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Experiment 12: Make your own motor 0

Experiment 12: Make your own motor

This simple experiment is courtesy of a goodfriend of ours (thanks Mr. M!). All you needis a very strong (earth) magnet, a copper wireand a battery. The wire doesn’t need to touchthe magnet at the bottom, it just needs to beclose. The wire will spin very quickly aroundthe battery (and will get quite warm to thetouch, which also fascinated the kids). The kids thought it was interesting that ifthey flipped...

Sunflower School House Website (writing prompts) 3

Sunflower School House Website (writing prompts)

Honey over at Sunflower School House always amazes me with the free downloads she provides.  She has had some website problems and has redesigned her website.  I was over their taking a look when I had a moment this morning.  She has a First Creativity Journal that has writing assignments that will be perfect for LD. [Scroll down her download list, it’s in alphabetical order.]  I’ll definitely use those along...

Experiment 10: The Volcano 0

Experiment 10: The Volcano

We actually do this experiment fairly frequently. Wefirst did this last January. Then we made volcanoes againfor our Natural Disasters unit (when we studied hurricanes,volcanoes, tornadoes, tsunamis and things like that). Wehad the perfect opportunity to do this experiment againalong with the Bubble Bombs when a friend was over fora play this afternoon. I’m sure you know how, but if not: A few days ago, we made the volcano from...

Experiment 11: The Bubble Bomb 0

Experiment 11: The Bubble Bomb

The kids had a lot of fun with this experimentas well. 1) Add vinegar to the bottom of a ziploc bag.Ours happened to be red because of the volcanobut plain vinegar is fine.2) Place baking soda into a tissue, wrap it upand hold it near the top while sealing the bag.3) Mix the baking soda and vinegar, drop andrun.4) The bag will POP much to the delight ofthe kids!

Experiment 8: Fireworks in Milk (Investigating Surface Tension) 0

Experiment 8: Fireworks in Milk (Investigating Surface Tension)

Today’s experiments (8 & 9) both investigated surfacetension. In this milk experiment, we watched as dish washingsoap broke the surface tension of the milk and sent dyeracing away. So, here’s what we did:1) Pour a small pitcher of milk onto a plate2) Place 1 drop of each color — red, yellow, blue and green3) Dip a Q-tip into dish washing soap 4) Place the Q-tip gently in the center of...

Experiment 8: (cont.) 0

Experiment 8: (cont.)

We had some really interesting movement when weadded a drop of blue and red food coloring and then leta couple drops of soap drip into the milk. The kids really, really enjoyed this experiment! I highlyrecommend this one. I’ve seen this experiment in a number of places, but there’sa good explanation of the science behind it all at:http://www.abc.net.au/science/surfingscientist/pdf/lesson_1_amazing_science.pdfon pages 6-7.

Experiment 9: Surface Tension in Water 0

Experiment 9: Surface Tension in Water

Grandpa sent us a wonderful science video clipabout water drops. So, I set up this experiment togo along with the two minute video (which wewatched afterward). The experiment wasquite simple, but the kids were at it for at leasttwenty minutes! 1) Pour a pitcher of water into a dish2) Place some colored water into a small dish3) Using an eye dropper, pick up some coloredwater.4) Drop ONE drop into the...

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Preschool Letter Activities

This week I’ve been putting a letter sorting activity in DD’s workbox. I chose a small toy/item, wrote that word on a piece of paper and had the first letter of that word (in lower and upper case letters) that she had to sort into rows. She’s also been finding the letters to make words and has been quite motivated to do that. Other related posts you might be interested...

Part II: Writing Activity/Letter Recognition (cont.) 0

Part II: Writing Activity/Letter Recognition (cont.)

Part II: DD had to sort her hard hat animals into different colors.Then she had to put the letters in the right order tomake the words house, flower and teddy bear. LD had to take his letters, make as many words as hecould and write them in his notebook (men, cent, pin etc). He’s been unhappy about his journal writing, but hereally enjoyed this activity.

Online Addition Games 0

Online Addition Games

Here are some quick online games LD has played to review his math facts the past few days (some are pretty easy, but some such as ghostblasters, you can work on any sum up to 50). Addition Games http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/ghostblasters2/gb2nores.html http://www.mathmastery.com/cyberchallenge/http://www.coolmath4kids.com/addition/number-monster-addition-basics.htmhttp://www.coolmath4kids.com/addition/math-lines-10.htmlSpace Shuttle Addition:http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/shuttleLaunch/shuttleLaunch.htmMore Easy Addition GamesColor a butterfly with addition:http://www.kid-adventures.com/Game3_1.htmlBirthday Party Present Math:http://www.kid-adventures.com/Game4.htmlPop the addition balloons:http://www.kid-adventures.com/Game5.html