Polar Expedition

 

Well, winter in Edmonton means a lot of cold, and a lot of snow.  We tried to take advantage of that and be optimistic by exploring the sensory and gross motor aspects of this cold, white season.  This included a lot of opportunities to explore outside, and a science/sensory experience.

 

We decided to turn our water table into a polar expedition.  First the children helped me pick out cartons of various sizes from the recycling, then we filled them with water, and set them outside.  The next day, we threw them in the water table, along with our collection of smurf toys (at the children's request). 

One of the children suggested we added ice cubes for variation.  This was a fantastic idea, as it showed the children the difference in melting times for various sizes of ice.  At first, the kids stacked the ice, and took turns pushing it around the table with their figurines.  As it began to melt, a curious thing happened - the water melted from the inside out, so that soon, the children were left with large hollow ice cylinders.  It didn't take long to figure out that they could break holes through these boxes and use them in play, as boats or homes, or a variety of different imaginary items.

They also had a first hand experience with temperature, as they would often remark, "My fingers feel so cold!" before pulling them up into their sleeves for a break.  We will definitely be repeating this experience again, for as long as the temperature outside is favorable to giant homemade ice cubes (my freezer just isn't big enough, sadly!).

Winter Fun

November and December turned out to be haunted by frigid cold, so when Christmas break rolled around, and brought with it warmer weather, we took advantage of the sunny skies and went outside to play in the snow.

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! I Love Bugs!

First, I have to apologize - I don't know why my computer is turning all of my pictures suddenly.

 

Next - even though our 'butterfly theme' is long done, we've had some impromptu experiences over the summer because of it.  Having gained confidence from rearing our purchased butterfly larvae, we have stumbled upon 'wild' caterpillars in the course of our daily nature walks/trips to the park, and enjoyed bringing the creatures home to study closely.

 



 

These beautiful creepy crawlies are actually moths.

As is this one - he did not like being handled - instantly curling up into a ball and thrashing wildly if he believed you were anything other than a twig or tree branch - much to the children's amusement.

We thought this dragonflies wings were busted, but after studying him for a few minutes, he casually flew away.  So cool!

Every kid loves a good wet worm!

And this was a beautiful surprise - just a simple black caterpillar we found, brought home, crawled up and form a chrysalis.  10 days later, we had a morning cloak butterfly.  Love!

Tree Hugging

With spring, the children have been pointing out all the changes they've observed on the trees and plants in our neighborhood, asking really good questions about buds and sprouts, and helping get the garden ready to plant.  With this current curiosity, I decided it was a good time to do a tree/plant unit.

First we made a mural to decorate our space.  At first I intended to make leaves or collect leaves to add later, but one of the kids suggested painting hands and making prints.  It was a hit, and turned out really cute!  (It's fun to notice the difference in the areas the 'big' kids painted and the ones the 'little' kids painted!)

After that, I decided to explore some open ended crafting.  I gave the kids an outline of a tree on some sticky tack, and some assorted supplies, and let them decorate.

 They turned out really cute!

Next it was time to get our hands dirty - literally.  We painted small clay pots, stuffed them with dirt, sprinkled grass seed, and watched and watered each day.

This is science and fine-motor rolled up into one, because the spray bottles are intriguing, but employ lots of hand and arm muscles.

They had so much fun 'spraying' their plants, that we took the bottles on a nature walk to a local forested area.  They could have stayed out there spraying all day.

If we're going to do a forest unit, we have to go where there are trees.  No complaints from these naturalists!

After two weeks, our grass looked more like this:  Time to give these Hairy Harry's a hair cut (more fine motor skills!  Yay!).  The kids got so into this, their plants were basically bald when they were done.  Great thing about grass - it grows back!

Next I think we'll get some hair clips, and let them snap them in the 'hair'.

Winter Walk Ice Wreaths

I actually remembered to use my camera today! We've been doing some fun activities lately that I totally forget to photograph - so I have nothing to share!!

We have a winter study theme, and for our outdoor walk today, I decided to let the kids bring along buckets to collect natural treasures in. They found leaves, pine cones, berries, twigs, rocks, etc. We talked about each of the items as we found them - what they were, what they did, where they came from.


At home we explored the pine cones for a while, but then I was like "What are we going to do with all these wonderful things to remember them?

The answer was a winter wreath. Using bundt pans, the kids arranged their favorite treasures...

Practiced their pouring skills by adding water with a small cup from a bucket...

And we froze them. Once they were done, we attached a ribbon, and the kids took them home for an outside winter decoration!