Water Beads

Water beads are a really cool sensory activity. They are supposed to be used for keeping in a vase for flowers since they hold water for a long time. But I think they're more fun to dunk your hands in and run your fingers through.

I have used water beads at school in the past and they can be a bit of a controversial subject. They are quite small, about the size of a marble once they've expanded, which does present a choking hazard. Both at school with my Kinders and at home with Monkey, I explained that they are not something that ever goes in your mouth. And in both situations there is close supervision,  particularly at home because Monkey is so much younger. I believe you have to give kids the chance to take a risk to get the most valuable learning experiences. 

Supplies: water beads (also know as water pearls or gel beads), bin, towel, toys that can get wet

You need to prepare the water beads the night before you want to use them. Once you add the water it takes about ten hours for them to expand to full size. 

Here is what they look like right out of the box: 

Here is what they look like after sitting in water overnight: 

I rinsed the beads once they expanded and then added some fresh water to the bucket. You don't need to have them sitting in water but I prefer it that way. 

I wish I could describe how they feel when you pick them up. They are very smooth and almost a little bit jelly-like but still quite hard at the same time. You have to squeeze a lot to get one to burst. 

To start with I got Monkey set up on the towel with some measuring spoons and cups. Sneaking some math in to this sensory play! 

He loved using the cups to scoop and dump the beads. 

Later, we added some rubber ducks to the bucket. A special friend gave us these two baby ducks so now we have Mommy, Daddy, Monkey, and Peanut ducks! 

We pretended the ducks were having a bath, swimming in the lake, and caught in a rain storm. Pretend play is a perfect opportunity to practice language. Often I notice that Monkey repeats exactly what I've said once he's playing on his own, right down to the tone and expression.

The water beads last for a long time - the box says up to a month - before you need to add more water. They are definitely good to use more than once as long as you have space to store them. 

Next time we pull them out I'm going to grab some ocean animals from Monkey's bath tub. We've also got some boats that he would love to use with the water beads. 

Mar 

Sink or Float?

My little Peanut has been very demanding over the past few weeks. Monkey has been really great about entertaining himself with his toys. But I really want to get back into the groove of doing all our art, sensory, letter, and science activities. To keep both of us busy :)

I've got an easy but fun science activity today, sink or float? It gives an opportunity for me to discuss some great science vocabulary with Monkey (sink, float, heavy, light), plus it's water play which is always a winner with a three year old. 

Supplies: bucket of water, various items to drop in the water 

All of these items are things that Monkey is familiar with, that he has played with or used before. I also made sure everything was safe to get wet and wouldn't be ruined in the water. 

We sat down together to get started. It took all of Monkey's patience and self-control not to dump everything in all at once. We talked about what the words sink (heavy, go to the bottom) and float (light, stay on top) mean. 

Monkey picked up an item from the pile and I quickly asked him if he thought it would sink or float. Then he would drop it in to find out!

I wasn't trying to trick him so he was right on for almost all the objects. We both got fooled by the plastic elephant though! 

This activity took less than five minutes to get through, but Monkey stayed next to the bucket of water taking things out and dropping them back in for a while. Like I said, kids love playing in water!

Mar  

Nature Suncatchers

Last week we joined some friends for a hike along a local nature trail. Monkey brought along a bucket to collect any treasures we could find on the ground. 

We gathered leaves, sticks, and a few seed holders to use in our nature suncatchers. I got the idea here: http://handsonaswegrow.com/craft-for-toddlers-nature-collage-suncatcher/

Supplies: contact paper, construction paper, collection of nature treasures

First, I cut out two frames from the construction paper as well as two pieces of contact paper for each frame. 

Next, I got one piece of contact paper ready for each of us along with the treasures we collected on our walk. 

Then we got to work sticking as many treasures as we could onto the contact paper. 

Some didn't stick super well but since you put a second piece of contact paper on top that doesn't matter, as long as you make sure there is a good seal around the outside. 

After you've finished your collage, carefully stick the second piece of contact paper on top. If you don't get it perfect you can usually pull it back off right away... But it's easier to just sort of leave yourself some extra room on the edges - hence the frames. 

After that I taped the frames onto the contact paper. 

And voila!!

Monkey has already asked when we go on another "tree walk" to look for more treasures!

Mar

Bird Feeders

Over the past few winters we've taken Monkey (and Peanut when he joined the family) to feed the birds on some walking trails a couple of times. He always has a great time and asks when we can go again. 

Today we whipped up some bird feeders to hang out in the backyard and hopefully attract some birds to our window! 

Supplies: cardboard tubes, peanut butter, knife, Cheerios, bird seed, string, baking tray 

The first thing you need to do is cover the cardboard tubes with peanut butter. Monkey helped with this and it got all over our fingers and we couldn't stop laughing. We also go to lick a whole bunch of peanut butter off our fingers. 

Next, stick some Cheerios on. 

We didn't use too many because there should be lots of room for the bird seed too. 

Now the really messy part. Cover the rest of the peanut butter with bird seed. We sprinkled the bird seed using our hands while holding the tubes over the baking tray to try and catch as much of the excess as possible. I have to say, the baking tray did a better job than I thought. We still had to sweep afterwards though. 

