Seashell Science Lab

Lately, Maddie has been all about science experiments.  She's super curious about how things work, what happens if we combine certain things, and how things are made.

Today, she wanted to play with all her seashells (and we have a LOT!).

We dumped them all out and then (once Grayson was napping) set up a seashell science lab.  :)

We needed tweezers, ice cube trays, magnifying glasses, jars of water (for the shell baths, to wash off the poison, of course), and her white board to record the happenings.

 Let me tell you, this girl loved her science laboratory!

She tweezed and transferred, examined and recorded, and sorted and cleaned.

 A shy scientist at work.  :)

 We talked about which ones would be good homes to sea creatures, which ones were missing their other half, and which ones had been changed by people (because turquoise shells are beautiful but had probably been dyed).

So if you have some tools, some shells, and a napping baby, set up a seashell science lab in your family room!  :)

Baby Discovery Bottle

Remember Maddie's discovery bottle with magnets?

Well, she thought Grayson's fussiness was because he didn't have a cool bottle too (I'm pretty sure his fussiness was because his nap was cut short when she decided to tap dance in the kitchen, but whatever).

We decided to make a bottle, together, for Gray.

We got an empty bottle from our recycling and cleaned it really well. Then, we filled it with water and some food coloring.

The best part (says Maddie) was finding all sorts of tiny objects to put inside. We decided on:

pasta tubes, pompoms, glitter (lots and lots), bells, marbles, beads, and googly eyes.

I sealed the lid shut with glue and once it was dry, we gave it to Gray.

It's pretty big and heavy (definitely would like to do this again with a smaller bottle), but he loves it!

We hold it for him and he bats at it OR we put it on the floor and he rolls around, trying to grab it.

Maddie and I also had fun playing I-Spy with it, asking each other clues like, "Can you find something that is green?" or, "Find the object that starts with a /b/."

Slap Magnet

Maddie gave this activity the name "Slap Magnet," but whatever you choose to call it, it's definitely fun!

I saw this on Pinterest a while back (but not sure where!) and knew I wanted to try it. I just had to wait until we had a water bottle.

Once we did, I cleaned it out (though was too impatient to let it dry completely; I'll empty it later and let it dry overnight) and added tiny objects.

I snipped tons of pieces of sparkly pipe cleaner, threw in bells of different sizes and even added some magnetic disks.

I put on the lid, handed Maddie a magnet wand, and she sat and played!

Magnets are so fun and this was a new way to play with them.

We created challenges for each other, like who could get the tiny bells to the top or who could get the most pipe cleaners at once.

Super easy, super fast, and free fun!

Winter Mini Unit

January's theme at preschool this month is all about Winter. They're learning about penguins, snow and snowmen, igloos and the weather.

Quick side note: I feel (and I know Mike feels the same way!) so blessed to have Maddie in such a nurturing, loving preschool. I got to work in her classroom on Tuesday and almost didn't want to leave after my hour because it was just a fun environment. Her teacher is gentle, there is such a sweet little group of girls that Maddie plays with and I know that this time is so invaluable for her.

Anyway. :) It's a big thing for me! I went for quite a while thinking that we'd skip sending her to preschool all together and now my heart is just so happy with where she is. Now I can't imagine her not going!

So to build off what they're learning in school, we've been doing some extension activities at home.

Crafts

I drew some snowflakes on paper and put out Q-tips, a paint dabber, white paint and some glitter.

She dabbed the paint along the lines and then sprinkled glitter over all the snowflakes.

They turned out great!

We did this one last year, but since it was fun, we repeated it this year!

I covered some paper with painter's tape and then gave her big paint dabbers and white paint.

She stamped paint all over and the sprinkled more glitter.

Then, we worked together to peel the tape off (it comes off really easily) and marveled at the "magic" snowflake left on the paper! :)

Sensory

*One that I don't have pictures of (even though I really thought I did) was when we made snow, using THIS product. This is a really fun sensory AND science experiment. I always find the snow at our local teacher's supply store, but add in small trinkets and tiny winter objects to make it a hide and find game. Maddie and her friend Mya played for quite a while with our giant bowl of snow we made!

For this one, I also grabbed an old dish and together, we sprayed shaving cream (Dollar Tree!) inside. We pretended that this was snow, too and Maddie had a BLAST smooshing and squeezing and spreading it all over.

Look at those snow monster hands! :)

It's such a great time to talk about textures, temperatures, sounds and smells.

To make bath time educational fun, we learned about icebergs and simulated lots of small icebergs by ice cubes in the bath tub.

She loved this and I think I finally drew the line after I'd refilled our ice bowl six times. Ha!

