Chronicles of Summertime: Day 17

Day 17:
Ladybug and I slept in today. My sister, Aunt M brought Snugglepuppy home from grandma and grandpa's house in the afternoon. We played outside a little on the swing.  Then we spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do and what to make for dinner (that's my family). Finally, we went to the grocery store and ended up making a Pinterest recipe and some kabobs (that didn't get finished grilling until 10pm!) Needless to say, it was Snugglepuppy's bedtime after that. We really need to get back on a schedule! Speaking of schedule, I am working on a weekly picture schedule for Snugglepuppy. I finally got everything I need, so should be doing a post on it soon.

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 7

Day 7: 

We didn't do much this morning as I had to visit the social security office to get a card for Squeaker. That was a total disaster. It took us over 2 hours and I missed being called the first time and had to get a new number. Neither of the children were happy campers by the end of this ordeal, so we came home. 

Snugglepuppy took a nap after lunch surprisingly. After he got up, we built a house with legos and Snugglepuppy decided to put his cars in it. Later in the evening, we went outside and used sidewalk chalk to draw on the driveway. Then I gave him a bowl of water and paintbrush to "paint" on the driveway. I also brought out the squirt bottle filled with water and the squeegee. 

We also played around with looking at the world from different points of view. When Snugglepuppy saw me doing this with Squeaker, he had to play along!

Before bed, we got in some more reading time with our library books for the Summer reading program. Squeaker seemed very interested in the books as I was reading them to Snugglepuppy as well.

The Science of Doors

The other day, L was out back in his playhouse, and I noticed he kept opening and closing the shutters on the windows. He has been very interested in opening and closing other doors and cabinets around the house as well. So I decided to do some research on doors and hinges and simple machines. Hinges are actually in the wheel and axle category of simple machines.

eHow says in an article called The Types of Simple Machines Found in Your Home:

Wheels and Axles
Like a lever, a wheel works by rotating around a fulcrum; in this case, the axle. Cars, toys, fans and fishing reels all use wheels and axles. Door hinges are also an example of this device--the round part of the hinge is an elongated wheel. On interior doors, the side attached to the wall and the side attached to the door have multiple wheels that rotate around a common axle.

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  Air and Water says:

  Wheel & Axle The wheel and axle is made up of both a wheel and axle that will rotate together. The wheel and axle is similar to a lever except that the input energy is applied to the end of the wheel which is perfectly balanced around the hinge. The distance from the hinge to the item being pulled shows the mechanical advantage.
  
  Idaho Public Television says:
  Wheel and Axle:
  a wheel and axle has a larger wheel (or wheels) connected by a smaller cylinder (axle) and is fastened to the wheel so that they turn together. When the axle is turned, the wheel moves a greater distance than the axle, but less force is needed to move it. The axle moves a shorter distance, but it takes greater force to move it. Examples: Door Knob, Wagon, Toy Car
  
  
  

  

  
  
  Now, of course our babies and toddlers and even preschoolers are not quite ready to understand all this yet.  But it is important that we understand so that we can teach them properly when they start asking us questions. For the very young children who aren't talking yet, just allowing them to explore with opening and closing doors is good. Some doors close automatically and some don't. There are doors that slide, doors that revolve, and doors that lift. 
  

  

  
  
  For children who are a little bit older, encourage them to ask questions. An example is "Why do hinges creak?" Chances are, the children will come up with better questions than we can. The key is to allow them to do the research and show them how to find the answers on their own. Google is an excellent resource of course, but providing them with materials to do experiments on their own will make a far bigger impression on them. They will remember what they learned better if they learned it own their own by trial and error. 
  

  

  
  

  Here are some pictures of doors we found around the house and neighborhood. Just look around and I'm sure you will find a lot more doors than you thought you had!

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

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Our Summer Bucket List

So, I happened to be visiting over at Little Wonders' Days and found this cool linky of Summer Bucket Lists. I just knew I had to come up with one for me and L since we will both be off for the Summer and I have been trying to come up with so many things for us to do. Here is what I've got so far, but I'm sure I will add more as the Summer gets nearer.

