Straw Rockets

We're on a bit of a roll here with using straws for our activities. I got the idea for this one here: http://www.toddlerapproved.com/2014/06/tinkerlab-hands-on-guide-for-little.html?m=1

Supplies: construction paper, scissors, markers, glue stick or tape, straws

To start, I folded the pieces of construction paper in half so that there would be a top and bottom for each rocket. Then I drew a rocket on each one. We googled simple rocket drawings because I'm not someone who can draw only from my head, and Monkey looked at them and told me what to draw on each one. 

Then Monkey decorated his rocket, and I decorated the ones I made for myself and Monkey's daddy.

After we finished decorating the rockets, including some aliens in the windows, I cut out the rockets. Since the construction paper had been folded in half, I got a top and bottom half for each one. 

We glued the top half to the bottom half, putting glue only on the edges, and leaving the bottom of the rockets unglued. 

Then we pushed the straws into the bottom of the rockets. 

Now, the best part, shooting the rockets!! All we did was blow into the straw and the rocket popped off.  

It was basically impossible to get a good picture of Monkey making his rocket fly!

This activity is a good opportunity to teach backwards counting as rocket ships always do a countdown to blast off. 

3... 2... 1... Fun! 

Mar

Straw Name

A few weeks ago I made Monkey a straw sensory bin. He's been using it every once in a while ever since, but I've been on the lookout for other activities we could do using those straws, just to get the most out of them that I can.

I found a name practice activity that is just perfect! Here's the link: http://www.childcarelandblog.com/2013/07/straw-name-collage.html?m=1

Supplies: cut up drinking straws, glue, paper, marker

I wanted Monkey's name to be big, so we used our roll of butcher paper. I cut a piece off that was almost three feet long, and taped it to the table. 

Next, I wrote Monkey's name with a yellow marker. I asked him if he wanted to help, but he didn't. I made the letters almost a foot tall. 

Then we got out the glue and went over the first letter of his name. This he wanted to help with, of course, he loves using the bottle of glue. 

Finally, he stuck the straws on. He was so thoughtful about choosing which colours to put where, it's so interesting to watch him. 

He decided that the 'A' in his name should be all red, but the rest of the letters were all different colours. 

I don't want to share his name online so this is what I took a picture of, so you'll just have to believe me that the whole thing looks really cute! 

Mar

Sticker Numbers

I've decided it's time to really start working on numbers with Monkey. We count aloud regularly and he can do it to 20 by himself... with only a bit of trouble in the teens. I am also working with him on pointing to or touching objects as he counts (one to one correspondence). Today's activity seemed like a natural fit for where we are in his understanding of numbers. Oh, and there are stickers which you know are a favourite for him! 

Here's where I got the idea: http://frugalfun4boys.com/2013/04/03/five-number-activities-for-preschoolers/

It is one of five number activities on the post that all look fantastic. 

Supplies: paper, markers, stickers

I really wanted to use Christmas stickers  because it's the most wonderful time of the year, but Monkey insisted on Cars. And if he has a say in it then he feels more invested in the activity so I won't argue! We'll use those Christmas stickers another time.

To get this set up I divided the page into ten sections and wrote the numbers 1-10 randomly in the sections. 

I purposely didn't put the numbers in order because I wanted it to be a little more challenging for Monkey. If I had done this a few months ago when he didn't recognize the numbers, I would have done them in order. 

I sat down with Monkey and explained what we would be doing and then we got to work. 

For the first few numbers he was happy to peel off the stickers and put them on the sheet. Then he started getting a little 'tired' (a.k.a. bored?) so we worked together. He chose the sticker and I peeled it off for him, then he stuck it on the page. 

For each number we would count as we put the stickers on, which I led completely, as he would forget by the time we got to the bigger numbers. Once we had enough stickers we would count them just to be sure and I modeled and encouraged him to put a finger on each sticker as we counted it. 

 

This was definitely an activity that I had to sit with Monkey from start to finish. We spent the whole time talking about and counting numbers. Minimal set up but a huge learning experience. 

Mar 

Growing Soap / Painting a Cloud

Have you ever heard of the experiment where you out a bar of Ivory soap in the microwave? We did it today. It. Was. Awesome. 

I have been wanting to try it out for a long time but whenever I read about it, I always felt like it would be such a short activity. A few minutes in the microwave and then it's over. So when I saw the idea to colour the soap afterwards, I had no more excuses and I knew it was time. 

I got the idea here: http://www.two-daloo.com/sensory-art-play-puffy-rainbow-clouds/

Step 1: Growing Soap

Supplies: paper plate, bar of Ivory soap, microwave 

First of all, while researching, I read on every single website that the soap has to be Ivory. Other brands won't work because they are made the same way. To keep it super simple, air is added during manufacturing and that's what makes the soap expand with the heat of the microwave, similar to what happens to popcorn. Again, Ivory soap only!

I decided to cut my soap in half so that we could do it twice, and I'm glad I did, because it meant we got to see the amazing-ness twice but also because the soap grew more than I expected and I did have to wipe down the microwave afterwards. 

We out the half bar of soap on a paper plate (a monkey one left over from Monkey's birthday!) and put it in the microwave. 

We put the timer on for 2 minutes. Monkey loved pressing the buttons as he's never done that before. 

Then we watched. It didn't take long for the soap to start growing and it looked so cool. You need to stop the microwave as soon as you notice that the soap isn't growing anymore. We found it took about a minute, maybe a bit longer. 

And this is what it looked like:

I'll admit I was probably a bit more excited about what happened than Monkey was. He liked watching it grow but I was really amazed by what happened. 

I transferred the soap to a tin tray for the next part of the activity. 

After some encouragement, I convinced Monkey to touch it, too. Some kids would jump right in with both hands but my boy doesn't love to be messy so he bravely touched it with two fingers..

Step 2: Painting on a Cloud 

Supplies: small cups, water, food colouring, droppers

Monkey helped me mix up the food colouring into the small cups of water. 

Then Monkey used the droppers to colour the soap/cloud. 

I just love how it turned out. 

We ended up doing the other half of the bar of soap after Monkey's dad got home later that night. This one was too neat not to share with him, too! 

Also, our house smelled amazingly clean all day and night :)

Mar 

Lego Bath

Tonight we did another crazy bath for the boys. I saw the idea on the @busytoddler page on Instagram. 

Supplies: water safe blocks

All you need to do is get the bath ready and dump them in. 

Monkey thought this was brilliant. They actually made a really cool sound, I think from being hollow/open, and whenever the boys moved it was fun to listen to. 

As you can see, Peabut just wanted to chew on them (surprise, surprise) but Monkey made an extensive animal collection. 

Here is his giraffe: 

We ended up having to refill the hot water in the bath because he was in there for so long. Success!!

Mar