Best Day Ever

10/16/2026

🎃🚀 What happens when NASA engineers carve pumpkins?

Let's just say these aren't your average jack-o'-lanterns! 😂

In this awesome video, Mark Rober takes us inside a NASA pumpkin carving contest, where engineers put their creativity and technical skills to work creating some seriously impressive pumpkins—including one with a working LASER! 🤯

It's a fun way to show kids that STEM isn't just about textbooks and experiments. It's about creativity, problem-solving, and bringing wild ideas to life!

🎥 Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxbGGGh5I7M

💡 Keep the learning going! After watching, ask your students: If you had access to all the tools and technology you could imagine, what would YOUR ultimate pumpkin creation look like?

This video is one of the additional resources featured in our Pumpkin Pals Kids' Day Out Lesson Plan, where kids in grades K–5 explore science, art, movement, and more through a full day of pumpkin-themed fun!

🎃 Explore the lesson plan: https://www.bestdayever.fun/lessons/pumpkin-pals/

The fine folks at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory demonstrate why ...

10/13/2026

☀️🎉 GIVEAWAY ALERT! WIN AN ENTIRE SUMMER OF LESSON PLANS! 🎉☀️

What if you could head into next summer with 12 WEEKS of activities already planned? We're giving one lucky organization a full summer of Best Day Ever! Summer Camp Lesson Plans!

🏆 The prize:
🍎 12 weeks of Preschool Summer Camp Lesson Plans (half-day programming) OR
😎 12 weeks of School-Age Summer Camp Lesson Plans (full-day programming for grades K–5)

That's an entire summer of themed activities, STEM learning, crafts, games, and hands-on fun—all planned out for you!

Entering to win is easy! Complete our quick Best Day Ever! Pulse Survey to tell us a little about your program and how you plan activities. Your feedback will help us continue creating resources that meet the needs of child care and out-of-school-time providers.

📅 Enter by November 7, 2026!
🎉 Winner drawn November 10!

👉 Take the survey and enter to win: https://form.jotform.com/262784995320064

Open to out-of-school-time programs throughout the United States. No purchase or previous use of Best Day Ever! required. Limit one entry per organization. See survey for official rules.

10/11/2026

🕷️🎃 PUMPKIN PATCH ADVENTURES AHEAD! 🍂

Pumpkin season is here, and we're turning everyone's favorite fall squash into a whole day of hands-on fun!

Our Pumpkin Pals Kids' Day Out Lesson Plan will have your students:

🎃 Investigating pumpkins through hands-on exploration
⭕ Testing their aim with Pumpkin Ring Toss
🎨 Creating a pumpkin-themed mobile
And more!

From science and art to movement and teamwork, there's plenty of fall fun packed into this one theme!

👉 Explore Pumpkin Pals: https://www.bestdayever.fun/lessons/pumpkin-pals/

10/09/2026

Can you turn your classroom or hallway into a giant web?

Our Spider Web Obstacle Course gets kids crawling, climbing, rolling, stepping, and problem-solving their way through the web—and it's easy to create with supplies you may already have!

Try one or combine several:
🕸️ Stretch masking tape across a hallway and have kids carefully crawl through.
🧶 String yarn between chair legs about a foot off the ground and challenge kids to roll underneath without touching it.
🚪 Tape strands of yarn across a doorway and see if kids can carefully step between them to reach the other side.
🧡 Create a crepe-paper web between walls or poles that kids have to crawl and climb through without tearing it.

Touch the web? Back to the end of the line to try again! 🕷️

Once they've mastered your course, let the kids get creative and add obstacles of their own. How many ways can they crawl, run, walk, jump, hop, skip, or slide through?

This creepy-crawly movement challenge is one of five activities in our Spectacular Spiders After School Lesson Plan!

👉 Find the complete week: https://tinyurl.com/y8kfwpjz

10/07/2026

🕷️📚 Spiders have crawled their way into some pretty famous stories!

They might give us the creeps in real life, but on the page (and the screen!), spiders have been heroes, friends, nursery-rhyme stars—and even superheroes.

