Grade School Archives - Page 26 of 27

Peeps Experiment with Free Printables- Effects of Liquids on Peeps

March 31, 2017 By Deirdre

We did an experiment similar to this peeps experiment with pennies for JDaniel’s school science fair project. We used the same liquids and followed almost the same steps. You may decide you want to try liquids different than the ones we did. Our liquids with the exception of the soda all had a little bit of acid in them. We knew they would dissolve some of the sugar off the Peeps!

Peeps Experiment Printables

A set of Peep Science Effects of Liquids on Peeps was created for you to use. One of them lists the supplies needed to conduct the Peeps experiment. It also has a place to write your predictions and an area to write the results.

The second and third printable look just at the results. One of them has the liquids we used listed on it. The second has the area for the liquids left blank. You can have your children write in the liquids they select on each blank. You will notice that both printables have space for your children to write in how each Peep looks, smells and feels. You could have your children explore how they taste and sound, but we decided not to do that.

Conducting the Peeps Experiment

After deciding on the liquids you want to use, you will need to place them in small containers. (We used empty applesauce containers). Then you will need to place a Peep in each container.

Next, you will need to leave the Peep in the liquid for twenty-four hours. It may be hard for your children to leave the Peeps in the liquids. My son kept wanting to turn them over.

At the end of the 24 hours, your children will need to inspect the Peeps. They will need to share and record the results. If your children are too little to record results, you can have them share what the see, smell and feel with your orally.

Some of Our Results

The blue coating came off the backs of all the Peeps.
The lemon juice turned blue
The soda got gummy. It created a gummy slime on the back of the Peep.
The Peep in the vinegar puffed up a little and was slimy to touch.
The lemon juice Peep puffed up a little and it was smooth.
The Peep in ketchup didn’t change much. It did smell like tomatoes.

If you like this Peeps experiment, here are some more experiments you will like.

Water Pollution Experiments for Kids

Kindness Activity- The Ripple Effect Experiment

Science Experiments with School Supplies

If you want to read your children Peep-themed book, before conducting the experiments here are some:
Peeps in Pajamas

The Sweetest Easter

Engineering for Kids- Printable Building Project Cards

March 30, 2017 By Deirdre

When we were in Baltimore recently, we went to Maryland Science Center. JDaniel and his cousin Charlie had a blast in the building area. Engineering for kids challenges were displayed on signs on the wall. They had a great time trying to create each object with giant blocks.

The story Rex Wrecks It! is about a group of friends that loves to build. Once they have created something, a dinosaur name Rex wrecks it! (Thankfully he learns to play with the other kids instead of knocking things down.) It reminded me of JDaniel and Charlie. They had almost as much fun wrecking their creations as they did building it.

I have created a set of building card that your children can use. It would be fun to read the book Rex Wrecks It! to your children. Then they could try to build each of the twelve objects on the cards. While this is an engineering project, it is also a STEAM activity. Your children will design and create wonderful original objects.

Engineering for Kids Activity and Supplies

There are a wide variety of building supplies you can use to create the object shared on the Building Project Cards.

Here a some that I have though of:

Links Below are Affiliate links.

LEGO
Wooden Blocks
Bristle Blocks
Magna Tiles
Lincoln Logs
Tinker Toys
Empty Boxes from Food Products

Activity Ideas

There are a variety of ways that you can share the building cards with your children.

You can put out one card at a time for them to work on.
You can put out a few cards at a time and have your children pick the project you want them to work on.
You can put the card in a stack and have your children work their way through them.
You can pick a card and have them pick one out for you. Kids will love getting to challenge you to build an object

This engineering for kids activity is part of series of children’s book inspired science activities hosted by Inspiration Laboratories.

Here are some other STEM or STEAM projects we have done:

Tin Foil Boat Ideas for the Penny Challenge

How to Make a Boat with Recycled Materials

STEM Activities-How to Make a Balloon Boat

Plastic Egg Parachutes

Build a Basketball Hoop and a Ball Launching Catapult

Fall Leaves Counting Activities with Printable

October 1, 2016 By Deirdre

Last year I made cup wraps that could be used to play a backyard carnival game. I recently decided it would be fun to rework the single cup wrap into a series of wraps. Each wrap displays a number from one to ten. You will also find leaves that match each number on the wraps. While you could play a version of the backyard carnival game with the new Leaf Number Cup Wraps, there are so many more leaf counting activities you can play.

Counting Activities

Make a Number Line

You can have your children create a number line with the cups. You can have them start with the number 1 or any other number you like.

