Hocus Pocus - Making -op Words (with a free printable)

(4 1/2 Years)

We are just beginning week three of pre-K (long, deep sigh).  Our incredible teachers informed us that they are now going to be delving into their curricula this week, and with that is HOMEWORK!  I've never been so happy to hear that homework is coming.  We can now get back to learning through play, while incorporating what they are learning in the classroom.

My inner-teacher came bounding out when I printed out the homework packet (all of their homework is optional, but encouraged).  A few of the worksheets were about the CVC - op family.  I love word families- there are so many cute, playful activities we can do.  I knew right away we'd use our magic wands that we just got at The Dollar Tree this summer!  They love playing with them.  I set out Wild One's magician shirt and a fairy Godmother gown for Little Miss - and then we sat down ready to preform our magic.

Wild One and Little Miss had fun waving the wand and saying, "hocus pocus" or "bippity boppity boo" while creating new words.  I loved how surprised they were that they could turn the letter "b" into "bop" by waving the wand and placing it after the "b".  The smiles say it all!

Are you ready to play?  You don't need a magic wand. You can use a craft stick, a pencil or even a spoon.  Below is the link to the free printable, when you click on the picture you will be able to download the activity sheet.  Don't you love when most of the work is done for you?

Have fun learning!  

Watercolor Letter Art

(4 Years)

Is it too hot or too wet to go outside?  Are you looking for a calming project?  This one would be perfect!  Watercolor Letter Art

Materials needed:
Watercolor paper
Watercolor paint
Thin paintbrushes
Marker
Pen

The project itself was very simple to set up.  I drew a large block letter in marker on watercolor paper, and then inside the block letter drew squares and rectangles in pen.  My plan was for them to carefully paint inside the lines (something we have never worked on) and to remember to choose a different neighboring color when painting.  I wasn't sure how this project was going to go.  Were they going to want to work on it?  Will they like it?

I showed them the model that I made.  We discussed how I must have had to carefully paint to stay within the lines.  We talked about how the same color isn't repeated in an adjacent box.  I asked if they wanted to create their own, and to my surprise they did!

Little Miss methodically chose the colors according to their placement in the watercolor tray to make sure that she didn't choose the same color twice (brilliant!).  Wild One chose randomly (that's how I did it too).

When I saw the smiles, I knew they would finish the project in one sitting.  

Look at them practicing for writing!  They are trying to control where the paint goes, just like when printing (you need that fine motor control).

Calming, quiet work.  Concentrating on staying within the lines and not using the same color in an adjacent spot.  Practicing for writing.  Enjoying color mixing and painting.  Creating beautiful art.

 Happy Monday!

Rainbow Snowballs

(4 Years)

This is so much fun!!!  Have you seen what happens to a bar of Ivory soap when you put it in the microwave?  We've been watching Sid the Science Kid, and Little Miss and Wild One love the science journals that Sid and his classmates use.  "We can do that." I tell them.  Little Miss, sadly says that we can't because we don't know how to write a lot of words.  I rewind and freeze the movie, on the part where Teacher Suzie has the class write (draw) in their science journals.  Wild One shouts, "Look it's all drawings!  No words!"  Little Miss smiled and cheered, "We can do it!  We can do it!"  Prep for this is quick- if you have Ivory in the house, I knew we would do this one day, so I already purchased two bars at The Dollar Store, I love The Dollar Store.

Materials needed:
Ivory soap (we cut ours in half)
Microwave-safe plate
Trays or baking sheets (to help contain the mess)
Liquid food dye or liquid water color
Ice cube tray or water color palate
Medicine droppers or pipettes

I've seen the Ivory Experiments all over the internet.  However, I found this great journal idea on 5 Orange Potatoes (she even has a free booklet that you can download).  I made a modified one for us, you can grab it here.

They were so excited that they were writing a journal entry, just like on Sid the Science Kid.  When I asked, if they thought the bar will stay the same or change.  They both said, "Change!"  Little Miss said, "It will melt"; Wild One chimed in with a "Yeah, melt."

We cut our bar in half, because I've seen how large this thing will swell.  We placed it on a dinner plate (microwave-safe).  Pressed two minutes on the microwave and stood back.  The first ten seconds, nothing happened.  They looked at me with disappointment in their eyes,

 and then .

 Once it starts expanding, it grows pretty quickly.  We stopped ours around 45 seconds.

"I can't watch.  It's too exciting!"

Wild One was hopping up and down so much, saying, "Look!  Look!"  

That she couldn't resist, first peeking and then smiling too.

That's a full-size dinner plate, with only half a bar of Ivory on it!  

Be careful, it is HOT when it first comes out of the microwave.    

It sadly also deflates, just a little, as soon as you stop the microwave.

While we were waiting for it to cool off, we finished our science journal entry.  

 They drew a picture of what the soap looks like after it came out of the microwave. 

Once cooled off (it only took a few minutes for ours to cool off), I asked if they thought it will be hard or soft.  They both said soft.  It looks soft, just like shaving cream.  They were surprised to feel that it was hard.  We used some old medicine syringes to add just a little water at a time to the soap to shape it into mini snowballs.

Little Miss wondered out loud (I'm constantly thinking out loud - it's amazing how things I did in the classroom I'm still doing today) what would happen if we used a bowl of water instead of just the medicines (the syringes).  You know what would happen, I knew what would happen, but for her it's a learning opportunity, so break out the plastic bowls.

"Ooohhh, it's getting gooey."

Her next wondering question that she asked with so much excitement, "What if we use seltzer water?"  I asked her what she thought might happen.  "It will get bubbly, because there are bubbles in seltzer water."  Ok, I see that.  Again, you know what will happen and I knew what would happen.  It is another learning opportunity, so off I go to get her seltzer in a bowl.

"Nope.  It's the same."  Meanwhile Wild One was working so hard 

on wetting and molding his snowballs.

While the kids washed their hands - no soap needed.  I put a drop of liquid food dye into the well of the pallet, added some water, stirred carefully.  By the time the kids were done washing their hands the next part of the project was ready.  Now to make our snowballs into rainbow snowballs.

They love using these little medicine droppers.  

 Here come the secondary colors.

 These little medicine droppers are great for developing fine motor skills.

Now we have pretty little rainbow snowballs to play with in the bathtub.