It was fun to hear the cubes crackle as they were dropped in the water and she loved watching them (sometimes helping them along) dissolve and get smaller.

Literacy

These next printables are from Making Learning Fun.

With this one, I'd call out a letter (this page was all lowercase letters) and she'd peel off a sticker and cover the correct letter.

*And no, she can not write her name. She did make the letter M, but the rest was done hand-over-hand.

We also read and colored a book about a melting snowman. :)

Fine Motor and Logic

This started off as a simple fine motor skills practice with objects, an ice cube tray and chopsticks.

She had fun transferring the objects from the bowl into the tray.

But, then I decided to try something new and it was a major hit (major as in, we played for a solid 30 minutes and the minute Mike got home from work, she made him play, too!).

Her job was to match the winter objects side by side in the tray. Then, she'd close her eyes and I would make an error. We started off with her having to open her eyes and correct that one error, moving all the way up to her having to identify and correct up to six errors at once.

I know, it doesn't sound huge but she loved the challenge and it was a great logic activity. She'd have to move several of the pieces around to get them all back to their matched state.

So, that was our mini-unit and I think she had a blast! I love that I'm able to tie her preschool curriculum into our home learning because I think it just makes everything so much richer!

Tot School: Fall

We had another group Tot School today and, as always, had a blast. The kids are really getting into such a great rhythm and were just awesome in all their work!

Here were our outdoor centers and crafts:

Make a Fall Tree

I always put directions, as well as a completed example (thank you Maddie) up as a reference. All the necessary materials for each activity are right underneath.

My tiny model is totally blocking it, but there was a big box full of silk leaves, pumpkins and beads that the kids could explore.

Corn Cob Painting

Dot Stamping

Sensory table with pinto beans, rice, tiny pumpkins, leaves, scoops and measuring cups

Sink or Float Science Activity

(There was a big bucket of water underneath)

The kids loved this one.

Marble Painting

(also a huge hit)

Now, onto the tray work...

Dry pouring with lentils, peas and beans

Tonging acorns in a real/plastic pattern in the paint tray

Tonging pumpkins in a color pattern

(I realize that I own 7 different types of tongs; ha!)

Tweezing foam beads into the ice cube mold

Tweezing pompoms into pumpkin mold

Creating a number line with fall leaves and counting out the correct number of pebbles

Color sorting of tiny objects into a divided plate

Turkey math mat with foam dice and wood chips

Pattern strips with fall pieces and early phonemic awareness (listening for initial sounds)

Matching picture to word card to tiny object

Counting with pumpkins, leaves and acorns

Adding play dough berries to a pie :)

Scarecrow count and clip cards

Letter assessments with magnets

And, I think that was it! We had such a fun time. In circle time, we worked in our journals, learned a fall poem and decorated cupcakes. LOVE our Tot School days!

Tot School: Earth Day!

We had yet another awesome group Tot School today and I wanted to share the tray work our kiddos did. This time, sweet Becci created the craft and it was SO cute. I'll have to share it in a separate post.

Anyway, our theme was all about Earth Day. The tots had a ton of fun with the topic, which included trees, recycling and nature.

Oh, and before I go on, I'm admitting laziness. I'm tired and we've got Survivor on, but I wanted to get these posted in case they might inspire any Earth Day activities in your home. BUT.

No links tonight. If you see a print-out, it's from HERE.

Well, look at that.

I did provide a link. Just one. Ha!

And so, here are the trays:

A lacing card, laminated for durability

A count and clip activity with tiny pieces of trash to tabulate and clip

Counting and letter recognition and early phonemic awareness with alphabet beads and counting cards

A very popular flower arranging station!

Counting Earth's rocks... The smooth, polished kind of rocks. :)

A tiny tree counting activity

Secret numbers waiting to be found

Peeling foam stickers to make a picture of our planet, strengthening those little muscles throughout it all

(with a bucket for stickers and a bucket for sticker backing trash)

Tweezing pompoms into a flower-shaped ice cube tray

A number adventure with floral rocks

(gosh, lots of counting activities this time, eh?)

Tonging pebbles and rocks by color

Classifying and categorizing seeds and beans

(some were teeny tiny!)

Matching magnets into circles

(a BIG fave!)

Deciding what on this Earth is living and what is not living

And finally, sorting recyclables into a three part basket

It was a very successful Tot School and I'm always reminded of the strength there is when mommas put their minds together. It's always so fun to watch the kids learn and explore, get excited for the trays and expertly manipulate materials (tongs, tweezers, stickers) that gave them trouble just a few short months ago.

And, happy Earth Day (and happy birthday to my mother-in-law!!)!