Sandwich Bag Science for Kids

Keep kids cool in the warm weather with this simple and fun project we like to call, Sandwich Bag Science!
We like to do it in groups of three or four with the kids holding the bags up over their head. On a nice hot day I like to have them 'hypothesize' what they think could possibly happen before, during, and after we finish.

Here is what you'll need for your groups:

• Sandwich bags (one per group)
• Rubber bands (for tying bags)
• Water
• Sharp pencils (plenty of them)

Thank to Scribbit for the pix and inspiration

Procedure: I tell the children as little as possible about the project. I have them fill the bags with water, tie them with a rubber band and get in groups with plenty of pencils. What I will ask them is what will happen if they poke a pencil through the bag. How many times could they do it, etc. The children often marvel that the bag could be pierced in the first place. I only have one rule during the project. The kids must hold the baggie up over their head as they work.
At the end of the project I will often tell the children to double check and count how many pencils they got into their bags by taking them out of the baggies and doing a re-count. That's usually when the squeals begin!
It gets them every time....
Ah...my favorite part.

Homemade Kids Math Activities

I try to never fight a child's natural inclination towards nature. By playing into their natural curiosity it has made for wonderful and economic classroom materials. Kids math activities don't have to be expensive. I have always loved bringing as much nature into the classroom as possible!

Materials You Will Need:

1. Polished Rocks
2. White Paint Pen
3. Small bags or simple plastic containers

Note: I personally like to purchase small individual bags for the children to have as group math activities. There is something about having materials of their own to use. It was just so economical I couldn't resist! OF course it can also be made as a wonderful  shared math activity, as well.

Rock Dominoes @ marthastewart.com

Here is How to Make Homemade Kids Math Activities From Rocks:

The Process: Draw numbers and  the matching specific numbers of dots on each of the rocks. The Paint Pen allows for plenty of fingers handling it as well as occasional touch ups once the math has been loved off of it. I usually put numbers on one side and the corresponding dots on the other.

The Procedure: Once they have dried, place them all in mini bags for the math activities!

We found some other creative links for rock activities such as Mod Podge Rocks! 'Love Rocks' by Amy. Brilliant and great for matching and serration!

There are so many great ways to make children's math activities.
What ways are you Recession Chic in your classroom?



Language Development Activities for Preschoolers

We are all about affordable learning materials in our preschool classroom. "I Spy" bottles are the perfect creation and can be used in so many different ways! Language Development can be hands on and exciting for kids! Here are just a few ways we use these bottles with our preschoolers.

Easy Hands On Language Development Activities:
For Circle Time Activities: Have an "I Spy" Bottle for each child in the class. Challenge them to find specific objects in them as a group and call them out as they find them. Our preschooler call it bottle bingo.

Table Top Activities: Have pictures of the objects taped to the table and have the children find and match the objects in the "I Spy" bottles as they find them. We like to have the children tell us a story about their favorite objects and we take dictation.
Alphabet Recognition: We cut out letters of the alphabet on pieces of paper and challenge the children to find the letters or spell their own name!
Color Recognition: Use colorful beads and have the children name and find their favorite colors.

Tips: Be sure to glue the bottles sealed. Preschoolers are very tempted to open them. Be sure to get creative! Make it a class project by making them with the children! Materials like sand, water or Karo's syrup are great substitutes for rice! Themed "I Spy" bottles are a great and inexpensive addition to any curriculum!

How would you utilize these bottles as language development activities?

How Do I Keep Preschoolers Occupied on a Rainy Day?

 There are lots of great places for kids to escape the rain in San Francisco, too!

Rain, rain go away come again some other day! You and your preschoolers don't have to be miserable on rainy days. Use the time you have together to get creative, problem solve and use your imaginations!

• Make a home made fort! Use cushions, sheets, chairs and whatever else you can think of to make a comfy fort to play in. Kids love small spaces and love figuring out how to add to them. Deciding what it will be, how you will use it, or how to make it bigger challenges kids to not only use their imagination, but problem solve as well.