Fill in the Missing Number

You can set out the cups in number order. Then you can remove three or four of the cups. Your children can place the missing numbered cup in the space you created between the cups.

Knock Them Down and Say The Number

You can create a tower or pyramid with the number cups. It will be up to you to decide how high you want your tower or pyramid to go.

Then your children can knock down the tower or pyramid. You could have them use a bean bag or ball to knock it knock it down.

Then you can have your children tell you the number of each of the cups they have knocked over.

Object Counting

You can place out a complete number line of cups or pick a few numbers to work on. Then you will have your children place the correct number of pom-poms on each cup.

Build a Number or Fact Family

Your older children might enjoy building a number or fact family. They will need to select three cups that create a family. Then they will share the addition and subtraction sentences that fit in that family.

After stating all of the number sentences, they can build a pyramid or tower. Then they can knock it down.

More Leave Themed Learning Activities

Leaf Themed Sensory Bin Activity

Song About Fall and Printable Leaf Shape Activity

Muffin Tin Letter Recognition Activity

Muffin Tin Skip Counting Activity

Letter Recognition Game with Free Leaf Printable

September 26, 2016 By Deirdre

This seems to be the fall of muffin tin learning activities here on JDaniel4’s Mom. I have shared an apple counting activity, a color matching activity, a skip counting activity, and a number recognition activity. Today I want to share with a you a fun letter recognition game I created to go along with Leaf Man the Virtual Book Club’s book of the week.

Some links below are affiliate links.

As Leaf Man is blown through the air, he sees a number of wonderful things created with leaves. Things like cows and turtles. Your children will loving turning the pages in this book to see what Leaf Man sees next.

Setting Up This Letter Recognition Game

I created tree with Wikki Stixs on a muffin tin. You could do the same or create design with the letter leaves in the cups of the tin. You could create a giant letter C by placing leaves in the top row. bottom row,and in a column down the left hand side of the tin.

The oak leaf tin letter circles are free to download. After printing it out, you will just need to cut out the letters.

Several Ways to Play This Letter Recognition Game

In each of my pictures you will see a version of the game that focuses on matching lowercase letters to uppercase letters. That is only one of many ways that you can play this game. Below you will find a list of other versions of this game.

Place the uppercase letter in the tin and have your children match the lowercase letters to the uppercase letters.
You can have your children work on the order of the letters in the alphabet by placing letters in alphabetical order. Leave some of the cups empty. Your children can fill in the missing letters.
A few of lowercase letters and there uppercase matches can be stacked in a cup. Your children can place where they want in the tin. When there match come up, they can place it over it buddy its muffin cup.

Here are the books coming up next in the Virtual Book Club. You may want to look for them at your local library ahead of time.

OCTOBER 3

Theme: Pumpkins

Featured Book: Five Little Pumpkinsby Dan Yaccarino. There is a fun new Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins book out that would also be great for this week!

OCTOBER 10

Theme: Farms

Featured Book: Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle. Big Red BarnBig Red Barn is a great alternate read.

OCTOBER 17

Theme: Spiders

Featured Book: The The Very Busy Spiderby Eric Carle. Miss Spider’s Tea Partyis a cute book you could substitute for this week. It seems to be out of print, but used copies are very inexpensive and it is still likely to be available in libraries.

Letter Recognition Game with Free Letter Leaf Printable

100 Things to Send in for the 100th Day of School

January 18, 2016 By Deirdre

Children are often asked to bring a container or display of 100 items to school as part of the 100th Day of School celebration. Below you will find a list of loose items that you children can take 100 of to school. You will also find several ways your children can display 100 items below too. The displays could be on a t-shirt, poster board, or a piece of paper

Before Gathering Your 100 Items You Could Read a Book

Here are some wonderful books about 100 days in school or the 100th day!

The links below are affiliate links.

Food Items for the 100th Day of School

Beans
Noodles
Spaghetti
Split peas
Cereal rings
Candy hearts
Popcorn kernels
Pretzel sticks
Sugar cubes
Sugar packets
Smarties
Jelly beans
Crackers
Raisins
Skittles
Rice
Marshmallows
Sunflower seeds

Items Found in Your Craft or Learning Areas

Styrofoam peanuts
Water beads
LEGO
Magnetic letters
Plastic cookie cutters
Unfix cubes
Wiki sticks
Dominoes
Action figures
Jingle bells
Poker chips
Math counters
Wooden cubes
Checkers
Pom poms
Craft Gems
Spools of thread
Pieces of Yarn
Feathers
Buttons
Beads
Pretend Gold Coins
Pennies
Popsicle sticks
Wiggly eyes
Pipe cleaners