🕸️ Charlotte uses her web to save a friend.
🍑 Miss Spider joins James on one very unusual adventure.
🎵 The Itsy Bitsy Spider refuses to give up.
🦸 And Spider-Man has been swinging through stories for generations!

Literature can be a fun way to build on a spider theme, especially during spooky season. Pair a spider-themed read-aloud with a craft, science investigation, or one of the activities in our Spectacular Spiders After School Lesson Plan.

📚 What other famous literary spiders would you add to our list?

10/05/2026

🕷️ Creepy crawlies can be so cool!

With spooky season upon us, it’s the perfect time to take a closer look at one of nature’s most fascinating creatures: spiders! 🕸️

During this themed week, kids will:
🕷️ Design their own spiders
🎨 Paint one-of-a-kind spider webs
🌍 Discover spiders found in South Africa
🕸️ Race through a spider web obstacle course
🔬 Explore science, art, geography, and more!

Get creepy AND creative in your after school program this October!

👉 Explore Spectacular Spiders: https://tinyurl.com/y8kfwpjz

10/03/2026

🍂🔬 What’s the science behind fall?

Why do leaves change color? What happens to plants and animals as the seasons change? There’s a lot more happening outside this time of year than just cooler temperatures and colorful trees!

This SciShow Kids compilation explores the science of fall in a fun, kid-friendly way—making it a great companion resource for our Fall Frenzy Kids’ Day Out Lesson Plan.

🎥 Watch The Science of Fall:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB2DiiAOpCg

Then head outside and see how many signs of the changing season your kids can spot for themselves! 🍁👀

The leaves are falling from the trees and the air is getting chilly...

09/30/2026

🍂🌳 What would YOUR favorite fall tree look like?

There are no wrong answers in this activity! Create Your Own Autumn Tree gives kids the freedom to imagine an autumn tree that's completely their own.

It's easy to try:
🎨 Draw a tree using any colors, shapes, or style you like.
🍂 Crumple or shape pieces of colorful tissue paper and glue them on for leaves.
✏️ “Carve” your name into the trunk with a pencil or marker.
🌳 Then give your tree some personality! Name it and add any extra details that make it one-of-a-kind.

The same basic materials can lead to completely different creations—and that's the fun of it!

🍁 Create Your Own Tree is one of the activities featured in our Fall Frenzy Kids' Day Out Lesson Plan for grades K–5.

👉 Find the complete plan: https://tinyurl.com/4uajh8t9

09/28/2026

🍂 Fall is officially here—so let’s make a day of it!

When school is closed but your program is open, Fall Frenzy turns the colors and changes of autumn into a full day of hands-on learning for kids in grades K–5.

Throughout the day, students will:
🍁 Discover why leaves change color
🎨 Create colorful fall scenes
🐦 Build a bird feeder from everyday materials
🔬 Explore the science happening all around them
✨ Learn, create, and investigate through seasonal activities

It’s science, art, creativity, and exploration all wrapped up in one ready-to-use fall theme!

👉 Explore Fall Frenzy: https://tinyurl.com/4uajh8t9

09/25/2026

🍎🧶 Try this easy apple-season craft!

With a little cardboard, yarn, and a twig, kids can create their own colorful yarn-wrapped apples!

You'll need:
🍎 Cardboard
🧶 Yarn
✂️ Scissors
🌿 Small twigs
💚 Green paper
🧴 Glue
✏️ Pencil or marker

How to make it:
1️⃣ Trace an apple shape onto cardboard and cut it out.
2️⃣ Choose a long piece of yarn in any color. Hold one end against the back of the cardboard and begin wrapping!
3️⃣ Wrap the yarn around the apple in all different directions, working to cover as much of the cardboard as possible.
4️⃣ When you reach the end, tuck it underneath the wrapped yarn and secure it with a dot of glue.
5️⃣ Glue a tiny twig to the top for a stem.
6️⃣ Draw and cut out a green paper leaf, glue it in place, and your apple is complete! 🍏✨

Along with making a fun fall decoration, all that wrapping, positioning, cutting, and tucking gives kids plenty of opportunities to practice fine-motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

🧶 This is one of five activities in our Apples, Apples Everywhere! After School Lesson Plan.

👉 Find the complete week: https://tinyurl.com/5n8nseh2