Showing posts with label STEM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label STEM. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2015
Make a Water Xylophone and start exploring Sound with kids!
Today we're doing another super easy Preschool STEAM activity! Chuck and I recently explored sound by making our very own......
Friday, June 26, 2015
Make Your Own "Exploding" Chocolate Candy
I'm not a candy eater. But for today's post... I made an exception. Today is Friday, which means that it's a Kids STEAM Activity day! In honor of the fourth of July, we made some chocolate candy that explodes and pops in your mouth!
Yup. You read that right. While eating these exploding chocolate treats, you'll definitely feel tiny fourth of July fireworks popping in your mouth. Curious? Read on!
Yup. You read that right. While eating these exploding chocolate treats, you'll definitely feel tiny fourth of July fireworks popping in your mouth. Curious? Read on!
How to Make "Exploding" Chocolate Candy!
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Friday, June 12, 2015
Let's Make Easy and Colorful Magnetic Sculptures!
Magnets are such fun things to explore! For me, there's nothing cooler than feeling that invisible magnetic force pull or push two items together. Today we're exploring magnetism and the connection between art and science with this really easy Magnetic Sculpture Activity!
Kids STEAM Activity: Making Magnetic Sculptures!
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Friday, June 5, 2015
Make Fun and Colorful Number Chart Sticker Math Art
When I was a kid, I loved learning about patterns. There was something super thrilling about being able to predict what came next. Today I'm sharing a colorful STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) Activity that combines my love of patterns, color, and math! We're making some groovy Number Chart Art! This activity is the perfect way for kids to practice number recognition, pattern-making, multiplication, addition, and subtraction... while making some beautiful artwork too!
Let's make Number Chart Art!
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Monday, May 11, 2015
Calder-Inspired Sculptures (and our 20+ favorite art books!)
As a child I really loved Alexander Calder's sculptures. Whimsical and colorful, they let me see that art can be fun too! Today I'm sharing a really simple paper sculpture project inspired by Calder's large scale metal ones. They take only minutes to whip up and certainly would also make for fun scissor practice with younger kids as well!
Kids Calder-Inspired Art Sculptures
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Thursday, April 16, 2015
Build a Funicular Train
Did you know there were such things as funicular trains? I learned about them from a train book that my son and I read together. Apparently these trains are used to move people up and down steep cliffs. Two cars are attached via a cable and one car moves up the mountain as another moves down. Now of course, you know me.... I just had to try making a funicular train for our lego minifigures.... especially after we enjoyed playing with our cardboard conveyor belt so much!
Let's Build a Funicular Train!
Monday, April 13, 2015
Kid Science: Studying Bird Beaks
Now that it's spring, I feel a severe kick in the bum to start doing more nature and science themed activities with Chuck. There's something really cool about seeing blossoms, birds, bees, and bugs (whoa- bs!) all around. We recently visited our nearby natural history museum and Chuck spent quite a bit of time playing with a bird beak activity. It was so simple and fun that I had to share it here!
Kid Science: Studying Bird Beaks with Kids
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Saturday, April 11, 2015
5 Flower + Plant Activities for Preschoolers!
Spring is here! Spring is here! In honor of this lovely season, here are 5 flower and plant activities that are just perfect for preschoolers!
5 Preschool Flower + Plant Activities
Sunday, April 5, 2015
How to Fold and Cut Origami Stars
Lately I've just been digging Origami projects. There's just something so relaxing about folding paper to create lovely things. For today's post I wanted to share a recent origami project- these folded and cut origami stars. They are really, really beautiful and of course, super simple to make! (I'm an origami newbie, so if I say it's easy... it's totally doable!)
So keep reading to see how I made them.
Oh yeah. Guess what? I took the plunge and actually shot videos of me folding the paper and explaining my process. I know, I know. Video is a completely new medium to me and I still have a lot of kinks to work out (like how to make things brighter!) But, I think the videos explain the process better than the photos. So I've included them in the post.
How to Fold and Cut Origami Stars
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So keep reading to see how I made them.