School Supplies for the 100th Day

Small stickers stuck to tens frames
Unsharpened pencils
Erasers
Index cards
Sticky notes
Pieces of paper
Crayons
Magic Markers
Paper
Hole reinforcement stickers
Paper clips

Shirt Ideas You Can Create for the 100th Day

Tally marks are drawn on a t-shirt made with fabric markers
LEGO brick prints of a shirt made with fabric paint
Smiles on a shirt make with fabric markers
Beads that are sewn onto a shirt

Kitchen and Bath Items for the 100th Day

Cupcake liners
Cotton balls
Cotton Swabs
Straws
Birthday candles
Coffee stirrers
Food labels
Bread tags
Twist ties
Package of paper bags
Paper cups
Paper napkins
Plastic spoons
Toothpicks
Bottle tops
Plastic lids
Canned drink tabs

Odds and Ends to Send for the 100th Day

Playing cards
Balloons
Screws
Metal nuts for bolts
Bolts
Metal Washers
Keys
Hairpins
Hair elastics for ponytails
Loom bands
Puzzle pieces
Drops of water in a small container with a lid and the dropper
Paper chain with 100 links

Items You can Display on Paper for the 100th Day

Fingerprints on paper with an ink pad
List of words you can read
Numbers on grid paper
Pictures from a magazine glued to a poster
Gumball machine on a poster with 1oo gumball circles placed in it.
Piggy bank drawn or glued on paper with hundred pennies drawn in it
Leopard drawn on paper with 100 spots
The night sky on paper with 100-star stickers
Centipede on paper with 100 legs
Pizza on paper with 100 construction paper toppings

Activities for the 100th Day of School

Activities For 100th Day of School Celebrations

100th Day of School Songs to Sing

Fun New Twist on the 100th Day of School

100th Day of School I Spy Printable

Here is a printable list of the 100 Things to Send to School for the 100th Day

Fire House Place Value Chart

January 13, 2016 By Deirdre

Kids love fire trucks! They really like all kinds of community helpers and their vehicles. JDaniel is working on place value at school so, I made a Fire House Place Value Chart for Kids for him to use. I thought you might want to use it with your children too.

JDaniel is working on three digit numbers. I made him a place value chart with three doors. Since many of you have children that are focusing on two digit numbers, I made a second place value chart for you. (If you click on the link for either place value chart, you will get both charts and a set of fire trucks to place numbers on.)

You know how much alike using dice in math activities. This place value chart can be explored with dice. It can also be played with small cards that you have written the numbers 0-9 on. Let me share with you how each game could be played.

Using Dice with the Place Value Chart

You will need to use as many dice at your place value chart has open firehouse doors. What type of die will depend on your children’s comfort level with numbers?

Hint:

The link below is an affiliate link.

I like to start with dice with dots to start with. Children can count the number of dots to find the number they will need to put in each door. Older children like my son can easily identify numerals or dots. I really like the ten-sided die. They include the numbers 0-9.

Using Numbers on Cards with the Place Value Chart

You can easily make number cards using sections of blank index cards or number flash cards. We made simple number cards on index cards.

The number cards can be stacked in one of the corners of the place value chart. Children can select number cards of the stack. They can then arrange the number cards in any order they like.

Whether you use card or dice, the key to using the place value charts is knowing the number you are building. Children will need to know what place each number is in and how to say the number.

Example: 389 has three hundred, eight tens and nine ones.

Being able to read it as three hundred eighty-one instead of three, eight, nine is important. Building seven to ten numbers would be helpful in helping your kids build an understanding of place value.

Here are some other fire truck or firefighter themed math activities we have enjoyed :

Fire Hose Counting Numbers

Fire Truck Counting Game (This game has free counting truck printable.)

Super Easy Draw and Plan Coloring Games with Printable

May 6, 2015 By Deirdre

Sometimes it is hard to take the idea you have pictured in your mind and create or build it. We have had that trouble with LEGO ideas. They look great in our minds, but just don’t work out. We don’t have the right colors or the pieces can be displayed on a base plate the way you thought they would. It can be frustrating. This is one of those color games that allows kids to create a picture and then build it.

Recently we have started creating pictures using the squares on a piece of graph paper. When the picture is completed, we look for the LEGOS that will fit on top of your pictures. The LEGOs don’t have to be just squares. Two 1×2’s can be place in a square to create a square shape. Wider and longer LEGOS can be used to cover several squares.

