Playdough Color Wheel

Posted in Art, Colors, Free by teachingeveryday

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.

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.

Our last step was to put our colors on a color wheel. There are tons of free blank colo r 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.”

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

18Aug2014

Water Paint

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

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?

15Jul2014

15 Ways to Learn with Play Food

Posted in Free, Math, Reading, Toys by teachingeveryday

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)….

See if your child can name all the pieces of food.
Select food and have a pretend picnic.
Set up a pretend restaurant. Take turns being the customer and waiter/waitress and cook.
Arrange food in rows and go shopping with a basket. Pretend to check-out and use real money.
Sort food by color.
Sort food by food group.
Pick out two or more foods that start with the same letter.
Look for shapes. Which foods are spheres? Are any flat like a circle? What about a cylinder?
Find and count certain foods. How many eggs are there? How many oranges?
Compare quantities. Are there more yellow foods or green foods? How many more lemons than tomatoes?
Use food to represent addition or subtraction problems. I have four apples, then I give two to you. How many do I have now?
Play “I’m thinking of a food.” Use adjectives to describe a piece of food to each other and take turns guessing.
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.
Put a food in a sack and see if you can guess what it is just by touch.
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!

1Jul2014

Cardboard Binoculars

Posted in Craft, Free by teachingeveryday

toilet paper roll binoculars How easy is to make your own binoculars? Just wrap some duct tape around two toilet paper tubes and add some string. I had the patterned duct tape to really make it fancy. Ha. They just take a minute to make and then you can have all kinds of fun.

Use them to…

spot flowers, nuts, or leaves on a nature hunt
look for letters in the grocery store
go on a color hunt around your house
get a good look at animals at the zoo
act out a story about an explorer

Materials:

2 toilet paper tubes
string or yarn
duct tape

25Jun2014

Sink or Float Experiment

Posted in Science by teachingeveryday

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?

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!!

Sesame Street “Sink or Float”

4Jun2014

Five Free (Summer) Field Trips

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

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.

29May2014

Ten Ways to Learn With Water Beads

Posted in Colors, Letters, Math, Reading, Science by teachingeveryday

We recently discovered water beads. You see, there is this thing called “Pinterest” that has all sorts of ideas for kids. You should really check it out. 🙂 So I ordered some from Amazon (a 2-oz pack of Jelly Beadz), but I hear you get them even cheaper at dollar stores or floral supply stores.

Water beads are awesome. They start out tiny and very hard, then you soak them in water for a few hours. They soak up the water and become large and gelatinous. That is a cool word. But not cooler than water beads. Seriously. As fun as it is to feel then between your toes (try it!), you can also LEARN with them. I know. Mind blown.

Fine Motor Skills– They are SLIPPERY! It takes a steady hand and pincer grip to pick them up. Or try scooping them up one a time with a spoon. We even tried chopsticks. I think it is impossible.
Colors– Sort by color into smaller containers.
Language– Use adjectives to describe how water beads look, feel, etc.
Letters- Use the water beads to “hide” plastic letters, then go on a letter hunt.
Estimation– Choose a small container and estimate how many water beads will fill it up. Then find out!
Counting- Take turns grabbing handfuls and counting how many you can hold.
Addition and Subtraction- Math is more fun when you have wiggly water beads to add together or take away.
Patterns- Make a pattern with the colors. It is difficult to make the beads line up, but that is part of the fun!
Capacity– Kids will naturally want to fill up containers, so throw some measuring cups and let the kids explore. They can see firsthand how many 1/4 cups it takes to fill up a cup.
Hypothesize and Experiment- Do water beads bounce? Can you squish them? What happens when you put them in salt?

And speaking of experiments, Creekside Learning offers a free printable science observation worksheet that is perfect for older kids.

*Disclaimer- Water beads look a lot like candy. I wouldn’t use them with babies or toddlers who like to put things in their mouths.

28May2014

Cardboard Tube Shape Painting

Posted in Art, Colors, Shapes by teachingeveryday

So easy. Fold toilet paper tubes to make a triangle and square. Lucky you, the circle is already done. 🙂 Then dip the ends in paint, stamp on paper, and you have a shape masterpiece! This is a great craft for toddlers who haven’t mastered painting with a brush. You can talk about shapes and colors while you create.

You might want to give them one color at a time or else this happens…

19May2014

Spring Picture Sequencing Activity

Posted in Science by teachingeveryday

Okay, so spring is almost over. Don’t worry. You can do this activity any time. Just take pictures of something growing and changing, then have your kids put the pictures in order. They get to witness the changes in person, then review it with the pictures. Try taking pictures of flowers, trees, bushes, plants, or grass in your yard. Or take it inside and plant a seed in a flower pot. If you want to get all science-y (I’m sure that is a word), take the pictures at the same time each day. Obviously, I am not a scientist.

16May2014

Popsicle Stick Shapes

Posted in Math, Shapes by teachingeveryday

I saw this idea for making popsicle stick shapes on Pinterest from A, Bee C, Preschool. So fun and easy! She wrote the shape names on the sticks and also made paper shapes that fit inside the stick shapes. Of course I had to make it even easier.

Color the sticks with markers. This was my girls’ favorite part. I gave them a certain amount of sticks and a marker and let them do the rest.
Put all the sticks together.
Identify colors by saying “Find all the green sticks!”
Make a shape with the sticks by connecting them end to end. Identify the shape. Count the sides and corners.

I liked leaving the sticks plain so the kids could play with them in other ways. We made symmetrical designs and played “continue the color pattern” with the sticks after we made shapes.