Instant Snow Experiment

The past week one of our small group activity was Instant Snow Experiment. The idea behind this experiment was to understand how adding water changed the powder into something new. Now ideally Insta Snow by Steve Spangler would be ideal...as the reaction is instant and the powder actually doubles very quickly. However, the brand I got was not Insta Snow...I bought mine from a local teacher supply store. Like I said, our key was for them to understand how adding water changed the original substance. 

For this experiment I had:
Instant Snow Powder
2 clear plastic cups ( 1 with water and 1 empty)
2 Bowls (1 lined with paper towel and the other empty)
Spoon
Measuring cup-1/4 cup
Recorder (optional)
Recording sheets - 1 per student. 

In the empty bowl we scooped out some powder for them to touch and see. I encouraged them to think about the color, what it looked like, how it felt. At this point I give them few seconds to draw out what the powder looked like before we added the water. After they drew, I asked them to describe what they drew. I wrote what they told me under the picture.

Next, I told them we were going to mix this powder with water. This snow powder required mixing 1/8 tsp of powder in 1/4 cup of water and stirring. I added a little more than 1/8 tsp so that the snow would form faster. (1/8tsp required for a longer stirring). 

As you start stirring, the water starts to slush up...

 
At this point, I ask them if they see any change.....most of them said they could see something floating in there.

As you keep stirring, this thing becomes thicker and thicker. However, this stuff did not turn into snow...it remained more like ice :(

So we scooped it out in the bowl... again I encouraged them to think about what happened to the powder, the color, and the texture. I asked them to draw how the powder looks after adding water and wrote what they told me under the picture. 

Some of the things they told me were:
Before: "It looks like salt", "It is crunchy", "It is white and soft", "It looks like soap powder."

After: Most of the students understood "the powder has become big", "It looks like Ice", "It is still white", "It looks like frost that we scrap from the car in the morning" 

Overall, the students could observe the change and see how adding water changed the powder. So I thought it was a pretty good experiment. However Insta Snow would have been more fun! (will be more proactive next year :D)

Our recording sheet was a simple sheet that Ms. A made and we made copies. We did this activity in small groups. So I used a recorder to record the whole conversation/experiment so I could go back and make notes to see who understood the concept.

Recording sheet:

Successful week for us :))

Until next time,

Cheers :)

Hershey Kisses 100 day Counting

Today was 100th day of school for us :)) It was exciting....

If you teach Pre-K in Georgia, you know that technically students are not required to know numbers beyond 20... however as a substitute I have seen teachers try and teach students numbers beyond 20 and students understanding the concept. Well so since this is my first year teaching Pre-K or celebrating 100th day of being in school... I really did not plan much or think of it much. 

We read 100th Day of School 

 

Next we talked about how what 100 looks like and that it is a big number. I pulled out my Hundreds Chart to show them how we start at one and count until 100. We talked about how long it would take to say all those numbers. 

Our Large group activity was Hershey Kisses Hundred's chart -idea from Kindergarten Happenings  I was going to make the hundreds chart, could not get to it. Instead bought hundreds chart from teacher supply store ($2.99) I had some colored circle stickers, wrote numbers on them and stuck them on the Kisses. 

 

We sat in a circle on the carpet and I called 2 students at one time to come to the carpet. Each one picked a candy and told us what numbers they had.... since my friends are still learning to recognize numbers 1-20, it was hard for them to tell what number it is, however they can recognize individual numbers- like 6 and 4 in 64 ( at this point I tell them this is number "64").

 

 Some of my friends could find the numbers easily and some needed the extra help. However, trying to get 21 Pre-K kiddos to sit is not an easy task. Infact after each one took turn, one of my friends asked "are we going to fill in all the numbers?" (my kiddos crack me up all the time). So we decided to stop. 

 After 24 turns, we were done. It was fun for them.... BUT there is a reason Pre-K kids sit at the carpet for only 15-20 mins a stretch!! Overall, the idea of Kisses with numbers was exciting for them, 100's chart however, too big for them. 

Happy 100th Day if you had yours today :))

Cheers =)

Fake Snow In Sensory Table

This is Winter themed Sensory Table idea.... super easy... not to hard on pocket.... Absolutely doable... whether 22 kids are playing with it...or just 1.... It is a wonderful idea. 

So I got the idea from Modern Parents Messy Kids via Pinterest!

All you need is:

2 boxes of cornstarch
1 can of foaming shaving cream

if making at home then a container or box that will hold it. 

 

Just dump the cornstarch in the container (sensory table in my case) and spray the shaving cream over it. Mix it (if you are doing this with your child at home, letting them mix would be fun. I just couldn't have 22 kiddos wanting to mix).

 While I was doing this Ms. S could not just watch.... so she started to help me (she was as excited about it) :D As you start mixing, it might feel it is not mixing, but keep working... it feels soft and crumbly. 

When I told my piglets about the fake snow....they were sooo excited. My sensory table can only have 2 friends at a time playing in it. We are on day 3 of using it and they love it. 

They have been scooping and trying to make sand castles out of it :))

Yes it holds its shapes pretty well.. just like Snow :))

SUCCESS!!! 