Oh yeah. Guess what? I took the plunge and actually shot videos of me folding the paper and explaining my process. I know, I know. Video is a completely new medium to me and I still have a lot of kinks to work out (like how to make things brighter!) But, I think the videos explain the process better than the photos. So I've included them in the post.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Painted Tin Can Succulent Pots
Spring has sprung! Are you enjoying all the lovely blooms popping up around your neighborhood? In honor of Spring, today's Creative Preschool theme is.... plants! So I wanted to share how we painted and repotted these tin can succulents.
Because this is part of the Preschool Collaborators Series, there are links at the bottom of the post to 4 other bloggers' great ideas for teaching preschoolers about flowers and plants! (So scroll down to the bottom of the post to check those out!)
Because this is part of the Preschool Collaborators Series, there are links at the bottom of the post to 4 other bloggers' great ideas for teaching preschoolers about flowers and plants! (So scroll down to the bottom of the post to check those out!)
How to Repot Succulents in Painted Tin Cans
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Thursday, April 2, 2015
How to make a Conveyor Belt
Does your child like machines? Then you'll love today's quick craft. It's a super simple milk carton conveyor belt!
Make a Conveyor Belt
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Monday, March 23, 2015
Origami Artwork With Kids
Ever have just a crazy, crazy, week? I'm sure you have... and last week was mine. Chuck was sick the entire week and hubby had to work late hours. So at night I found myself trying to relax by catching up on my favorite shows (currently Brooklyn 99) and folding origami. Yup. I'll hopefully have some cool origami projects (like these origami black cat, origami jack-o-lantern, and origami vampire lips) to show you in the next couple of weeks.
I'm not an origami ninja. A lot of times projects just don't turn out quite how I imagined. Lines aren't folded correctly and have to be refolded (again and again). When imperfect projects are finally finished, it always seems like a shame to toss out the paper. So I thought to myself, "Why not turn my old origami projects into art?" And that's how this idea was born!
I'm not an origami ninja. A lot of times projects just don't turn out quite how I imagined. Lines aren't folded correctly and have to be refolded (again and again). When imperfect projects are finally finished, it always seems like a shame to toss out the paper. So I thought to myself, "Why not turn my old origami projects into art?" And that's how this idea was born!
Make Origami Artwork with Kids
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Friday, March 13, 2015
5 Preschool Pi Day Activities
Ok. Pi day is coming up this Saturday. Are you ready to celebrate it with some fun activities? Last year I came up with 3 Pi Day Activities for elementary aged children, like making Pi Day Bracelets and making 2 Types of Pi Inspired Artwork! This year I thought it would be a fun challenge to try to introduce Pi Day to my Preschooler.
Pi Day celebrates Pi, the mathematical constant that describes the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Pi's digits stretch infinitely long, never repeat, and seem to be random. I really wanted to share my love for math with my 3 year old. So here are 5 Preschool Pi Day Activities that are fun, easy to set up, and great opportunities for some hands on learning!
Pi Day celebrates Pi, the mathematical constant that describes the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Pi's digits stretch infinitely long, never repeat, and seem to be random. I really wanted to share my love for math with my 3 year old. So here are 5 Preschool Pi Day Activities that are fun, easy to set up, and great opportunities for some hands on learning!
5 Preschool Pi Day Activities
Friday, March 6, 2015
10 Ocean Crafts and Activities
This week's Creative Preschool Collaborator's theme is Oceans and Fish! I was excited to tackle the theme because Chuck LOVES going to the beach and playing in the ocean. So keep reading for some ocean themed storybook ideas, 10 preschool ocean crafts/activities, AND 4 other kid blogger's creative Ocean themed activities!
10 Ocean Crafts and Activties
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Thursday, February 19, 2015
Easy Spinning Top Marker Art
Recently Chuck's been interested in making things with me again. (Phew. I thought our dry spell would never be over!) He seems to enjoy using materials in different ways (like this rainy day process art activity). So I thought it would be fun to combine a toy with an art item to make it more fun for him. Tada... here's our spinner marker top!
This activity is just so cool because it combines science and art. You can actually track the motion of the spinning "top." (Just wait till you see the cool spirals it makes! Wow.)
Easy Spinning Top Marker Art!
