Mad Science Monday: Ice, Ice, Baby!

I'm pretty sure over the last few years that I was the *only* teacher to look forward to Monday mornings all winter long. There's nothing like a great science experiment to keep you warm on the chilliest of winter days. And that is actually how my Mad Science Mondays were originally born! I grew up in upstate New York and nothing kept us indoors--but here in Virginia, two inches of snow are considered blizzard conditions. I'm still the teacher and the parent who gets outside NO MATTER WHAT if and when at all possible. Even if it takes 54 minutes to pile into snow gear and approximately 2.6 seconds before we must roll like giant overstuffed marshmallows back inside to de-layer and defrost. By January of my first year teaching full time here, my class needed something new to get us through the winter doldrums, and so Mad Science Mondays were born. To date, the greatest compliment I have received in my career--and maybe life--was that I reminded my boss of Mrs. Frizzle. We all have aspirations in life...
Science was explosive. It was messy. It was fun and educational and fascinating. My own son was still only 6 months old at the time he started being subjected to included in trying out my preschool science experiments and we still have fun with this now that he is my sole student. Here's a peek at one of my favorite science experiments and observations to do with ice. It's perfect for a winter theme and just as ideal to cool off with in the summer. It is not one of those instantaneously impressive experiments but it is a great way to encourage longer observation, critical thought and to introduce the ideas of making scientific predictions.
One of the aspects of science I most love is its ability to gently teach children (and adults) that being WRONG is OK! In science, we are encouraged to ask questions and have questions and to try and answer them when we can. We are encouraged to make "educated guesses" and to try again when we are incorrect--and maybe again and again after that. Many of the worlds greatest inventions and discoveries came from mistakes that worked. This experiment/observation is easy to set up and can be done with materials you likely already have at home.

The Arctic Melt
*The night before you plan to begin you will need to freeze a tray or two of water for ice cubes (if you do not already have a stock in your freezer). If you wish, you can plunk some plastic animals in your ice cube trays for an element of added whimsy as you wait and watch for the little trapped animals to be released!

You Will Need:
Ice cube trays
Water
Salt
Sugar
Access to a sunny window
Small plastic animals (optional)
4 Trays or baking pans to hold your experiment during the observation period

Explain to your junior scientist(s) that you want to see the fastest way to melt ice. You will try warm water, salt, sugar and sunlight. You can also encourage children to come up with their own suggestions for methods/materials. Take some time to also make a prediction about which method will be the fastest and which will take the most time to melt the ice. You may want to chart these responses. Designate your observation areas and set up your experiment.

table salt

Warm water

Sunlight

Sugar

Over the course of the day, take a few moments to return to your observation stations to observe any changes. This is a great experiment to set up in the morning and complete by afternoon. Then gather again to discuss and ponder the results. If you made a prediction chart, you may wish to also chart your results. This is a fabulous experiment to introduce scientific vocabulary words like "prediction," "observation," and "results." In this, you are expanding language development and mathematical skills of using charts and graphs! Who knew science was so well rounded? You might also encourage conversation about how ice/snow melt outside. When there is a lot of snow and ice on the roads, what do grown-ups put down to make it melt very quickly? (Rock salt!) And what causes snow to disappear after the winter? (Warm weather/sunlight!) This is bound to be an activity that goes beyond the classroom or learning space and encourages continued thought and discussion. That is always one of my main goals in teaching science to young children!

And, of course, to have fun!

Happy Experimenting, Observing, and Playing!

Winter Theme: Arts & Crafts

There are so many cute seasonal arts and crafts projects this time of year. You can certainly purchase winter-themed craft kits on the cheap at local craft supply stores, Dollar Tree and even big box stores. There's a lot you can do, however, without any kits at all right from the warmth and comfort of your own home. Here's a peek at some of our favorites from Winters past:

We especially loved this Invitation to Create a Snowman last year. Using white paint and a plastic cup for stamping as well as some construction paper accessories, google eyes and buttons to glue on, my son and I each built our very own snowman indoors. His was melting I think!

