[N2Teaching]

I need some ideas for either a picnic theme or a camping theme. I currently have an "Under the Sea" room (1st grade) ... and would like to do one of the two next year. Thanks so much for your ideas!!!!

I thought about having a picnic table for the reading area ... maybe have books inside picnic baskets. ????

N2Teaching

[Ms. Teacher]

Would you have the room for a picnic table?! That would be fun - if you couldn't do that, you could ge a tablecloth that the students could put on floor and sit around. Then you could fold it up when not in use. Having books in baskets would be a good way to keep them in their genres or reading levels. If you go with the camping theme, you could get a little pup tent for a corner and let kids go in with flashlights to read! With either, you could get a nature tape and play it in the background. You could have an ant farm, a class lizard in an aquarium, or little statues if you don't want living creatures. You could ask parents to provide nets to go catch bugs outside & identify them then feed to lizard or release. Collect leaves to identify & identify animals that you would see in your area when camping or picnicing. Plan a real picnic and if you dare - camp in your classroom one night!

[camp823]

My last name is Camp, so I did a camping theme. I made my classroom door entrance into a log cabin with a sign that said "Camping out in Fourth Grade". I have a wall to display students' work that says "S'more good work" I made trees on my walls inside my classroom. I have a Geome'tree', a Poe'tree' and a Chemis'tree'.
You could still use your picnic table, although it would be hard to write on the top if it is made out of planks of wood. You could also use old coolers to put your books in.
Here are some websites I found that were helpful for me.
http://www.smithsroom.com/back_to_school.htm

http://www.geocities.com/campingteac...corations.html

http://www.geocities.com/campingteacher2006/

I purchased a mosquito net the fits over a large tent on ebay. I hung it from my ceiling and threw plastic bugs on top of it. The kids loved it