Mom's School

Camping and Fishing

2011-04-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

Raise Awareness:
Go camping or fishing. Look at photos taken of family camping trips. Eat fish for dinner. Sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor of your bedroom. Go on a walk or hike. Use a trail map.
Books:
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, Just Camping Out or Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer, Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert and Over in the Meadow by Ezra Jack Keats.
Art Connection:
Draw a trail map to use on a pretend hike in your home or backyard. Include rivers, mountains, trails, camping areas, etc. Draw and decorate paper fish for display or for fishing in a stream (blue cloth).
Literacy Connection:
Children can write a different letter on each fish, such as the letters in their name. Luke dictated to me a story about a fish he named Egore. Then he illustrated it. He also wrote the words "map" and "fish" on his trail map and fish art.
Math Connection:
Measure the length of different size fish. Practice subtraction by counting how many fish you catch and throwing some back into the stream. How many fish do you have left?
Science Connection:
Introduce the compass. Use it to label the walls of your play room with the directions north, south, east, west. In which direction does the sun rise and set? Watch the night sky. Look for constellations and draw the moon each night to see how it appears to change shape.

Pizza Parlor

2011-04-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

Raise Awareness:
We went to our favorite pizza restaurant (Litza's Pizza) for dinner. A week or so later, we made a homemade pizza together. We talked about the different toppings a pizza can have. We also used play dough to make pretend pizzas.
Books:
Curious George and the Pizza Party by H.A. Rey, Pete's a Pizza by William Steig, and The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane Auch.
Art Connection:
We needed some pizzas for our dramatic play area. So, we made paper-plate pizzas using red-colored glue for the sauce, yellow yarn for the cheese, and a variety of other shapes cut from paper to represent toppings. We stored our paper-plate pizzas in the carry-out box we had brought home from the pizza restaurant.
Literacy Connection:
My children took turns being the owner and customer at a pizza parlor. They read menus and a toppings list, and wrote on a clipboard to take orders. They listened to follow directions and prepare a pizza to complete customers' orders. Luke also wrote the word "pizza" to make a sign for our restaurant.
Math Connection:
We measured and cut paper circles that had a diameter of 8", 10" and 12" to represent small, medium and large pizzas, respectively. We hung them on the wall of the pizza parlor so the customer could specify the size of pizza they wanted, when they placed an order. This gave them good practice at cutting, measuring, and thinking about size. They also counted money when they paid for their pizza at the register.
Science Connection:
In summer, we used pizza boxes to make solar ovens and bake s'mores. My kids also tested what melts and what doesn't melt. This winter we did experiments with yeast, e.g., fed them different kinds of food (oil, sugar, flour, salt) to see which one makes them grow the fastest. Children love to watch pizza dough rise and find it intriguing that the yeast make it happen.

Animal Habitats

2008-05-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

Learning goal: The world has many different environments, and distinct environments support the life of different types of organisms. Animals have adaptations (or traits) that help them survive in different environments.

Reading= If You’re Happy and You Know It: Jungle Edition by Andy Warhola, The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer, Zoo Looking by Mem Fox (or Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann), Our Earth by Anne Rockwell and What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page (or What Do You Do? by Mandy Stanley). Letter of the day: Z is for zoo.
Art= Draw a picture of your favorite animal or an imaginary animal. Include elements of its habitat in your drawing. Invite your child to tell you about the animal. Where does it live? What does it eat? Does it swim, walk, slither or fly? What else can it do? Optional: provide feathers, yarn, bird seed or sand paper to add texture to the animal.
Science= Supply six bowls filled with grass, hay, tree leaves (or pine needles), sand, water and ice. The bowls represent different animal habitats, such as grasslands, farms, forests, deserts, lakes and snow. Provide many different types of plastic animals. Invite children to place each animal in their favorite home (or habitat). Then choose two animals and imagine they trade places. Do you think they could survive in their new home? Why or why not? Which traits (or adaptations) might be helpful in their new habitat? Which adaptations would not be helpful? (For a list of adaptations for a variety of organisms visit National Geographic Kids.) Extension: Place one animal on each continent in a world map. Discuss how animals seen at the zoo have come from all over the world.
Play= Play a game of animal charades, dramatize a circus act, or visit your local zoo. Notice the different habitats that have been re-created to help zoo animals feel at home.

Fun facts: Adaptations are heritable traits (e.g., a body part or a behavior) that help an organism survive and reproduce in a particular environment. The adaptations of any particular species have evolved over a long period of time by the process of natural selection.

Insects & Frogs

2008-05-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

Learning goal: Tools help scientists see, measure, and do things that they could not otherwise see, measure and do. Introducing microscopes and magnifying glasses!

Reading= Hey, Little Ant by Phillip Hoose, In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming, A Frog in the Bog by Karma Wilson and Miss Spider’s Tea Party by David Kirk. Letter of the day= I is for insect.
Art= If you're comfortable with a mess, paint with fly swatters (outdoors of course)! If not, make insects from egg cartons. Paint three egg sections for an ant (representing head, thorax and abdomen). Add eyes and use pipe cleaners for legs and antennae. Egg cartons are also great for making green caterpillars, red ladybugs and black spiders. Tip: Store egg carton insects in a shoe box with green Easter grass. Alternatively, draw spider webs with glue then cover with glitter. Or, roll a painted marble over paper in a box to make a spider web. Add fingerprint spiders.
Science= Hunt for bugs and examine them with a magnifying glass. Look in grass, soil, sun and shade (i.e., under a rock). What insects did you find in each place? Do some have wings? How many legs does each one have? Catch some bugs in a jar and observe them for a while. Who moves the quickest? the slowest? Experiment: Place different foods around your yard (e.g., peanut butter, bread crumbs, yogurt, apples). Which food attracts the most ants and other insects?
Play= Make a giant spider web in your house with yarn and have a tea party or picnic there. Use party blowers like frog tongues and play a game of leap frog. Or, play "Cootie" to reinforce insect parts and structures.

Fun fact: Frogs eat insects! Help scientists conserve frogs and toads by participating in Frogwatch USA. Learn about frogs in your area, view photos and listen to local frog calls here!

Mothers & Babies

2008-05-14T00:07:00.000-07:00

Learning goal: Objects have many observable properties and the ability to react with other substances. Enjoy this introduction to diaper chemistry!

Reading= I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt, Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney, Just What Mama Needs by Sharlee Glenn and David Smells by David Shannon. Letter of the day: M is for mother.
More favorite books: What Mommies Do Best by Laura Numeroff, My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck, Counting Kisses by Karen Katz, Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too? by Eric Carle.
Science: Both Moms and kids will naturally be curious about the science behind a disposable diaper. Just how much water does one diaper hold? Put your diapers to the test! Experiment with a variety of absorbent materials (paper towels, sponges, wash cloths, cotton balls, etc.). Then measure how much water (colored yellow) a cloth diaper versus a disposable diaper can hold. Dissect (cut open) a dry disposable diaper to find out what’s inside. Shake its inner contents over black paper to find the hidden polymer that makes it happen. Collect the white powdery crystals in a cup and watch them expand when you add water. Finally, pour salt over the crystals to reverse the process and release the water. Wow!
Art: Use baby wipes to make tie dye art. Roll, fold or twist a single baby wipe then secure with a few elastics. Color the twisted baby wipe with watercolor markers. Press the markers down on the wipe long enough for the ink to go all the way through to the inside. Wear rubber gloves if you don’t want your hands to get messy. An adult can cut the elastics off and the child can unfold his creation. Let dry overnight then mount and display.
Play: Play bottle bowling! Set up 10 baby bottles in the shape of a triangle. Roll a large rubber ball to knock them down. Fill bottles with animal finger puppets or other decor to make the bottles look extra fun.