As much as I love an uncluttered house and am careful about selecting what I save, what I donate and what I toss throughout the year to keep it that way, I have a hard time parting with artwork my students and son have created. I may or may not need a little more time to part with the 5,624 paper plate turkeys I have from the last few years and I may or may not just serve Thanksgiving dinner on them next year and avoid the whole mess of dishes afterword. That said, selecting a few projects throughout the year to do on canvas creates a beautiful and finished look that children and parents alike can feel proud of for years to come. They make wonderful gifts and keepsakes. Last winter we did this masking tape resist snowflake painting on canvas, adding coarse kosher salt at the end for a gorgeous and realistic icy texture. We don't have enough wall space to accommodate endless amounts of artwork and we also don't necessarily want to look at snowflakes in July. Rather, we have some set areas where we hang artwork that gets rotated throughout the year. This is a fun way to reminisce as well as to welcome a new season or theme. I'm looking forward to swapping this one in again soon!

 And here are a couple less traditional "canvases" your artist can work from! Using pipettes, squeeze bottles or recycled condiment bottles full of colored water, you can create beautiful snow paintings outdoors in indoors. It's also a fabulous hands-on way to explore color mixing and snow melting!

Another version of coarse kosher salt on paint--my little guy painted this polar bear "ziplock bag style" when he was still a baby. Sprinkling kosher salt on top gives it the "frosty" look!

Ice prepared by freezing water in plastic containers overnight made the "canvas" on this watercolor painting. I did this last year both with my son and with my pre-k students. It provided a lengthy amount of fun and exploration as the colors mixed and settled into the ice. It's surely an activity we will pull out again here this year and it doesn't even need to be wintertime at all!

Lastly, fear not the mess of arts and crafts in the home! Never underestimate the power of a ziplock bag when it comes to very young painters or you just don't want to clean up hands, clothes and any number of other surfaces. Painting inside a bag still provides a great sensory experience for little hands and produces beautiful artwork to boot. Here my then little baby painted a snowflake. And speaking of snowflakes--my favorite fool-proof way to cut paper snowflakes and teach children to as well is with white coffee filters. The circular shape is a perfect one to begin with, they come in packs large enough to accommodate plenty of fine motor practice and they can be beautifully dyed by coloring with washable marker and spraying with or dipping in water. Once they are dry, they can be hung in the window for a colorful decoration to brighten the season.

Happy crafting!

Chanukah, Oh Chanukah: Math Activities

Learning about Chanukah is all fun and games with our favorite themed math activities! Often times the word "math" elicits images of worksheets, number two pencils, heavy textbooks and dread. And I wonder when we started thinking this way about it? Fostering a love for and confidence in math skills starts early, and we do that here through play, DIY games and activities, and a heavy dose of exposure and encouragement. For the activities below as well as many more, we made use of a few great online resources for Chanukah activities and free printables:

• Living Montessori Now offers great ideas for Chanukah themed activities and links to additional online resources.
• We loved the free tot pack and many of the activities posted over at the 3 Dinosaurs Stomping, Romping & Roaring blog.
• And we are getting a lot of use out of the great Chanukah ideas and printables available at A Jewish Homeschool Blog.

You do not need to spend a lot of money or time preparing great learning activities this time of year. You likely have everything you need already at home to teach some great early math skills!

Using dreidels, gelt, Chanukah candles,and traditional holiday activities, you can reinforce several important concepts including:

• one-to-one correspondence
• counting (especially to the number 8!)
• pattern recognition
• sorting skills
• early addition & subtraction
• fractions/ratios
• sequencing

The dreidel game played by the traditional rules is a great way to introduce the skills of addition & subtraction as well as fractions (specifically identifying half of a whole). Just grab your favorite dreidel and some gelt (you can use coins or other small objects like buttons, beads, pompoms, etc.) and give it a spin!

When you land on 

NUN: player gets none

GIMMEL: player gets everything in the pot

HAY: player gets HALF of the pot

SHIN: player puts two in

There are a lot of wonderful ways to teach about patterns at Chanukah. I love to use colorful candles and dreidels for these activities. You can print out or prepare your own set of pattern cards to follow and complete or create your own activity. Even preparing candles in the menorah each Chanukah night can become a fun challenge to create or complete a pattern as your young mathematician selects the candles to light each night!