How We Have Done These Coloring Games or Activities

Before we start drawing we have found that it is easier to know that colors to we will be using on the graph paper or draw and plan it grid. By placing some of colors were have a lot of on in a bowl beside our box of crayons we have been able to easily remember what we will have on hand to build with.

It can be frustrating to complete a building plan and not have the colors you need. In many cases we have been able to substitute another color brick for the color we don’t have. Coloring games or activities that focus on what you will need to build and draw are fun for kids.

The link below is an affiliate link.

Set Up Hints:

If you have child that will be devastated about not find just the right LEGO, you may want to sort out your LEGO Classic Large Creative Brick Box LEGOS by color to have on display.

You may want to only put out colors of crayons that you have LEGOS to match.

Your children may want to stop with the laying of LEGOS on their section of their creation. Others will be ready and interested in placing their creation on a baseplate.

Transferring a creation for the graph paper to the basenplate will have your children working on a number of higher level thinking skills and eye hand coordination.

If transferring onto a base plate will be to challenging or frustrating for your children, you can just have them place the LEGO right on top of the squares they match on the draw and plan it grid.

Here are some other LEGO activities we have done:

LEGO Fraction Games

Five Days of LEGO Learning Activities

Geometry Riddles Solved with LEGO

LEGO Game- Race to Twenty

Valentine Ideas – Graphing with Candy Hearts and LEGO

Math with LEGO- Activity for Improving Word Problem Skills

How long will your boat float?

Counting Syllables with LEGO Bricks

Over in the Meadow LEGO Creations and Book

LEGO Number Line

LEGO Count and Move ( Free Printable)

Three Billy Goats Gruff Retelling with LEGO

LEGO Week

Make sure to head over to see all the super awesome ideas shared as part of Toddler Approved’s LEGO Week!

Here are the other Wednesday Ideas!

LEGO Printed Mother’s Day Card

LEGO Plan and Draw Activity with Printable

Learning to Read Simple Sentences with LEGO

Build a LEGO Zipline!

Simple LEGO Flower

If you do try any of the above LEGO learning activities or coloring games, please leave me a comment below telling me about it or share a picture of it on my Facebook page.

Fire Truck Craft With Flame Painting for Kids

October 7, 2014 By Deirdre

When you see the flames from a fire, you see several colors are smashed and swirled into each other. For this fire truck with flame painting craft, colors are smashed and swirled together too. The colors seem to be billowing and smearing together just as an actual flame would.

How to create the fire truck flame painting:

You start by gathering together the following materials:

Yellow paint
Red paint
Orange paint or an orange bingo marker
Paintbrush
Plastic wrap
White or black paper to paint on
Black, red, white and yellow construction paper for the truck

Painting the flames

Dab or drip paint onto the background construction paper. It is okay to layer the paint drips or puddles. Try to place them all over your paper.

Place a piece of plastic wrap over the paper that is the same size as the paper. Squish and slide the plastic wrap over the paint. You can straighten out the plastic wrap and squish and slide a second or a third time if you like. Kids are going to love the feeling of the plastic wrap sliding over the paint. It is the movement of the plastic wrap over the paper and paint that creates the flames illusion of movement.

Creating a Fire Truck

You could actually be finished with the craft at this point is you like. We decided to create a fire truck out of construction paper to place over a section of the painting to clarify what the themed of the painting was. Just in case people didn’t visualize flames when they looked at the painting.

A basic truck shape was cut of red construction paper. When I say basic truck shape, I mean that it has a cab and a trailer. Our cab has a rounded front section. If your children feel the front section needs to have a square front, that would be great too.

Two circles and triangle were cut out of black paper to make the front window and the tires for the truck. We went with two wheels. I can totally see fire trucks needing to have three or even four tires on one side. We only included one window, but more could be added on if kids want to have more.

A ladder was cut out of yellow construction paper and was placed diagonally on the back of the truck. When we have made other fire truck crafts, the ladder has been glued to the side of the truck. There really isn’t a right or wrong place to put the ladder.

Finally, a bottom trim piece was cut out of white construction paper to add a little bit of flair to the truck.

Then all the pieces were glued together to create a completed fire truck.

Adding the Fire Truck

Children can place the fire truck anywhere on the flame painting they would like to. Our truck ended up near the bottom of the page.

If you decide to try flame painting with your children, please stop back and let me know how to goes. Oh! You can find more fun crafts and activities on my Early Learning Pinterest board.