Fun facts: The polymer inside disposable diapers is called sodium polyacrylate. It can instantly absorb about 800 times its mass in water. However, diapers still leak when a baby’s urine contains enough salt.

Flowers & Bees

2008-05-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

Learning goal: Plants have structures that serve different functions in growth, survival and reproduction.

Reading= The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle, What Does Bunny See? by Linda Sue Park, Drat that Fat Cat! by Pat Thomson, The Beeman by Laurie Krebs and The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller. Letter of the day: F is for flower.
Science= Experiment with flowers! Dissect several flowers sorting their parts into a muffin tin. Find roots, stems, leaves, petals, pollen-givers (anthers) and pollen-receivers (stigmas). Compare stems to a straw used for drinking. Then add food coloring to water and observe white flowers drink the water and slowly turn color. Let sit over night. Alternatively, make a beehive using a balloon and paper mache. Learn about bees and the making of honey.
Art= Glue a seed to paper. Invite the child to draw a flower that might grow from that seed. Encourage them to include all the flower parts you just discovered. Add fingerprint bees. Alternatively, make a gift of flowers for your mother for Mother’s Day. String foam flowers and straws (cut is small pieces) to make a lei. Or, make tissue paper flowers with pipe cleaner stems and decorate a tin can vase to put them in.
Play= Make biscuits and eat them with honey, go for a walk to pick some flowers for your mom, or play with straws. For example, blow air through a straw to move an object (e.g., a toilet paper tube) across a finish line.

Fun fact: Honeybees must visit between 100 and 1500 flowers in order to fill their stomachs with nectar (liquid made by flowers). In the process of going from flower to flower, pollen gets stuck on the bee and is rubbed off on the flowers. This pollinates many flowers, fertilizing them and producing seeds. In one year, a colony of bees eats between 120 and 200 pounds of this modified nectar we call honey.

Dogs & DNA

2008-04-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

Learning goal: Compare pets and stuffed animals to distinguish between living and non-living things (e.g., living things grow, reproduce and have DNA).

Reading= I Wish My Brother Was a Dog by Carol Diggory Shields (or Chewy Louie by Howie Schneider), The Perfect Pet by Margie Palatini, Corduroy by Don Freeman and The New Puppy by Judith Tabler. Cat lovers can include Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes. Letter of the day: D is for dog and DNA.
Art= Make pet collars and dog ear headbands. Attach faux jewel stickers on a paper collar, write your name on it, then tape it around your neck. Personalize dog ears (also cutout from paper) using crayons, circle stickers for spots, or tissue paper for fur (orange, black, brown). Staple the dog or cat ears to a strip of heavy paper that can be placed around your child’s head. Tip: Dog ear cutouts can be made by tracing your child’s shoe.
Science: Present a variety of living and non-living things (e.g., a plant, an animal, soil, a rock and a stuffed animal). Which of these things is alive? Explain that living things eat, grow, have families (or reproduce), and have feelings (or can respond to their environment). Talk about the plant or animal you brought. What does it eat? How tall will it grow? Will it have babies or produce seeds? How does it respond to weather and other animals or humans?
Experiment: What makes living things grow? DNA! Extract DNA from dried peas using a blender, dish soap and rubbing alcohol. See instructions. Then plant pea seeds in soil using a clear plastic cup as a container. Measure the pea plants growth over time by marking its height on a piece of butcher paper. Track your child’s growth over time as well. Explain that plants, animals and humans grow because they have DNA. Additional reading: I Know How My Cells Make Me Grow by Kate Rowan.
Play= Build dog houses out of tables and blankets, look for a hidden dog bone or ball of yarn, and serve lunch in dog or cat bowls. Or, visit a veterinarian and learn what they do to help sick pets feel well again.

Fun facts: DNA day is celebrated every year on April 25 to commemorate both the discovery of its structure in 1953 (see photo of James Watson and Francis Crick above) and the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. The sequence of the dog genome was recently published in Dec. 2007.

Caring for Earth

2008-04-23T23:49:00.000-07:00

Learning goal: Earth provides the things that we need, such as air, water, food, fuel and building materials. The supply of these resources is limited; resources can be extended through recycling and decreased use.

Reading= On Earth by G. Brian Karas, The Garbage Monster by Joni Sensel, Why Should I Recycle? by Jen Green, Our Big Home by Linda Glaser and The Earth and I by Frank Asch. Letter of the day= R is for reduce, reuse, recycle.
Science= Introduce planets and resources using two kinesthetic activities. 1) Invite children to carry a ball (representing a planet) as they run around a sun. Explain that Earth is one of nine planets that circles around the sun. How many times have you circled the sun? If you’re three years old, run around the sun three times as you count aloud. 2) Talk about how we care for and clean our homes. Explain that Earth is our home too. We share our home with lots of other people, plants and animals. Explain what we can do to care for Earth and keep it clean (e.g., don’t litter, recycle, conserve energy and water, etc.). What items can be recycled? Sort metals, plastics, paper goods and glass into different grocery bags or boxes.
Art= Make “garbage monsters” using trash from your recycle bin. Items may include brown paper grocery bags, egg cartons, toilet paper tubes, bottle caps, aluminum foil, tin cans, milk jugs, yogurt containers, plastic bottles, straws, plastic wrap, plastic utensils, paper cups and plates, magazines, newspaper comics, old socks, etc. Have staplers, tape and glue handy. Alternatively, cut out pictures from old magazines to create a collage of the things in nature that bring you joy. Include both living and non-living things, such as quiet beautiful places.
Play= Plant a tree to beautify your world, go on a litter walk to pick up trash in your neighborhood, or play games using recycled items (e.g., spin the bottle, tin can stilt race, etc.). You could also take your kids out to a landfill ("the dump") or tour a recycling center.

Fun facts: The first Earth day was held on April 22, 1970. Earth is more than 4 billion years old!

Conservation tips for kids: Turn off water while brushing teeth and taking a bath. Turn off lights and TV when not in use. Draw on both sides of your paper to save the trees. Donate old clothes, toys, books and games to younger siblings or other children in need.

Clouds & Rain

2008-04-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

Learning Goal: Weather changes from day to day. Rain is important to every living thing.