Sorting is another great math activity this time of year. You can sort dreidels or candles by color using a sorting tray or several cups, bowls or trays. You can also sort by size (big and little).

 For practicing counting to 8, we love using this interactive poster, children's books, finger-plays and holiday artifacts.
Here's one of our favorite finger-plays

8 Little Candles
T.T.T.O. Ten Little Indians
We begin with both hands in fists, putting up one finger at a time to correspond with each number. You can go in reverse to count back to one!


 One little, two little, three little candles,
Four little, five little, six little candles
Seven little, eight little Chanukah candles
Light the menorah, oh so bright!

Eight little, seven little, six little candles
Five little, four little Chanukah candles
Three little, two little, one little candle
That we add each Chanukah night!

 We used laminated sequencing photos of a menorah with candles along with an actual menorah and 8 candles plus one shamash (I use a longer candle to distinguish it, but you do not need to) for this DIY math material. There are 8 photos in my set, one for each night. I store them on a metal ring to keep them together and in order. I begin with the shamash in its special spot and for each card, the child/children can add the appropriate number of candles. This can help them learn one-to-one correspondence as they match the number of candles on the photo to the number in the actual menorah. (The added bonus is that putting candles in a menorah is a great fine-motor activity!) If you are concerned that there may be confusion from the menorah in the photo being of a different style than your actual menorah, you may wish to use a picture or photo that matches the menorah you are using. You can even take your own photos and print them! For an added challenge, you can take the photos off the ring and work on sequencing and putting them in order.

I shared ideas about this DIY game in a previous post and play is always a great way to learn important skills in a way that is fun. Don't forget about the learning that happens when you head to the kitchen and follow a recipe! Inviting your little ones to help prepare latkes, sufganiot or your favorite cookie recipe this time of year helps them learn about fractions and ratios as well as the important sequencing skills required to follow a recipe. You may want to avoid counting calories over Chanukah, though!

Happy learning and, of course, happy playing!

Think Outside the Box Thursday: Introducing "Playtime Posts"

In this edition of Think Outside the Box Thursday, I am introducing my first "playtime post." I post a lot of activities here that are focused on teaching a specific skill set or addressing a theme. Playtime posts may include some of this as well, but these are posts that will serve more as your one-stop-shop for rainy/snowy day fixes, family fun, or afternoon lull fillers. These activities aim to be simple to set up using items you'd already have in your playroom or on hand and either foster great independent and creative play and/or opportunities to play together as a family.

I've found the season change and time change have led to more late afternoons at home. Whereas we used to use this time a lot for outdoor walks and visits to the park, it is now dark so early and we're spending more of these hours indoors. While I am all for "un-planning and unwinding" a bit in the later parts of the evening or on the occasional weathered-in day, I found on a regular basis that our afternoons needed a balance of a bit more "structure" but a bit less "schedule." In other words, I felt we did need some element of planned activity but not quite the same pace and rigor as our morning homeschool routine. 

The afternoon/evening hours here are often a time when household chores and cooking also need to be tended to. I, thank G-d, have a son who takes an amazing afternoon nap most of the time and that allows me the opportunity to get work, planning and household tasks done. That said, I often dreaded wake-up time and felt unsure of how to fill and balance the hours that followed until dinner and bedtime. Adults' energy levels (OK, at least my own) tend to be on the decline at this point and family needs are still prevalent! My goal with this chunk of time was to balance my son's needs for interaction with me as well as his need for more independent/free play along with my own need to accomplish getting dinner on the table and other chores. It often felt like a juggling act where I either managed to have all the balls stay in the air or they all fell and I flipped on a trusty video instead. And it needn't be so black and white, all or nothing. Videos are great for some days and we still use them. Tweaking my overall approach to these hours has also made a great difference. Not only do I feel less anxious about how I will fill or get through these hours with my head still screwed on, but I've felt able to be more present with my son and family as a whole when we are all engaged in an activity and less guilty and frustrated when I must disengage or step out to finish dinner or wash the dishes. Here's a peek a few of our first favorite activities and overall approaches that have worked:

• The "Center Time" Approach: Center Times in preschools often refers to open/free play and learning times when children have the independence to choose their own activities and rotate through them, can often designate how much time to spend on each one and thereby take the lead in their own play and learning. Certain areas or "centers" may be open all of the time (like dramatic play spaces, reading areas, sensory tables, block building centers and art areas). A few additional centers or activities may be set out as well to relate to a theme, skill set or developmental goal. This may include art projects and activities, a game, a learning challenge, etc.  I wanted our afternoons to be more "child-led" than mommy-led and for my son to have more opportunity to engage in and remain with imaginative play or building or sensory play than we often have time for when we are busy going to story times, playgroups, doing learning activities or visiting friends. I also recognized his need for a little more structure in that. While at two he can sometimes engage in play and remain with it for quite a while and all on his own accord, sometimes he (like all of us) needs a little invitation so to speak! Now while he is napping I set out a couple of "centers" he can visit when he wakes up. These are not activities he must do or that he must accomplish in a certain order or time-frame. He can return to one multiple times throughout our afternoon or choose not to do it at all. (In general, I do not require that he participate in or "complete" any of our learning activities either, but I do put more intention into introducing them and encouraging him than I do with our afternoon setup.) 

I find I save a lot of ideas for process art activities that we never get to.
This seemed like a great opportunity to invite my little guy to try painting on tinfoil. He loved it!
He wanted to try it right way when he woke up, took a snack break and played in some other areas
and returned to it later again. We're saving the results to recycle into a Chanukah themed collage later on,
but this would also make fabulous and kid-friendly gift wrap to use this (or any) time of year!

• Even grown ups need some parallel play opportunities! Sometimes we want to be able to be near our little ones and engage with them while still accomplishing tasks around the house. For this, proximity is EVERYTHING. For afternoons I know I have things to do in the kitchen, I set up a play center in the kitchen that will (hopefully) engage my son and allow me to play with him as I can and parallel to him when I can't! We love our water table for this purpose and moving a sensory bin or small table into and out of the area with an activity also works well for us. I wish we had the space to permanently keep an activity area in our kitchen, but for now this works quite well!

Our oil and water exploration was super fun and a real attention-captivator! 

Although sometimes the activity is more based on what Mommy is trying to get done. Washing vegetables and washing dishes are two of his (nearly lifelong) favorites!

"Ice Cube Fishing" in water/water beads.

• And sometimes we all need to play together! I always say that playing WITH your children is an investment plan. For kids who are learning to or struggle with playing on their own, getting on their level and joining the fun can help them build the skills and confidence to carry it out independently in the future. Additionally, you can often begin by engaging with children in their play and gradually expand your proximity--start on the floor, then move to the couch or a chair, then maybe to another area of the room, then maybe to the kitchen... And beyond that important skill development, playing WITH our little ones is sometimes just the break that WE need! For these opportunities, I don't put a lot of planning or preparation in. I use what's already out and maybe we come up with some new and interesting ways to use it or previously untried combinations--like our recent introduction of jingle bells to Magnetiles!

He had the idea to build the box and put the bells inside...

 I introduced the game of "jingle fishing..."

• And sometimes you want some intentional family fun! Movie nights and family field trips are great, but we're always looking for some more out-of-the-box ways to spend time together or infuse our family fun nights. One activity we have especially enjoyed lately in cooking or baking together. Here's a super simple and quite delectable 3-ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe to fill your home (and belly) with some extra joy, warmth and playfulness! The bonus (as if you needed one when there are only 3 ingredients) is that they are also dairy, wheat and gluten free. They are definitely NOT peanut free, although I'd imagine you could substitute in another nut butter or soy butter.

Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies* with optional 4th ingredient 😊

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy are great)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

OPTIONAL chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet by lightly spraying with oil. Combine and mix your ingredients and scoop about 2 TBSP of dough onto your cookie sheet, about an inch apart. We sometimes use our hands to roll little balls (especially fun for smaller hands). You can press down the balls with a fork for a more traditional peanut butter cookie look or leave them as balls for a rounder version. Bake for about 12-15 minutes and let cool as long as you possibly can before tasting just a few....

