Pebble tadpoles

My neighbour has a pond and I decided to ask him for some tadpoles for a science lesson I was doing at my sons school. So I got two tall jars and filled with pond water, pond weed and tadpoles. So after the visit /lesson we had them. The boys were so enthusiastic about them that they have stayed.  I am going to return them just as they transform into frogs.

They have been moved from jars to a vase. 

I added some pebbles so they can hide too. 

We got a chalkboard , pebbles and chalk. He used the tadpoles in the vase for observation . He held the pebble and drew a tail . He then drew eyes on the pebbles.

We discussed colours of the chalk and shape of the pebble could also be mentioned.

This was a quick activity on our tadpole Tuesday .

Zac talked to the pebble tadpoles , such imagination.

Zac 2.9 months

No Dylan today he was at school 

Grass heads

Grass heads are so easy to make and fun to watch grow. I have even made them with my secondary age pupils as a science investigation.

The one featured in the blog is a bought one as it was only £1.50 and helped give me ideas for making our own.

So we added the water and placed the rope into the plastic container and rested the grass head on top . Then your set. It took a good week to start showing signes of growth.

How to make your own? 

Well I have made it with stockings, compost, grass seeds, elastic bands and a cup.

The one I have made didn't have any rope just extra stocking as the contact with water. I used elastic bands to pinch bulges for a nose and drew on eyes. The cup I used previously was white, having seen this one I would suggest a transparent cup as seing the roots was a good learning point. I am sure it's fairly easy to add rope and use foam and googley eyes but super glue might be the best option as the grass head absorbs the water.

Learning

Observations

Best growth conditions- dark/light , temp , with/without plant food, water

Measuring grass length

Different stockings investigation

A good idea is to monitor growth by measuring the height of the grass overtime and keeping a diary with sketches or pictures .

Hope this helps.

A-Z Science: Questioning - potato roll

This post is linked to two series A-Z science for Questioning and out potato fun.

So the question: which size potato rolls down the slide the fastest??

My son predicted that the big one would but wasn't sure why.

Dylan had a target to describe objects in terms of size . So he chose a big, small and medium sized potato. 

This was an unplanned activity and we didn't record results but I timed the roll and he observed what happened. 

The medium and big potato were close in size and the way he let them go meant that they took in terms being the fastest.

Skeleton model chalk drawing

Yesterday Dylan asked what colour our bones were and  this inspired ne to search for skeleton crafts.  I really liked the black background white chalk pictures .  I brought a model skeleton home from work and we made it. ( more tricky than I thought it would be). Then once we had the model I gave him instructions on what to draw. 

I also bought a skull home to look at.  I wasn't intending to do this straight after work but he was very excited and asked if we could do it now. So I couldn't resist.

Basically he draw loads of lines and a few circles.

I love the end result. We have had several family requests for one of their own.

We counted bones as he was looking at the Skeleton to copy it as well as naming the bones ( preschool level).

Sarah and Dylan 3.6 months 

A-Z Science: O for Observation: Daffodil nature walk

This post is part of the A-Z series that we follow from Inspiration Laboritories 

http://inspirationlaboratories.com/o-is-for-observation-skills/

O is for Obsrvation.

We went for a walk to the shops and then the park and on the way I showed Dylan my three year old what a daffodil was and he wanted to pick one. I don't usually but I thought to build on his excitement and curiosity we will. 

Sowhen we got back we put them in a vase and  observed how it changed over the next couple of days until it opened. 

I told him we need to put them in water and we need to make sure they have sunlight. 

I asked him to predict was was going to happen. He said its hoinv to open up into a yellow flower.

I might get him to draw a before and after picture but he is still a little reluctant to draw objects and just likes to doodle.

After a few days we noticed they had opened and we observed them and he did draw a beautifu Picture .

He also made 3D daffodil cards for his two nannies for Mother's Day.

To find out how we did this visit

http://littlebrightsparks.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/science-to-art-daffodil-3d-craft-picture.html

Sarah and Dylan (3.5)

Disney turbo activities

Cookie cutter painting

Pasta painting

Spelling

Ramp racing pasta

Calculate speed

Toilet roll craft

Playdoh snail making

Search for snails

Search for snail shell- pimp the snail

Snail racing

Paper plate snail

Bottle top snail

Spin art snail shell

Cup cake case snail craft

Tissue paper snail craft / sun catcher 

Cars Observation game.

My second son is only 3 weeks old and I a, conscious that my first son will feel left out especially when we are on our own and I am feeding Zac . So I started reading with Dylan and trying to invent games that we could do that didn't involve movement and that would interest Dylan .

He is really into Cars the movie at the moment and plays with the cars all the time. So I showed how to play a memory game of removing an object and asking him to recall the missing object.

I encouraged him to look at all the cars and remember them.

Then be had to cover his eyes and count to five.

Next he had to guess.

I used a blanket to conceal what I was doing but isn't that important.

He was extremely good got it right e every time within seconds. He has a very good memory so I am always happy to develop it. He then wanted to do the hiding bless him. 

He showed the game to his dad later and he used the blanket. James asked why is he using the blanket? It's funny to see them copy things exactly including the phrases I used.

Dylan 2.8

Any ideas for other games I could play while feeding ??

Visiting Stratford Butterfly Farm

I think visiting a Butterfly farm is like Marmite you either love it or hate it. I personally think it is great but my sisters and cousin are not quite sure. I did feel uneasy the first time I visited but found you soon get used to it and start to relax. So if it has this effect on adults I wondered how it would affect my 2 year old.

 

Dylan's first encounter happened almost immediately, a butterfly landed on me. He looked scared and told it to fly away bless him. But after a few encounters and witnessing myself and other children enjoying the close proximity he soon started talking to them and describing them.

Love it or hate it!

Look mommy.

Dylan's blue butterfly.

Before we went I made sure that we read the fantastic Hungry Caterpillar book.  We had fun last summer using fruit to re-tell the story. However it is a baby version really as there are less words, less items fed on and a finger puppet. So after the visit we updated our book collection to the full version. Dylan was a little confused first time we read it as he loves the other book but was intrigued by the new one and I have already read it about 10 times in five days.

 

At the Stratford Butterfly farm you can also see a variety of invertebrates including many species of spiders. I also spotted a few amphibians and birds.

 Learning ideas

BEFORE YOU GO
Read a butterfly book
Discuss butterflies (life cycle)
Show pictures of real butterflies
Butterfly craft
Make predictions
Plan a butterfly species checklist
Make butterfly flashcards

WHEN YOUR THERE
Life cycle of a butterfly
Bug/animal safari
Colour safari
Butterfly species spotting (tallying)
Talk about predictions made
Take pictures

AFTER THE VISIT
Read a butterfly book
Discuss butterflies (life cycle)
Show pictures of butterflies seen on the visit
Butterfly craft
Talk about predictions made and the results
Use pictures to make a storybook/scrapbook/eye spy books/ flashcards
Use pictures to make electronic resources- flashcard, eye spy images

 

We haven't done all of these after activities but we can save them for another time or the next visit. Great learning experience, love it there and would definitely recommend it.

Do you have any other suggestions of what we could do next time?

Date of visit: Monday 8th April 2013
 Dylan 2.4 years