Reading= Little Cloud by Eric Carle (or It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw), Umbrella by Taro Yashima, The Puddle by David McPhail, A Drop Around the World by Barbara Shaw McKinney and I Love the Rain by Margaret Park Bridges and Christine Davenier. Letter of the day= U is for umbrella.
Science= Observe the water cycle in action with these fun activities. Boil some water to show how heat turns water into clouds (or steam). Give each child a cotton ball (representing a cloud). Place the cloud gently over a bowl of cold water (representing a lake). Watch the water travel up to fill the cloud. When it’s saturated, pick up the cloud and let it rain!
Experiment= Fill several different glasses with a 1/2 c. of water. Place the cups in different areas around the house (a sunny window, a cold garage, a warm stove top, inside the refrigerator, etc.). Invite the kids to mark the changing water level over time. How long do you think it will take for the water to evaporate and join the clouds? Record your hypothesis. How did the location (or temperature) of the water affect the rate of evaporation?
Art= On blue colored paper draw an outline of your favorite shape (e.g., lamb, airplane, tree, bunny, hat or dinosaur). Then glue cotton balls inside the outlined shape to make a cloud. Fine art: Pierre-August Renoir’s The Umbrellas. Try drawing a picture of yourself holding an umbrella (or adhere a folded baking paper to represent an umbrella). Brush some watery blue paint across the top of your picture. Hold upright to let the wet paint drip down like rain.
Play= Find shapes in the clouds outside, jump in puddles with your rain boots, catch raindrops on your tongue and do some singing in the rain. Not raining? Make your own rain with squirt bottles and play with umbrellas, or make your own boat and sail it in the bath tub.

Spring Brings Change

2008-04-09T00:45:00.000-07:00

Learning goal: Changes in environments can be natural or influenced by humans. When the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce, and others die or move to new locations.

Reading= Spring Is Here by Taro Gomi, The Big Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (or The Lorax by Dr. Seuss). Letter of the day: B is for butterfly.
Art= Glue popcorn “blossoms” to the branches of a tree. Trace or paint your arm and handprint to make the trunk and branches. Use pink popcorn to really give it that spring time look and feel. Alternatively, craft butterflies and caterpillars. Paint with a balloon to make a caterpillar. Just dip one end of the balloon in green paint and stamp circles on paper. Prepare butterfly wings by coloring coffee filters with markers. Spray with water bottle to blend the colors. Secure a clothes pin at the center.
Science= Experiment with natural selection using butterflies and jelly beans. Prepare butterfly cutouts or cookies. Then fill a bowl with an edible snack that has both a desirable and an undesirable flavor or color, such as jelly beans (sweet and spicy) or cereal (fruit loops and whole-grain Cheerios). Invite each child to choose 5 items they would like to eat. Continue this process until it becomes obvious that one color or flavor is not preferred. Next, decorate the prepared butterflies with these same food items using frosting as glue. Which butterflies do you think will be eaten first? Which will last the longest? Why? Explain that animal bodies are designed to help them survive and avoid predators (i.e., not get eaten). Alternatively, use newspaper “moths” to tell the true story of how pollution almost caused the peppered moth to disappear. See activity instructions below.
Play= Make pink popcorn balls and sing “Popcorn Popping”. Plant a butterfly garden. Or, go for a walk and look for signs of spring!

Fun facts: During the second half of the 19^th century, pollution caused by the Industrial Revolution in England caused dark soot to collect on trees. The light colored peppered moth almost disappeared when it no longer blended into its environment.

Peppered Moth Activity: Compare natural changes that occur in spring (days lengthen, trees blossom, flowers grow, caterpillars change to butterflies, etc.) to changes caused by humans (trees are cut down, homes are built, litter pollutes, etc.). Explain that changes in the environment can hurt or help living things. Cover a table or floor with clean, white paper. Spread out 30 circles made from the same white paper, and 30 circles cut from newspaper. Pretend that each child is a bird and give them 30 seconds to gather as many “moths” as they can. Count how many of each type they collected. Now pretend to pollute the paper by typing words and drawing pictures on it. Then replace the white paper with newspaper. Repeat the activity as before. How did your results differ? (The darker “moths” were now harder to find!) Tell the story of the peppered moth. Explain that pollution can influence the survival of living things. We must be careful to protect other living things.

Peanut Butter & Jelly

2008-04-02T01:37:00.000-07:00

Learning goal: People continue inventing new ways of doing things, solving problems, and getting work done. (Consider the invention of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich!)

Reading= The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood, Peanut Butter and Jelly by Nadine Bernard Westcott and If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff. Letter of the day: J is for jam & jelly.
Art= Trace an outline of your shoe to make a peanut shape. Fill in the shape with glue then pour smashed peanut shells over it. Remove the excess and voila! Or, paint peanuts (still in the shell) with different colors then glue on googley eyes. Display your peanut family by “planting” them in play dough.
Science= Define the terms inventor and invention. Review some of the inventions that led up to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Include some facts about the making of peanut butter from the peanut plant. Next, provide the kids with peanuts and some common household items (ball, straw, dice, spoon, jar). Challenge them to invent a game to play using only the peanuts and items provided. Need some help? Have a peanut hunt, play peanut jacks, or challenge friends to a peanut toss or relay. For example, carry a peanut with a spoon or blow a peanut with a straw across a finish line.
Play= After playing peanut games with your little inventors, shell those peanuts and make homemade peanut butter! (Isn't the blender a useful invention?) Enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Plan a trip to the farm in May to pick strawberries.

Fun facts: National peanut butter and jelly day is celebrated April 2. Who do children have to thank for this?

In 1890, an unknown physician from St. Louis first invented peanut butter to provide his patients with an easy-to-digest, high protein food. And who invented sliced bread? A St. Louis baker named Gustav Papendick was the first to sell sliced bread in 1928. Interestingly, soldiers in WWII were likely the first to combine peanut butter and jelly on a sandwich. Both peanut butter and jelly were on the U.S. Military ration menus. The sandwich rose in popularity during the 1940s.

Kites & Wind

2008-03-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

Learning Goal: Wind is moving air. Both lightning and electricity produce light, heat and sound (called thunder).

Reading= The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins, Where Do Balloons Go? by Jamie Lee Curtis, How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning by Rosalyn Schanzer and Curious George Flies a Kite by Margret & H.A. Rey (or The Big Red Kite by Stan & Jan Berenstain). Letter of the day: K is for kite and key.
Art= Paint with kite string. Dip kite string pieces (2 ft. long) in different colors of paint. Arrange the first string on one side of a folded piece of paper to make a design. Fold paper in half and press down on the string. Pull out the string, moving it around the edges of the paper as you pull. Open the folded paper to reveal your string art image. What symmetry! Repeat with as many colors as you like.
Science= Experiment with air, wind or electricity. 1) Capture air in a plastic bag, balloon or parachute. See what air can do by covering a glass half-full of water with a paper plate. Tip the cup upside down to show the water won’t spill. Air pushing against the paper plate holds it in place. 2) Use a paper fan or pinwheel to show moving air creates wind. Get a ping-pong ball to fly by balancing it above a blow dryer’s vertical stream of air. Make paper airplanes then measure how far they can fly. 3) Discuss Ben Franklin’s kite and key experiment. Identify things in your home that require electricity. Point out that both lightning and electricity produce light, heat and sound. Locate the outdoor electrical wires near your home and discuss electrical safety.
Play= Fly a kite at the park, visit an airport to watch planes in flight, or experience a day without electricity. Cook dinner in a dutch oven then play games and read books by candlelight.

Fun fact: Friction creates electricity by removing electrons from one object and depositing them on another. The transfer of charged electrons creates an electrical current. Similarly, wind creates friction between the clouds, air and earth resulting in lightning. Ben Franklin's kite and key experiment proved that lightning is a form of electricity.

Eggs & Easter

2008-03-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

Learning goal: Mammals give birth to live offspring; oviparous animals lay eggs.

