Tag Archives: Elementary

Playdough Color Wheel

Posted in Art, Colors, Free by

I tried my hand at homemade playdough for the first time.  I am no cook.  But since the end product is not supposed to be edible, how can I mess it up?  I used this recipe from Domestic Super Hero.  Don’t worry.  You don’t need to be super hero at all.  I made three batches: red, yellow, and blue.

color mixing with play dough

Then the fun part: mixing colors!  I divided each of my colors of playdough into two equal halves and then set one of the halves off to the side.  The remaining half should be divided in half again.  (Perfect time to talk about how fractions are equal parts of a whole.)  Now you have two equal fourths of each color.  Time to mix!  Take 1/4 of the red and smoosh it together with 1/4 of the blue.  It takes awhile, so you might have to help if your kiddo wears out on the mixing.  See if your kid can guess the color that you are making…then see if it actually turns out.  Our purple was a little on the gray side.  But you can always add a pinch more red or blue to tweak the color.

play dough color wheel from Mr. Printable

Our last step was to put our colors on a color wheel.  There are tons of free blank color wheels out there.  I used the secondary color wheel from Mr. Printables.  I liked how the color words were labeled so my daughters could match them up.  If you don’t have a reader yet, give them clues like “Red has three letters.  Can you find the word blue?  It starts with the letter B.  Orange is red and yellow mixed together so it should be in between them.”

play dough color wheel

 

And if you are still in the mood to play, here are 15 more ways you can learn with playdough!

Advertisement

Water Paint

Posted in Art, Free, Letters, Numbers, Outside, Shapes, Sight Words, Writing by

water paint

 

How do I keep the kids entertained while I mow the lawn?  Water painting.  All you need is a bucket of water, paintbrushes, and a fence.  It’s free and it’s fun and it doesn’t make a mess.  Plus kids can practice all kinds of things:

  • letters
  • numbers
  • counting
  • patterns- use the fence pickets
  • math problems
  • sight words or spelling words
  • shapes
  • and my daughters’ favorite: splattering

It isn’t the same as practicing handwriting with a pencil and paper, but that’s the point.  Sometimes kids need a break from the routine.  Novelty makes learning fun.  Who wouldn’t want to practice their spelling words outside with a paintbrush in the sunshine instead of at the kitchen table?

15 Ways to Learn with Play Food

Posted in Free, Math, Reading, Toys by

learning with play food

So you’ve got a little kitchen set for your kiddo.  Here are some ways to learn with all that plastic food (you know, instead of just tripping over it)….

  1. See if your child can name all the pieces of food.
  2. Select food and have a pretend picnic.
  3. Set up a pretend restaurant.  Take turns being the customer and waiter/waitress and cook.
  4. Arrange food in rows and go shopping with a basket.  Pretend to check-out and use real money.
  5. Sort food by color.
  6. Sort food by food group.
  7. Pick out two or more foods that start with the same letter.
  8. Look for shapes.  Which foods are spheres?  Are any flat like a circle?  What about a cylinder?
  9. Find and count certain foods.  How many eggs are there?  How many oranges?
  10. Compare quantities.  Are there more yellow foods or green foods?  How many more lemons than tomatoes?
  11. Use food to represent addition or subtraction problems.  I have four apples, then I give two to you.  How many do I have now?
  12. Play “I’m thinking of a food.”  Use adjectives to describe a piece of food to each other and take turns guessing.
  13. Play a memory game.  Place a few foods in front of your child.  Then have her close her eyes and take a food away.  Ask which one was removed.
  14. Put a food in a sack and see if you can guess what it is just by touch.
  15. Go on a food scavenger hunt.  Write down a list of foods to find (something to eat for breakfast, a vegetable, a food that starts with the letter B, etc.) and then see if your child can find them all!

Egg in Saltwater

Posted in Free, Science by

egg in saltwater

I love ridiculously easy science experiments.  I don’t want to create a shopping list just to do something with my kids.  I know, sometimes it is worth.  But most times I just want to grab a few things around the kitchen and be done.