Winter Theme: Counting Games, Story Stretchers & Fingerplays, Oh My!

When it comes to winter, I like to warm up with hearty one-pot recipes. So here's your winter-themed one-pot stop for some of my favorite DIY math materials, children's book extensions, and songs/finger-plays. Happy Learning, Happy Playing and Happy [almost] Wintertime!

 As seen in the photo above, Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day has been a favorite wintertime story of ours since my son's very first snowy day! I prepared and laminated these craft stick puppets to help tell the story. You can do some more extension activities by bringing the story into action outside with your own snowy walk! Try Peter's experiment out and bring a snowball indoors when you're done. You can observe what happens over time as it warms up and melts. Older children can also help to set up their own experiment and brainstorm ways to preserve their snowball. Try out one or a few different methods!

 This homemade math material was a big hit in my classrooms over the years. Young mathematicians can use one set of cards and one or more colors of pom poms (alternatively you can use buttons) to count and correspond the number of dots to the number of buttons down the front of the snowman. More advanced mathematicians can practice addition with two sets of cards and also experiment with A-B patterns in the process! It can be done independently, with a partner or with an adult. When the child has checked his/her math and is correct, she/he finds the corresponding hat with the matching sum and numeral and places it atop the snowman's head.

My son LOVES singing this and using the puppets! In larger groups, I have assigned five children each of the five snowmen and one child the sun as we act out the song.

You can do this action rhyme as a finger-play using your hand with all five fingers for penguins or make your own set of penguins to go along with it. Songs and rhymes like this are fun, catchy and also a great way to develop early mathematical concepts--particularly subtracting (as in Five Little Snowmen) and addition (as in the song above).

 Build a Snowman Game/Dress a Penguin Game

We LOVE this game! You can create a similar felt board set with movable parts or prepare parts out of paper for a collage version. Older artists may even like to draw their way through the game using a basic snowman shaped or penguin shaped template. To play the game you can either use a homemade die (these can be made from a recycled tissue box or you can even purchase dry erase dice at your local Dollar Tree) for players to roll, or cards with a set of parts and accessories to add to your snowman or penguin. Alternatively you could create a spinner with sections for each item. For the snowman I included items like a carrot nose, arms, boots, buttons, mittens, hat, scarf. If you're going to include more than 6 options (you wouldn't want to use the die method in this case) you could even include individual snowballs for his body! With the penguin I included accessories like a hat, mittens, boots, a bow tie, buttons, etc. This is a great game to teach turn taking and get super silly with. You can have some quite creative snowmen and penguins by the end of it!

Earlier this year I began introducing some early name recognition activities to my toddler. He did seem interested in playing with the magnets and alphabet rocks and tuned into the little song I made up about his name, but I felt that he perhaps wasn't quite at the level of actually recognizing his name yet, until... He totally wowed me and identified his name on an old Chanukah decoration and the letter M, which we have not yet learned together, on a monogrammed cup of mine as being one of his "special letters." So I decided to introduce some more name recognition and name-building activities into our themed play just for the fun and exposure of it. Here's a cute build-a-name-snowman activity we did this week. He needed assistance to put his letters in order (and vertical spelling is also visually different than actual left to right recognition), but he loved it so much and was so proud that he demanded to hang it up right away!

We've really grown to love journaling here. This is a simple setup of an Invitation to Create a Snowman. I've seen some far more detailed versions, which are great! There's a lot of room for creativity with provocations like this and also room to demonstrate recognition of visual closure skills (being able to complete a picture or image from memory). Early on, young learners may not necessarily have the visual processing skills--or fine motor skills for that matter--to "accurately" portray a snowman in collage form, with 2 eyes and a nose on his head, arms on the body, etc. This awareness and ability develops as they do! I was actually quite impressed with the results of this activity with my own little guy as it was the first time he's demonstrated this skill in development! That said, there is NOTHING wrong with a snowman who has a carrot on his belly or arms coming out of the top of his head!