Reading= Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones by Ruth Heller, Minerva Louise and the Colorful Eggs by Janet Morgan Stoeke, Bounce by Doreen Cronin and It's Not Easy Being a Bunny by Marilyn Sadler. Letter of the day= E is for Easter & egg.
Art= Show Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. Adhere butcher paper to the underside of a table, and color or paint upside down just like Michelangelo. Draw your favorite creation or a scene from the Bible. Need inspiration? I recommend reading Adam, Adam, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson.
Science= Talk about who lays eggs and who doesn’t. Compare and contrast mammals (e.g., bunnies) with egg-laying animals (e.g., birds, reptiles and fish). Build a nest with pillows and blankets. Or, make a raw egg float by pouring salt (one tablespoon at a time) into a tall glass of water. Explain that many fish lay their eggs in the salty ocean water. Alternatively, talk about who hops and who doesn’t then have a jumping contest. How far can you jump? What might help you jump farther? (My son chose to test his superhero cape, compare two different pairs of shoes, and see if running first helped. Good ideas!) Test your ideas and mark each jump with sidewalk chalk. Measure your farthest jump with a measuring tape. Compare your jumping distance with that of other bouncing animals. And don't forget to wear your bunny ears!
Play= Visit your local pet store, play the game Bunny, Bunny, Rabbit (a variation of Duck, Duck, Goose), or hold some egg & spoon races. For example, carry an egg on a spoon or use a spoon to roll an egg across a finish line.

Rainbows & Potatoes (St. Patrick's Day)

2008-03-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

Learning Goal: Light can be reflected, refracted (bent) or absorbed by an object. Rain bends and separates sunlight into colors of the rainbow.

Reading= Green as a Bean by Karla Kuskin, Pigs Love Potatoes by Anika Denise and What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Schwartz (or A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman). Letter of the day= Sh is for shamrock.
Science= Experiment with light, rainbows or color mixing. 1) Place a variety of long, narrow objects into a glass of water. Observe how the objects appear to bend at the surface of the water. (Light changes speeds as it passes through different mediums, making objects appear bent.) 2) Squirt water from spray bottles into the sunshine to make a rainbow (or use a prism). 3) Rainbow in a bag. Fill a sealable plastic bag with stripes of paint (blue, yellow and red) then squeeze and squish to mix the colors. 4) Use droppers to mix colored water. (Provide only blue, red and yellow.) How many different colors can you make? Tip: Fill a white ice cube tray with your unique mix of colors.
Art= Use potato stamps to make shamrocks. Carve heart shapes into halved potatoes. Dip in green paint and stamp three times to create shamrocks in a variety of sizes. Add stems using your finger.
Music= Play hot potato as you listen to Debussy’s Three Nocturnes, Clouds or your favorite bagpipe melodies. Tip: When the music stops, the child with the potato can remove a layer of foil from a baked potato. When the potato is finally unwrapped, break for lunch and enjoy!
Play= Have a gunny sack race to Ireland, dress up Mr. Potato Head, or make shamrock pretzels (coated with green colored sugar and cinnamon).

Fun fact: St. Patrick was a Catholic missionary in Ireland who often used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the Trinity. St. Patrick's Day commemorates his death on March 17 in AD 461.

Dr. Seuss's Birthday

2008-03-05T00:22:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: Nutrition is essential to health. Recommendations for good nutrition include eating a variety of foods (fruits, vegetables, grains and protein).

Reading= Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, There’s a Wocket in my Pocket and other favorite books by Dr. Seuss. Letter of the day: Y is for yes & yummy.
Science= Present fruits and vegetables that represent all the colors of the rainbow. Let children predict whether each food will have seeds or not, then cut open several fruits and vegetables. Count the number of seeds in each food and record it on a chart. Explain that both fruits and vegetables come from plants, but fruits have seeds and vegetables do not.
Food preparation= Help children make green eggs and ham by adding green food coloring to scrambled eggs. Explain that eggs, milk and ham come from animals and contain protein our body needs to maintain health. Add a breakfast muffin (grains), fruits and vegetables to make a well-balanced meal. Encourage kids to try new foods and eat a rainbow of colors every day.
Art= Cut and paste a collage of food pictures onto a paper plate. Make sure you have a well-balanced meal, or try to find foods representing all the colors in a rainbow. Alternatively, decorate a placemat with Dr. Seuss theme stickers. Trace a plate, knife, fork, spoon and cup onto the placemat to help your child properly set the table.
Play= Draw cat whiskers onto your cheeks and wear a striped hat. Kids can be Thing One and Thing Two! Then have an indoor treasure hunt to find party balloons or breakfast muffins topped with birthday candles. Create clues using rhymes from There’s a Wocket in My Pocket. For example: “The next clue is hiding behind something that rhymes with jurtain (or bofa, nupboard, ghairs, etc.).”

Fun fact: Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He wrote over 40 delightful books for children under the penname Dr. Seuss.

Oceans & Fish

2008-02-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: The world has many different environments, including oceans that support a large variety of life.

Reading= Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, Rub a Dub Sub by Linda Ashman, Ten Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle and I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry. Letter of the day= O is for ocean & octopus.
Art= Decorate rainbow fish with tissue paper, sequins and silvery foil scales, make sea urchins with Styrofoam balls and colored toothpicks, make shark puppets out of envelopes or make an octopus mobile from a paper plate and 8 purple crepe paper streamers. Cut off rim of paper plate except for four inches; this will be the neck.
Music= Listen to Bach’s Bradenburg Concerto as you make the ocean crafts.
Science= Gather a variety of objects and try to predict whether they will sink or float. Test your hypotheses. Liquids will sink or float in water too. Try this experiment with liquid layers. Gather a variety of liquids with different densities: honey, corn syrup, glycerin, maple syrup, liquid detergent, water, vegetable oil and rubbing alcohol. Which liquids sink in water and which liquids float? How many liquid layers can you make? Add liquids in the sequence listed above to build a density tower with eight layers! Tips: Add food coloring to the water and glycerin for a more colorful density tower. Use medicine droppers to add the liquids; fix medicine droppers (or clear straws) into play dough to make faux test tubes.
Play= Fish with a magnet and homemade fishing pole, go swimming at an indoor pool, or visit an aquarium or beach at low tide to observe sea life first hand.

Fun fact: Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface area is covered by ocean. The average depth of the ocean is 12,430 ft.

Presidents & Pennies

2008-02-20T22:14:00.000-08:00

Learning goal: Every country has a leader (president, king or queen). National leaders appear on coins and money.

Reading= Duck for President by Doreen Cronin (or Follow the Leader by Emma Chichester Clark), The Princess and the Pea by John Cech and Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. Letter of the day= Q is for queen and quarter.
Art= Make silhouette self-portraits by tracing a shadow of your profile. This should look similar to presidents' faces on American coins. Paste child's silhouette onto a large paper circle. Fine art: Show George Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze and the Lincoln Memorial by Henry Bacon. Tell a story about these presidents. I recommend reading The Story of George Washington (and Abraham Lincoln) by Patricia A. Pingry.
Science= Learn the value of different coins. Sort coins into piles of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Count out the number of pennies that match the value of one nickel, dime, quarter, etc. Then clean your dirty pennies using a Q-tip and a variety of liquids (vinegar, lemon juice, soda, water, pickle juice, pineapple juice, milk, tomato juice, etc.). Which solution made your pennies the shiniest? Does adding salt or soap make a difference? Have a penny toss with your shiny new pennies!
Play= See how many caps you can balance on your head then assign a price to them and pretend to sell them to someone you know. Or, play follow the leader, build a log cabin with Lincoln logs, and put together a puzzle of the United States of America.