• Go Carpet Ice Skating! Move the furniture out of the way and create a space on the carpet. Apply layers of wax paper over kids feet (socks only) and secure it with a rubber band. Play some jazzy kids background  music and let them skate to their hearts delight!  It’s a sure fire way to get those preschool wiggles out.

• How about a providing a soothing art activity? Have your preschoolers make their own watercolors by adding a few drops of food coloring from the kitchen or by dying the water by tearing colored tissue paper in cups of water. You and your children are now blending together your own custom colors! Playing some nice classical music in the background really sets a relaxing mood.

• Get their learning on with fun math activities! Set out small plastic bowls together and gather groups small objects such a pennies, paper clips, marbles, raw beans, etc. Challenge your children to sort, count, add and subtract in the bowls!

• Have a flashlight scavenger hunt! Make a nice long list of hidden things for the kids to look for. Now hide specific objects in the room and dim the lights. Let your preschoolers look for the objects by spying them out with a flashlight!

• Make a simple model sail boat out of a nutshell, Styrofoam or wood. Your preschoolers would love to sail them in all those wonderful puddles!

• A have a puppet show! Use puppets you already have on hand or color your characters on paper bags a set your stage behind a small overturned table or two chairs draped with a blanket.

• Do some Rain Art. The rain can make it’s own watery art as well! Have your children freely color a white piece of paper with markers (coloring most of the paper). Now place the art on the underside of a cookie sheet and set it out in the rain. Depending on how long you leave the art outside will determine what it looks like. When you bring it inside be sure to let it dry thoroughly before picking it up. The rain allows for those beautiful colors to all run together creating your  Rain Art Master Piece!

• Make Hot Chocolate. It’s great to warm chilly little fingers and toes! Get creative and have them add some special ingredients like marshmallows or cinnamon.

• Do you have a large group of children to entertain? How about a game of Bouncing Balloon Volley Ball? Clear a space and divide the room with a length of colorful yarn between two stable chairs. Have kids keep their hands on the ground and move about only using their socked feet to kick the balloon! It’s guaranteed to bring giggles and loads of fun!

Pix from The Natural Learning Community

• How about a nice walk in the rain? Grab your boots and umbrella and enjoy the fresh air and see what you can explore together outside.

• We create a separate schedule aside from our normal one specifically for rainy days. We use it for days where we may be thrown off schedule because of a field trip, classroom visitors, or coming back from long holidays. We allow for as much structured outside time as possible as well as dividing the children into separate groups for outside time. A small group taking turns to go sloshing in a light rain for 15 minutes is easier than a whole group chomping at the bit for missed outside time.

What types of activities do you like to do on rainy days?

Kids and Board Games With Benefits!

Aside from the “soft” benefits like spending time together as friends or family, traditional board games can teach young children such things as hand-eye coordination, visual perception, letter recognition, color recognition and number/shape recognition. Games can also teach children how to “play by the rules,” how to interact with others and ultimately, how to be a good sport.
For young adults, there are many games that are good for building critical thinking skills. For instance, checkers, chess and some card games require serious thought in order to excel. Computer games can be good for strategic thinking, as well.
Here are four games teachers and parents might explore to build financial skills and mental agility...

Kids and Board Games with Benefits:
Life
The latest version of Life takes players through a thought-provoking simulation of a person’s life from high school through retirement, with jobs, marriage, kids and many other big life decisions to be made along the way.
Payday

Games that get kids thinking about life, money and jobs!

