Cutting Practice 3 (Fruits & Veggies Rainbow)

Monkey, Peanut, and I had some friends up to the cottage and I knew this activity would work really well for a group of kids. It ended up being a wonderful collaborative art piece in addition to a cutting practice activity for Monkey. 

Supplies: grocery store flyers, scissors, glue, butcher paper, markers

 

First I rolled out a large piece of butcher paper and taped it to the table. 

Next I used the markers to draw a large rainbow on the paper, leaving a few inches in between each colour. 

I asked the kids to cut out pictures of healthy foods and glue them into the matching section of the rainbow.

The other kids working with us today are a few years older than Monkey so they didn't need any help from me. I sat with Monkey to help him hold the paper while he cut. 

We had a little glue stick that was perfect for Monkey to use by himself. 

The rainbow started to come together really quickly with three friends working on it. 

Monkey's scissor skills have improved so much in the past six months. He's so proud of himself!

It was pretty easy to fill the rainbow with colourful fruits and vegetables. We couldn't find enough orange pictures to fill the section so Monkey and I will have to grab some more flyers and finish the next time we're at the cottage. 

Here's what the finished rainbow looks like:

I love this sooooo much! I can't wait to do a really big one with my Kinders. 

Mar 

Goldfish Races

This afternoon we set up a snack time activity. I've never met a kid who doesn't love Goldfish crackers! This is an easy game that is sure to be a hit! 

I found the game here: http://handsonaswegrow.com/6-activities-goldfish-crackers/

Supplies: straws, Goldfish crackers, painters tape

To set up, use the painters tape to mark a start line and a finish line on a table. 

Each player gets a straw and a one cracker. Use the straw to blow the Goldfish to the finish line. 

It took Monkey a few tries to get the hang of it. He had to figure out how to aim and how hard to blow to move the goldfish. 

He ended up with a strategy that looked like this..

Whatever works, right?!

Of course, the best part about the game was that Monkey could eat the Goldfish! He actually played with his original fish for about ten races before he ate it. But after that he ate both our crackers after every race... right off the table. 

"Oops I ate them again we'll have to get new ones!" ...giggling hysterically. 

Yum!

Mar 

Colour Changing Water Experiment

We're at the cottage again and today we did a very simple, very cool science experiment. 

I followed the instructions from this website: http://coolscienceexperimentshq.com/color-changing-water/ 

...which has many excellent science experiment ideas! 

Supplies: glass bowl, tall glass, food colouring 

To set up the experiment, Monkey filled the glass and the glass bowl with water. 

Next, he dropped in the food colouring. The water in the tall glass was coloured blue, and the water in the bowl was coloured yellow. 

Now for the best part! Monkey (carefully) picked up the tall glass and placed it inside the bowl. The result is amazing!

The water in the bottom of the tall glass appears to be green! It looked so cool. 

I was really impressed by how perfectly this worked. 

Once we had looked at it for a little but, Monkey wanted to pour the blue water into the bowl. 

Even more green!

We did try this with yellow water in the bowl and red water in the tall glass, too. Peanut even got his hands in there this time!

It didn't work nearly as well. Basically it didn't work at all. I'm not too sure why... Perhaps the contrast between the red and the orange wasn't enough? Monkey wasn't too upset about it, especially after he got to pour the red right into the yellow. 

We didn't bother trying to make purple, partly because I was discouraged after the orange didn't work but mostly because we ran out of blue food colouring. So, if you do this, I would recommend only making green! It works really well and you won't be wasting food colouring or water. 

Mar 

Painting on a Swing

This morning we woke up to another beautiful day! It makes it easy to get outside when the weather is so perfect. Instead of being stuck inside doing art, in the summer it's fun for everyone to do it outside. I've been wanting to try this painting activity for a while now, but we don't have a swing set at home and I was always hesitant to bring all my supplies to the neighborhood park. But here at the cottage we have some wonderful neighbors with a swing set :)

I saw the idea here first: http://homegrownfriends.com/home/swing-painting-process-art/

Supplies: paint, paintbrushes, cardboard, swing set

Monkey chose his colours and helped me squeeze the paint out onto the piece of wood we were using as a paint tray. Then I had him lie on the swing on his belly and practice what to do - basically he had to get himself swinging and then focus on painting as he went back and forth. 

After he felt comfortable, I set the paint up next to him and he started to paint. 

It took a lot of concentration but Monkey figured it out and had a lot of fun.

I had to hold all the paintbrushes because there wasn't anywhere to put them outside. Monkey had to stop whenever he changed colours anyway, so it didn't really interrupt his work. 

After a while Monkey started to really get the hang of it, and figured out that he could swing farther forward if he lifted his knees and feet. 

Then he got really brave and wanted to try swinging with a paintbrush in each hand! 

This turned out to be a wonderful experience for Monkey, and I love the way the art looks, too. 

Mar 

Roll and Dot Game

The activity Monkey and I did this afternoon is intended to be a math game but turned out to be a bit of an art activity as well. 

Supplies: bingo daubers, die, coffee filters

I put a table cloth over the table for this activity, which I strongly recommend. Or newspapers. The bingo dauber went right through the coffee filter and I had to wipe it off the tablecloth with soap and water. It came off my plastic table cloth easily, but it would be upsetting to ruin a nice table. 

The game is simple. Throw the die, and then put that number of dots on to the coffee filter with a bingo dauber. 

This game is great for practicing subitizing/number recognition (i.e. number of dots). For older children, you could use two dice and have them add the numbers. 

After a few turns the coffee filter started to get really covered with dots. 

Monkey decided he wanted some white showing through on his coffee filter, so we stopped after about eight turns each. 

They look so cute we had to put them up on the wall!

Mar