Fun fact: Abraham Lincoln appears on the penny and five dollar bill. George Washington appears on the quarter and one dollar bill.

Love Your Heart (Valentine's Day)

2008-02-13T10:59:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: Exercise and good nutrition are important for a healthy heart. The heart shape is a symbol of love.

Reading= The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond, Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffensmeier and The Very Ugly Bug by Liz Pichon and The Busy Body Book by Lizzy Rockwell. Letter of the day= H is for heart.
Art= Draw a picture of yourself then use red ink to stamp fingerprint hearts falling from the sky like rain. Or, provide hearts in a variety of sizes and colors. Make love bugs (ladybugs, butterflies and caterpillars) and animals by pasting heart shapes onto paper. Try adding googly eyes and fanned strips of paper for arms and legs.
Science= Locate your heart and listen to it beating. Show a picture of your body’s circulatory system. (I recommend The Busy Body Book by Lizzy Rockwell.) Use a bike pump and squeezable water toy to demonstrate how a pump moves air and water. Similarly, the heart pumps blood through your body to give you energy. Test things that affect your heart rate (e.g., body size, rest and exercise). Who's heart beat is faster, yours or Mom's? Does your heart rate change after doing jumping jacks? Yes! Exercise makes your heart happy.
Music= Exercise as you listen to Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. Stretch, do sit-ups, jump rope, climb stairs, run in place and pretend to ride a bike or go for a swim.
Play= Wait for the mail carrier to arrive and surprise him or her with a frosted cookie or homemade valentine to express your thanks. Find the numbers on your house; match them to the address on the mail you receive. Decorate your mail box, or take a tour of your local post office.

Fun fact: The smaller an animal is, the faster its heart rate. The heart of an adult human will beat approximately 70 times a minute; an infant's heart will beat 130 times a minute.

Music & Sound

2008-02-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: Music brings us joy. Sound is produced by vibrating objects.

Reading= Animal Orchestra by Scott Gustafson, Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins and Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss. Letter of the day: V is for violin.
Art= Use a favorite drawing to decorate a drum made from a formula or coffee can. Or, make rainmakers by hammering nails (1 lb of 1 ½ in. nails) into a 15 X 1 ½ inch mailing tube. Fill with rice, beans, macaroni or popcorn seeds. Decorate the mailing tube with wrapping paper or colored electrical tape.
Science= Use an elastic band to demonstrate how sound is produced by a vibrating object. Then experiment with sound, hearing and music. 1) See sound travel. Cover a formula can with plastic wrap and secure with elastic. Sprinkle salt on top. Pound a drum over the top of it. Watch the salt dance when the plastic (representing your ear drum) catches the sound. 2) Name that sound. Make shakers by placing beans, rice and water in clear containers. After showing them to the children, ask them to close their eyes and name which item is making the sound. 3) Sounds make music. Fill glass cups with different amounts of water and tap with a spoon. Try playing Mary Had a Little Lamb. 4) Sound scavenger hunt. Collect sounds from household items and the outdoors as you record them on a tape player. Or, walk around the house tapping objects with a wooden spoon to find that each material has a unique sound.
Music= Listen to the violin concertos from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Move your arms like a violinist.
Play= Play a game of musical chairs (with plenty of seats for everyone). Invite someone to play the violin for you (or other instrument) then try it yourself. Or, attend an evening band concert at your local high school.

Fun facts: The pitch of the sound can be varied by changing the rate of vibration. The eardrum is a thin membrane that spans the ear canal and catches sound waves.

Dirt & Germs

2008-01-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: Personal hygiene is important to maintain health and prevent illness. Many diseases are caused by germs (viruses and bacteria).

Reading= Mud Puddle by Robert Munsch, Good Thing You’re Not an Octopus by Julie Markes and Farm Flu by Teresa Bateman (or On Top of Spaghetti by Paul Brett Johnson). Letter of the day= G is for germ.
Art= Paint with "mud". Finger paint with chocolate pudding to make your own mud puddle. Don’t forget his eyes, hands and mouth! Children can help prepare the paint by shaking the milk and pudding mix in a sealed container.
Fine art= Show Leonardo DaVinci’s Mona Lisa. Point out that she is not smiling. Perhaps she did not take good care of her teeth! Encourage children to brush regularly.
Science= Try this soap & pepper experiment to demonstrate how soap washes away dirt and germs. Generously sprinkle pepper (representing dirt) on top of some water in a bowl. Put a dab of dish soap on the tip of your child’s finger. Touch the water and watch the pepper dash to the side of the bowl. Explain that soap even washes away germs that are too small to see. Show photos of germs at high magnification. (I recommend using Sneeze! by Alexandra Siy and Dennis Kunkel.) Next, put glitter or flour (representing germs) on your hands after pretending to sneeze or cough. Shake hands, use the bathroom, play with plastic blocks, etc. See how easy it is to spread and catch germs! Say good-bye to glitter germs as you demonstrate the proper way to wash your hands.
Play= Blow some homemade bubbles, take a bubble bath in your swimming suit, or wash the family car together!

Fun facts: Bacteria are single-celled organisms that do not have a nucleus or other organelles. Viruses are not alive because they cannot reproduce without help from other cells. Infectious bacteria can be treated with antibiotics but viruses cannot.

Construction Zone

2008-01-23T22:27:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: Buildings are constructed from many materials, such as wood, metal, glass, brick and stone. Magnets attract only certain kinds of materials.

Reading= Raise the Roof by Anastasia Suen, Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia, The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall or The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone. Letter of the day= N is for nail.
Science= Demonstrate how magnets attract and repel each other and certain materials. Walk around the house to find objects your magnet will stick to. Try the refrigerator, wooden cabinets, a glass window, nails, aluminum foil, coins, stone, paper, plastic, paper clips, keys, an eraser, steel or aluminum cans, etc. Emphasize the names of all the different materials you find in your house.
Art= Gather a collection of toy machines and trucks having tread on the tires. Dip the tires in paint and roll over fingerpaint paper to make a design. Or, draw a picture of your house and decorate with materials used by grover and the three little pigs: straw, popsicle sticks and bricks (rectangles cut from sandpaper).
Play= Visit a construction site. Play with tools in a toolbox (hammer a nail/golf tee, sand a block of wood, tighten a screw, etc.). Make and paint a house from a large refrigerator box. Or, take a ride in a wheel barrow!

Fun fact: Magnets are attracted to objects that contain iron or nickel.

Dinosaur Bones

2008-01-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: Bones provide evidence that dinosaurs lived long ago. I have bones like dinosaurs.