If you did this activity outside you wouldn't have as much clean up. Alternatively, if you skipped the Cheerios you could pour the seed onto the tray and then roll the tube in the seed which would also cut down on the mess. 

The seeds didn't stick in the places where the peanut butter was really thin. 

Finally, put each tube on a loop of string. Then we hung them in the backyard. 

Fingers crossed we see some birds!

Mar

Fork Tulip Painting

Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow mothers. Today we did some very special art for Monkey's grandmother. Her favourite flowers are tulips so I remembered this painting technique I had done with my class last year and knew it would be perfect.

Supplies: paint, construction paper, markers, forks

Despite the fact that his grandmother's favourite colour is red, Monkey insisted that we use blue paper. We used disposable forks because we had some in the house. Otherwise I would have used regular metal ones because the paint washes off metal very easily. 

The idea for this activity is that you press the bottom part of the fork in the paint and then onto the paper. 

If you do a bit of a roll with the fork you'll even get a rounded bottom which looks like a beautiful tulip. You can see Monkey trying to do that in the picture below, but it didn't really work. The forks we used had a bit of an edge on them and weren't completely flat. 

But they still turned out nice!

After the tulips dried, I added some grass at the bottom as well as stems and leaves. You could do this with paint but I wanted to use markers because I thought it would be easier for Monkey... he didn't help me anyway though. I also wrote the message. Monkey's not quite ready for that yet, although he's getting pretty good at the first letter of his name!

Of course she loved it!!

Mar

Cardboard Tube Stamping

Today we had a play date with some friends. It was so beautiful outside. We spent the whole morning in the front yard, which meant we did our art outside! Is there anything better than summer?!

We seemed to have randomly amassed a collection of cardboard tubes of various sizes over the past few weeks. Being a kindergarten teacher, I have a hard time throwing away some items that could be used for art or play. Obviously toilet paper and paper towel tubes are easy to gather; we also had a really thin tube from some glow stick necklaces and another medium size tube from some wrapping paper. 

Supplies: cardboard tubes, paint, trays for the paint, card stock or paper

My husband cut some of the tubes into smaller pieces using an exacto knife. Smaller pieces are easier for smaller hands, plus it means we can save some for another time. 

I had the kids help me pour out the paint and set one tube in each colour. I use yogurt container lids for this... yet another thing I collect. I decided to use card stock for this project because its a bit more durable for the ground.

Then the kids got to work!

Each of them went about it differently - it was really neat to watch. Monkey stamped the tubes to make circles on his page. But Bear (as her mommy calls her) used the tubes more like paint brushes. Same activity, two different results, I love it! 

Here are the masterpieces... 

You can see Monkey was not super interested in this one. I blame the fact that his sand table and construction trucks were right beside him. He just can't help himself when there are diggers and dump trucks around.

Thanks for coming over to play, Bear! 

Mar

Painting on Tinfoil

Here's a great painting idea. I just love watching Monkey explore and create with different materials. He's still just "scribbling" most of the time when he uses markers, crayons, or paint, but he's starting to figure out that he can draw actual things! Sometimes if I draw first, he'll try to copy what I've made, like a sunshine or tree. It's so cute!!

Supplies: paint, paint brushes, tin foil, baking sheet (or cardboard)

Cover the baking sheet with tin foil. I did it with the shiny side up but either would work. The baking sheet is really just to keep the tin foil nice and flat and still. You could use cardboard, or even tape it an easel. 

Then go for it!! 

Here's his masterpiece:

Mar

Growing Beans in the Window

We have a collection of plants next to the big windows in our living room. The other day I was watering the plants and Monkey started asking why I was doing that. It's his favourite question right now, being three and all. I told him plants need sunshine and water to grow. We talked about how the sunshine comes in through the window for us but we have to take care of the watering part. 

The conversation got me thinking about showing him how plants start to grow. This is easy bean germination and it shows really clearly how a plant needs water and sun. 

Supplies: bean seeds, wet paper towel, plastic bag, tape, window

Day 1: April 22

The first day is really the only time there is anything to do. Wet the paper towel and wring it out so that it is saturated but not dripping wet. Fold it a few times and place it in the bottom of the plastic bag. Then put the beans between the paper towel and one side of the bag - you want to be able to see them through the plastic. Push most of the air out of the bag and seal tightly. 

Finally, tape your bag onto a window. You want the beans to be on the side you can see inside the house. 

Now, we wait! 

Day 6: April 27

Yay!! Our first sign of growth! We noticed that one of our seeds has sprouted. It's the biggest one. 

Day 8: April 29

More sprouts! 

Day 13: May 4

Okay so I forgot to take any pictures for a few days... but here's what we came home to after being away for the weekend. 

Every bean sprouted out of the seed coat and has germinated. You can see the roots, stem, and leaves. I pointed these out to Monkey but the real learning here was that plants need sun and water to grow. These beans have done all they can in the bag; we may plant them in the garden if we can get to it in the next few days.

I think this activity was interesting for  Monkey (and me!) because it progressed fairly quickly, at least after the first bean popped open. He would run over to the window every morning to check. 

Mar