New Year's-Inspired Experiential Learning Activities

YES! Winter break is upon us (many of us), the holidays are in full-effect, and you want to spend this break, well, taking a break! This is a great time to spend time with family and friends, reflect (blog-post about reflection on the horizon), and practice self-care, so that you can head back to teaching with renewed energy and spirit! Don't spend this break planning learning activities. Take that badly needed break, and use these quick, low-prep, New Year's-inspired learning activities when you return to reality. 

Each of the New Year's-inspired activities included here could be implemented on your own; you can organize the experiences yourself. If you're looking for guidance or ready-made resources to implement these same activities, click on the activity link included to get to Experiential Learning Depot resources. 

10 New Year's Inspired Experiential Learning Activities

1) Set Goals Through Artistic Expression

My students are hands-on learners. That is why they end up coming to me, because they thrive in an experiential learning environment. One of the first activities I give my students after the break is a hands-on way to reflect on the year and make goals for the new year. PBL Maker Challenge: Goals Through Artistic Expression asks students to set goals and illustrate those goals artistically. They create an art piece with visuals that symbolize or represent their goals. This maker activity mixes things up a bit and really gets learners thinking about what they want and where they're headed this year. The final product can be displayed in a place that provides a consistent reminder. 

2) Community Action Projects

A popular New Year's resolution or goal for the new year is to give back. Community action projects give students an opportunity to play an active role in giving back to the community. They choose an issue that they are passionate about, explore ways to make an impact, design their project, and take action. Head to Experiential Learning Depot on TpT for my community action project guide. 

3) New Year's Inquiry Bingo

This resource is brand new! My inquiry bingo resource is a game best suited for middle and high schoolers that encourages inquiry. Students investigate a series of questions that cannot be answered with one simple Google Search. Finding the answer to each question requires research skills, teamwork, communication, critical thinking, problem-solving and more. This activity helps learners practice finding credible and accurate information through a variety of avenues. This particular inquiry bingo is based on a New Year's theme. 

4) Dinner Party on a Budget

Although the holiday season is wrapping up, "planning" a New Year's themed dinner party on a budget (hypothetical) would not only be a lot of fun, but would be an important learning experience. One of the most common New Year's resolutions centers around personal finance. This activity is a great way to learn some important lessons about saving and budgeting. 

5) Learn a New Skill

This is a GREAT project-based learning experience for educators and/or students that are new to PBL. This project is a good way to introduce project-based learning into your teaching repertoire. The new year is a great time to start fresh and try something new. Educators, maybe  project-based learning is your "something new" this year. And your students can kick of the new year by learning a new skill!

6) New Year's Themed Student-Led Project-Based Learning

Well that's a mouth full! What I do with my students is child-led project-based learning. Learners choose the topic, method of gathering information, community experts, final product, community impact plan, authentic presentation plan, and can even generate their own rubrics that reflect their personal skills, goals, interests, etc. Transitioning to student-directed learning can be a challenge, as many students are accustomed to learning experiences that are designed for them. If you are interested in making the transition, use my Project-Based Learning Tool Kit to make the change much easier. Start the process by asking students to do New Year's-themed projects. They will design their own project around a subtopic of their choosing related to New Year's (history, research studies, cultural traditions, etc.)

7) History Through Artistic Expression

This is a another PBL project, and this is one of my students' favorites. Learners recreate a historical photo of their choosing. The resource, as it is written, is wide-open as far as topics go. Students can choose ANY photo from history. However, honing in on a theme, such as New Year's will make that choice a little less overwhelming, especially for those that are new to PBL. Ask students to choose a historical photo from New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. For guiding materials click on History Through Artistic Expression. 

8) Behind the Scenes of a Community Event

This is another student favorite. It may be a little late in the season to get rolling on such an experience, but the gist of this project is that students choose one community event to help organize. Students go behind the scenes to help coordinate the event, or even shadow. The purpose is to invest time and energy in their own communities as well as to understand how these events come to fruition and the enormous amount of work that is involved. You could assign this project to students specifically for events going on in the community ON New Year's or to celebrate the new year. Click on Project-Based Learning: Behind the Scenes of a Community Event.

9) Current Events

This is a good learning experience to start after break. Students can research current events from New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. Once they have honed in on a current event of interest, they can design their student-led PBL project. Click on Project-Based Learning: Current Events for a guiding resource from Experiential Learning Depot. 

10) 21st-Century Skills Portfolio

This project is the essence of Experiential Learning Depot. Students gain content knowledge, 21st-century skills, and social-emotional skills with this activity. They also build their resumes. Students organize authentic experiences that help them build elemental 21st-century skills, they reflect on those experiences, and they document the experiences in a portfolio that can be shared with employers, college admissions counselors, etc. Post-New Year's is a great time to start building a 21st-century portfolio. Students will be thinking about the past year and the year ahead. This project is a great way for seniors to harness the skills they will need in the coming year.

I also encourage you to check out last weeks blog post for after-break STEM activities, winter-inspired! Click on the STEM link under archives to take a peak. 

Thanks for stopping by. Have a GREAT winter break, and remember to take care of yourself! Recuperate! You deserve it. Happy New Year!

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