Want to teach kids to make their money last? Consider the game of Payday. Using a 31-day calendar for the board, players try to make their monthly pay check last. Just like the ‘real world’, players have the choice of investing, taking out loans or going for a long-shot gamble – none of which provide any guarantees for success.
Monopoly
The best-selling board game in the world, Monopoly helps young people learn the basics of economics. It provides the opportunity to learn fundamental money concepts and the rewards of wise spending decisions.
Careers
Introduced in 1955, the winner of this classic board game is the player who achieves their life goals the soonest. Before the game begins, each player determines whether they want to pursue fame, money, happiness or a combination of all three. Success in achieving their goal depends on the path they take through the game.

What is your favorite game? Why?

25 Things to Do With Kids This Summer!

 Nothing to do this summer? Don't let it happen to you....use your summer wisely with 25 tips to kick off your creative thinking! Let's see where it takes you!

25 Things to Do With Kids to Kick Start the Summer:
1. Catch fireflies or bugs in a jar, study them and then let them go.
2. Take pictures of the kids having fun and make a scrapbook!
3. Eat watermelon outside, and let the juice run all over the place!
4. Walk in the grass barefoot with the kids.

5. Use lotion, soap, or shampoo that smells like coconuts.

6. Make homemade popsicles in paper cups and eat them on a hot day.
7. Get out the kids' watercolor paints and paint a picture of summer means to you.
8. Collect seashells and save them with some sand in a decorative bowl.
9. Make strawberry shortcake.
10. Make thank you cards for everyone who has helped you out.
11. Eat your favorite summer fruits and berries.
12. Go swimming as a family.
13. Have a water balloon fight.
15. Go for a nature walk along the beach or a wooded path.
16. See the sunrise.
17. Have a picnic.

18. Watch the sunset.
19. Make playdoh.
20. Read a chapter book aloud to your kids.
21. Make homemade ice cream in a Ziploc bag.
22. Sit outside and sip iced tea.
23. Make fresh lemonade.
24 Camp out in a tent in the yard.
25.Make a commitment to learn something new!

Make Matching and Math Games with Buttons

Be sure to check out more button games at Recycled Crafts

I have always had various sizes and shapes of buttons laying around long after the blouses have disappeared. The kids absolutely love playing with left over buttons. Here is a great way to make special tailored matching and math games for kids!

How to Make Games With Buttons For Kids
Materials Needed: Xerox machine, lots of various buttons, Ziploc baggies, paper, markers, small cups or bowl.

Procedure: Arrange 10-12 buttons randomly or in a pattern on the Xerox machine and copy. Number your copy and collect all the buttons in a Ziploc. Be sure to put the matching number on the bag. This way you will know which button bag goes with which paper copy. Keep repeating until you have a desired amount of matching games. You may wish to laminate them!
The Process: Some paper copies you may choose to number with a colorful marker and others you may not. Kids match by shape, texture and size while using fine motor skills! Simply place paper copies in the table with a bowel or the matching buttons and let them go to work! Enjoy and have fun!
Extension: You can also color copy some papers so kids can also match by color. Kids also love tracing buttons to make interesting art! You can challenge them to see how many buttons they can use for a masterpiece!

We are always cautious of the ages and sizes of the buttons we allow the children to play with. Even kids long past the oral stage will put things in their little mouths. Please be sure to keep a watchful eye.

How to Make Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag

Materials Needed for Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag:

1 gallon sized resealable bag,

1 quart sized resealable bag,

1/2 c Milk

1/ 1/2-2 tbsp. sugar,

1tsp. vanilla extract or cocoa powder,

2 trays of ice cubes,

6 tbsp. of salt or rock salt (the more salt the colder it can get)

winter mittens or oven mitts

Optional: fruits, chocolate chips, syrups or added extracts

This makes a small amount of ice cream but kids love it if you would like to make ice cream in a snap! Kids hands may often get tired shaking the bag so it's best to take turns!

What a great way to have fun with math, measuring and pouring! It's a great science activity because it incorporates all the five senses as well!

Have a great time and enjoy!

Making Your Own Watercolors

I love the look of watercolors. It is a very soothing activity for kids to do when they will be indoors and away from the elements. I had often thought of ways to extend on watercolors and finally found a way. I'm sure it's not original but it's a great way for kids of all ages to enjoy art as well as science.