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This activity is just so cool because it combines science and art. You can actually track the motion of the spinning "top." (Just wait till you see the cool spirals it makes! Wow.)
Monday, November 10, 2014
Maple Syrup Candy + Craft Fail book review!
Now that the weather is a bit chillier, I thought it would be fun to do more fall and winter crafts and activities. I loved reading the Little House on the Prairie series as a child and always wanted to try doing the things Laura did. Last year, we made homemade butter from heavy cream. This year, we tried our hand at making homemade maple syrup candy!
Let's Make Homemade Maple Syrup Candy!
(using snow-- ooh la la)
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Monday, November 3, 2014
Rainy Day Process Art
We got rain! We got rain! Whoopie! This was a pretty big deal here in SoCal because we've been in the middle of a drought for a looooong time. Since I love trying easy art projects with Chuck, we took advantage of the rain and collaborated with Mother Nature to create some beautiful rainy day process art.
This was a really fun and easy art project. I really enjoyed it because we didn't concern ourselves so much with the final product. Instead, we just really enjoyed making art together and then watching Mother Nature add her bit too.
Here's how we made our rainy day process art!
Let's Make Rainy Day Process Art!
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This was a really fun and easy art project. I really enjoyed it because we didn't concern ourselves so much with the final product. Instead, we just really enjoyed making art together and then watching Mother Nature add her bit too.
Here's how we made our rainy day process art!
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
5 Ways to Write Secret Messages
As a kid, I loved the idea of being a detective or a secret spy. They got to wear cool clothes, go on adventures, and solve mysteries. A couple of weeks ago I tried playing a detective game with Chuck. I hid his favorite stuffed pig and then left 5 clues for him to follow. The clues were all written as secret messages. We had to do something to the paper to revel the hidden words.
Chuck was onboard with the game. We've recently been gobbling up Nate the Great books from the library, so he really enjoyed being a detective and solving the case.
5 Ways to Write Secret Messages
(This post contains affiliate links. Thank you so much for your support!)
Chuck was onboard with the game. We've recently been gobbling up Nate the Great books from the library, so he really enjoyed being a detective and solving the case.
Monday, August 18, 2014
DIY Cardboard Rocket Launcher Toy
Apparently we've reached the stage where Chuck likes pretending to shoot things... and people. (Ack. Is this common? I'm assuming so... ) So I thought it would be fun to somehow make a toy that would actually shoot things, like a catapult or a slingshot. We always seem to have cardboard rolls lying around, so I built this cardboard roll rocket launcher toy. Then, we had a BLAST playing with it!
Get it? Rocket launcher? Blast? Like blast off? Hee hee hee... wah wah wah.
This rocket launcher toy uses rubber bands and cardboard rolls to shoot aluminum foil balls. It's so powerful that we can actually shoot a ball across our (small) patio... whoa, right? Since the balls are made from aluminum foil, they don't hurt. So you could create several launchers, shoot each other, and then not worry about anyone getting hurt. Excellent, right?
Keep on reading to build your own rocket launcher and see other cool DIY toys that you can make and play with your little one.
Get it? Rocket launcher? Blast? Like blast off? Hee hee hee... wah wah wah.
DIY Cardboard Roll Rocket Launcher Toy
(Note: This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.)
This rocket launcher toy uses rubber bands and cardboard rolls to shoot aluminum foil balls. It's so powerful that we can actually shoot a ball across our (small) patio... whoa, right? Since the balls are made from aluminum foil, they don't hurt. So you could create several launchers, shoot each other, and then not worry about anyone getting hurt. Excellent, right?
Keep on reading to build your own rocket launcher and see other cool DIY toys that you can make and play with your little one.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Building Cardboard Bridges (Kid Engineering!)
Ever wonder why corrugated boxes are so strong? Since we've started unpacking, I'm surprised by how well our boxes held up. Even after being shipped across the country, our stuff is intact and our boxes still look good. Wow! Those folded bits really make corrugated cardboard strong! This thought inspired me to try building some simple cardboard bridges with Chuck. This way we could see for ourselves how folds made cardboard stronger.
Easy Kid Engineering: Let's Cardboard Build bridges!
(Does folding paper make it stronger?)
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