Friday, January 29, 2016

Stamping Numbers

Here's a minimal prep number activity that uses stamps. It's similar to one we've done before using stickers. 

Supplies: paper or cardstock, stamps


I cut the cardstock into ten strips and wrote the numbers 1-10 on them. 


The I mixed them all up and laid them out for Monkey with the stamps.


Being my son, Monkey insisted on doing the numbers in order - I mixed them up on purpose for this reason but he wanted to do them the right way. 

As he picked up each strip to stamp, I encouraged him to say the number and then count aloud as he stamped. 


He made one mistake and put five stamps on the number four card, and he was a little upset about it. But we just flipped it over and tried again, and the second time he did it right. Mistakes just mean you are learning, my little Monkey!


He did this activity fairly independently. If we ever did it again, the only change I would make would be to make the strips have a ten frame on them so that Monkey could track how many stamps he had already made a little more easily, especially for the bigger numbers. 

Mar 

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Name Snowman

This activity is a combination of art and name practice. 

Supplies: construction paper, glue, markers, something round to trace 


To get this ready for Monkey, I used the plastic lid to trace some snowballs from the white paper. I made five for the letters in Monkey's name plus one for the snowman's head. 

I also cut out a top hat, eyes, a carrot nose, a mouth, stick arms, and mittens. 


Monkey wasn't interested in cutting anything out, which was okay with me. The purpose of this activity was more on printing his name than on the art.

Monkey grabbed the glue stick and started putting the snowman's face together. 


He named the snowman Olaf, of course, and it was his idea to make the nose stick out straight. Good thinking, Monkey! 


Once the face was finished, we glued the rest of the snowballs together and added the arms and mittens. 


Next, I used a yellow marker to write Monkey's name, one letter on each snowball. I use a yellow marker (or highlighter) instead of doing dots or dashes because I find that it is more helpful to a child to see the whole letter represented. 


Then Monkey used a blue marker to trace over his name. 


Now we've got a beautiful Olaf hanging on the wall!

Mar 

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Snowball Experiment

Monkey and I were playing outside during Peanut's nap yesterday and we discovered that the snow was perfect for making snowballs. I made a big pile for Monkey's 'collection' which he's keeping on our front step, and I made three which I put aside for this experiment. 

I got the idea here: http://www.pleasantestthing.com/kids-science-activity-snow-fun

Supplies: three snowballs, three bowls (fridge and freezer safe)


Monkey and I sat next the snowballs on the floor and I told him we'd be putting one on the counter, one in the fridge, and one in the freezer. Then I asked him what he thought might happen to each snowball. Here's what he said:

Counter: "It's going to melt, Mommy!"
Fridge: "It's going to melt because they never last for long."
Freezer: "It's going to melt because they never last for long, Mommy."

Hmmmm. I think bringing the snowballs inside has him thinking melt, melt, melt. I tried approaching it a few other ways but they all resulted in the same answers. 

It took about three hours for the snowball on the counter to melt. It's hard to tell but the bowl is full of water. 


I asked Monkey what happened to the snowball we left on the counter? "It melted! It didn't last for long. Snowballs are cold."

The snowball in the fridge didn't start to change until it had sat for about 12 hours. Then we noticed it had started to melt. 


This picture was taken more than 24 hours after putting the snowball in the fridge. There is water in the bottom of the bowl. 

I asked Monkey to tell me what he noticed. "It's a little big melty. It's some water and some ice."

Of course, the snowball in the freezer didn't melt at all. 


Monkey said, "That one is still fine." When I asked, why? "Snowballs are cold."

I made sure to describe the counter as warm, the fridge as cold, and the freezer as very cold. Maybe he's not using any amazing science vocabulary, but Monkey definitely noticed that the snowballs changed (or didn't) from when we brought them inside. 

Mar 

Friday, January 22, 2016

Painting a Snowflake

Before Christmas I found this awesome wooden snowflake at the dollar store. If you can't find something similar then paper or cardstock would work well, too. You'd just have to cut out a simple snowflake shape. 

Supplies: blue and white paint, paintbrushes, mixing tray, wooden snowflake


After getting all the supplies set up, Monkey and I mixed up some different shades of blue by adding white to the two colours of blue we already had. 


We talked very generally about how adding white to a colour makes it a lighter shade of that colour. 


Then Monkey was all set! 


I'm not sure exactly why, but I have never seen Monkey so focused on an art task before. He quietly painted until the snowflake was completely covered, using all the different shades of blue that we had made. 


He is so proud of how it turned out. And I'm so proud of his concentration. We'll hang this for the rest of this winter and chances are I'll probably tuck it away for next year, too. 


Mar

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Water Play

Today was a "throw something together for sensory play" sort of day. But it's often the simplest activities that keep Monkey occupied the longest. 

Supplies: bucket of water, various water safe toys 


I grabbed Monkey's rubber ducks and some old measuring cups and spoons. I also have a collection of yogurt containers for water play that my husband drilled holes in the bottom of. 


He made all different patterns using many sizes of drill bits. 


Monkey just loved the containers. 


He spent a long time letting them drain into each other or having races between two full containers to see which would drain first. 


He also made some soup for dinner. 


Monkey did manage to get some water on our hardwood floor. He didn't do it on purpose but that's the nature of water play. I had a small towel close by for him to mop up the water and I kept a close eye on it, too. If you're afraid of a mess, you could always do your water play in the bathtub. 

Mar

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Painting Ice

Monkey always seems really interested in activities that bring the outdoors in - as most preschoolers and kindergarteners are! This one does require some preparation the day before. 


Supplies: container (suitable for the freezer), paint brushes, water colours, baking tray


Last night, I put a few inches of water in the metal bowl and put it in the freezer. Overnight the water froze. 