Materials:

  • egg
  • salt
  • water
  • glass or bowl

This is a great activity to do after “sink or float.”  Hypothesize if an egg will float in water.  Test the hypothesis.  Then add salt and try it again.  Hint- you have to add LOTS of salt!  How does it work?  A raw egg has more density than tap water.  Adding salt increases the density of water until at some point it is greater than the egg.  Then the egg floats.  Try the experiment with other materials.  Talk about swimming in saltwater vs. freshwater.

Sink or Float Experiment

Posted in Science by

sink or float

One of the easiest science experiments is “Sink or Float.”  Just gather up some stuff on your living room floor and toss it in a bowl of water.  Done.  Science.

Okay, you could probably make it a little more educational.

First, make some predictions (hypotheses) about the objects.  An easy way to do this is group them into “sink” and “float” piles.  For older kids, make a chart of the objects, hypotheses, and actual results.  You can make your own or print one from the handy internet.

Next, the fun part.  Test the objects in water.  This is a hit with all ages.  Who doesn’t love dropping things in water?

Then, discuss the results and draw conclusions.  Ah, the learning part.  Were your hypotheses correct?  What do the sinking objects have in common?  What makes an object float?

simple sink or float

I always like to follow up an experiment with a good book.  Check out library books with a 532 call number or try some of my favorites:

  • Magic School Bus Ups and Downs: A Book about Floating and Sinking  by Joanna Cole
  • What Floats?  What Sinks?  A Look at Density by Jennifer Boothroyd
  • Will it Float or Sink? (Rookie Read-About Science) by Melissa Stewart

And if your library seems oh-so-far-away, try this equally educational online video.  Plus it’s interactive!!

 

Yarn Art

Posted in Art, Letters, Projects, Sight Words by

The girls decided it would be a fun game to cut up yarn.  I’m not sure how the came up with idea or how they stayed interested in it for so long.  It kept them occupied and it was great cutting practice for my three-year-old, so I was happy.  I was slightly less enthusiastic when my living room was covered in bits of yarn.  Hmmm…  What to do?  Well for starters we played my fun game of “Who can pick up the most yarn in her baggie?”  Then we made some art.

Big Sis used some steady hands to make lines and shapes with the Elmer’s glue.  Then she carefully found pieces of yarn to place on her glue lines.

yarn lines

Little Sis also had a great time plopping glue on a paper and then sticking yarn on.  She wasn’t as concerned about getting it on the lines….

yarn art

We also practiced some sight words.  First I wrote the word with glue and Big Sis placed the yarn on the lines.  Then we switched and she got to write with glue.  You could do the same with letters, numbers, or shapes.

yarn sight words

Ten Ways to Learn with Cardboard Boxes

Posted in Common Core, Free, Math, Reading by

building with boxes

If you can learn with cans, why not boxes?  We collected empty cardboard boxes for a few weeks to make “box blocks.”  For boxes that didn’t close on their own, I taped them shut.  The kids really got excited about adding to our box collection.  And we were able to see just how many boxes our family uses…and have a talk about the importance of recycling!  That is a learning experience in itself, but here are some other things you can teach with boxes…

learning with boxes

Common Core Standards appear in italics.  They correlate with specific standards in different grade levels.  These standards are used in almost every school in the country.  Click the Common Core tab above to learn more.)

  1. Colors- Talk about the different colors on the boxes, then divide them into groups or make a rainbow.
  2. Size- Compare sizes of boxes.  Put them in order from smallest to biggest.
  3. Counting– How many boxes in all?  Count how many you can stack in a tower.
  4. Addition and Subtraction– How many cereal boxes plus fruit snack boxes do we have? (first grade- Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction)
  5. Geometry- Talk about 2D vs 3D.  Use the word rectangular prism.  How many rectangles make up a box?   (kindergarten- Identify shapes as two-dimensional or three-dimensional)
  6. Measurement- Use a ruler to measure boxes length, width, and depth. (second grade- Measure and estimate lengths in standard units)
  7. Classification- Sort the boxes into groups based on color, size, or type of food.   (kindergarten- Classify objects into given categories; count the numbers of objects in each category and sort the categories by count)
  8. Reading– Beginning readers might be able to read some of the labels using the picture as a clue.  If they know it is a pizza box, see if they can pick out the word “pizza.”
  9. Letters- Try to make letters or even words out of the small boxes.
  10. Creative building– Design your own sculpture with box blocks!

