Heart & Lungs for Preschoolers

The human body, including the heart and lungs, is a fabulous topic for young children!  When the weather is nice, we often spend our School Time outside.  We did this Sidewalk Chalk Heart & Lungs a few weeks ago, and the kids loved it!

Simple Supplies:

* Sidewalk chalk
* Happy, warm-weather loving kids

Easy How-To: 

1- Leaving a couple inches around your children (nobody likes chalk-covered clothes!), trace them with their choice in color of sidewalk chalk.  Name the different body parts like head, right arm, right hand, etc. as you go.

2- Have the children put their hand on their chest to feel their heartbeat.  If you have a stethoscope, let them listen too.  Talk about how the heart pumps blood to your whole body while pumping your hand as a visual.  Draw the heart onto each child's chalk body.  Let them choose the color again!

3- Instruct the children to put their hands on their chest again and take a deep breath.  Their lungs are like balloons inside their chest that fill up with air when they breathe in.  Draw the lungs onto each child's chalk body also, again letting them choose the color.

4- Let your children embellish and accessorize their chalk selves!  Play and have fun!

Other Talking Points:

* Blood carries oxygen to your whole body...even your brain and toes!  Each part of your body needs oxygen to work.
* Blood picks up oxygen from the lungs
* A giraffe heart weighs 25 pounds--this is about the same size as many 1 1/2-2 year old children!



I may share at any of these parties!

Teach Me Tuesday (5-29-12)

Teach Me Tuesday is here!!  We had so many wonderful links last week, and I have had a wonderful time visiting your blogs and getting to know you better!  Thank you so much for linking up and sharing your wonderful ideas and experiences!  I especially appreciate those of you who link of every week--thank you, thank you!!  And to anyone new...welcome!!  Now, on to this week's features...

<div align="center"><a href="http://PreschoolPowolPackets.blogspot.com" title="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/cmg38/TeachMeTuesdayButton.jpg" alt="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Our features this week (a combination of most clicked-on and my choices) are:

Dancing in the Rain shared Eat The Rainbow, a fun and creative way to help your children choose a balanced diet!  Check it out here!

Familylicious shared this wonderful collection of over two dozen different ways to make Science Discovery Bottles!  Check them out here!

Enjoying the Journey shared this fun Magnetic Painting project that combines art and science!  Check it out here!

Teach Beside Me shared her Bored Box, and a collection of over 150 activities your kids can enjoy this summer!  Check it out here!

Many thanks to these awesome ladies for sharing their great activities with us!  If you missed them last week, but sure to check them out!

Now, onto this week's Teach Me Tuesday linky party!

The guidelines are simple:

1- Link to your post, not your whole blog.  By linking up you are giving me permission to share a picture and link to your post.

2- Your post must be family-friendly.

3- Your post must somehow relate to education (this includes crafts, games, experiments, printables, recipes, essays, and anything else related to education!).

4- After you link up, visit some of the other links and let them know what you think!  Everybody likes to get feedback and know their post is appreciated!

5- This is optional, but I'd sure be grateful if you spread the word by posting the Teach Me Tuesday button (above) on your blog or post!  The party only gets better with more bloggers!

**Please make sure you picked up the button from Preschool Powol Packets, and not my old blog!**

That's it!  I can't wait to get to know you and see what you're up to!  Also, you're always welcome to follow me on GFC, Facebook, Google + or subscribe to my monthly newsletter (links are in the sidebar)!

I may share at any of these parties!

How To Make Colored Pasta

Colored pasta is fun for so many activities (like beading, sensory boxes, artwork, shadow boxes, and more), and it is very easy to make!  Here's an easy step by step:

1- Divide a pound of pasta into four gallon- sized zip lock baggies.

2- Let your child choose a color of food coloring and add 4-8 drops of into the bag.

3- Let your child squirt three pumps of hand sanitizer into the bag.  (Alternatively, you could use rubbing alcohol.)

4- Zip the bags up and let your child squish the ingredients together.

5- Spread the pasta out to let it dry.  We did the entire process outside to add a natural element to the experience.  Our wonderful Houston sun dried the pasta in about an hour and a half!

I'll share a couple activities we did with the pasta in the next week or so.  Until then, have fun coloring your pasta!!



I may share at any of these parties!