Or a snowman who lost his buttons...my little guy kept retelling the story of Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons while he worked on this!

Winter Theme: Sensory Play

Winter is a great season for sensory play! Whether you're exploring the wonderful world of snow outdoors or staying indoors and in search of some fun for all ages, there are a lot of great seasonally themed ways to incorporate sensory play into your repertoire. 

Here's a peek at some of our favorites:

Snow is a great sensory material in and of itself. Whether you head outside or bring it indoors, the temperature, textures and changes it goes through as it is manipulated provide a great sensory experience. Add shovels, plastic spoons, cups, and containers for digging and filling. Add some colored water and squeeze bottles or pipettes. Just don't forget to add mittens if your very little one is not a fan of the extreme cold yet!

ooops!

And still just as much fun one year later!

Speaking of very little ones--we did a lot of sensory play early on from the safety of a Bumbo seat right inside the sensory bin! Here's one filled with packing peanuts (which incidentally, this type is also taste safe and made from cornstarch--but they stick together when wet!). We also added in some winter themed toys to search for, play with and manipulate.

And for more infant-friendly sensory fun, we made this snow-in-a-sensory-bottle using "snow" from a little science kit my mother sent us. We still have it 2 years later and he still loves it!

Ice is a great addition to sensory play and small world scenes. I posted on this great winter-themed activity here.

 You can also get out that old set of watercolor paints and paint on ice! It's a great art and sensory activity to do in the winter and anytime year round.

If you're in the mood for some bubbly sensory fun, build (and explode!) your very own Fizzy the Snowman.

And for sensory fun you can revisit again and again, whip up your own recipe for snow dough with just 2 ingredients. This playdough recipe is all over Pinterest and actually feels cool to the touch when you're mixing it, which is half of the fun! Afterward, it can be sealed in a container or bag and stored for future play--though I would definitely toss it after a few hands on sessions. 

You Will Need:

1/2 cup conditioner (I use the cheapest possible white conditioner I can find)

3 cups baking soda

Combine and mix your ingredients. You can use a spoon, but I encourage you to get your hands (and your little ones' hands) right on in there. This snow dough actually feels cold! It will be crumbly but should be able to form and hold a shape. Next it's PLAY TIME! You do not have to add anything to have fun shaping and molding this snow dough but you can add it scoops/containers, small accessories to build your own snowman, or plastic toy animals as pictured here for your own Arctic Small World.

Happy and Hands-On Playing!

Mad Science Monday: Fizzy the Snowman

Happy Mad Science Monday! This week's experiment was one I took last year from one of my favorite bloggers and authors, Asia Citro. If you have not already, I highly recommend checking out her blog and her books as well. Additionally, you can see how she prepared and conducted this activity over on her blog, Fun At Home With Kids.

Fizzy the Snowman

You will need:

For the dough...

• 2 cups baking soda
• 2 TBSP salt
• 1 tsp dish soap
• about 8 TBSP water

For the accessories...

• google eyes
• pipe cleaner arms in black or brown
• orange pipe cleaners cut and folded into carrot noses
• any other snowman accessories you'd like to add!

and lastly...

• white vinegar
• squeeze bottles, pipettes, small cups and/or recycled condiment bottles

1. Prepare your snow dough following the recipe above. Little hands will love helping with this! The dough will be a bit crumbly and if it is too crumbly to hold a shape, you'll want to add more water, one TBSP at a time until it is able to hold the shape of a ball. From there you can build and accessorize your snowman! 
2. Next it's time to see some stuff 'splode! Using your squirting or pouring vessels and white vinegar watch your snowman fizz and bubble! He's melllllllting! Half the fun of this experiment is setting it up and the other half is definitely playing with it as you tear it down!

This one is totally worth digging your hands into according to my then-18 month old. But don't worry about the mess. I'd still throw down a drop cloth if you're working on the floor like we were, but baking soda, vinegar and dish soap are three of my favorite self-cleaning science ingredients! The carpet looked better than ever when we were done...

Happy Experimenting!