Karen's Clan

Unless you manage to stick your head in the sand for the next few weeks, you're going to be hard pressed not to notice the rugby fervor around as the World Cup kicks off this weekend! I am not really a rugby fan, but Braveheart is, so I figured I needed to find some things to keep myself and the kids amused! We had a blast with making games and coloring in things around the Soccer World Cup, so I thought I'd pull together some links for you to use over the next few weeks. If you're a little clueless about the RWC I suggest heading over here first and reading these fact sheets!

World Cups are wonderful tools for teaching kids about other countries and cultures, time zones, customs, map work, music (national anthems), national dress, other languages. I could go on, the list really is endless!  But to whet your appetite, let me get you started:

• Explore lovely New Zealand to get the lay of the land...

• Listen to Hayley Westenra sing the official RWC anthem over here (scroll down to where it says "listen to the World In Union")...
• Download this KidZone Fun Pack from the official world cup site (a PDF) packed with countries, flags, emblems, secret messages, designing your own mascot, bingo, word searches - fun galore! TIP - print 4 of each flag and make "go fish" cards, or 2 of each and play memory games (each player picks up two cards at a time whilst they are face down to find a matching pair). 

• I liked the look of these Student Activity Sheets too - 

• These Ruggerbee Colouring In Sheets (also a PDF) look like they can entertain for hours whilst kids find out the colors needed for the flags the cartoon characters are holding AND the colors of the team kit!

• I also downloaded the activity book for years 1-3, but I can't say I was as impressed as I was with the other resources available. Still, go on over here  if you wish to download one for other age groups.
• For those of you with computer savvy kids you might like to set them this challenge from Interface Magazine (methinks senior primary children or older).
• I loved these links to RWC activities over at Primary Resources: flag symmetry, scoring (wonderful maths ideas springing to mind!), stadium capacity for comparing and contrasting, oral presentations...
• The Wicked site has a showcase for the 'Hot Topic' of the RWC - lovely rabbit trails to follow, especially the one about the haka!