Teach Me Tuesday (5-22-12)

It's Teach Me Tuesday time!!  I love visiting your blogs and getting to know you better!  Thank you so much for linking up and sharing your wonderful ideas and experiences!  I especially appreciate those of you who link of every week--thank you, thank you!!  And to anyone new...welcome!!  Now, on to this week's features...

<div align="center"><a href="http://PreschoolPowolPackets.blogspot.com" title="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/cmg38/TeachMeTuesdayButton.jpg" alt="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Our features this week (a combination of most clicked-on and my choices) are:

The Fit Kids Clubhouse shared these fun and easy Colorful Bubbles!  Check it out here!

Enjoying the Journey shared this new way to experience Sensory Time!  Check it out here!

The Iowa Farmer's Wife shared another way to vary sensory experiences...and entertain children!  Check it out here!

We Can Do All Things shared several sensory, counting, patterning, and other learning activities for young children with Teddy Bear Counters!  Check it out here!

Many thanks to these awesome ladies for sharing their great activities with us!  If you missed them last week, but sure to check them out!

Now, onto this week's Teach Me Tuesday linky party!

The guidelines are simple:

1- Link to your post, not your whole blog.  By linking up you are giving me permission to share a picture and link to your post.

2- Your post must be family-friendly.

3- Your post must somehow relate to education (this includes crafts, games, experiments, printables, recipes, essays, and anything else related to education!).

4- After you link up, visit some of the other links and let them know what you think!  Everybody likes to get feedback and know their post is appreciated!

5- This is optional, but I'd sure be grateful if you spread the word by posting the Teach Me Tuesday button (above) on your blog or post!  The party only gets better with more bloggers!

**Please make sure you picked up the button from Preschool Powol Packets, and not my old blog!**

That's it!  I can't wait to get to know you and see what you're up to!  Also, you're always welcome to follow me on GFC, Facebook, Google + or subscribe to my monthly newsletter (links are in the sidebar)!

I may share at any of these parties!

5 Senses With Lemons!

The Five Senses is such a fun topic for preschoolers!  It naturally encourages experimentation, exploration, and self-realization.  This particular lesson, adapted from Lisa's at Planet Weidknecht, also reviews fraction vocabulary and colors!  Here's what we did:


1- What are your senses?  As we talked about ways we learn about the world, we drew a representation of each sense on a mini-poster.  We traced everyone's hands for touch!

2- Sight!  What is this?  A lemon!  Use your eyes to tell me what color it is.  Yellow!

3- Touch!  What does it feel like on the outside?  What about the inside?  As I cut the lemons, we reviewed halves and quarters.

4- Taste!  Everyone licked their lemons...and we all laughed about the "Oooh's" and puckers!  We also talked about the word "sour."

5- Smell!  Can you smell sour?

6- Hearing!  Can you hear your lemon drip drop into your cup?

7- What should we do with our lemon juice?  Make lemonade!!  (They didn't even need me to suggest this!)

8- Easiest lemonade recipe ever:  Stir equal parts lemon juice, water, and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.  It's easy to estimate, and the children love stirring ingredients together.  When each child finished, they tested it to make sure it was sweet enough.  Sweet and sour are opposites...you need enough sugar to cover the sour part of the lemon!

9- More experiments!  My children wanted to try other sweeteners.  We're particularly fond of agave around here, and my daughter wondered how that would taste.  So, she mixed up another batch of lemonade with agave...and loved it! 

I think we'll be making lemonade all summer--it was very popular!!



I may share at any of these parties!

Solar Eclipse This Weekend!

 
18 years ago residents of continental United States could watch a solar eclipse from home...this weekend, you can do it again!  But be ready...your next opportunity won't be until 2023!

On Sunday, May 20th an annular eclipse can be viewed in the United States from a diagonal path starting in northern California/southern Oregon and traveling down to Lubbock, Texas.  If you live in this path, you can watch the new moon move in front of the sun and completely block it, except for a bright ring around the outside of the sun (sometimes called a Diamond Ring or Ring of Fire).  Most of the rest of the country can see a partial eclipse from their locations.  Click here for an interactive map showing what time the eclipse occurs in your area--click on your location on the map for details like the start, stop, and maximum eclipse times. Unfortunately, the times are all in Universal Time; but, you can check here to translate UT to your time.  Parts of Asia can also see the eclipse on May 21st.

