Celebrate Labor Day with the When I Grow Up Personalized Storybook
Labor Day does not only mark the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. It is also an important national holiday that honors workers from all different fields. Turn this Labor Day into an informal career day with your kids and explore the age-old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Imagine Away
Daydream about exciting career possibilities with the personalized FreckleboxWhen I Grow Up book. Read the book out loud, look at the vivid pictures and ask your child questions about what his or her perfect job would be. Do you want to travel to faraway places? Pilot, journalist or scientist. Do you love helping people? Doctor, teacher or counselor. Are you an animal-lover? Veterinarian, zookeeper or animal trainer. Are you an artist at heart? Painter, actor or writer. What will it be?
Visualize It
Now that you’ve been fantasizing about dream jobs, put your ideas down on paper to make them more realistic. Take out paper, crayons or colored pencils and draw yourself in your ideal profession (moms and dads, you can do this right along with your kids if you like!). What would you wear? Where would you work? Who or what would you work with? Add as many details to the scene as you can.
You can also create a visual representation of your career by making a collage. Flip through a stack of old magazines and cut out pictures or words that relate to the job you’ve chosen. Overlap them any way you like and glue them onto construction paper. Voila, inspiring art!
Act it Out
Play a career-inspired game of charades for career day. Brainstorm a list of different professions and write them down on small slips of paper. Mix them all up in a hat and take turns picking slips out and acting them out without using words. A few ideas to start you off:
- Chef
- Carpenter
- Doctor
- Musician
- TV Reporter
- Photographer
- Astronaut
- Librarian
- Police officer
- Teacher
- Artist
- President
- Farmer
- Fireman
Take a Field Trip
Experience is the best teacher, so go see careers in action. Set up a short field trip to visit the workplace of a job your child finds interesting. Get a tour of the local fire station and try on the firefighters’ gear, slide down the pole and maybe even ride in the truck. Visit an animal hospital or shelter and play with some critters and watch a simple procedure. Check out a computer programming lab and see the work that goes into making important technology.
Have a great Labor Day and career day celebration!
