Preschool Powol Packets

Burping bags, or exploding bags, is another fun science experiment with vinegar and baking soda!  You can use it as an excellent science activity by itself, an application in color mixing, a sensory experience, or as a writing prompt.  This science project is great fun for toddlers, preschoolers, and older children too!  My kindergartener's journal entry for this day read, "Today, I made a bag pop." The burping bag (aka the exploding bag) is made when you mix baking soda and vinegar inside the sealed bag.  As they react, carbon dioxide is released.  This gas builds up inside the bag, until it breaks out with a fabulous little "POP!" Burping bags (or Exploding Bags) Simple Supplies 1/3 cup vinegar 1/4 cup warm water quart sized sandwich baggies 2 tablespoons baking soda 1-ply paper towels food coloring glitter, cake sprinkles, etc. Easy How-to: 1- Wrap the baking soda into a little paper towel pouch.  Mix the vinegar and warm water togeth

Check out this {FREE} Mother's Day printable I made for B-Inspired Mama today !  It would be fun to fill out with your children, or help them fill it out for Grandma.  Hop on over to B-Inspired Mama and grab yours today!! I may share at any of these parties !

I have been promising my Facebook followers a celebration event to thank them for joining me at www.Facebook.com/PreschoolPowolPackets , and I am so, so excited to host it here at Preschool Powol Packets!  I have contacted some amazing craftsmen and women and am so excited to share their work with you.  All of the giveaway items are perfect for preschoolers, and I'm sure any of you would be thrilled with these prizes!! Entering is easy, and I will explain all the directions below.  First, I want to introduce you to the four amazing artisans who are sponsoring this event.  Their work is unique and high quality, and I'd encourage you to visit their shops and consider purchasing some of their other products.  Jim Aro at Aroswoodcrafts makes eco-friendly hand-crafted wooden children's toys (and more!) from reclaimed wood.  Check out his Etsy shop here !  He will be providing t his eco-friendly children's wooden dump truck !  Kids will love the rolling wheels and

Make 10 spots on the ladybug!  This fun math activity lets your children practice counting, adding, and puzzle skills all at once!  It is great for individual practice, homeschool, centers, or whole groups!   To use, cut out the pieces and encourage your children to create ladybugs with ten spots.  Then, let your children record the equations they make on the recording sheet.   Younger children will enjoy building the ladybugs and counting the dots they make. Click here to download the free Make 10 Spots Ladybug Math Activity! This activity is one of sixteen recommended activities in my Ladybug Unit.  Click here for more information about the complete ladybug unit ! And if you're looking for more insect or bug resources, check out these other  FREE insect, bug, and spider printables : Happy Educating, Carla!

Growing a garden, or even just a few plants, with children makes the spring come alive in ways few other things do.  Gardens are also wonderful Earth Day projects!  (Click here for 30 fun Earth Day Ideas!)   Children love to watch the plants sprout, grow, and flower, but they can become anxious if nothing changes for a couple weeks.  Here are five plants that grow and change quickly, making them educational and loads of fun! Make sure you read all the way to the end for a great character development object lesson from your garden! #1: Garlic: Cloves of garlic will sprout if you leave them in your fridge or pantry too long.  Plant the clove such that the green sprout is just exposed to sunlight.  In about a week, the garlic plant can grow several inches!  Garlic does great in full sun or partial shade.  You can snip the green part off to give a mild garlic flavor to stirfrys and other meals! #2: Oregano: Oregano is easy to plant because many nurseries and grocery st

We love science experiments--especially ones that bubble, fizz, and "explode!"  I love it even more when the children are in charge--they learn so much more from hypothesizing, planning, and experimenting.  This bubbly fountain of a science project came from my kids, so today I'm going to share their creative process. It began with this balloon experiment : When we finish something like this, I always ask the kids, "What would you like to test next?"  They wanted to add bubbles to vinegar and baking soda.  My daughter grabbed a bottle of bubbles, and instructed me to add it until it took up about 1/3 of the water bottle.  Then we added about 1/4 more vinegar, and 2 tablespoons baking soda.  This was the amazing result: The kids wanted to do one more experiment...with color!   We ended up "exploding" the experiment at least three more times.  Each time, a different child added a drop or two (or as little as their small hands could ma

I am so happy to be a contributor at the wonderful B-Inspired Mama site !  Krissy has tons of resources, ideas, and inspiring projects.  Each month I contribute two {FREE} printables.  This week, you can download a {FREE} Color By Number Words page.  It's a great way to practice (or review!) number and color words!  Check it out here, at B-Inspired Mama ! I may share at any of these parties !

We love science experiments, and when the set up is quick and easy, we are even more likely to enjoy them! Kids love this balloon science project and are happy to repeat it.  For us, it was a springboard for a Bubbly Brew, which I will post in a couple days. Here's The Quick and Easy Preschool Science Balloon Experiment: Simple Supplies: balloon (I like the 12-inch balloons best) water bottle (or soda bottle) vinegar baking soda 1-ply bathroom tissue or paper towel (we create this by tearing a paper towel in half) a pan to catch everything Easy How-To: 1- Set the bottle in the pan. 2- If you haven't mixed vinegar and baking soda before, do this in the pan or in a separate bowl. Your children should know that vinegar and baking soda will react. 2- Fill the bottle 1/3 - 1/2 full of vinegar. 3- Place about 2 tablespoons of baking soda in the tissue and wrap it up.  Ask what your children think will happen if you add the baking soda and place the balloon

Earth Day is on April 22nd, and there are many, many activities you can do to celebrate with your preschoolers! Even more importantly, you can help them develop an Earth Day attitude every day by recycling and re-using materials. Building a pinata from scratch gives your children a fabulous sensory experience, a building/construction experience, and practice re-using materials!  Like my daughter said, "I bet those newspaper people never knew that their newspaper would become a ladybug pinata!" Click here for step-by-step directions on how to make a pinata.  Use newspapers and leftover scraps as you mache each layer on the pinata! Then, paint it like a ladybug, add silly eyes, hide some goodies inside, and use it to celebrate Earth Day...or a birthday, or anything else! I may share at any of these parties !