by R. Renee Bembry

Created on: October 18, 2007

Children can learn lifelong lessons from activities engaging both physical and mental skills -activities that exercise their brains and their bodies simultaneously. The amount of mental and physical exercise attained in the process will depend on the chosen activity and the degree of effort exerted to complete the activity.

Considering the fact that long-term activities requiring regular follow-ups add another dimension of discipline to physical and mental skill activities, the activities listed below are intended to include additional discipline criteria.

Identify And Describe Plants in Student's Yard: Students learn about plants, preferably in budding stages, indigenous to their place of residence. They photograph or draw pictures of a few identified plants two or three times a week to document changes in the plants' appearances. Each time a photo is taken, or a drawing is sketched, the students make notes regarding the weather, time of day, and how students think weather and time impact the plants. If budding plants are not available in your yard, flowering plants that open and close, like morning glories, African daisies, and lilies, will do just as well. Examples of budding plants that may grow in your yard are tulips, roses, and sweet peas.

Take a Nature Walk in Preparation for Writing a Haiku Poem: Traditional haiku poetry relates to nature or the four seasons. Have students explore any and everything nature from the ground to the sky observing all they can about the natural world around them. They should have paper and a writing mechanism so they can take notes of anything that interests them for whatever reason. Haiku poems should be written immediately upon the return home while memories are fresh in the students' minds.

Learn to Play Drums: Playing a set of drums requires constant physical action. Reading musical notation exercises your mental skills. Learning any instrument will involve physical and mental skills, however, not the physical degree of drums. Although only one person at a time may sit and play a complete set of drums, family members can take turns for this activity.

Make a Cake or Pie from Scratch: Removing a powdery mix from a box, adding eggs, water, and oil, then beating it by hand with a mixer for a couple of minutes doesn't come close to measuring and sifting flour, measuring salt, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and whatever flavored ingredients you choose to add to a cake like chocolate, lemon, and apricot. A student will learn

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