Reading= How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? by Jane Yolen, Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones by Byron Barton and The Skeleton Inside You by Philip Balestrino. Letter of the day: D is for dinosaur.
Science= How do we know that dinosaurs used to live here? Feel the bones under your skin. Show pictures of skeletons (both dinosaur and human). Look for bones (or puzzle pieces) buried in oatmeal using a paint brush as a tool. Once all the puzzle pieces have been uncovered, complete the puzzle. Emphasize that putting together a dinosaur skeleton is much like putting together a puzzle.
Art= Make “fossils” of your handprint using some modeling clay. Paint a dog biscuit white like a dinosaur bone; hang it from a necklace. Or, make a human skeleton by gluing Q-tips (representing bones) and cotton balls (a skull and hip bones) to dark paper. Fine art= Auguste Rodin's The Thinker. Sculpt dinosaurs from play dough (just like Rodin).
Play= Have a dinosaur egg hunt then play with the baby dinosaurs you find. Use string to measure the length (or height) of your favorite adult dinosaurs. Or, visit your local dinosaur museum.

Fun fact: The largest dinosaur (barosaurus) was approximately 80 feet in length. Interestingly, modern birds may have evolved from a lineage of small dinosaurs called theropods.

Snow & Ice

2008-01-09T15:38:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: Water can be changed from one state to another (solid, liquid, gas) by heating or cooling.

Reading= The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner and There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro. Letter of the day= S is for snow.
Art= Make snowflakes by cutting shapes in folded white paper or doilies. Adhere snowflakes to blue paper and add glitter. Fine art: Show Pieter Bruegel's December Landscape (Hunters in the Snow). Point out the snow, frozen lake and ice skaters.
Science= Experiment with the freezing and melting of water and ice. For example, make homemade popsicles to observe the freezing of water. Put ice cubes in different places; time how long it takes the ice cubes to melt. Boil water and watch it make clouds (or steam); breathe onto a mirror or outside in the cold to see a gas turn into liquid. Finally, make a daily weather chart to record sun, snow, rain or wind.
Play= Go sledding, build a snowman, or have an indoor snowball fight with extra-large marshmallows!

Fun fact: Water is the only substance on Earth that is present in three different forms (liquid, solid, gas).

Welcome Winter

2008-01-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: During winter the weather is cold, the days are short and food is scarce. Animals must prepare, adapt or hibernate to survive.

Reading= The Mitten by Alvin Tresselt (or Jan Brett), Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, The After-Christmas Tree by Linda Tyler (or The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri) and Stranger in the Woods by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick. Letter of the day= M is for mitten.
Science= Talk about why food is hard to find in the winter. Explain that some animals stop eating and hibernate to save energy. Make a den or cave out of couches, blankets and pillows. Pretend to be bears hibernating through the winter.
Art= Make birdfeeders out of pine cones, peanut butter and bird seed. Hang outside and observe the feeding birds. Replenish often throughout the winter. Each day for one week, keep track of how many birds you see come to your feeder. Graph your results.
Play= Pretend to be birds in the forest and use clothes pins (your bird beak) to pick up hidden gummy worms, plastic bugs and nuts. Prepare an assortment of lonely mittens on a clothes line; find the matching mittens and hang them too. Or, count how many people can fit inside a mitten-like sleeping bag!

Fun fact: A bear's heart rate may drop from a normal of 40-50 beats per minute down to 8-12. Bears do not eat, drink, or excrete at all while hibernating, which can be as long as six months.

Christmas in Bethlehem

2007-12-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

Learning goal: Jesus was born in Bethlehem long, long ago.

Reading= Little Porcupine’s Christmas by Joseph Slate, God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa T. Bergren and This Is the Season: Beloved of the Year by Simon Dewey. Letter of the day= J is for Jesus.
Science= Look at pictures from the day you were born. Talk about the care a baby needs as you discuss a collection of baby items. (Place items in a bag and use your hands to guess what they are.) Wrap a baby Jesus in swaddling clothes and prepare a soft manger for him to sleep in.
Art= Create a model of the city of Bethlehem by decorating 2-D gingerbread houses. For inspiration, locate Bethlehem on a map and describe how Bethlehem might have looked on the night Jesus was born. Show a variety of fine art depicting the holy family (e.g., Raphael’s Madonna and Child).
Play= Remove pieces from a nativity one-by-one and allow children to guess which item is missing. Or, dress up like wise men or shepherds and search for a hidden baby Jesus. Sing "Away in a Manger" softly then louder as the seeker gets closer to the hiding place.

Santa’s Five Senses

2007-12-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: We have five senses to help us learn and play.

Reading= Santa’s Suit by Kate Lee, I Smell Christmas by Mercer Mayer and Santa Claus: The World’s Number One Toy Expert by Marla Frazee. Number of the day= 5
Science= Set up stations representing the five senses in different rooms of the house (see ideas below). Introduce the senses as you make dice having pictures of a nose, ear, hand, eye, tongue and a heart (to represent intangibles like love and generosity). Roll die to determine which station you go to first and so on. When you roll a heart, hug someone you love and wish them a merry Christmas.
Art= Decorate your own wrapping paper. Put paper in the bottom of a box. Add textured balls dipped in paint. Tilt the box to roll the balls across the paper and make a pattern. Or, cut out a gingerbread man from sandpaper. Dress him up like Santa Claus using a variety of textured materials (velvet, felt, cotton, pom-poms, foil, leather or plastic-wrapped black paper). Try rubbing a cinnamon stick over the sandpaper to add scent.
Play= Visit the five senses stations. 1) Hands guess objects hidden in a long sock or stocking. 2) Eyes go on a “reflection” walk (e.g., mirrors, silver spoons, water, a pizza cutter, a bell, ornaments, the stove). 3) Ears play hide-and-seek. The hidden person rings a bell to help seekers locate her. 4) Nose guesses Christmas smells while blindfolded. 5) Tongue tastes ingredients as you bake Christmas fudge (e.g. salt, sugar, lemon juice, unsweetened chocolate).

Reindeer Games

2007-12-05T16:17:00.000-08:00

Learning goal: The world has many different environments. The south and north pole are very cold all year long.

Reading= Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Eileen Daly, How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky and The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Letter of the day= R is for reindeer.
Science= Show where the north and south poles are on a globe. Explain that these places are very cold; they have snow and ice all year long. What kind of animals can live here? Use photographs to talk about the adaptations of arctic animals (e.g., reindeer, penguin, polar bear and seal).
Art= Make reindeer hats, jingle bell bracelets or thumbprint reindeer. Thumbprint reindeer can be done on a slice of wood from your Christmas tree trunk and hung as a keepsake ornament.
Music= Listen to your favorite version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and sing along!
Play= Pretend to be different arctic animals using simple props and play hide-and-seek. Or, pull children on a blanket around the house and pretend to go on a sleigh ride.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

2007-11-28T16:50:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: Evergreen trees have pinecones and never lose their leaves.

Reading= If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff, Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect by Richard H. Schneider and Dream Snow by Eric Carle. Letter of the day= C is for Christmas.
Science= Bring a tree branch, pine needles and pinecones to touch and smell. Show the circles on a sliced off tree trunk; count the rings to determine how old your Christmas tree is.
Art= Paint a pinecone green and decorate it like a Christmas tree with glitter and sequins. Or, make a handprint Christmas tree from 6-10 upside down green handprints. Add a brown trunk and yellow star on top. Adhere popcorn with glue to decorate.
Music= Listen to George Frideric Handel's Messiah. Sing other favorite Christmas songs.
Play= Find things made of wood and play with them: furniture, toothpicks, paper, wooden spoons, toys, musical instruments, etc. Or, take a trip to the woods and cut down your own Christmas tree! (Don't forget to bring Dad.)