In a solar eclipse, the moon blocks the sun from our view on Earth.  If Earth and the moon had orbits that were tilted the same degree, a solar eclipse would occur every month; but, since our orbits are at different angles, solar eclipses are more rare.

If you intend to watch the eclipse (and you definitely should!), remember not to look directly at the sun unless you have eclipse glasses.  Check out this page for more ways to safely view an eclipse!

Let me know if you and your family watch it!!



I may share at any of these parties!

Teach Me Tuesday (5-15-12)

I hope you all enjoyed your Mother's Day and are being treated to beautiful, sunny weather this week!  
I'm so excited to post Teach Me Tuesday today!!  It's up hours later than normal, but I'll spare you the details of why I actually slept in until 6:30 this morning and missed my early-morning bloggy time.  Now, it is nap-time and I am so happy to send out a huge thank you to everyone who linked up last week--I really appreciate you!  I love visiting your blogs and getting to know you and your families a little better...and I love saving all your wonderful ideas to share with my children!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!  Now, on to this week's features...

<div align="center"><a href="http://PreschoolPowolPackets.blogspot.com" title="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/cmg38/TeachMeTuesdayButton.jpg" alt="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Our features this week (a combination of most clicked-on and my choices) are:

3 Dinosaurs shared this free, fun, and educational Beach Pack for preschoolers!  Check it out here!

Crafty Moms Share shared this wonderful multicultural lesson plan based on the book The Colors of Us!  Check it out here!

Trial & Error Mama shared this exciting Fire Magic post, which includes a couple experiments that preschoolers can understand too!  Check it out here!

Mama of Many Blessings Shared this beautiful "Stained Glass" Butterfly craft!  Check it out here!

Many thanks to these awesome ladies for sharing their great activities with us!  If you missed them last week, but sure to check them out!

Now, onto this week's Teach Me Tuesday linky party!

The guidelines are simple:

1- Link to your post, not your whole blog.  By linking up you are giving me permission to share a picture and link to your post.

2- Your post must be family-friendly.

3- Your post must somehow relate to education (this includes crafts, games, experiments, printables, recipes, essays, and anything else related to education!).

4- After you link up, visit some of the other links and let them know what you think!  Everybody likes to get feedback and know their post is appreciated!

5- This is optional, but I'd sure be grateful if you spread the word by posting the Teach Me Tuesday button (above) on your blog or post!  The party only gets better with more bloggers!

**Please make sure you picked up the button from Preschool Powol Packets, and not my old blog!**

That's it!  I can't wait to get to know you and see what you're up to!  Also, you're always welcome to follow me on GFC, Facebook, Google + or subscribe to my monthly newsletter (links are in the sidebar)!

I may share at any of these parties!

Monster Toss!

This Monster Toss is a fun and easy way to to re-use some of those boxes that keep coming and coming and coming and ...

The kids loved designing it and (after I cut the mouth and drew a few guide-lines) coloring it in with markers.  They were very pleased with their scary monster!

You need a box with one blank side.  Design the monster with your child.  Will it be scary? beautiful? happy? grumpy?  Cut out the mouth--make sure it is at least twice as big as the ball you intend to use. Let your child color in the rest of the monster.

Here's a few topics you can talk about during the design process:

• emotions
• colors
• design
• patterns 
• teeth and mouth hygiene
• hair brushing 

We've used a variety of balls and beanbags to throw in to the monster--he is one hungry critter!  You can place him (or her!) on the floor or on another box.  Your child can stand on the floor or a stool.  You can face the monster up or sideways.  However you choose, your child will get some great large-muscle and eye-hand coordination practice!  My kids also get a lot of practice taking turns!  Let your child start closer to the monster than you think is necessary the first time he throws, and then move back as he is ready. 

I'd love to see pictures or hear about any Monster Toss you make!  Feel free to post them on my PreschoolPowolPackets Facebook page, link up in the comments, or send me an email!
 


I may share at any of these parties!

(Homemade Kolaches) / Secret Snacks

Don your spy gear for this one, and bring your kids into the kitchen!  Hiding snacks inside Homemade Kolaches is exciting for everyone!

