fizzy ice fun in the classroom

 

Back in May we had some seriously hot weather for our town. The kiddos got a bit lethargic and so I brought out a class favorite and added a bit of ice to the mix.

 The kiddos love mixing colors and experimenting with baking soda and vinegar. They spent about 30 minutes noodling around. We began with ice cubes and watercolor and then a couple of drops of vinegar was added along with a smattering of baking soda. There were a lot of Oooooohs and Aaaaaaahs.

They become so involved they don't even complain about the scent of the vinegar. They were also completely happy with their first color choice and did not ask for other colors like they usually do. Yay for science!

investigating plants and flowers

This project and center came about when we were studying plants, flowers, and sequencing. You can see that our sunflowers had begun sprouting in their egg cartons. The children were really excited about that and it gave us an opportunity to talk about the parts of a plant. I had previously left the sprouts out so that my co-teachers could help me keep and eye out and water them when I was not there. By co-teachers, I mean we share a room. There are three of us in the room and three separate classes. Two of our classes run with the same themes and book titles while the third is a camp class of sorts and is always full of fun happenings. Our Friday teacher set this up on our science table thinking we would like to do this with our kiddos as well and she was totally right. Since it was also our week of A Rainbow of My Own, I swapped out the trays or rainbow colors and added our polka tray in the center to hold the parts. I brought in flowers from my garden at home and culled from the leftover plants we had from the previous week and set them out to for the kiddos to explore.

We talked about the parts of the plants and went through the various names as each child selected something from the polka dot tray. On our tray, was an assortment of the renegade bean plants that sprout when we "accidentally" leave black beans in the sand box after sensory play. One of the kiddos totally made the connection and insisted on going outside to harvest the remaining plants. Of course this led to others wanting to plant more so out came the tub of black beans as the children carefully planted them in our sandbox.

shaving cream prints and shaving cream play

Forget the idea of marbling....the children in my class preferred to experiment with the paint and the shaving cream. It was available all day and a popular center, I think all of one print was actually made...two if you count the one I did.There were jars of liquid watercolor and eyedroppers scattered about. We talked about warm colors and cool colors and the children chose to have one tray of warm colors and one tray of cool colors. They were focused and intent on making sure their trays remained warm or cool. Fingers dipped into the shaving cream along with plastic spoons and measuring cups. At one point the paintbrushes came out and the children attempted to paint on top of the shaving cream. A glass of water was requested when they realized the cream would stick to their brush.  For making prints, the children dropped bits of color on top of the shaving cream then used the end of a paintbrush to swirl the colors a bit. Next a piece of paper was placed gently on top. Once the paper was removed the children noticed how completely covered with shaving cream it was. Small scraps of sturdy cardboard were used to scrape the shaving cream away revealing the marbled print underneath. It was a joyfully loud morning of investigation and experimentation.

drippy icicle paintings

For our week of Snow, even though we live in a town that does not experience snow, we leaped into the idea of snow. All of the children in the class have experienced snow so it went a bit easier in my mind to talk about snow in context with their experiences. I however have not had much experience with snow. I know what it is and I have walked across the snow that remains on the side of the road up in Sequioa National Park and I once spent a morning in Idyllwild when the ground was blanketed in the icy goodness. It was fun all the same. From songs of snow, pretend snowball fights, and snow play dough we really embraced it. Here is a project I did with the children when we were talking about gravity and gravitational pull (thank you shout out to an awesome toddler teacher I once got to work with who taught me this project).

I did a demo first to explain the steps for the children. This was not a free for all art project. I don't even have photos of the finished pieces as the children took them home that very day. We talked about ice and icicles and how they form. As we talked about our ideas of icicles, I drew a line at the top of my paper and explained that we would use gravity to create our gluey icicles.

I wish I had used our boring newsprint instead of the purple paper I used because when I asked the children what color paper they wanted they all wanted to use purple as well. Not a bad thing at all but wonder if had I used the newsprint would they have wanted that as well? When you do this project, use an oversized sheet of construction paper if you have it and fold it in half keeping the crease at the top. This will make the project a bit more sturdy. You may even want to use cardboard and have the children paint their cardboard ahead of time. Ooh, I might do that next year! Have your kiddo draw their glue line near the top. It's their project so try not to correct where they think the top of their paper is. This is a good tool for gauging whether or not your kiddo understands locations...IN, OUT, TOP, BOTTOM, ETC.

After they draw their glue line, have them stand their paper up and let gravity do the work. There will be some dialogue which will invite inquiry and more for discussion. Some of the children had great long lines dripping down their paper while others did not. One of the children figured out how much glue you drew determined your icicle lengths. See? Cause and effect, Awesome!

 

Next up came the sprinkling of salt and glitter...of course. Each child got their own wee bowl of salt mixed with a hefty does of glitter in their choice of color from silver, iridescent, pink, blue, and/or purple. We used our pinching fingers to sprinkle the glitter across the page.

Some of the children chose to draw additional lines and dance with gravity again. It was a lot of fun and the conversations that carried on throughout the day seemed to focus on the wonders of gravity.

clouds in a jar you can drink!

This shaving cream cloud project was all over pinterest a couple of years ago. I pinned it immediately and got to bringing jars to the preschool where the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. As I watched them drip, drop, pour and stir themselves silly I wondered if we could do this as a fun drinkable concoction.

