Someday We Will: Activities Page
Welcome to the Someday We Will activities page. The book highlights all sorts of activities that can be done together, such as swimming, going to the park or museum, flying kites, or even drawing chalk pictures on the sidewalk.
While doing those activities together is fun, waiting to be together is not so fun. To make the waiting, that anticipation, go by a bit faster, here are a few ideas:
1. Start a Someday Jar
Thinking up activities will help pass the time.
A. Find a clean container, one big enough to put your hand in. Write on it “Someday” in bold print. Consider decorating the container with drawings that reflect your someday hopes or cutouts from magazines.
B. Write your own someday activities on a slip of paper, fold it, and place it in the container.
C. When “Someday” arrives, reach in and pull out a slip of paper to discover an activity choice to share together.
2. Calendar Countdown
Like the brother and sister in the story, marking the days off until that special “Someday” arrives helps to count off the time.
A. Either use a household calendar or find one especially set aside for counting down the days.
B. Mark the days with an “X” or stickers or any other special way.
C. Circle the special “Someday” or draw a big happy face or even bright bold stars and exclamation points that say “Yay!”
3. Memory Book
Once that “Someday” arrives, begin collecting memories in a special book. Looking back on times together is another “Someday” activity to share!
A. Find, buy, or create a book with blank pages. Mark the date of the visit on the cover or on the inside.
B. Begin collecting memories from activities shared together, going beyond photographs. Did you go to the beach? Consider gluing some sand on the page or maybe a small shell.
C. Write down a sentence or two that helps remember the day: “Found some shells at the beach!”
I hope you enjoy your “Someday” with your loved ones. Please share your own “Someday” memories, activities, or comments below.
Thanks for stopping by!
TEACHERS!
Here is a ready-to-use classroom lesson plan with Someday We Will. I would absolutely appreciate knowing how the lesson worked for you and your students. Thanks, and enjoy!
Grandparents Day Lesson Plan
Date: observed as the first Sunday after Labor Day
Book: Someday We Will
Author: Pam Webb
www.pam-webb.com
Overview/Purpose
To create awareness that grandparents have a special day of observation, just like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. The lesson is also a means of showing appreciation for elderly people as well as grandparents, which was one of the original intentions of the holiday.
Materials Needed
1. Grandparent theme books such as Someday We Will by Pam Webb
2. Arts and crafts supplies
3. (optional)Recording method (camera or smartphone app such as iMovie)
Verification: Steps to check for student understanding
- Discuss what Grandparents Day is by presenting a brief background (see below)
- Class discussion about grandparents: e.g. special names, if they live nearby or faraway, favorite activities to do together, etc.
- Go over ways how students can show appreciation for grandparents or elderly person (see activity suggestions)
- Students select an activity. Provided work time at educator’s discretion.
- Students can have a show and tell of how effort was received by grandparents.
NOTE: if a student does not have a grandparent, suggest the child think of a surrogate grandparent, such as a neighbor.
Activity Suggestions: Possible activity choices to reinforce the lesson
1. Interview a grandparent or senior citizen
2. Creative rendering expressing feelings for grandparent: e.g. painting, collage, video montage
3. Form a favorites list: e.g. favorite places visited together, favorite movies watched together, favorite meals together
And of course there could be a “Bring a Grandparent to School Day”
Grandparents Day Background
The United States Congress passed legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day in 1978. President Jimmy Carter signed a presidential proclamation and Grandparents Day became a special day of observation. Prior to 1978 two people, Jacob Reingold and Marian McQuade, made special efforts to recognize grandparents.
A speech at the 1961 White House Conference on Aging, inspired Reingold and he established a day to honor grandparents in September of that year. In 1963, Grandparents Day became an official day of honor in New York’s Bronx borough.
Another part of the observance is said to have started with a letter to a president. Russell Capper, a nine-year-old boy, who wrote to President Richard Nixon in 1969, suggested grandparents should have a special day. The president’s secretary, Rose Mary Woods, wrote back:
Dear Russell,
Thank you for your letter to President Nixon. Your suggestion regarding a Grandparents Day is appreciated, but the President ordinarily issues proclamations designating periods for special observance only when a Congressional resolution authorizes him to do so.
With best wishes,
Sincerely,
Rose Mary Woods, Personal Secretary to the President.
From there, in the early 1970s, West Virginian Marian McQuade began her campaign to recognize a day to inspire families to visit elderly members in nursing homes. In 1973, West Virginia’s governor, Arch Moore, established the first Grandparents Day for that state. A few years later it became a national day of honor when President Carter signed the presidential proclamation in 1978, being first celebrated in 1979. President Carter stated in his proclamation that:
The day is a time for grandparents to be celebrated and for them to pass down history and wisdom to younger generations.
The holiday has three official purposes:
1. To honor grandparents
2. To give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children
3. To help children become aware of strength, information and guidance older people can offer
Resource links:
Pam Webb 