Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Friday, January 30, 2015
5 Ideas for Learning about the body!
I think last week's Creative Preschool Collaborator's theme of learning about the body was probably my favorite theme yet. Each of us came up with really different and really creative ways to teach young children about the human body! Here's a recap of all 5 bloggers' awesome ideas!
Friday, January 23, 2015
Let's learn about our brain! (Preschool Science Activity)
Today's Creative Preschool Collaborators theme is body parts! (So be sure the check the bottom of the post for 4 other ways to teach preschool kids about their bodies!)
Lately Chuck's been interested in learning about his body, so this topic was right up our alley. Since we have out-of-town guests staying with us for a bit, I designed 5 low-prep and easy activities to help Chuck learn about the brain!
Lately Chuck's been interested in learning about his body, so this topic was right up our alley. Since we have out-of-town guests staying with us for a bit, I designed 5 low-prep and easy activities to help Chuck learn about the brain!
Preschool Science: Let's Learn about our brain!
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Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Kids Science: Toilet Paper Comparisons!
We go through TONS of toilet paper around here. (Ehh- TMI? Probably.) But I don't mind because that means we have a constant stash for our toilet paper roll crafts. Recently, hubby received a couple free rolls of Charmin toilet paper to try out. The packaging claimed that it was "ultra strong." But... was it really? I wondered how it would compare against other brands. And of course, we had to find out. So we did this toilet paper science activity together as a family.
(Hmm... how does that saying go... the family that plays with toilet paper together... stays together? Hee hee hee )
(Hmm... how does that saying go... the family that plays with toilet paper together... stays together? Hee hee hee )
Toilet Paper Roll Science Activity
(Let's compare rolls. Which one is the best?)
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Kid Science: Let's Study Seeds
Are you looking for ways to incorporate science into your child's daily life? Lately Chuck's been really enjoying the television show Sid the Science Kid. I typically work beside him while he watches tv, but dang it, that show hooks me in EVERY TIME. They make science so accessible for little kids (and adults too, apparently.) Plus, I love how they encourage children to be curious, observe, and explore their world. Thanks to Sid, I'm now trying to do some really easy science activities at home with Chuck too. In fact, here's one fun activity that we recently did together- we studied seeds!
Kid STEM Activity: Seed Study!
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!
Friday, October 24, 2014
Glow in the Dark Moon Shirt
My son loves pointing out the moon at night. Today I'm over at DIY Candy sharing how I made him this adorable glow in the dark moon shirt.
(By the way, did you see the solar eclipse yesterday? We totally missed it. Ack!)
And if you really like glow in the dark crafts, here are some more from the archives!
DIY Glow in the Dark Moon Shirt
(By the way, did you see the solar eclipse yesterday? We totally missed it. Ack!)
And if you really like glow in the dark crafts, here are some more from the archives!
Other glow in the dark crafts:
Have a great weekend, friends!
(Remember, you can always find other fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts!)Friday, October 17, 2014
Preschool Science: Let's Make Charts!
While I enjoy making things with Chuck, I'm also always looking for easy ways to incorporate mathematics and science into our daily activities too. I loved math and science as a child, so I'd love it if he appreciated those subjects too. Since he's only 3, our activities have to very pretty hands-on and relevant to his interests (like our shape dice, cardboard bridges, and shape touch and find activities.) We love taking walks outside. So I incorporated science and math into our walk and created this chart to help us count the number of different things in our neighborhood.
STEM ACTIVITY: Make Charts With Preschoolers!
This was a super easy STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activity to do with my preschooler. It required very little prep and we practiced our observation, counting, and data analysis skills in the process!
Here's how we did the activity!
Friday, October 10, 2014
How did I make my skin glow?
Looking for an easy way to entertain the kids this weekend?
How about making their skin glow?
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Yurp. It's 1:30 AM here and I should be sleeping. But I'm not. Why? Well, I couldn't because all my craft juices were flowing after seeing this tutorial.
Did you know that you can make your skin glow... with only 2 materials? I had to try it out for myself. So I took a highlighter and black light and then got working. And guess what? It worked! The highlighter glows under black light!
Can you guess what Chuck and I will be doing this weekend?
Hope you have a great weekend!
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.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Magic Fizzy "Sand!"
Once upon a time there was a mom who found herself with a very bored child. He didn't want to play with any of his toys. He didn't want to play outside. And he certainly did not want to do any crafts. Finding herself at her wits end, this mom pulled out 2 ingredients from cupboard and within minutes, whipped up several batches of wonderful smelling Magic Fizzy "Sand." She then gave her child the sand and he played and played. After he grew tired of the activity, magic mom waved her magic wand and poof! The sand began to bubble and fizz, delighting the child once more. And they all lived happily ever after.
