Springtime- The (Basic) Science of Rain

With the days of rain we have been experiencing, I thought it was the perfect time to do the cloud activity I have seen posted on Pinterest from a few different places. For this experiment, you will need at least shaving cream, blue colored water, a clear container filled 2/3 with water, and one pipette. We have some extra materials because I planned on transitioning this activity into an art activity, using the pipettes and colored water to color coffee filters and paper towels to make butterflies, but E wasn't into the art portion, so we scrapped that.

We started by talking about how the sky looked, sunny or cloudy, on this rainy day. Once we observed it was cloudy, we made our own cloud of shaving cream on the water already in the clear container. E then used those small motor skills to transfer the blue water (rain) into the cloud. We talked about how clouds are made of water, and how when the clouds get too heavy, it starts to rain.

Eventually, as E continued adding the heavy water to the cloud, it started to rain in the jar. What a simple and fun lesson in weather.

E then added some other colors, just for fun, but became more interested in the shaving cream than anything else, so I gave a her a couple of squirts in the sink, set the rule that shaving cream was not allowed anywhere but in the sink and on her hands, and set her free to play. I eventually added ice cubes to the sink (I cleaned out the ice cube trays to make colored ice cubes with the left over colored water for bath time play) and some water. I guess the butterfly art project will have to happen another day when the shaving cream is out of sight and mind!

Springtime- Matching Cling Activity

I found this great sheet of clings at the dollar store and thought it would be perfect to use to help match the season name with the signs of the season. We first spread out the word clings on the window. Notice the horrible weather outside!

Then, E began pulling the picture clings off of the sheet to group with the words. Since she can't read (yet!), I had to do a lot of reminding about what each season word said, and we had to talk about what we read and about the seasons in the book, as well as discussing our own experiences ("Today is the first day of spring. Could we go out and build a snowman today? Do you remember when we played in the snow? What season does snow happen?).

If I was to do this activity all over again, I would probably talk about each season individually. For example, I would have E pick a word cling, then I would ask E to find the clings that go along with that season. Changing the activity just a little would help to eliminate the challenge of the word clings being confusing for a nonreader. I'm sure we will enjoy these clings over and over.

Springtime- Book and Fishing for Letters

After having a few days away from "formal" activities (instead we were actually outside enjoying the very springtime weather), we were stuck inside when the March downpours arrived! So, we got back on track with the nonfiction book, Every Season by Shelley Rotner and Anne Love Woodhull. It is filled with great photos from each of the four seasons showing popular seasonal activities and how nature looks in each of those seasons.

After reading the book, we moved over to our fishing pond I set up while E was napping. It is a colorful beach towel covered with the magnetic letters needed to spell each of the four seasons. Also, I put a magnet at the end of the fishing pole so E could use the pole to catch the letters she needed to spell the words from the clings (see next post) she was using to practice her letter identification.

Catching the letters were more difficult than what I anticipated. A lot of the time E was sitting on my lap and we worked through it as a together activity. My advice would be to spread the letters out as much as possible on the pond. It is definitely a great lesson in motor skills and hand-eye coordination!

Also, if you take a peak at the fridge, E made a little pattern of her own with her letters and magnets. It was interesting to see her make the pattern on her own! What a fun rainy day activity!

Springtime- Scavenger Hunt

Pinterest pages have been filled with the great idea of using an egg carton as a place to collect items on a spring scavenger hunt. So, I drew up a sheet of items that I thought we would be able to find on our walk through the park. I went over the items on the sheet (my drawings aren't the best) with E, and off we went to look for: a brown leaf, a rock, a stick, a yellow flower, a feather, a brown weed, green grass, a green leaf, a piece of bark or mulch, berries, a purple flower, and a pine needle.

Going on this walk was a great way to talk about the big ideas of the unit such as the grass growing green, the trees budding, bugs reappearing, etc. I would occasionally review the items on the list when they would come into view. E did a great job of collecting and exploring.We went through an old "barn" at the park, and E paused for a pic by the fence. Spring is definitely in the air in this pic!
Here E is getting a brown leaf to put into her egg carton from a tree that didn't drop its leaves the fall before. By the end of the walk, we found 10 of 12 items, and we had a great time in the process!

Springtime- Sensory Bin

Over the last couple of weeks, our family has been hit with a few minor illnesses that have lead to a lot of the activities I had planned to finish up The Five Senses Unit on tbeing left on the back burner. And, I realized that I am ready to move on and not try to finish them up, so today, I jumped in with two feet to some prep and activities for our next unit, Springtime! Our weather is supposed to be in the 70s and 80s all week, so I am afraid if I put this off too long, I won't be able to actually do the spring activities I want to do in conjunction with this unit such as planting our seedlings for our garden plants, scouting bird nests, paying attention to the return of the bugs, turtles, and other lifeforms absent from the winter, watching the yards and trees green up, etc.

For this sensory bin, I have focused on the idea of planting. The items include: dried split peas, green pasta tubes, green pasta sticks, mini decorator balls covered with moss (all of these items are to represent the greening up of the outdoors), tan felt, coffee beans (to represent dirt), sunflower seeds (to plant), a watering can filled with blue ribbon pieces, a fork and spoon for digging, candy flowers (that E does not know are candy) a magnifying class, a funnel, an embroidery hoop, and a few containers. I can't wait for her to get to play with it!

Fun with Chores! Sock Sorting

E has been helping me do laundry for almost a year now. In our previous home, there was a counter where she was able to stand to help to dump the soap and load clothes into the washing machine. Once we moved and no longer have the counter, her help has been transferring clothes from the washer to the dryer and, more recently, helping to sort her underwear from socks, match her socks together, and put those items into the correct drawers. Since I hate matching socks, I love that she is able to really help! And, it is even a great activity to build those kindergarten readiness skills in the sense that she is looking for patterns, using those small motor skills, and paying attention to the physical properties of her clothes. I know there are probably people out there who think she is too young to be expected to help like this, but if you saw the look on her face when she accomplishes this task, you would be a believer, too!

Filler Activity- Measurement

The materials for this post were the ones we used a couple of activities ago when we were working on texture. When I cut the ribbons, I made sure there there were some the length of a Popsicle stick or shorter and ones longer than the Popsicle stick (which acted as our measuring stick). We started out the activity talking about what longer and shorter meant, and we did a couple of examples together.

Then, I set E free to determine if each ribbon was longer or shorter than the measuring stick. She struggled some with this activity. I think she may have been getting confused if she was supposed to be comparing the length of last ribbon to the one she was measuring instead of always comparing to the stick. This will definitely be a concept we revisit very soon!