Wishlist Wednesday: Whole Child Creative Curriculum

This week's guest blogger is Carla from Whole Child Creative Curriculum. If you have not visited her blog yet, you definitely need to stop by! She has so many wonderful learning ideas and even a "free" section. We all love free, especially after the holidays, so come and take a look. I also like her "Teach Me Tuesday" feature.

Hi Everyone!  I am happy to be guest posting here at Cachey Mama's Classroom, and am excited to share a simple experiment that preschoolers love to do...over and over and over!  I blog about teaching preschoolers at Whole Child Creative Curriculum, and would love to get to know you there too!  I host a weekly link party on Tuesdays and invite you all to link up any education-related posts you'd like to share!

Now, on to my wish...

Early childhood is such an important time in children's lives!  Their minds are inquisitive and they love, love, love to experiment!  You could turn them loose in the kitchen and the mess would let you know they learned a ton!  Of course, that same mess is the biggest reason preschoolers don't always have the freedom to experiment the way they would like.

My wish for this Wednesday (and for the entire new year!) is that we can worry a little less about the mess and give our kiddos a few more chances to learn about their world through experiments.

Color Cups is a fun experiment that preschoolers will happily repeat more than once!  As they do so, they learn about colors, mixing, liquids, weight, and texture.  Their fine motor skills are strengthened as they pour, pinch, or scoop and their observation skills are enhanced as they notice new aspects of the experiment each time.

Color Cups' Supply  List is short:
4 plastic cups
4 spoons, droppers, or other tools to transfer water
red, yellow, and blue food coloring  (You can always use other colors too, but these do mix nicely.)

Preparation is easy:

1-  Fill three of the cups about half full with water.
2- Add 2-3 drops of food coloring and talk about the way it mixes with the water.  You could let your child stir it up if he is impatient!
3- Place a spoon in each cup and give your child the empty cup.

Step back and let your child experiment!  Don't worry about the spilled water...it's just water!  Take some pictures and keep paper towels handy.

Most preschoolers will be done within 15 minutes, but will want to repeat the experiment again a few days later.  After a few repetitions you can vary things by letting your child drip the colors on a piece of watercolor paper or by providing a cup with something in it besides water.  Above all, remember to have fun!  Preschoolers learn when they are engaged and enjoying what they are doing!

Thanks again to Cachey Mama for having me over!  Feel free to come say hi at Whole Child Creative Curriculum!

Post Holiday Sensory Bin

Here is our wrapping paper and bow sensory bin we came up with using leftovers from Christmas. My son (13 mo) LOVED the bows on Christmas. He played with them while his presents were being opened by other people. Also, I've noticed that while he really didn't have much interest in tearing the wrapping paper off his gifts, he does often like to tear apart a random paper or tissue that he gets a hold of. So, seeing all the sensory bins other people have been doing on various blogs, I decided to give it a try. Here are some photos. (You can also see our light box in some of the photos.)

Yeah, little buddy is very active and tends to get distracted sometimes, but that's ok. He did come back to it.

He decided to decorate the light box all on his own :)

As you can see, I just used a drawer from my plastic storage cart.

Remember, a sensory "bin" can be anything that will hold the necessary items.

He did end up tearing some of the paper up. He carried one piece all around the room with him for a while. I used different types of wrapping paper in the bin. The shiny and see through ones could not be easily ripped. I wanted to see what he would do if he couldn't tear it, but he never got that far. 

Also, an important thing to remember in learning through play is that there are no such things as mistakes and  that messes are ok. Example: I knocked L's cereal on the floor and it spilled right in front of him. Just as I was about to get frustrated, he began picking them up one by one and putting them in the container I had just given him to play with. What was especially great about this is that earlier I had been showing him how to clean up his blocks from the floor (since he LOVES to throw them there, but rarely picks them up). So you can see why I was a little happily surprised! I love how little ones always put you in check and help you remember the important things. Each and every moment can be a teaching moment if you seize the opportunity.

Have you seized the opportunity for a teachable moment recently? Leave me a comment about it!

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