Planets

Learning About Planets: 

Although it seems like an abstract idea to learn about the planets it is important for children to learn about the Earth that they live on. Children will very quickly become interested in learning about the other planets and how the solar system work as a whole. 

Enjoy this rap about the solar system! 

Lesson Idea: Make your own Plant 

Description: Children will use the art materials provided to create their own planet. Ask the children to share details about what life on their planet is like. 

Example-My Planet ("Michelle's World"): 

 I used silver sharpies, black paper, scissors, tape, and a large ball to make my planet. I used the sharpie to draw "continents" on the paper then I cut them out and tape them on the ball. For this activity children can have access to all of the art materials to build their planet anyway they would like. 

I named my planet Michelle's World because all of the continents are shaped like and consist of only things that I love. The continents on my planet are Ice Cream Factory, Giraffeland, Water Country, Bumpin' Beats, and Weight World 

Each continent consists of things related to the shape and name of the continent. For example, Girraffeland has millions of giraffes. Humans can live on all continents and can easily and very cheaply travel from continent to another. I placed "Weight  World" in between "Ice Cream Factory" and "Water Country" so people could conveniently get their beach bodies in check after eating unbelievable amounts of ice cream. 

Books about Planets: 

 

Books About Earth: 

Physical Science Blog

Physical Science

Motion/Force:







Matter/Chemical Change

Chemical Reactions:

Potions

Potions

Making potions is a great way for children to make scientific discoveries as they learn how different things interact when they are mixed in a super exciting way!

What you will need: 

Household materials that children can mix to make potions

Test Tubes

Stir Sticks

Apron

Gloves 

Glasses 

*Safety Tip: Ensure that all materials that you use are safe. Read the labels!*

Children will make potions in test tubes and name them. Encourage children to write down the ingredients that they used so they can share their potion and make it again if they want. Allow the children to share their potions with their friends. Ask them to think about what their potion will do. 

Children could also take pictures of their potions and record the reactions in order to create a book,

Here are some of the potions that we created: 

Sunrise: 

Ingredients: 

Baking Soda 

Food coloring 

White Vinegar 

Baby Oil 

Anti-Acid

Mellow Yellow: 


Ingredients: 

Baby Oil

Food Coloring 

Shaving Cream 

Sea World

Ingredients: 

Daily Fiber

White Vinegar 

Ice Cream Salt 

Denture Cleaner 

Mr. B

Ingredients: 

White Vinegar 

Baking Soda 

Salt 

Ice Cream Salt 

Denture Cleaner 

We discovered that baking soda and vinegar made a chemical reaction, so we added baking soda and vinegar to all of our potions at the end.

Bubbles!

Bubbles!

You might think of bubbles as something simple that will keep children occupied for a few minutes. However, just like with anything else, children will quickly become very curious about bubbles, which can lead to great scientific discoveries. 

When children come up with questions about bubbles, it is important that you support their inquiries and help them discover the answers. 

How do you make the most bubbles? 

How do you make the biggest bubbles? 

Are bubbles always round?

There are so many amazing things that you can do with bubbles!

Books: 

SLIME!!

SLIME!!! 

Polka-Dot Slime: 

Other Concoctions: 

Clean Mud: 

Star Wars Galaxy Slime: 













Jell-O Slime: 

https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/56712/concoctions-for-kids-3-ingredients

Nature Connections: February

This is my photo of the month-The snow was almost covering my car! It was a lot of work to dig it out.

Children can keep their February photo with their January photo and eventually use them to make a monthly photo book. (Explained in the January blog) 

Activity: How do animals stay warm in the winter: 

First you can ask children to brainstorm how humans stay warm in the winter and how animals stay warm in the winter. Write down the list.

Here is my list:



You can then do various lessons representing how animals stay warm.

The blubber experiment (Explained in the Blue Whale Blog) is on example



Another example uses a glove to represent hair and plastic wrap under the glove to represent excess fat.


Activity: Shadows

Children will love looking at shadows during this time of year.

One activity that they would have a lot of fun with is creating a shadow with different materials. For examples if you made different shapes with cardboard boxes, it would create a very interesting shadow. They could take a picture of their shadow or make a video of themselves and their shadow. They could also use an app like My Story to create a story about their shadow.

Shadow Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ne6J0aXvfs

The children could write a poem about their shadow or their shadow sculptures

Here is my shadow poem: 

My Shadow

My shadow is so silly

She always copies me

When I run, she runs,

We both sit under the tree

Sometimes she is hiding, 

Nowhere to be seen

But when she comes back out, 

She's as funny as can be. 

Books: 
 

Gorssology

Children can research a gross bodily function and share the information that they learn with the class. The children can present what they learned with a PPT, a video blog, a book, a poster, or any other way that they can think of.