Pilgrims & Indians

2007-11-21T10:53:00.000-08:00

Learning Goal: A good friend helps others.

Reading= Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes, The Story of Thanksgiving by Nancy J. Skarmeas and The Little Red Hen by Jerry Pinkney. Letter of the day= I is for Indian.
Science= Demonstrate the steps of bread making. Handle the wheat, grind it to flour, smell the yeast, watch it rise, knead the dough, and eat the bread!
Art= String beads on a necklace and decorate Indian headbands with feathers. Or, decorate placemats or tee-pees by dipping corn on the cob in paint and rolling it across a large piece of paper.
Music= Dance to Native American music donning your beads and head dresses.
Play= Act out the story of the first Thanksgiving: sail on the Mayflower ship (the couch), build a new home (with blocks or couch pillows), teach hungry pilgrims to plant corn (with shovel and kernels of corn), share a friendship feast (set the table) and thank God for your many blessings.

Fun fact: The first Thanksgiving feast was held in the fall of 1621 at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Turkeys & Feathers

2007-11-14T10:23:00.000-08:00

Learning goal: Turkeys (and other birds) have feathers.

Reading: Run, Turkey, Run! by Diane Mayr, Setting the Turkeys Free by W. Nikola-Lisa and Animals Should Definitely NOT Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett. Letter of the day= T is for turkey.
Science: Play with feathers (i.e., describe how they feel, drop them to the ground). Who has feathers and who doesn’t? Feathers keep birds warm, help them fly and look very beautiful. Similarly, mammals have hair to keep them warm. Use a magnifying glass to find hair on your arms and legs. We humans are mammals, but we also wear clothes to keep us warm.
Art: Make handprint turkeys. Or, use a salad spinner, paint and a paper plate to do spin art. Use the painted plate as "feathers" for a Thanksgiving turkey. Add a brown paper body and eyes. Use pipe cleaners to make a beak, wattle, and legs. Show Claude Monet’s The Turkeys. Help children glue feathers onto their turkey projects for a final touch.
Play: Give each child a paper feather cut-out when they name something they’re thankful for. While blind-folded, try to pin the feather on a turkey. Or, play a high-flying game of football!

Fun fact: Birds are feathered reptiles with adaptations for flight.

My Family Tree

2007-11-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

Learning goal: Humans (and animals) closely resemble their parents. The characteristics of an organism can be inherited (such as hair color) or learned (such as riding a bicycle).

Reading= Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino, I Wish My Brother Was a Dog by Carol Diggory Shields and What Grandmas (Grandpas) Do Best by Laura Numeroff. Letter of the day= G is for grandparent.
Science= Look at pictures of your family. Using a mirror, find traits you share in common with Mom and Dad (e.g., brown eyes and dimples like Mom, blonde hair and a tongue that curls like Dad). Then try this fun, hands-on activity that demonstrates how traits (represented by colored pom-poms) are passed from parents to offspring in a gingerbread family. See instructions and printable gingerbread pedigree.
Art= Make a handprint family tree (shaped like an evergreen). Start with a parent's large handprints at the bottom and work your way up to the top ending with the smallest handprints in the family. Alternatively, make a pedigree mobile using pictures of your family. Start with a large picture of your child at the top. Hang smaller pictures of Mom and Dad from the bottom corners. Finally, hang pictures of the grandparents. Tie Mother’s parents to her picture and Father’s parents to his picture. Tip: Tie the mobile together in advance so children can just cut and glue pictures in the appropriate places.
Music= Work at stations below as you listen to the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini.
Play= Set up stations where kids can pretend to be Mom and Dad. 1) Shave like Dad with whip cream and popsicle sticks, or dress up like Mom (make-up and all). 2) Match socks and toss them into a laundry basket. 3) Sweep the kitchen floor and wash plastic dishes with a sponge. 4) Clean windows using a water-filled spray bottle. You could even try washing the car!

Fun fact: Thanksgiving day has also been declared National family history day.

Witches, Ghosts & Mummies

2007-10-31T14:52:00.000-07:00

Learning Goal: I have feelings. I can talk about them with my family and friends.

Reading= Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Letter of the day= W is for witch.
Art= Make 4 handprint ghosts using white finger paint on black paper. Complete by adhering googley eyes to upside down handprints, and adding mouths expressing different emotions. Fine art: The Scream by Edward Munch. Demonstrate how to draw different feelings on a face (sad, happy, mad and scared). For inspiration look at the simple illustrations in The Feelings Book by Todd Park.
Music= Sing "If you’re happy (scared, mad, sad, tired) and you know it make a face". Practice making different faces in a mirror. Talk about things that make you feel better when you're unhappy or frightened. See how easy it is to change a frown into a smile!
Science= Experiment with dry ice (CO₂) for some witchy magic. 1) Melt dry ice and an ice cube on two different plates. One leaves a puddle and the other turns into an invisible gas! 2) Put dry ice and a little warm water in a Halloween balloon. Watch the balloon quickly expand! 3) Taste some apple juice before and after adding dry ice. The dry ice turns the juice into sparkling cider! 4) Add dry ice to soapy water for instant bubble mania. Pop the bubbles to release the fog!
Play= Wrap candies in a roll of toilet tissue and you're ready to play the mummy wrap. Wrap tissue around a body part until a prize is found. Tear the paper and pass the roll to the next player. Continue until all the prizes have been unrolled and you have a group of mini mummies. Make mummy face pizzas out of English muffins, string cheese and olive slices for eyes.

Properties of a Pumpkin

2007-10-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

Learning Goal: Pumpkins have properties that we can describe or measure, including size, weight, shape and color.

Reading= Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, It’s a Fruit, It’s a Vegetable, It’s a Pumpkin by Allan Fowler and Five Little Pumpkins by Iris Van Rynbach. Letter of the day= P is for pumpkin.
Science= Experiment with different ways of measuring things. Gather pumpkins and squashes of different sizes. Line them up in order from biggest to smallest. Measure their width with a measuring tape. Weigh them on a scale. Try using a homemade scale (a broomstick with a bucket taped to each end). Finally, trace your feet on a piece of paper and cut them out. Use the paper feet to measure how many “feet” tall you are.
Art= Paint faces on mini pumpkins. Or, bake a favorite pumpkin food (e.g., pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup). Point out the measuring instruments used to follow the recipe.
Music= Move to music with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. Pretend you're ghosts, witches or bats flying through the air. Boo, Boo, Boo!
Play= Roll large pumpkins from one side of a room to the other. Or, roll like pumpkins yourself as you sing “Five Little Pumpkins”.

Fun fact: Pumpkins can grow to weigh more than 1,200 pounds!

Rocks & Volcanoes

2007-10-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

Learning goal: Land is made of rocks and soils. The surface of the earth changes due to slow processes (erosion) and rapid processes (volcanic eruptions).

