Where did That come from? The spirit of science.

My son called my attention to this light on the wall.  "Look, Mom, where did that come from?"  I love this question because it shows that he has the spirit of scientific inquiry.  If we sense something, it came from somewhere.  The fun is in finding out where.  If we can perceive something in the universe, there is a reason for it, and a reason for the reason, and the questions can go on forever, at least they have so far.

It did not take him long to track down the source of the bright spot on our wall,  a high window with the morning sun streaming through.

What has your family noticed this week?

Library Treasures: A Home for Bird

A Home for Bird by Philip C. Stead is the inspiring story of a frog who dedicates himself to helping a lost bird find his way home.   My pre-schooler was attracted to the colorful pictures.  The engaging narrative interested us again and again through out the week.   I hope that my kids will dedicate them selves to helping others, particularly the voiceless, in the way that Frog was dedicated to Bird.   

What values have you found in your literature this week?

Writing on the Walls

As the mom of pre-kindergarten children, I am always on the look out for  activities that will help them improve their writing skills.  This week, we broke out the window crayons and headed for the shower.   At first I encouraged them to write their names.  I inverted their whole names and wrote them on the outside of the glass.  They traced them happily without prompting, and spent several minutes working on their names and random letters.  Then we digressed to drawing.

When the shower glass was full, we moved our art to the living room windows, and ended up with this fun result of a camel moving past a palm tree.

Benefits that of using Window Crayons

Improved form, since writing on vertical surface forces the hand to hold the writing implement correctly.

Reinforced knowledge of letter formation.

Artistic development.

Positive attitudes about writing and drawing.

A clearer idea of where soap scum is hiding, since the crayon removes easily from glass, but not scum.  

If you are looking for an activity that develops, writing, art or is just plain fun for an hour or so, I recommend picking up a set of window crayons from your nearest back to school sale.

Matchbox Math: Counting to twenty

 My son is really into his matchbox cars right now.  My mother-in-law says my husband was the same way at this age, and she has generously supplied most of his fleet.  We have been using the cars to practice counting, and he actually asks if we can count cars.  To help him understand the symmetry between one through ten and eleven through twenty, I drew this quick parking lot one day last week.  My son has seen plenty of numbered parking spaces so it was an instant hit.

Over the weekend, I finally buckled down and made some roads from old jeans.  I found the project from LilMopTop on Pinterest.  Click here to check it out.  While I was having fun with glow in the dark paint, I decided to make a more permanent parking lot.   It is seeing some heavy use!

 I ask him to say the numbers while looking at the empty parking lot, then add a couple of cars and do it again.   He is showing great progress.  

Next, I am working on putting together a science unit involving matchbox cars.  I'm really excited to practice  with my kids. Hopefully, it will be ready share sometime next week.

Do you have any fun projects that you like to do with matchbox cars?