Science Camp Activity Days

This was a really fun activity we did for activity days but it also works for any type of science camp or fun family or class activity.  It covers the requirements on education.  I will admit this one did take a little bit of set up time but it was so much fun.  Here's my quick outline and on the bottom my two outdoor experiments we did.  

The coloring pages I used can be found here. The video clip can be found here.  The handout is included in the download at the end of this post.

I had all of the science centers set up in the kitchen.  We had 4 stations.  Each station had the supplies and a cute card like this with the instruction.  (Included in the download-print, cut the cards apart, and fold in half).  This worked really well so the girls could do the experiment more independently and not wait on me to explain each one.  Also they worked in groups of two or three and this was much better then trying to do all of them together.  We had three groups and they rotated to the next station as they finished.

We made applesauce slime

erupting lemons

skittles experiment

colorful baking soda

Outside as a group we made exploding bags

 and the famous diet coke and mentos experiment.  I did buy this to make it easier.

Download the schedule, experiment cards, and handout here

St. Patrick's Day Color Mixing Sensory Bin

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St. Patrick's Day is the perfect time to teach little ones colors...especially green!  We have these fun bath colors and used them for a fun color mixing experiment.  We dropped a blue and a yellow on opposite sides of our bin.

 We watched them slowly move together and start mixing.

 Then we used a mixer and really made green.  My 5 year old loved this!

 Since we had a bucket of green water we added some fun fine motor tools, rainbow foam puzzle pieces, pennies, and some black paper cups for pots of gold.

 They had fun exploring and eventually decided to open a restaurant where they served "clover soup."  They came up with this on their own :)  I could order how many covers aka pennies I wanted in my soup.

 It was a fun, not to messy, learning activity.

Frozen Water Bead Science

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We've been learning about snow and ice this week.  For this experiment we explored how different temperatures of water melt ice.

You'll need:

Water Beads

Water -hot, cold, warm

turkey baster, eye dropper, or something similar

We also used a toy shovel (optional)

 If you have never tried water beads before you should!  My daughter came home with some a couple weeks ago and they are so fun.  Super weird to touch but you can't help but play with them.  They come super tiny and you let them sit in water and they grow!  Then I like to add them to sensory bins or just let your little one play (scoop, shovel, etc).  I took a couple handfuls of beads (full sized from being in water) and froze them in a bowl. I should tell you once they are frozen they will break and can not be used again.  Good thing they are inexpensive :)

 Once they were completely frozen we used our turkey baster to squeeze different temperatures of water on the beads and observed how fast the ice seemed to melt.  Our goal was to find the best and fasted way to separate the beads.  We made observation and tested different theories.  During experiments like this I like to let her take take the lead.  I ask some questions to expand her thinking but let her work on it and figure things out. The shovel was her idea-she used it to gently tap the bead apart once the ice started melting.  If was a fun experiment and fun to see her little mind work.

Hot Cocoa Fun (preschool activities)

What's better in the winter then a cup of hot chocolate?!?!  One of the great things about teaching preschool at home is we are not on a schedule and learning can happen any time!  The little ones wanted hot cocoa and it reminded me of a fun experiment I saw here.  Our quiet night quickly turned into a fun experience and with a couple ingredients you can do this too!

Magic Hot Cocoa Science Experiment

Fist up we made some magic hot cocoa!  While they were at the table I added some baking soda to the mug and then covered it with layer of cocoa mix.  They suspected nothing :)  I then gave them a cup of magic water (vinegar) and we said some magic words.  I let the little ones help with the words and I think it went something like "bibbity bobbity boo make this cocoa boil and brew."  Haha  let me know if you come up with some something :)

 Carefully pour in your magic water water and watch the magic happen

 His face haha! He was not sure about this magic cocoa

 This little girl was delighted and loved every second of it.

 We experimented a little more by using some of our 5 senses: seeing, smelling, touching, and I think at one point she tasted one of the bubbles.  We forgot hearing.  We talked about our observations

 We tried adding more magic water at different speeds...fast was pretty exciting!

 We even stirred it with a straw to see if anything would happen.

I think it was a successful experiment

Marshmallow Name Activity

We used mini marshmallows for some fine motor and name practice.

 Write their name on a piece of construction paper.  Using a glue bottle go over a letter or 2.  Have your little one follow the line of glue with marshmallows.

 Let them dry over night.

Hot Chocolate and Marshmallow Counting Mat 

Finally we pulled out or hot chocolate and marshmallow counting mat.  I love making a counting mat for each theme.  This is my favorite style of mat of counting mat because it is low prep, easily adjust to their skill level by adding or take away numbers and you are only printing one page in color instead of individual cards for each number.

 To create print the pages in the download below.  Laminate. Cut number cards apart.  If you have used any of our other number mats you already have the numbers and don't worry about printing them again.

Place your number cards in the box-order doesn't matter.  Use tongs, fine motor tools (like this one), or fingers to add the correct number of marshmallows to the board.  Then clear the board and remove the card.  Continue through the stack of cards.  You can also do some simple addition or subtraction using two cards.  Place two numbers on top.  Add or take away the correct number of marshmallows.  count how many marshmallows are in the cup.

Download the Counting Mat Here

I love how a  few simple, low prep activities are packed with learning.  The best part is they are having so much fun they don't even realize its happening.

Grow Your Own Crystals

My 3rd grader loves science projects.  She is starting a rocks and mineral unit at school this week so I knew this would be perfect.  This is a great boredom buster activity any time of the year.  Even better you only need 2 ingredients.

You need:
2 cups boiling water
6 tbs Borax (found in the laundry section)
pipe cleaner white works best
thread or string
pencil (or something similar)
Jar (heat resistant,wide mouth-we used a canning jar)

Instructions:
1. While water is boiling bend, twist, or cut pipe cleaner into desired shape.  (snowflake or bird nest work well)
2. Tie pipe cleaner to string.
3.  Pour boiling water into jar.
4. Pour Borax into jar and mix well.

5. Lower pipe cleaner into the water.  You do not want any sides or the bottom to touch the glass (make sure you have enough room at the top to remove safely)

6. Tie other end of the string so the pencil is sitting on top of the jar and pipe cleaner is at the level you want.

7. Leave in water over night or about 24 hours.
8.  Pull out of the water and you should have some beautiful crystals.  cut the string close and enjoy.

Note: If you want to used a different color of pipe cleaner like we did with the red, add some food coloring while you are mixing the water and borax.  It kind of worked but still turned out pretty.

For ease you can print out the instructions here