Reading= A Gift from the Sea by Kate Banks, Stone Soup retold by Heather Forrest and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. Letter of the day: V is for volcano.
Science= Many rocks come from volcanoes that erupted a long time ago (called igneous rocks). Make your own volcano erupt using baking soda and vinegar (see instructions below). Explain that land is made of rocks and soils and the shape of the land changes over time. Begin an erosion experiment by building a large "mountain" made of soil (2-3 feet tall) in your backyard. Take measurements of the mountain's height and width once per week for a few months. What factors caused erosion?
Art= Melt crayon wax on warm rocks to make a colorful design. Heat smooth rocks in the oven for 30 min. at 250 degrees. Remove paper from old Crayola crayons and press crayons to the rock. Melt and swirl orange and red colors together for a rock that looks like hot lava. Alternatively, do sand art using colored sand from a craft supply store. Simply use a funnel to fill a clear bottle with layers of sand in a variety of colors. (This activity can also be used to discuss sedimentary rock formation.)
Play= Make stone soup for lunch, start a rock collection, or visit a natural history museum to discover a variety of rocks and minerals.

Fun facts: Rocks are classified into three categories based on how they were formed: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. View photos of rocks at an online gallery.

Instructions= Build a model of a volcano from play dough. (This is a great way to use up old play dough that is discolored and a little dry.) Insert a small container at the top of the volcano; drip a small amount of dishwashing soap into the bottom of it. Next, give your child two small cups. In the first cup, dissolve 1T baking soda into 2T water and add yellow food coloring. In the second cup, mix 2T vinegar with red food coloring. Combine the two solutions by pouring them into your volcano. A rapid explosion of bubbly orange lava will result. Kids will want to do this again and again, so be prepared!

Leaves Fall Down

2007-10-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

Learning Goal: Leaves change color and fall down from the trees in autumn time.

Reading= A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry, Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall and Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro. Letter of the day= L is for leaf.
Science= Go for a nature walk and gather a variety of leaves. Compare them to a group of leaves previously gathered by a parent. Allow children to match up the leaves. Examine the leaves closely with a magnifying glass to make some comparisons. Make leaf rubbings to show the different shapes and vein patterns of the leaves.
Art= Glue leaves on paper and decorate to create a variety of creatures (butterflies, bugs, birds, fish, turkeys, etc.). Or, die-cut coffee filters in the shape of large leaves. Use medicine droppers to drop colored water (made with food coloring) onto the filter to make a beautiful design. Hang the leaves in a window as a sun catcher.
Music= Move to music with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 in G. Pretend to be leaves hanging in the trees, floating in the breeze, falling to the ground. (We jumped off the couch onto the floor!)
Play= Rake leaves and jump into the piles! Or, use socks as “leaves”. Stand under a laundry basket as your mom drops the pile of socks onto your head. Pretend to be trees and drop your sock leaves. Gather the socks into a pile and jump!

Apple Trees & Seeds

2007-09-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

Learning Goal: Apple trees have a life cycle. Commemorate Johnny Appleseed’s birthday (Sept. 26) with these activities.

Reading= Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington, Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss, Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg and What’s So Terrible About Swallowing an Apple Seed by Harriet Lerner. Letter of the day= A is for apple.
Science= Cut an apple in half to reveal the seeds inside. Help children visualize how a seed grows into a tree, a tree makes fruit, the fruit has seeds, and the seeds can be planted to grow another tree. Mix up visuals that represent different stages of the plant’s life cycle. Help children put them in the right sequence around a hula hoop to emphasize the cyclical nature of life.
Art= Show Paul Cezanne’s Still Life with Basket of Apples. Notice the artist painted red, green and yellow apples. Stamp with apple halves using red, green and yellow paint. Try using a tall piece of paper to stamp apples one on top of the other. Count as you stamp!
Play= Make applesauce or another favorite apple recipe. (How about an applesauce cake in honor of Johnny Appleseed's birthday!) Balance an apple (or apple-shaped bean bag) on your head while you walk across the room. Or, instruct children where to place an apple using positional words (e.g., inside, outside, above, below, on, in, behind, in front, top, bottom, between, etc.). Children will have fun moving their apple to a variety of locations around the room.

Fun fact: Johnny Appleseed's real name was John Chapman.

Farms & Food

2007-09-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Learning Goal: Plants and animals provide the foods we eat.

Reading= Young MacDonald by David Milgrim, Duck on a Bike by David Shannon, If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff and Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm by Jerdine Nolen. Letter of the day: F is for farm.
Science= Talk about a variety of foods that come from plants and animals. Play a matching game in which children match the food to the plant or animal that produces it. Talk about how farmers plant seeds and care for plants and animals. Show them how to milk a cow using a latex glove filled with milk (or water). Punch small holes in the finger tips so the liquid will squirt out when the glove is squeezed.
Art= On a large piece of green construction paper, glue several types of inexpensive dried seeds (popcorn, pinto beans, peas, apple seeds, pumpkin seeds, oats, etc.). Squeeze out a long stripe of glue along the length of the paper. Sprinkle one type of seed along the glue stripe. Make more stripes of glue, adding different types of seeds to each. The finished collage will look like rows of seeds planted in a garden.
Music= Sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Move to music with Study Op. 25 No. 1 In A Flat Major by Chopin. Pretend to be a variety of farm animals (roll in the mud like pigs, walk like a chicken, gallop like a horse, etc.)
Play= Play a game of horse shoes, have an egg hunt or take a field trip to your local farm.

Moon & Stars

2007-09-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

Learning Goal: The observable shape of the moon changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month.

Reading= Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, Shhhhh! Everybody’s Sleeping by Julie Markes and I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis. Letter of the day= M is for moon.
Science= Show pictures of the moon in different phases. Observe the moon in the sky then match its shape to the correct picture. Encourage observation of the moon over time. For example, draw the shape of the moon on a calendar every day for one month. Introduce constellations. Make pictures on the floor by connecting large paper stars with yarn (e.g., the big dipper).
Art= Make your own constellation by adhering shiny star stickers to dark paper. Connect the stars with glue. Apply glitter to complete the picture. Or, show Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Use yellow paint to create a crescent moon and stars in a night sky.
Music= Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.
Play= Blow up an inflatable mattress and let kids pretend to be monkeys jumping on the bed. Include simple props: a play phone, stethoscope, stuffed monkeys, bedding.

Fun fact: The moon is closer to Earth during September than at any other time of year.

Sun & Shadow

2007-09-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

Learning Goal: The sun gives us heat and light. Celebrate the last days of summer with these activities.

Reading= What Can You Do in the Sun? by Anna Grossnickle Hines, Red, Red, Red by Valeri Gorbachev and On Earth by G. Brian Karas. Letter of the day: S is for sun.
Science= Look at the sun with sunglasses. Observe shadows made by the sunlight. Trace the children’s shadows with sidewalk chalk. In a dark room, shine a flashlight onto a globe. Show how the sun casts a shadow on the spinning Earth to make day and night. Throughout the rest of the day, observe how the sun moves across the sky. Use chalk to trace the shadow made by a stationary object (a stick) over time (every hour).
Art= Make a paper plate sunshine. Use yellow paint or crayons to color plate. Cut out orange triangles and staple them around the plate. Hang with string.
Music= Move to music with Fur Elise by Beethoven. For example, pretend you’re swimming, riding a bike, etc. Or, sing You Are My Sunshine.
Play= Put on a puppet show using shadows on a hanging sheet. Or, enjoy your favorite summer activity (wade in the pool, melt popsicles, play hopscotch, picnic at the park, build sandcastles, etc.).

Fun fact: The last day of summer is Sept. 22.