I ran some hot water on the bottom of the bowl and the ice popped out really easily. I put the circle of ice onto the baking tray so that when it started to melt, the ridge around the tray would stop the water from spilling. Then Monkey was ready to go. 



I thought this was super cool but I'm not sure Monkey was quite as enthusiastic about it as I was. Luckily, it didn't take a lot of work or materials so it isn't really a big deal. And I always wonder what would happen if we tried it again another day?


I had to encourage him to use a variety of colours and to paint all over the ice instead of in just one spot. 

 
It turned out very pretty. We let it melt on the table all afternoon, checking back on it every once in a while until it was just water. But thinking about it now, we should have put it outside because then we could have kept it a little longer. Maybe next time!! 

Mar 

Monday, January 18, 2016

Popsicle Stick Shapes

Here's a quiet, open-ended activity that requires very minimal preparation and can be pulled out quickly to fill a few minutes of spare time. 

Supplies: popsicle sticks, pages of shapes to copy


I printed the pages of popsicle stick shapes here:
...but you could easily draw them, too. 


Monkey decided to make the star first. We counted on the picture how many sticks he would need. Any time you can practice counting with a preschooler, do it! 


Then he wanted to make the tree. Again, we counted how many sticks, this time breaking it down between the trunk and the branches. 


Once the tree was done, Monkey wanted to add ornaments to make it a Christmas tree. We're still a little hung up on Christmas over here, singing carols everyday. Monkey definitely inherited my love of all thing Christmas... So of course I grabbed the wooden squares and he put them on the branches, and he moved the star to the top of the tree, too! 


Next Monkey wanted to build the house. Instead of counting the sticks, this time we talked about the shapes that make up the house. 



Finally, Monkey wanted to try the stairs. I didn't give him much guidance for this one because it wasn't too complicated and I just wanted to watch him work. 


I also printed a page with the alphabet on it in the hopes that maybe Monkey would try to make his name or some letters, but that didn't happen today. Maybe next time!

Mar

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Melting Snow

Today we did a really easy science experiment. It's a good way to introduce the idea of observations and noticing changes, because there is a really big difference between the beginning and the end. 


Supplies: snow, whiteboard marker, clear jar, glass, or dish


I went outside and collected a bowl full of snow. Monkey always loves it when I bring snow inside, probably because it almost never happens! So I had him interested right away. 

I had Monkey fill the glass jar with snow using a spoon. 


While he scooped, I asked him some questions about snow. 

What is snow made out of? "Out of rain."

Why is snow cold? "Because outside is so cold."

What do you think will happen to the snow in the jar? "It will change. It will dry. Because it doesn't belong inside."

I try to ask only open ended questions, which is hard and takes a lot of practice, but I want to hear Monkey's thoughts not guide him with my own. 

Once the jar was full, Monkey used the whiteboard marker and drew a line to mark how high the snow came up in the jar. 


Then I wrote the word snow. 


Then we waited. Monkey checked on the jar every once in a while when he was walking by or if he remembered. After a few hours the snow was completely melted so we talked again. 


What happened to the snow? "It's water."

Where did the water come from? "From the snow. It melted!" 

Then I read what his prediction from earlier had been and asked him if he had been right. We decided he was part right and part not, because the snow certainly changed, but it didn't dry (we think it got even more wet!). 

I tried to talk about how the jar was full of snow but there is only a little bit of water after it melted, but Monkey was not interested. I'm okay with that and I didn't push it because I felt the rest of the experiment was successful, but you could definitely extend the learning here with older children. 

Mar

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Ocean Mural

Last week Monkey finished up his last sea creature for our ocean mural. We've been making all kinds of underwater animals for months now, with the end goal of having them all up on display together. Today was finally the day that we painted the ocean and glued all our creatures together!

Supplies: butcher paper, blue paint, foam roller and mini tray, drop cloth


I knew I had to come up with a way for Monkey to paint the ocean quickly since I wanted it to be pretty big. We used a mini paint roller a few months ago for some work around the house and ever since then I've had my eye on it for this project. Monkey has seen his Daddy using it, so I knew he'd be thrilled to get a chance to use it, too. We also ended up using some extra wall paint that was leftover from Peanut's room, but I would have just bought a big bottle of blue children's paint otherwise. 

I got everything set up for Monkey and crossed my fingers that the drop cloth would contain the mess..


As predicted, he couldn't believe that he was going to use the roller. While it was still clean he was rolling it all over the paper to practice. 

I explained how to use the paint tray and then Monkey got started. 



He started sitting down but wasn't really strong enough to do it that way. He had a little more success standing up, but I did have to help a bit, too. 


Before long we had the whole paper painted blue. 


Well then Monkey had an amazing idea! He told me that we needed to have some sand on the bottom so that the crab and lobster could sit on it. I certainly couldn't say no to that. We could have painted the bottom of the paper brown... but I we've been working on this for months and I wanted to go all out. So we got all our winter clothes on and trudged out to the backyard to get some sand out of the shed. 

Once the paint was completely dry I grabbed some glue and a foam brush to spread it around. 


Monkey squeezed some glue onto the paper and then spread it around with the foam brush. 




We actually ended up doing two coats of sand because after our first attempt it looked like a sad excuse for an ocean floor. So we did it again overtop and put on a ton of glue and a ton of sand. 


After the second try it looked thick and even and I was so proud of Monkey for suggesting the sand. It added so much texture to the flat blue paper. 


Now we were ready to add all the beautiful sea creatures. 


We used white glue to attach them onto the ocean. Monkey picked where to put each animal. 


Now Monkey's ocean mural is hanging in the hallway. He proudly shows it off to anyone who comes over and touches and talks to it when he walks by. 


I wonder if we have time for another mural of a different habitat before I go back to work...? :)

Mar