Whirlpool Maker

Want to keep kids mesmerized and help them explore science at the same time? 

I give you one word: whirlpool. 

We have these awesome caps that you use to connect two soda bottles. If you shake it just right the water will funnel through one bottle to the other and make a whirlpool. They loved it!

You can buy it here.

W is for Wind

Hello world. So it's been a while because, if I'm keeping it real, I've been in a slump. Has that ever happened to you where the things that you used to enjoy seem not so enjoyable anymore? 

So, I'm trying to get myself out of it by just jumping back into things. Usually when I blog, I post things in order of when we have done them in class and I am super behind. So I made an executive decision - I'm going out of order. It goes against my nature that my husband might argue is slightly ocd, but it's what I feel like doing, so that is that.  

The great thing about teaching preschoolers is that so much of the world is exciting and new. This week we explored the concept of weather and wind. We read this awesome book:

Then we gathered around the table with a variety of objects in front of each student. The objects we used were a feather, penny, fuzz ball, straw, shell, rock, plastic spoon, and decorative pebble. We talked about what was in front of us and then made a guess whether the wind would blow each object or not. After we made a guess, I turned on my blow dryer to low and simulated a wind blowing. Then we would see if our guess was right. After, the kids sorted their items. 

 A simple, but fun science project for your littles!

W is for . . .

. . . whales

(Painted egg carton cup, white & blue pipe cleaners, paper tail, googly eyes)

. . . watercolors

. . . worms 

(chocolate pudding for mud, crushed oreos for dirt, and gummy worms)

W is for worm

 We made worm cups during letter w week. 

I love making these because I get to hear things like, 

 "These worms are so yummy!" and "I like dirt!" and "Can I have some more mud please?"

I started by filling some cups with mud (chocolate pudding). Then the kids made dirt (smashed chocolate graham crackers) and poured it on their mud.

 

Then we put some worms into our dirt (gummy worms) and ate it up!

W is for . . .

. . . whirlpool

. . . web

We learned how to draw a spider web - start with a small circle, draw larger circles around it, then crisscross through the middle. 

Our younger class got to make these spiders using pipe cleaners, puff balls, and googly eyes. We tried using white glue to put the head on top, but I think hot glue would have been best.

  . . . weather

When I was doing my student teaching, I spent 1/2 the time in the preschool on campus at Brigham Young University. My favorite thing we used to do with the kids was go on campus to survey the college students and ask them questions about the things they liked. 

I decided, why can't we have as much fun surveying each other in class? We did a weather survey in which the kids asked their classmates "what was their favorite weather". We talked about saying "excuse me," asking our question politely, then saying "thank you" after we marked their answer.

I don't know what it is about watching a preschooler walk around with a clip board and asking people questions, but it is awfully cute. Even though we weren't asking big college students, I still think this is one of my favorite things to do. 

 

W is for . . .

. . . Willy Worm
We made this worm during center time. The kids each got a bag of colored 1 inch squares with the numbers 1 - 9 written on them and a piece of construction paper with the worm head glued on and the word Willy Worm written at the top. They underlined the W's on the page and then glued the body on in numerical order.

. . . Watercolors

W is for Worm

Today we ate dirt and worms.

Before we did that, we talked about worms and how they help the flowers grow in the spring and read a book about worms. We listened to the middle part of the Inchworm song from Sesame Street and moved around like worms.


Then we ate dirt and worms.

Here's You Need:
(I know you didn't really think we ate dirt and worms. : )

• Instant Chocolate Pudding
• Milk
• Oreos or other chocolate cookies
• Sandwich bags that seal
• Gummy worms

Here's What We Did:

1. We made some mud. (Chocolate pudding)
2. We smashed some dirt. (Oreo cookies)
3. We put some mud in a cup and poured the dirt on top of it.
4. We added worms.