How to make your own watercolors:

Materials: clear plastic cups (mini butter cups will do, too) have at least 3-5 for each child, warm water (it activates color faster) in a pitcher, various shades of colored tissue paper (starting out with red, blue and yellow is best), white paper, thin paint brushes
The Procedure: pour small amounts of water in each cup and allow children to select a few sheets of different shades of tissue paper. Children will need to tear small pieces of tissue and place them in the water.
The Process: The children will see the tissue colors bleed into the water as it creates their watercolors. Mixing various tissue colors in the water will change the colors! When your desired color is reached, you may begin painting.

Some kids never get past the color mixing process. We are always sure to have plenty of water on hand so kids can start over with their colors when they like! This art will produce a bit of texture left over from the tissue. Some kids like the effect but some may choose to pick the tissue of the remaining paper.
What we love about this activity is it stimulates fine motor skills, cognitive thinking, and promotes language development.

What are some things you like about creating your own colors with kids?

Puzzled? In Early Childhood Education....

"What's to puzzle over? Spread your 

wings and let your soul melt into the sky"

~Anonymous 

 

Puzzles come in all shapes and sizes for preschoolers. Good quality puzzles can be purchased at yard sales, consignment or thrift shops, and lending toy libraries.
Children love cutting pictures from magazines to create their own puzzles. Simply mount the pictures on cardboard pieces or popsicle sticks. Homemade puzzles make thoughtful gift ideas, too!

Here are some things children are learning when they work with puzzles:
*Puzzles assist children in recognizing shapes, colors, and symbols
*Strengthens reading and writing skills
*Develops fine motor skills (Pincer grasp) and hand eye coordination
*Helps children recognize how the brain and body work together to solve problems


Tips About Puzzles:
*Puzzles are self correcting; there is usually only one way to do them

*Always make sure all the puzzles have all the pieces to them. Children can be taught to check for this as they put them away
*Teach proper puzzle care and maintenance to your children
*As children master puzzles, challenge them with new ways to do them or new puzzles, too!
*Introduce new puzzles slowly into the learning environment
*Encourage children to work together to solve a frustration puzzle. Coach a child through a puzzle and never simply ‘do’ it for him or her (a sense of completion to solving a problem is very important; even if you leave it be for a time and return to it later)
*Relax and have fun!
What kinds of games do you like to do with puzzles as extensions?

Working with Parents as Partners in Early Childhood Education

“It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to.”

~Annie Gottlier

Creating a sense of community takes time in a preschool environment. I think of it much like building a small city. Everyone has a place and a task….and of course, a temperament.

I really have to spend lots of time getting to know each child as much as I can. Talking with children, doing activities along with the children; math, science and clean up times...everyday routines really do count. One on one bonding can be a difficult task when there are so many little ones at first- but when I spend time investing in the parents and families it makes it much smoother.
This is how I stay connected to families and children:
*I’ll write personal notes on colorful stationary.
*Send home updated questionnaires on changes to foods, allergies, likes and dislikes, usually every 3-6 months (depending on the child)
*Send home humorous anecdotes their child says.
*Thank you notes for having their child come play with us and the wonderful skills I am seeing developing.

I have often seeing that children look to their parents for how to react to school or new situations. Sometimes I spend more time consoling a parent over a situation than a child….and this is necessary for everyone involved, in the end.
I remember one conversation I had with a preschooler while I was working with her mother during her child's preschool transition.
“Ms. Barbra?”
“Yes?”
“I think my mom like for me to go to school now. Yeah.”
“You think so, huh?’
“Yeah-huh, a-cause she didn’t cry in the car today.”
“That sounds sad. Do you like school, though?”
“Yeah-huh, but she really needs to stop crying forever.”
In what ways do you stay connected to young children and families?