Or combine all the above into a scavenger hunt.  Scatter the boxes around the room and then shout out things to find.  “Find a green box and bring it to me.  Which box would we use to eat breakfast?  Find the largest box.  Can you find the letter T on a box?”  This is great way to get kids moving and learning at the same time.

cardboard box horse
cardboard box scultpure

Tube Owls

Posted in Craft by

toilet paper tube owls

We’re a little owl-obsessed around our house.  So when I saw toilet paper tube owls on Pinterest, I knew we had to try it.  The ones I saw were beautiful with intricate designs drawn with black sharpies.  Not exactly a project for a three-year-old and a five-year-old.  So we improvised.  Bring on the googly eyes and foam shapes!  These owls are so simple that my daughters made them completely on their own.  And isn’t that the best kind of project?  They get to learn by creating, then play with their creation. It’s a win-win!

Super simple instructions:

  1. Fold the top of the tube down. (optional: cut tube to make an owlet)
  2. Paint tube.
  3. Glue on eyes and foam (or construction paper) shapes for beak and wings.

 

Materials:

  • toilet paper roll
  • foam shapes (or cut out triangles and ovals from construction paper)
  • googly eyes
  • glue
  • paint

tube owl materials

kid made cardboard owls

Five Free (Summer) Field Trips

Posted in Field Trip, Five Free Field Trips, Free, Uncategorized by

sprayground

1.  Spraygrounds- Called spraygrounds or splash parks, these free fountains are always a kid favorite.  Who doesn’t want to play in the water on a hot day?  I was especially grateful for spraygrounds when I had a baby and a toddler.  Take them both to the swimming pool by myself? A nightmare.  But watch my oldest run through the fountains while my baby sits and splashes?  Very doable.

2.  Bowling Alley– Kids can get two free games of bowling every day, all summer long!  Check out kidsbowlfree.com to see if a bowling alley in your area participates.  We did this last year and loved it!

3.  Concerts– Lots of shopping centers, communities, parks, and churches do free summer concerts in the evenings.  What better way to spend a summer night?  Just do a search for “free summer concert (your city name here)” and see what you can find.

4.  Art Fairs- Hands down my favorite activity.  We have already been to two this summer!  Although taking toddlers to a place with large groups of people and very expensive objects is not for a the faint of heart.  Wearable babies or older kids make the best art viewers (in my experience).

5.  Public School Playgrounds-  The schools are out and the playgrounds are open!  Pack a picnic and spend the afternoon “at recess.”  Just make sure to check the signage to make sure it is open to the public.

Letter Sound Game

Posted in Free, Letters, While You Wait by

phoneme game

Tired of playing “I Spy?”  Try “What Letter Makes This Sound?”  It is an easy while-you-wait game that you can play in the doctor’s office or restaurant.  One person makes a letter sound and the other person guesses the letter.  Easy.

Adult- “What letter makes this sound?” (make /b/ sound)

Kid- “B!!”

Then switch it up and let the kid ask the question.  Or make it more difficult and ask “Which two letters together make the /ch/ sound?” Or how about which two letters can both make the /s/ sound?”

This game should really be called the Phoneme Game.  (That’s a fancy way to say the individual speech sounds that make up a language. Also- I have been reading too many Fancy Nancy books.)  Phonemes are the building blocks of words.  Phonemic awareness will help kids “sound out” words in their reading and writing.  This game will also give kids who need help with speech an opportunity practice saying phonemes.

A warning from my college reading professor:  Be careful to only say one phoneme at a time.  It’s more difficult than you think.  For example, people have a tendency to say “wa” (making a /w/ and /a/ sounds) instead of the pure /w/ sound.