Ok. Full admission time... I was that mom. And yes, I found myself with a grumpy child. And yes, this magic "sand" ended up entertaining him for over half an hour (which as we all know, is like years in little kid time.)
If you find yourself with a super bored or grouchy child, then this activity is for you. Magic "Sand" is easy to make, smells wonderful, and really does fizz and bubble with water.
Wanna know how I made it? Keep reading!
Ok. Full admission time... I was that mom. And yes, I found myself with a grumpy child. And yes, this magic "sand" ended up entertaining him for over half an hour (which as we all know, is like years in little kid time.)
Let's Make Magic Fizzy "Sand!"
(This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!)
Wanna know how I made it? Keep reading!
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Building Play Dough and Rock Houses
Happy Friday everybody! Today I just wanted to share with you a really, really easy and fun activity that Chuck and I recently did together. Inspired by fellow Rockin' Art Mom Babble Dabble Do's Clay and Wood Block Structures, Chuck and I built Rock and Play Dough Houses!
We've been going to the beach once a week lately, and I always come home with lovely rocks. To justify my slowly growing pile of rocks, I thought this would be a great way for us to use them in a fun and creative way.
Building with Rock and Playdough!
(This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!)
We've been going to the beach once a week lately, and I always come home with lovely rocks. To justify my slowly growing pile of rocks, I thought this would be a great way for us to use them in a fun and creative way.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Let's Explore Art Materials like Scientists
Whenever we do art projects, I always hand Chuck certain drawing materials because I know their properties and how they'll look and interact with each other. In this activity I thought it would be fun to change it up a bit and let Chuck do some exploring. So we tried our hand at exploring art materials like scientists!
Scientifically exploring Art Materials with Kids
(This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!)
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?)
Friday, August 8, 2014
Build a Bird's Nest
Lately Chuck and I have been going on a lot of nature walks. Typically after lunch or dinner we'll just walk around our neighborhood and fly our toy planes, or pick up random rocks and twigs on the sidewalk. Because Chuck loves collecting different objects, I thought it would be fun if we tried making something with the items that we found. This time, we tried our hand at making a bird's nest.
Let's Build a Bird's Nest!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Let's Build Boats! (Engineering with Kids)
Lately we've been reading books on pirates around here. Arrrrgh maties! So I thought it would be fun if we tried our hands at building some boats from everyday materials. (I saw a similar idea from i2camp's Instagram feed and really wanted to try it out.) This was a fun engineering activity that required very little prep and just used random items from our crafting and recycling bins.
Kids' Engineering: Let's Build Boats!
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Thursday, June 5, 2014
Kid Science: Make orange soda!
There are so many neat scientific demonstrations out there showing how acids and bases react. Last year, Chuck and I used vinegar and baking soda to blow up a balloon. Seeing that balloon fill up stayed on my mind for quite some time. The balloon blew up because of the carbon dioxide released when the acid and base combined. Carbon dioxide is also what makes soda taste fizzy on your tongue. So I tried out some kitchen chemistry and created homemade soda, using an acid and base reaction.
Easy Kid Science: Let's Make Orange soda!
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Make a Record Player! (Inspired by Travels with Charlie) #bookingusa
Today I'm going to share with you how I made a record player using materials found around our apartment. *pauses* Wait, wait, I know what you're thinking, "What are you doing Leslie? A DIY record player? Why would you even try to build one in the first place?" Well, friends, before I answer those questions, let me first show you the finished product:
Yes. This baby plays. Yes. I have a video of it playing a record down below. And yes, I will share the inspiration behind this fun project!
Kid Science: How to Make a Record Player
Yes. This baby plays. Yes. I have a video of it playing a record down below. And yes, I will share the inspiration behind this fun project!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Build a toy car that moves
I love painting things with Chuck, but sometimes I yearn to make things that actually move or do things. So when a mommy friend suggested that we build cardboard toy cars that actually move, wowzers, I had to say yes. She found the directions in an old kids' science book (that I don't remember the name of... sorry). And that's how we spent an awesome play date with five kids- eating pizza and then building and racing some cardboard racing cars.
1. The cars really move. Really. You just twist the tin can and then let go. Bam. The rubber bands store the potential energy and then once released, they turn the can... and your car moves by itself!
2. You don't need any expensive materials. In fact, you probably have most of the items already at home.
Have I whet your appetite enough? Ok. Let's build! Vroooom!
Kid Science: Let's Build a Car that Moves!
Today's craft is awesome for 2 reasons:1. The cars really move. Really. You just twist the tin can and then let go. Bam. The rubber bands store the potential energy and then once released, they turn the can... and your car moves by itself!
2. You don't need any expensive materials. In fact, you probably have most of the items already at home.
Have I whet your appetite enough? Ok. Let's build! Vroooom!
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