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JDaniel4s Mom

growing & learning with him

Pool Noodle Ideas – Building Flowers

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Building Flowers Pool Noodle Ideas with Free Printable Challenge Cards F

Pool noodles are great to learn with and great to play with. Earlier this week I shared with you a binary code alphabet activity that featured pool noodles as a learning tool. Today I have a creation and play activity to share with you. After cutting out sections from pool noodles to build flowers, your children can create the two flower pool noodle ideas I came up with. Then they can design flowers of their own.

Gathering the Pool Noodles

The colors of pool noodles you find in your local stores may be different than the ones I found. Below you will find a list of the colors of noodles I found at a dollar store.

  • Lime Green
  • Red
  • Blue
  • Orange

Cutting the Pool Noodles

You will need a sharp serrated knife to cut the pool noodles.

The Green Pool Noodle

You will need to cut two sections out of the lime green noodle. Each section will need to be about 9 ¾ inches long. Then you will cut each of the sections in half.

Two of the halves will need curves cut into the top and bottom of them to create leaves. The remaining two halves can be used as stems.

Pool Noodle Ideas - Building an Orange and Red Flower

The Orange Pool Noodle

You will need to cut 2 4-inch sections out of the orange noodle. Each of those sections will need to be cut in half. Then you will need to cut curves out on one end of each of the sections. These pieces will be used as petals.

The Red  Pool Noodle

The red noodle pieces will be used to build both of the flowers.  You will need to two nine inches sections for the large petals of the flower with the blue center. Then each of those sections will need to be cut in half. Next, each of the halves will need to have curves cut out of one end of them.

Pool Noodle Ideas - Building a Red Ruffled Flower

The flower with the ruffled edge will need small pieces cut out of half of a pool noodle section. You will need about ten small pieces.

The Blue Noodle

You will need to cut out two-inch sections out of the blue noodle. They will be used as the center of both flowers.

Floral Pool Noodle Ideas

Your children can start by building a large blossom with two colors of petals.

Pool Noodle Ideas - Building Flowers One Leaf

They can then build a flower with the ruffled edge with pool noodles.

Free Set of Flower Building Challenge Cards

Pool Noodle Flowers Building Challenge Cards

You can download the Challenge Cards for Building Flowers with Pool Noodles and print them out onto cardstock in color. The set includes two additional flowers you children can build.

Other Pool Noodle Ideas

Links below are affiliate links.

  • You can cut out additional petals out of each of the colors of the pool noodle. Your children can use them to create flowers of their own. You can also cut out different styles of leaves and color centers.
  • Next, you may want to have a book like Planting a Rainbow or Illustrated Encyclopedia of Wild Flowers & Flora of the Worldout for your children to use as a reference tool. Your children may find flowers in these books they would like to build.

It will be fun to see all the different types of flowers your children can create.

If you like this pool noodle activity, here are some more you will like:

Pool Noodle Place Value Game

Building Letters in Binary Code

How to Build a Pool Noodle Shark

Your children will have them exploring this STEM building activity. It invites your children to build flowers with pool noodles. A free set of printable challenge cards are available to download. #jdaniel4smom #freeprintable #challengecards #challenge #poolnoodle #kindergartenactivity #preschoolactivity #creativeplay

 

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Shadow Games – Building Block Numbers

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Building Block Number Pinterest

This post contains affiliate links.

We bought JDaniel a set of building blocks when he was really little. I built towers that he knocked down at first. Then he created elaborate towers and waterways with them. The blocks have been sitting on a shelf in his room for awhile. In the past year we have used them for math activities like creating snowflake patterns and creating shamrocks. Then they went back on the shelf. Recently I decided we need to take them outside and play some shadow games with them. At first we exploring arranging blocks to building a palm tree like the one in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Then we moved on to trying to build numbers.

Shadow Games - Building The Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree

The numbers we build look a lot like the actual numbers. In some cases the shadows created by the numbers help to fill in the spaces between some of the blocks. The shadows themselves actually look like the full number in most cases. Shadows are amazing that way. As you can see below the blocks a right beside the shadows. That may have helped us picture the number.

Shadow Games – Number One

Shadow Games - Building Block Numbers

The number one was made by creating a column of rectangular blocks. The bottom of the number one shadow does have a slight angle to it.

 

Shadow Games – Number Two

Shadow Games - Building Block Numbers
The number two was trickier to make. We had to use cube and rectangular blocks to build the two. The blocks had to be moved around several times to get the shadow to look like the number two. The bend at the top of the two was the trickiest.

Shadow Games – Number Three

Shadow Games - Building Block Numbers

Creating the number three required us to try each of the cubes and the rectangular block at various angles. We weren’t able to get smooth bends at the top and the bottom of the number three’s shadow. We decide after much trying that this look really close to a number three.

 

Shadow Games – Number Four

Shadow Games - Building Block Numbers

The number four’s shadow doesn’t stand independent of the blocks. The blocks actually were needed to make our number four. If you try to make the number four with blocks as your house, you may be able to have the shadow separate from the blocks.

Shadow Games – Number Five

Shadow Games - Building Block Numbers

It actually took us awhile to create the numbers two through four! We decided to stop creating numbers after making the number five. The number five used cubes, rectangular, and triangular blocks. The top part of the five was easy. The bottom section of the number five was a challenge. We were able to get the shadow to be mostly independent of the blocks. We considered that a huge success.

As I mentioned we stopped at the number five. If you try to create any of the numbers from one to ten, please share the pictures with us on Facebook or Instagram. I would love to see what your children create.

Shadow Games - Building Block Numbers

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