1. Join the library's Summer Reading Program
2. Go to the lake (Lakeside)
3. Visit the zoo
4. Visit parks with gardens (Inniswood, Whetstone Park of Roses)
5. Hiking
6. Kiddie pool/Sprinkler
7. Find a frog at the creek
8. Go to the Scioto Mile fountains downtown
9. Watch fireworks for the 4th of July
10. Make a sea animal sensory bin
11. Watch the Summer Olympics
12. Visit Slate Run Metro Park with a living farm
13. Visit Buckeye Lake
14. Visit to NC
15. Toddler programs at the Metro Parks
16. Visit an aquarium
17. Play at a natural play area
18. Do at least one community service with L
19. Swimming lessons
20. GET PREGNANT!

Storytime Sunday: Snow

Here is my selection of snow/winter books for this week. These are only few of the MANY great children's books about winter. They were just a few I happened to have in my personal collection that I have been using with my son this weekend as we have begun exploring snow. The Snowy Day is an older book that I'm sure most of you have read. I like it because it describes actions that children can replicate in the snow. While not particularly about snow, the book On the Night You Were Born is a wonderful book and there are some really awesome outdoor pictures including the polar bears in the snow.

Here are some photos of my sensory bin I used with my 1 year old. I actually left the blue lights in here from the light box I had made and covered it with a white towel then lined it with cotton balls. The blue lights shine through a little bit, just enough to give it that glow that ice sometimes gets when it's really thick. 

CAUTION: DO NOT TRY THIS WITH THE LIGHTS! I had to take my lights out today because they got nearly hot enough to melt the toys inside. Just use some tissue paper or foam under the towel or no towel at all. Just to eliminate the fire hazard completely. Sorry.

The snowflakes are cut out of wrapping paper. There is metallic wrapping paper for a frozen pond with a small snowman figure.

After L played awhile, I decided to give him another empty bin to transfer the cotton balls into since he mostly wanted to take them out of the bin. Also, we added some measuring cups for scooping and pouring.

 At school, we brought some snow inside as it was too cold to go outside. The kids had a blast with it and wanted some art materials to help them build their snowman. I also brought snow in for L to play with at home this weekend and some ice from our newly working ice maker, but as soon as I went to take the photo, L began to fuss. Figures!

We also made sparkly snowflakes with glitter. We used the printable pattern from here. I was going to let the kids cut them out, but once folded, it was too thick for their little scissors to cut through, so I did it for them.

What books have you been reading about winter?

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Back-to-School Theme Ideas

It's that time again. Time to start planning for those first weeks of school. Naturally, we are going to be doing a lot of introducing the classroom type themes at the very beginning to make all your new (and returning) children feel comfortable. But what happens after that? Here are some themes that you can start including in your classroom early in the year while you are introducing centers, job charts, name tags, etc. to gauge children's interest in them and see if they want to take their studies in any of these directions.

1. Fall- Sorry to state the obvious, but it's almost fall and there are so many activities you can do surrounding leaves, changing of the season, weather beginning to cool off and get windy... Make it a part of your everyday routine when you go outdoors to ask the children some questions about some of these things and see what direction they take it, if any.

2. Apples- This kind of goes along with the last theme, but you can take it in it's own direction. Tasting different apples is a great activity to get started. This can be done anytime from the first week as a snack. Go from there by asking questions pertaining to the 5 senses. Just get a feel for what the kids already know and if it would be worth expanding on this theme.

3. Bugs- Maybe like some of you, I tend to think of bugs as more of a Spring theme, but having been out in the woods this week, I am gonna say bugs are out in full force right now (at least in Ohio). Anyways, I saw TONS of fuzzy (and not-so-fuzzy) caterpillars of all shapes, sizes, colors, textures, etc. This would be an awesome research project for kids to find out the different types and what they might change into. Obviously, this could lead to a unit about butterflies. Sorting, categorizing, grouping, counting, graphing and classifying are just a few skills that come to mind when talking about bugs.

4. Bubbles/Water- Great idea for sensory table. Nothing makes a new 3 year old student forget that mommy just left them in a strange place better than a table full of water. And add bubbles, you've got yourself a party! Let the kids do their own experiments with the bubbles and water using various soaps and detergents. But, as my Education Specialist would say, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!!! Take photos, dictate what children think will happen and what does happen, allow children to record their own results in their science journal. One really cool activity that I want to try this year is the Ivory Soap in the Microwave Experiment. I would definitely recommend to anyone who has a microwave in their classroom!