Nutcracker projects created in pre-k/kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grade, 3rd & 4th grade, and 5th & 6th grade left some students extra time at the end of class. So I prepared a variety of worksheets and activities to keep them occupied if they finished early.

Activities that I created – Download them all for FREE:

MAZE

The favorite for the older kids was a maze that I hand-drew:

Nussknacker Labyrinth GitADownload

WORD SEARCHES

There were four levels of word searches. The first two were created for 1st & 2nd grade, the easiest one having words that only go horizontally. The words come directly from the stories of the Nutcracker that I told them. Each of the word searches come with a solution key!

The word searches for the older kids also had a glossary that could be printed on the back.

Nussknacker Wortsuche 1,2 GitADownload
Nussknacker Wortsuche 3,4 GitADownload
Nussknacker Wortsuche 5,6 GitADownload

COLORING WITH SHAPES

Some children also enjoyed completing the shape coloring page that I created for the preschoolers.

Nussknacker Formen GitADownload

Activities from subscription sites:

Click the links to get to the activities!

Nutcracker Mandala

Nussknacker-Mandala

Nutcracker Cut-out Puzzle (Weihnachtsbild Ergänzen Nussknacker)

KiGa-Portal had a simple puzzle to cut out and paste the missing parts of the nutcracker. Unfortunately, the link is no longer active.

Christmas Color By Number

Twinkl had some nice color-by-number activities.

I Spy (Weihnachtsbaum)

Another favorite was this “I Spy” Christmas Tree. Unfortunately, the site is currently under reconstruction. Hopefully it will be up and working again soon!

Interactive German Bingo Board

Posted in 1st - 4th Grade, Games, Projects, Uncategorized by

I have been thinking a lot about my students and how they are coping with home learning. It is such a challenging situation. My own kids are in 1st & 4th grade, so I know what is being asked of my elementary German students. We have good days and bad days. Mostly my kiddos get their class work done, but it’s usually too much to ask them to do the specials work, too.

So I wanted to create something that would add an element of fun to my German lessons. And I wanted to be able to let the students CHOOSE. I had been sending out lessons each week with 3 or 4 options. But that gets overwhelming. So I started thinking about making a bingo board! Then I just happened to see a blog post on how to make a choice board, and I knew this is what I was going to do!

As the instructions told me, I created the board in Google Slides. Then I started adding one slide per activity. I already had many of the activities prepared, so I just had to write them up and create the links. Here is what the main board looks like:

Bingo Board 2020 Complete

I’m sorry I can’t share the actual board. However some of the files are private or copyrighted. But here are a few of the slides:

There are 16 activities in all. I had started with 25, but then I realized we only have a few more weeks of school! So I made it smaller. The activities in order from left to right, starting at the top, are:

  • Learn the song/dance “Fliegerlied”
  • Learn some sports and complete a crossword puzzle or word search
  • Sing “Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken” (read more about this from our class here!)
  • Elefant und Schweinchen: Du hast einen Vogel auf dem Kopf
  • Elefant und Schweinchen: Kommst du raus zum Spielen?
  • Basteln – Lebkuchenherz: Make a paper gingerbread heart (see this post!)
  • Make Pfannkuchen (see this post!)
  • Watch Peppa Wutz (learn to draw Peppa in this post!)
  • Learn a dance from Dance Company Leipzig (you can find them in YouTube!)
  • Make a secret message (here is the video! – Danke, Kathrin!!)
  • Elefant und Schweinchen: Das Buch über uns
  • Watch a Story Listening Fairy Tale (all on my YouTube Channel: German in the Afternoon!)
  • Watch a Story Listening Story (also on my YouTube Channel: German in the Afternoon)
  • Elefant und Schweinchen: Muss ich was abgeben?
  • Make Apfelstrudel (see this post!)
  • Yoga auf Deutsch (see this post!)

I’m so excited for this project! I had such fun putting it together. I hope my students will be inspired. If they don’t get to the activities now, I’m wondering if they might try doing some of them after school is officially over for the year?? We are still homebound in our area, so I imagine kids – and parents – will be looking for things to do!

Winter Activities

Posted in Coloring Pages, Crafty Projects, Games, Language Themes, Uncategorized, Word Posters by

Here on the east coast, winter has made a very loud arrival! Two days with no school – and this the first week back after a long break! Then I realized I’ve never posted any winter activities! So here are a number of random worksheets and craft ideas you can do in German 🙂

Schneemann malen nach Zahlen

This simple color by number is great for the little ones just learning their numbers and colors. The color words are written in the corresponding color, making it easier for them to do on their own. Download the PDF here: Schneemann Malen nach Zahlen GitA

Schneemann Malen nach Zahlen GitA-page-001

Tierspuren

Here are two simple worksheets to talk about the tracks that different animals leave in the snow. There is a black and white version. And if a little extra help is needed, there is a colored outline version. Then the colors can be easily paired up.

Tierspuren GitA-page-001

Download the worksheets as PDF files here:

For a follow-up activity, see if you have any little animal figures. Winter animals would be best, but whatever you’ve got! Then get out the play-doh and roll it out. Let your child walk the animals through the play-doh to make tracks. Then compare them. It’s also a great opportunity to talk about animals in German!