Turns out, you can! Here's what you need to make your drinkable clouds in a jar:

*clear empty drinking glass

*clear sparkling water or lemon lime soda

*canned whipped topping

*powdered drink mix in two primary colors (or juice)

*1/2 cup of sugar (if using powdered drink mix)

*1/2 cup of water

*eye dropper

*milk beverage of choice (optional) 

*happy straw

To set up this project, fill your clear glass about 3/4 full with soda water or lemon lime soda. We used an empty almond butter jar and soda water.*

Empty contents of powdered drink mix into separate containers. Add 1/4 cup sugar to each and 1/4 cup of water. Mix until all powdery bits are dissolved. If you are using a pre-sweetened drink mix, omit the sugar. You can also use sno-cone syrup, unfrozen otter pops, or  juice.  If using juice, use two colors that will mix up fun colors. Gatorade could work as well. This is a fun science play project and not even close to being healthy so have fun with it. Just make sure to use small glasses so your kiddos are not too sugared up.

Top off jar with whipped topping and hand your kiddo an eye-dropper. You can find eye-droppers at your local drug store in the pharmacy section. Ours came from American Science Surplus and are glass. Drugstores usually carry larger droppers made of plastic which are easier for small hands to handle. Your kiddos can use the droppers to transfer the juice to the top of the cream. The weight of the juice will sink through the cream and create nifty spirals of color in the soda.

If your colors are deep enough and different enough, your child can see some fun color mixing in the works. After they have had their fill, have them add a little of their favorite milk beverage and you have created a happy creamy drink!

So there ya go, a little bit of mixing, a little bit of science, a little bit of fun, and a lot of tastiness!

*I would recommend using a lemon lime soda or clear lemonade instead of sparkling water as it took a LOT of juice to flavor the concoction.

now you see it now you don't, now you see it again...

Need a quick project to amuse the wee ones? Put together a (tiny) batch of magical disappearing "ink" and let the fun begin.

What you need:
*baking soda
*water
*shallow dish or jar lid
*white paper
*paint brush
*grape juice

scrumdilly-do it!

This recipe is not as full proof as as a good batch of traditional invisible ink but it also doesn't require any flames or heat. It has a bit of wow power and you can whip it up in a moments notice. Just know that some kids won't be dazzled...you know the type, the ones who can perform their own magic tricks and the ones who know exactly why the sky is blue? For those kidlets, let them do their own experimentation. Science is always a cool thing.Gather your supplies and set up as you would for any painting project.

Add a tablespoon or so if baking soda to your lid or dish and cap off with water. A little goes a long way.Have your wee one paint up their paper however they choose. They can practice their letters, draw a picture or decorate their paper with shapes and such. The heavier the paper you use, the more "sticking" power your ink will have. Explain that they are painting with magic ink or invisible paint. Ask them if they can see the paint as they work with it. Engage in the process and follow their cues.Once they are finished, set aide the paper to dry. Set up a kitchen timer and ask them to guess how long it will take for their pictures to "disappear".Once dry, set up a new dish with a small amount of purple grape juice. Talk about their invisible drawings and ask them if they can guess what will happen when you add the grape juice to the mix. Have your kidlet paint over their pictures with the grape juice. The baking soda paint will turn green when it reacts to the grape juice (It's because of the acidity in the two).Make sure your kidlets use their grape juice lightly. The more they paint with the grape juice, the quicker the baking soda will dissolve and the paper will become a green mess. You can help curb any disappointment by telling them the ink will disappear, reappear and disappear all over again.

Check out more recipes here.

Fun with sidewalk chalk

Sidewalk chalk is usually always a good time. I keep a bucket in my car for leaving notes to friends or writing surprise messages on the sidewalk. I have to admit I haven't done the surprise message in awhile but I do write birthday messages for my neighbors still.

When the bushee boy gets restless I pull out the chalk. He's really getting into the motion of drawing and his movements have switched from broad strokes to specific shapes. It is very exciting to watch! What am I going to do when they move away? Here's a twist on sidewalk chalk that I think most kidlets will enjoy. You can even do this on a summery rainy day!

What you need:

*sidewalk chalk

*bowl or other unbreakable container

*water to cover chalk

* a cup of sugar

*wet sidewalk, rocks, any surface that is okay to draw on, large sheets of dark paper.

scrumdilly-do it!

The chalk looks best if it gets a chance to soak, so if you can, do this the day before and/or keep the chalk stored in a container of sugar water. Add your chalk to your container and enough water to submerge. Dump about a cup of sugar into the water and watch the bubbles come to the surface just because it is fun! Set aside and let sit overnight or a few hours. Soaked chalk changes its texture and the sugar amps up the color a bit while keeping the texture semi smudge proof.

Head outside and pour a small bucket of water onto the sidewalk/pavement you are going to use. Set out the chalk and let your kidlets have a field day! You can do this on a dry sidewalk but the darker the workspace, the brighter the colors.

The wet chalk has a super nifty texture and will work on all sorts of surfaces.

A pinecone or a rock.

The best part is it can easily be hosed off! Adds some large paint brushes or sponges to see what happens when you blend the colors. Have fun and don't forget to let your kidlets experiment!

This also works great as body paint, keep away from eyes just to be safe.

Make your own sidewalk chalk