Ingredients:

1- Bread Dough.  (You can make this really easy by using packaged crescent roll dough!)
2- Secret Snacks!  This can include cheese sticks, fruits, veggies, eggs, meat (mmm...bacon bits!), or anything else your little friends want to hide in their rolls.

Directions:

1- Roll a tennis-ball sized piece of bread dough out into a rectangle about three inches wide and seven inches long.  Cut it in half, forming two triangles.  (Or, just unroll the crescent dough.)
2- Place the secret snacks on the top third of the triangle and roll it up!  Cook it according to the normal directions for cooking or bread dough (or your crescents).
3- Once it has cooled, enjoy the fun snack!  Let your children "find" their hidden snacks while they eat!

Another alternative is to make them yourself and let your Detective Children figure out what snacks are hiding inside the roll! 



I may share at any of these parties!

Teach Me Tuesday (5-8-12)

Here comes Teach Me Tuesday!!   Many, many thanks to everyone who linked up last week--I really appreciate you!  I am so excited to visit your blogs, pin your posts and share them on Facebook, and get ideas to use at home!

<div align="center"><a href="http://PreschoolPowolPackets.blogspot.com" title="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/cmg38/TeachMeTuesdayButton.jpg" alt="Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Our features this week (a combination of most clicked-on and my choices) are:

Ironic Adventures shared these wonderful free Space Printables!  She included planets, the sun, and more!  Check them out here!

Highhill Homeschool shared a week of activities based on the Shange Dynasty!  She included wood writing, silk making, jade/soap carving, and more ideas!  Check them out here!

Plain Vanilla Mom shared these colored beautiful and colorful rice bottles, and how she helped her children make them!  Check them out here!

Adventures in Homeschooling shared a fun way to re-experience sidewalk chalk with spray bottles!  Check it out here!

Many thanks to these awesome ladies for sharing their great activities with us!  If you missed them last week, but sure to check them out!

Now, onto this week's Teach Me Tuesday linky party!

The guidelines are simple:

1- Link to your post, not your whole blog.  By linking up you are giving me permission to share a picture and link to your post.

2- Your post must be family-friendly.

3- Your post must somehow relate to education (this includes crafts, games, experiments, printables, recipes, essays, and anything else related to education!).

4- After you link up, visit some of the other links and let them know what you think!  Everybody likes to get feedback and know their post is appreciated!

5- This is optional, but I'd sure be grateful if you spread the word by posting the Teach Me Tuesday button (above) on your blog or post!  The party only gets better with more bloggers!

**Please make sure you picked up the button from Preschool Powol Packets, and not my old blog!**

That's it!  I can't wait to get to know you and see what you're up to!  Also, you're always welcome to follow me on GFC, Facebook, Google + or subscribe to my monthly newsletter (links are in the sidebar)!

I may share at any of these parties!

Sharing Saturday: Mother's Day Ideas!

Mother's Day is just a week away, and I have six awesome ideas for you to help your preschooler make!  Dads, pay attention!  These can easily be adapted for a grandma or teacher, too!   First of all, is this necklace made from clay beads.  My daughter made this for me when she was three, and it has been very popular ever since!  Just follow the directions for oven-baked clay from your craft store!  And buy the colored clay if you don't want to paint it too!

Now, on to Sharing Saturday!  The following are five ideas from around the internet for Mother's Day!  If you're featured, feel free to grab the button on the sidebar!

<div align="center"><a href="http://PreschoolPowolPackets.blogspot.com" title="Preschool Powol Packets" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/cmg38/SharingSaturdaybutton.jpg" alt="Preschool Powol Packets" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

These Handprint Flower Aprons at Let's Explore are adorable and would make a wonderful keepsake!  

This Handprint Butterfly Card at Our Daily Obsessions is a great way to preserve your child's hand and share a card full of love! 

This idea for an All About My Mom page at Tip Junkie sounds like so much fun!  It's always memorable to see life from your child's point of view, and you could easily personalize it for your family!

These Flower Wristbands at Fremont Libraries are just the sort of craft my daughter would love to make!  I love how an older preschooler can make them all by herself!

These Handprint Flowers from Mama Laughs are perfect for preschoolers and toddlers--I love crafts that both my kids can do on different levels!  And what mother can resist her children's hands?

I'll post a few more ideas next week.  It's never to early to start celebrating...

Happy Mother's Day!!




I may share at any of these parties!