The summer program at A Child’s University features a collection of themed weeks that introduce the children to new experiences and subject matter that reinforces the content learned throughout the year in the September — June curriculum. To make the summer months even more special for the children, there are special guests who visit and “on-site field trips” that take place at the school. To avoid the often uneasy feeling parents get with off-site field trips, we work with services, vendors, and other guests who take their special program directly to our school—this means the children can enjoy exciting “field trips,” but without their parents needing to worry about buses, chaperones, and other challenges that come along with shuttling children to and from field trip destinations. Don’t worry if your child is not normally scheduled to attend on a day when one of these special on-site field trips, special guests, or other events are scheduled, you are still welcome to join us. We want all children to experience the exciting events that we have planned this summer!
This week our campers will be packing their backpacks and tents and heading off to explore the National Parks in the United States! We will be exploring the streams in our sensory tables, making paper s’mores and camp fires, playing in real tents and on blow-up rafts, and working with any other camping items that families would like to share! Our campers will be learning about the treasures within the National Parks and learning some fun camp fire songs as they play and learn in their own classroom camp sites! Don’t feed the BEARS!
This week will be filled with red, white, and blue fun! Our little proud Americans will be learning patriotic songs, making flags, eating red/white/blue snacks, and enjoying many more surprises to celebrate our stars and stripes! We also ask that you bring in a light blue t-shirt for your child to decorate as a flag and enjoy all summer long! Happy Fourth of July!
There will be “dinosaurs” marching through the halls of A Child’s University this week! The children will be learning all about dinosaur life and will focus on which dinosaur was the largest, the smallest, had the most horns, the longest neck, or ate the most food! Your children will even become little paleontologists and will investigate fossils and “skeletal bones!” This week, each child will also be making their own fossil or baby dinosaur to take home and study.
The Audubon society will be visiting this week to present a dinosaur themed nature show! We will even have a real animal visitor coming!
Cranston School Show on Tuesday, July 11th
Smithfield School Show on Wednesday, July 12th
Get your boots, bandanas, and cowboy hats ready for a rootin’ and tootin’ good time! During this wild week, our little cowboys and cowgirls will be making horse show crafts and paper bag cowboy vests while turning sensory tables into wild west water-filled fun! Get ready for a handmade banjo to be coming home for your little rancher to strum some backwoods tunes for you to enjoy! Ride ‘em cowboy! We will also have a special show visiting us! “All Aboard Annie” will be entertaining us with trains, horses, and some cowboy music! Tunes and Tales with be visiting for their performance of “All Aboard Annie.”
Smithfield School Show on Tuesday, July 18th
Cranston School Show on Thursday, July 20th
The children will learn all about ocean life this week! Each class will study the mysteries of the deep blue sea and have fun with a variety of marine inspired learning activities.
Sea, Sand, and Surf The Mad Scientist will be exploring our oceans and the creatures that live in them with the children. Each child will also be working with him during the show to make their own miniocean to take home!
Cranston School Show on Thursday, July 27th
Smithfield School Show on Friday, July 28th
Somewhere over the rainbow blue birds fly and our little ones will be flying through the week learning and playing with everything rainbow colored! We will be painting all different kinds of rainbow art, making rainbow snacks, reading, and singing about rainbows, taking part in various science experiments and learning about rainbows! This will be a beautiful week for sure!
Sloths, iguanas, pandas, lizards, snakes, and more will be arriving in our rainforest this week! Our children will be studying the different layers in the rainforest and the animals that live within the mystical rainforest. We will be decorating each room’s entrance as one of the children’s favorite animals, too! Your little explorer will be filled with a lot of knowledge about these beautiful forests on our amazing planet and will be taking home a rainforest book featuring their favorite animals and some fun facts about them! We will also have some real snakes, iguanas, and other crawly friends visiting with Bwana Iguana!
Cranston School Show on Tuesday, August 8th
Smithfield School Show on Thursday, August 10th
All hail the princes and princesses from the Kingdom of A Child’s University! This week we will fall into a rabbit hole with Alice, travel on glass slipper hunts, and will be crafting paper mache pumpkins that will become carriages! We will be ballroom dancing, planting magic beans, making golden eggs, eating gingerbread cookies, and painting pictures of those seven cute dwarfs! We welcome all children and teachers to dress in their most regal Fairy Tale attire on Friday the 18th.
We can’t wait to see all of our beautiful and dashing Princesses, Princes, Knights, and maybe even some frogs!
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s our ACU Superheroes in training! This week our super little ones will be creating their very own superhero costumes while learning the real meaning behind being a superhero: helping others, using manners, and being a good friend. Help dress your superhero up on Friday for our Superhero Day!
We will also be collecting donations for the Layla’s Dream Foundation. Five year old Layla was granted her angel wings following a sudden illness. “Layla’s Dream” was created as a way to honor her and all the things she loved. Any money raised will go directly towards bringing joy and a little hope to those going through difficult times at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Thank you for being a super hero and helping this great cause!