Fire Truck Activity for Kids

October 6, 2014 By Deirdre

Whether you are celebrating Fire Safety Month in October or putting together a community helper unit for your children this fire truck activity would fun to do. It is super easy to put together and super fun for kids to do.

The goal of the activity is to blow into a straw and get all the flames off the bottom a plastic bag decorated with a fire truck. If you can get the flames above the fire truck, that is even better. It takes a lot of breath control to get the flames ( tiny pieces of colored tissue) to rise off the bottom of the bag before you fill the bag with air.

We had to release the air collected in the bag a few times before my son was able to get almost all of the tissue pieces flying. The great thing about this fire truck activity is that you can repeat it over and over again.

How Did I Put This Fire Truck Activity Together?

Step One: Gather the Materials

Large plastic bag
An average sized straw ( A wide straw will allow tissue to fly into it and into your kids’ mouths. A narrow straw won’t generate enough air to get the tissue paper moving.)
Orange, red, and yellow tissue paper in small pieces
Red and black permanent markers
Fire truck coloring page

Step Two: Decorate the Fire Truck Bag

You will need to search your children’s coloring books or the internet for a coloring page picture of a fire truck. Then you will place the coloring page into the plastic bag. Next, you will use the permanent markers to trace the picture of the fire truck.

If you prefer to draw the truck for this fire truck activity freehand, you can. I am just not that talented when it comes to drawing fire trucks.

Step Three: Assembling the Activity

You will need to place a bunch of the colored tissue pieces in the fire truck bag. Next, you will place the straw in the bag. You will need to seal the top of the bag to the right and left of the straw by pressing down on the seal or zipping it shut.

Getting the Fire Truck Activity Going

Now it is time to start blowing the flames. We tried laying the fire truck bag on the table and blowing. It was much easier to hold the bag at the top or on its sides as air is being blown into it.

After posting this activity, I decided to see what it would look like with the fire truck colored in. I went back colored in the fire truck and retook some of the pictures.

Here is what it looks like colored in:

I even made a new opening picture for the colored in a truck.

Which do you like best?

Before or after doing this fire truck activity, you may want to sit down with your children and read a fire truck related children’s book. Here are a few of our favorite fire truck books.

The links below are affiliate links.

Curious George and the Firefighters – Curious George goes on a field trip to a firehouse and ends up helping the firefighters put out a fire.

The Fire Cat– This book is an easy reader. It tells the tale of a cat named Pickles who is adopted by a fire department. Pickles learns during this book to help the firefighters do their jobs.
Meeow and the Big Box>The librarian created an interactive box that illustrated how Meeow created her box step by step. It was such fun.

Do you have favorite fire truck themed children’s book?

Fire Truck Craft

October 6, 2013 By Deirdre

One of the fun things I have been doing to help JDaniel’s class this year has been to help with the SEEDS program. It is right up my alley. The program is like Read.Explore.Learn. and you know how much I love to explore books.

I decided to share a fire truck theme book with them called Meeow and the Big Box is about a kitten who uses a big box to create a fire truck for pretend play. We first heard this book shared at a library storytime focused on fire safety. The librarian created a visual using a box that walked us through each of Meeow’s steps. The children just loved this book.

Creating the Fire Truck Craft

I only get about half an hour to read the book and do the craft. To save time I try to have everything cut out and ready to glue down. I even do a trial run on my own or with JDaniel to time it. He loves getting to be a guinea pig for his class.

Here is how the trial for this craft turned out:

First, we put the body of the fire truck on black paper. Then JDaniel added the windows and white bumper area. I think I could have cut a long strip for the bumper. It didn’t stick out very far in the front or back of the fire truck. I may need to make these a little longer for the class.

The windows for the fire truck were moved around a lot. JDaniel had ideas about where they needed to go and not go a couple of times. They really could go anywhere on the front of a fire truck and could be turned vertically or horizontally. I think not having a specific place for the windows gives the children can invite to make their trucks unique.

After working on the windows, JDaniel worked on adding the yellow accessories to the truck. The ladder could have gone anywhere on the truck or even on the roof of the truck. Both of the lights could have gone on the top or on the front. The trial run ended up with one of the top and one on the bottom.

The last thing to go on the fire truck craft was the wheels. I am not sure that fire trucks have brown wheels, but black wheels would have blended into the black background so, I went with brown.

I think it will be fun to do this craft with JDaniel’s class. We had fun working on it together. It would also be great to create with your children during National Fire Safety Month in October. They would probably like to read Meeow and the Big Box and make a fire truck too.