Focusing my Pre-school Physicists

One morning I found my kids filling containers with water and slinging them onto the patio.  When I asked why, they said, "We're doing experiments."  After we insisting on our morning routine, I asked some questions to focus our activities.  "What kind of experiments?"  Answer, "Water."  "What do you want to know about water?"  Answer, " Does it get bigger or smaller?"  Me, "Bigger or smaller when what?" 

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Science Add-on for Cooking with Boiling Water: Energy!

Here's a quick physics lesson that you can do while you are cooking pasta for dinner, or any other time you happen to have some water boiling on the stove.

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Quick Lesson in Force and Bubbles

We were actually in the middle of a totally different experiment, when the bubbles in the bottle caught my son's interest.  He kept flipping the bottle one way and then the other. Finally he asked,  "Why do the bubbles go to the top?"

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A Realization about Counting

These dominoes were a great Christmas gift !

I love watching my kids develop the basic skills that will some day build into the challenging physics I used to teach.  This morning while we were waiting on Daddy to finish up the pancakes, the kids and I played a round of animal dominoes.  My daughter loves the matching aspect and my son loves that we can make shapes with the path of the dominoes.

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Balance Bikes

This month we're participating in Move and Groove with your Kids at Toddler Approved!  Click on the button in the side bar if you'd like to get in on the fun!

We first encountered balance bikes at a park in Kuwait.  An American boy sped up on this brilliant little contraption, and his mother explained that in California, every one was riding them.  The concept is so simple, it makes me wonder why no one has thought of this before.  Basically, these are small bikes without pedals.  Any child who is walking with confidence can "ride it" simply by straddling the bike and walking.  As the child gains confidence, he can start coasting for periods of time.  If he loses his balance, he simply catches himself with his feet.  Some people claim that kids will know how to ride a standard bike after riding one of these.  We haven't gotten that far, but even if the only benefit is in using it right now, we are getting our money's worth.

One reason we love these bikes is that they do not take up much space.  We keep them in our minivan, and are ready to ride bikes any time we find a path or side walk.  The second reason we love these bikes is that Mom and Dad get some exercise too.  My daughter, two at the time, was able to keep a pace equivalent to a fast walk for a mile or so when we first got the bikes.  Now, both kids can keep me running.  No more choosing between them getting exercise or me getting exercise while they ride in the stroller!  Everybody's heart rates are up.  Both of my kids love riding these. Just this afternoon my daughter and I spent thirty minutes circling the block at her request.

We bought these bikes off of Amazon.  We chose the Glider brand because we were able to get a sixteen inch bike for our tall four-year-old.  Friends have the Strider and like it as well.  Here's the link to the main Glider web-site if you'd like more information or to try to find them in a store.



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Add a little Biology to your Baking

Most baking includes eggs, and any time you're working with eggs is a great time to throw in a little biology. 

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Learning with Playdough

Play dough is an amazing substance.  My kids will play with play dough for hours.  

When we lived in Kuwait, making play dough was by far easier than trying to find it.  A good friend asked me to "try out" a recipe for a church group, and I am grateful for the nudge in the right direction.

Homemade play dough recipe

This recipe comes from CEF:  1 part corn starch, 2 parts baking soda, 1.5 parts water.  (i.e. 1 cup cornstarch, 2 cups baking soda, 1.5 cups water)

1.Mix everything in a sauce pan.

2. Cook and stir on medium low heat, until all at once it comes together and forms into a ball.

3. Cool.

4. Knead in a little extra cornstarch as you go.

I have to admit I was scared to try it, but it turned out brilliantly!  Of course, you can always buy the commercial version.

What do we do in those happy hours?

 Make stuff. 

I've noticed that my kids are interested in making stuff longer if I engage in a little parallel play making stuff too.  This took a little effort at first.  After a while, it became a relaxing opportunity to try something new.  The picture above is my attempt to mimic pottery done by the Cherokee.  Not the work of a master, but it was fun.

Use tools.

When I see that just making stuff is getting a little boring, I like to introduce stuff: the random piece of plastic my son is using above, butter knife, rolling pin, tooth picks, slotted spoon. Of course, sometimes my son starts pulling out tools as soon as we pull out the play dough.

Practice math skills.

My kids love asking me to make tiny balls, which could also be called spheres.  Sometimes we make cubes and build structures.  Sometimes I ask for a particular number of pieces of play dough.  My daughter can count to six pretty easily right now, so I ask for four first.  Then I ask for seven, then five and so on.

                                     

Write.

When we were learning the alphabet I made letters and asked for their names.  Then I asked for the sounds that they make.  Now I make simple words and coach my kids to sound them out.  You could do the same with numerals.

Of course, all this time we're strengthening the muscles needed for fine motor skills.  

Using just one activity I cover all my objectives for the day.  Even better, I connect with my children in a way we all enjoy.