It is the best indoor snow experience to provide in a classroom or home I think. I hope it last for all my 22 piglets to play with it. I have another box of cornstarch and shaving cream to mix in, just in case ;) 

Until Next time,

Cheers =)

Alphabet Pops

I got this idea from Pinterest (was there any doubt I would find it anywhere else :P)... originally the idea is from Kinderdi where they have shared pictures of the letter pops and some activities you can do with it. Here is how I made mine:

The materials I used were: Foam, Popsicle sticks, uppercase foam letters and lower case sticker letters (bought it from Michael's scrapbook section-they are chipboard letters) and hot glue gun. 

I cut out appropriate size circles and glued the letters using hot glue. Although both the foam letters and chipboard letters had sticky back, they would not stick on the foam, so I used hot glue. Then stick the foam on the popsicle sticks. 

The colorful letters make it look interesting and inviting. I did the vowel in one color. Although we are not really supposed to teach kids about vowels in Pre-K... I have some higher ability students who could understand this concept. So I thought no harm trying. 

We have broken these out in our classroom...right now we use them as a ticket to get off the carpet and get ready for lunch... I pull out random letter, point to a kid and he/she has to tell me what letter/sound. Kinderdi suggests using them in different ways-letter identification, putting them in order, sorting by colors. I made lower case...so they could play matching uppercase-lowercase! 

My next intention of using these are to put in alphabetical order- give each child a letter pop, then ask what letter come first (they should say "A")...ask child with A to come up, then ask what comes after B....and so on.Can't wait to try this game. 

Until next time,

Enjoy!!

Snowman Alphabet Matching

I was first introduced to File Folder Games when I was teaching the 2's. I made simple ones then...color match and shape match. I would make them according the theme we were working on. File folders I think are cheaper version of games that one can buy from stores for kids to play with. They can be played anywhere...at home, in school, in car, with someone or by self.... and they are super easy to make too.

Pre-K is all about playing and learning while playing. File Folder games serve that purpose.....Kiddos are playing but also learning ABC's or Numbers or Colors or Shapes!!! These become perfect for the extra practice a child might need.

As we go back to school, our theme next week is Winter....so while searching for ideas on Pinterest, I came across snowman themed games, but all cost to download :(  But within minutes my light bulb went off... "I can me a file folder game with snowman....Only need to find a snowman clipart :))" And so I created the Snowman Alphabet Match and Snowman Number Match ( post on this later).

 I took simple tab file folders, matched the edges and cut out the tabs to make a straight edged folders. After printing the pages I cut out the snowman and glued them on the folders.

 

Yes I might have gone overboard by laying construction paper (Blue, green) on the manila folders... I did not like the pretty bright pictured being glued on manila color ;) YESSS Im all about making things look cutesy :P 

The green construction paper is a pocket I created to store the Alphabet pieces...it is simple to make... glue down the construction paper on 3 sides (2 short edges and bottom long edge). I got the folder laminated at local school supply store (can be done at any office store as well) Once they got laminated, I put velcro stickers to the folder and the pieces. 

When not playing, the pieces can be easily stored in the pocket

This game does not have to be made in file folder.... You can just print 2 copies for the Alphabet Snowman and let your child match the 2 snowman with same alphabets. I create these into File Folders just to make them last longer.

Here is the PDF version of the Game on

Google Doc: SNOWMAN ALPHABET MATCHING
Scribd: SNOWMAN ALPHABET MATCHING

Until Next time,

Small Dice--Alphabet/Number

This was one of the first things I started making for my classroom. We have these small foam dice and students love rolling and counting the dots on those. Then I came across this dice template (google search) that is a free printable and can be customized. As a teacher and crafter I am all for "Freebies".... whether ideas or templates ;)

Kids love the idea of rolling a dice, waiting to see what it lands on so they can tell me....they are excited not only for themselves, but also what their friends roll lands on!! So I decided I needed to do more with these dice. I started by looking for Blank Foam Dice....found some in my local school supply store..they were like $5 for 2 .... and the bigger ones were little too expensive. So I decided to search for one and found this Dice Template .

Here is what I created with the dice template.

For the Alphabets dice I used Alpha Stickers I had (from my crafting supplies), hand wrote the numbers, and punched small circles for the last 2 dice. In the Alphabet Stickers I did leave out X and Q .... I know I need to include those letters...so I might just create a fifth dice with those 2 letters and 4 letters repeating. All the dice are wrapped with contact paper for longevity.

With the Alphabet Dice, I intend to practice letter sounds and letter recognition

Number dice is for recognizing numbers

Dot Dice is for one to one correspondence and counting.

To make these, Print out the template and cut it out to shape. Then go ahead stick/write before gluing the box together. For the first box, I put it together and then wrapped it with contact paper... to realize very quickly that I made it hard on self for no reason. Best way would be to wrap the contact paper on the template (after you cut it out) and then gluing it together.

Once you do first box, the others will be very fast and easy to make. We have used this template to also make dice for Math Graph Games and simple love using this template. Easy and convenient!!

I can't wait to use these with the kids... I know they are going to love it.

Until next time,

Cheers =)