Preschool Powol Packets

 Whether you live in a climate where leaves change colors, or not, this is a great time of year to learn more about leaves!   To make the leaf prints, let your child paint the back side of a leaf with her choice of color(s).  Tempera paints work very well.  Then, let her press the leaf on a paper like a stamp.  Feel free to point out the veins that carry water and nutrients to and from the leaves.  Let your child follow the path the veins make on the leaf. The prints can be used to decorate the front of a card or as their own masterpieces. Any time your child uses paint, encourage her to experiment with mixing the colors.  Ask her what she sees when she mixes them.  And if she wants to finish her painting without leaves, let her creative genius flow!  

Late summer ants may bug you, but they are a great research topic for your preschooler!  All you need for this science experiment is your eyes. Watch some outside for a few minutes and talk about what your child notices.  Particularly good times to observe them are mornings and evenings when the weather is conducive to their hunt for food.  Ask your preschooler if he thinks they like sweet things like honey or salty things like crackers better.  Make a full science project out of it by letting him set up tiny bait stations (one with a drop of honey and the other with some fine cracker crumbs) near each other and watch to see which the ants prefer.  Feel free to try other foods too!  Let him draw a picture showing what you learned!  If you're feeling ambitious, use the internet to find out what type of ants you saw! Note: Different ant species have different food preferences.  Some like sweet, some like salty, some like protein, some like fats, and many like a combination.  *