If you have snow and it isn’t brutally cold, go for a walk and see if you see any tracks. Before you go, talk about the kinds of animals that live in your area. Maybe look up what their prints look like, so you can identify them when you see them.

Winter Wortschatz

Here are five winter word posters you can print out full-sized or print 6-to-a-page to make flashcards. Print two sets to make a game of memory!

Download the PDF file here: Winter Wortschatz GitA

There is also a coloring page of all five words to go with them.

Winter Wortschatz Malvorlage GitA-page-001

Download the PDF here: Winter Wortschatz Malvorlage GitA

Winter Labyrinthe

I just put up a post with 10 easy German winter mazes! You can find them here 🙂 Here is an example:

Schneeflocken fangen GitA-page-001

Other ideas

There are tons of great craft ideas out there! I’ve been collecting them on a Pinterest board for years. Check it out here!

I also saw a list of 40 snow day boredom busters on Mommy Poppins. Maybe you’ll find some inspiration there?!

Viel Spaß!

Das ist das Haus vom Nikolaus

Posted in 1st - 4th Grade, Crafty Projects, Games, Uncategorized by

Nikolaus Day has come and gone. It’s a VERY busy time of year in our house – Sinterklaas arrives on the 5th, Nikolaus on the 6th, and we have a birthday on the 7th. Lots going on! So I’m a little late with this post. But perhaps you can tuck it away for next year. Or what the heck – it’s still the holidays! Go ahead and play this little game any time in December!

Do you know the riddle of the house from Nikolaus? It’s technically a math problem. You have to draw his house in 8 strokes without lifting your pencil. And that makes one stroke for each syllable: Das ist das Haus vom Ni – ko – laus! Is it challenging? Perhaps. But there are actually 44 different ways to solve the puzzle!

Das Haus vom Nikolaus GitA-page-001

I made up this little worksheet for my 1st & 2nd graders to try it out. There is the example of the house at the top. Then there are the dots to connect at the bottom. It’s fun to try out different paths!

You can download the document here: Das Haus vom Nikolaus – GitA

Want to see all 44 ways to draw the house? Check out the cool GIF file from Wikimedia below…

I’ll be teaching a lesson on Nikolaus tomorrow. I’m telling the class one of the legends about Nikolaus in German. Then we’ll do a lacing boot activity. Check out my post from last year for instructions on the boots!

Viel Spaß!

Herbst mit Zahlen und Farben

Posted in Books, Coloring Pages, Numbers, Uncategorized by

In story hour yesterday, we celebrated fall with numbers and colors!

I began by using the German blocks that the library has to review numbers 1 through 10.  (You can actually get the German blocks – made by Uncle Goose – on Amazon!)

We read the following books:

  • Zehn Blätter fliegen davon by Anne Möller (2008)
  • Manuel & Didi. Das große Buch der kleinen Mäuseabenteuer (“Die Laubhütte”) by Erwin Moser (2008)
  • Manuel & Didi. Das zweite große Buch der kleinen Mäuseabenteuer (“Der Apfel”) by Erwin Moser (2009)
  • Der Herbst steht auf der Leiter by Peter Hacks (2012)

And we sang the following songs:

  • “Wind” by Nena (Himmel, Sonne, Wind und Regen)
  • “Der Apfelbaum” (Die 30 Besten Spiel- und Bewegungslieder) Click for youtube video
  • “Der Herbst steht auf der Leiter”

You can download the lyrics here: Herbstlieder

Then we did two activities:

The children were given a tree with numbers on it along with 10 foam leaves, also with numbers on each. With help from their mom or caregiver, the children matched the numbers from the stickers with those on the tree and stuck them in the appropriate place. Download the PDF activity here: zehn-blatter-arbeitsblatt-gita

I also gave children a simple Malen nach Zahlen coloring page of a maple leaf and the colors red, orange, and yellow. Download the coloring page here: malen-nach-zahlen-herbstblatt-gita

The older children only needed a little bit of help. And our younger friends enjoyed making their leaves extra colorful!

Montags mit Mama: Presents!

Posted in Holidays, Uncategorized by

Hippo is really getting into the Christmas spirit! We put up our trees (yes, we have two! One with just ball ornaments in silver and red, one with all our special ornaments we’ve collected over the years), and now he wants to start putting presents under them! So he and AP3 have been “wrapping” presents!

He found a small empty box, filled it with some shape beanbags. Why? I don’t know! That’s just what he thought should go in the box! And then he and AP3 wrapped the box in some old Christmas paper.

2016-11-28-12-54-44

Is it perfect? Of course not! But he had so much fun! He was so happy to bring it to me as I’m working in my office (try not to look at the mess behind him!). And after I unwrapped his Geschenk, he wanted to do it all over again! I think they rewrapped the “gift” 3 times!

You don’t need anything special. Just grab an empty box, some old wrapping paper, tape, and whatever your little one wants to put in the box. Turn on the holiday music, and have some fun!

What a simple activity to do during the holidays!