Applause Worthy Preschool Science =)

I have been trying to incorporate a science experiment in my morning circle with my students at least once a week & I have tried all kinds!  Some...did NOT hold their attention.  Of course,  they are 3-5 years old. Why would they care to compare the feeling of different items? But others,  had them clapping and cheering in their seats & made me laugh to myself.  Which ones got that reaction? The most simple experiments which had them guessing what the outcome would be. 

First one....Layering liquids to make a "rainbow" in a jar.
I took a small glass container and brought in 4 plastic cups filled with my mystery rainbow ingredients.  First,  I poured into the glass container some Karo Light Corn syrup with which I mixed in blue & red food coloring to make purple.  I then asked the children what they thought would happen if I poured in some blue dish soap.  Most guessed it would sink or mix.  To their surprise, I poured it in, and it floated on top! So next up,  some green water. Again,  I asked them what they thought would happen and they all shouted out similar sinking & mixing answers....waiting impatiently for me to pour it in.  While waiting I noticed they all were sitting right in their seats in circle,  fixated on the jar. It was nice to see them all focusing and involved! So,  in went the water...and it sat right on top of the dish soap. So now I had 3 layers.  Lastly some yellow vegetable oil!  that went in and I held up or rainbow (missing some orange and red) and they all cheered and clapped and asked me to walk around and show them.  It was a great activity for them because they did not know what would happen and were so excited to find out what was to come. I loved it, they loved it and I was so happy it went well!

Second one....Exploding Milk!
For this one I poured some milk into a shallow round pan,  maybe half an inch worth.  And dropped in various colors of food coloring spread out throughout the milk.  Then I took out my milk exploder....my dish soap. I asked the children what they think would happen if I dropped some dish soap in. I got lots of answers! Many about sinking, floating, disappearing.  So....I had them all lay on their bellies and get ready to watch....and dropped a drop in,  right in the middle of the pan.  As I did the food coloring drops flew across the pan and started swirling around.  They never mixed, the colors stayed very distinct and it looked great! They loved it and even asked a very scientific question "Kristin! What will happen if we put in ANOTHER drop??" So we tried it,  observed, talked...they all cheered and clapped and were all smiles. It was a great experiment because they  had no idea what to expect and the element of surprise kept them right with me the whole time!

These are great because not only are they great for school, but they are both using things that can be found at home!   Here are a couple of photos....(not from mine unfortunately, just google images to give you an idea.)

Big Boy Voice

This is just a super quick story from my day in preschool....it made me laugh and figured someone else out there may get a laugh out of it.

I was on the play ground and a group of 4 year olds went tearing by me...2 laughing and having a grand time,  shouting out instructions to one another with 1 in tow,  crying and shrieking and whining the whole way,  kicking his legs out to the side as he ran.

I call to the last 1 in the line and asked him to come over....I tried to explain to him that his friends may not listen to him if he was whining and he should use a big boy voice...no more screaching.  I concluded this conversation with "Ok,  so where is your big boy voice?" 

He stared at me for a moment blankly....the in low, whiney voice and a huge scowl on his face he looks me in the eye and says "but I cant find itttttttttttttttt!!"

haha. oh my was I not expecting that at all.  It took all I had not to laugh...instead I simply instructed him to look in his pockets and see if he left it there when he was getting ready for school.  Sure enough,  he found it....and off he ran. haha...made my whole day!

Her Birthday is in SPRING

This is my first fall at this amazing preschool I am so very lucky to be a part of.  So,  I am learning what happens as new students start and what not.  I am the artistic one of my teaching team so most bulletin boards and such I gladly volunteer for.  This fall one of my duties I took on was the birthday wall.  My wonderful co-workers told me that a few years ago they had a board that was divided by the 4 seasons and a way to distinquish the 3 months within that season with the children's birthdays on it. 

So...I made(pictures will follow, but I do not have any tonight)

Fall--a tree with red apples (september birthdays),  yellow apples (november birthdays) and little orange pumpkins at the base of the tree (october birthdays)

Winter-- a snow man with top hat (december birthday--yep, only one--me!) a scarf (with january birthdays) and boots (with february birthdays).

Spring-- a pink flower, yellow flower and purple flower--i dont know specifics but march, april & may--each on one color

And last but not least--Summer--a sun,  orange rays (june birthdays) red rays (july birthdays) yellow middle (august birthdays)

Ok,  lovely...the things are hung up in the room where we do meeting.  I didnt think the kids payed attention,  but it looked darn cute.  So out on the play ground today,  I'm chatting with a 4 year old. "Her birthday's in winter,  Her birthday's in winter,  My birthday's in winter, Your birthday is in winter...." he tells me.  I say yes, and point to another girl, and she will be 4 in winter too! i tell him.  Oh, no! Was I wrong and did he let me know it! "NOOOOO!" he shrieks at me! "Her birthday is in SPRING!" i of course disagree because obviously I should know everything and kindly tell him,  no, it is in winter! He screeches at me again.  and again. AND AGAIN.  Finally I'm wondering...why the heck is he so insistant on this and how the heck does he know her birthday is in spring???

Good one Kristin....the gosh darn birthday wall clearly tells him that her birthday is in spring. her birthday is not on the silly snowman,  its on the darn flower!!!!

haha....i am so glad my birthday wall display has served is purpose....the kids learned,  and kristin...was proven wrong again!

The Mixed Up Chameleon

Today during circle time in my preschool, I did the routine....we stretched our muscles, we talked about the calendar, we talked about the letter "A" and built a great list of A words together. The next thing we did, made my day. It left me smiling and remembering why preschoolers are so great and why I love teaching them so much! It also showed me the importance of books and how they can open up all kinds of learning opportunities for little ones!

 

We started by reading the book "The Mixed-Up Chameleon" by Eric Carle. I read the book out loud, showing the pages and describing the animals this chameleon wishes to become in a very in-awe fashion, all of them sat quietly watching, shouting out any "a" words they heard. Then came the giggles as the chameleon added more and more parts from various animals at the zoo, attempting to be all of them combined....for he felt he was VERY boring just being himself. As we came to the last page they even began telling me what they thought Eric Carle used to make the great pictures..."paint!", "markers!"....everyone had an opinion.

As the suggestions rounded out, I then asked the children...."Was the chameleon happy when he was all of those different animals?"--Nooooo! they called out to me. "Did the chameleon wish to be back to his old self?" Yessss!!! They cheered. "If you told the chameleon YOU wanted to be something else....what do you think he might tell you?" and surprisingly....a few of them called out, "To stay YOU!", "Be yourself!", "Don't change!" I was so happy they were finding meaning in this silly, mixed-up story!

I took it another step further and asked them if they could choose ONE animal to be mixed-ed up with, what would they choose and why? I got some amazing answers such as:

A lion so I can roar!
A cheetah so I can climb trees and run fast!
A fish...because I can NEVER catch them!
A bear so I can eat meat.
A donkey because they can kick.
A whale because they spout water out of their HEAD!

....every single child had a different, creative, fantastic answer that had me running for a piece of paper to write it all down. I was so proud of these little ones. They followed along with me and took this story from just a story to a discussion of art, animals and their traits, and morals of the story. I could not have imagined anything better from a group of 13 preschoolers. I dont think parents often realize just what might come from some simple questions you can ask your 3 year old. It is so important to not only read, read & read more....but to talk, discuss, question. They will surprise you! They will give you amazing answers you might never expect! I know I enjoy it....I know their parents would've too!

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