Preschool Powol Packets

You can add a little sand castle science and STEM to any day, whether it's a day at the beach or a day in the classroom!  Plus, it fits right in with common preschool themes like Beaches and Oceans! N. V. Scarfe once said, "The highest form of research is essentially play."  This is especially true when it comes to sand. Sand is one of very few items that both children and professional scientists experiment with!  Just a few years ago, investigators sent sand into space so they could see how it behaves when it doesn't have its own weight affecting the experiment!   Kids don't need to go into space to experiment with sand!  You can take them to the beach or just buy a bag of play sand at a hardware store.  Make some water and plastic buckets available, and you can challenge them to create a sand castle of their own! Of course, if you go to the beach they will probably challenge themselves.  We had one castle built on top of a tunnel that was so

It's time for chocolate, hearts, valentines, and science experiments!  Today we're using a chocolate-based science project to teach about forms of energy and states of matter! In Texas, kindergarten students are expected to know that heat is a form of energy and can change matter.  Third graders are expected to explore, predict, test, and record changes to matter caused by heat.  First and second graders are also expected to learn about forms of energy, including heat, and how heat can change matter.  Today's lesson (with a super fun experimenting activity) uses chocolate to teach these science concepts to older kiddos and introduce them to preschoolers! Before you get started you may want to do this chocolate sensory science activity so your kiddos know that chocolate doesn't grow sweet!  It's not necessary for this project, but it's nice background information.  It also helps create a framework, or previous knowldedge that can be associated with this

Are you ready for the next Animal Alphabet Dots Printable?!! Today I'm sharing the next {FREE} Animal Alphabet dots page: U is for Umbrella Bird! You can  download it {FREE} by clicking HERE ! I have loads of fun ideas for ways to use the dot pages and the entire  Animal Alphabet Dots Collection   here ! And, since it's fun to talk about the animals as you work with them, here are... 5 Umbrella Bird Fun Facts: 1-  Umbrella birds spend most of their time in high branches in rainforest canopies! 2-  Umbrella birds eat fruit, insects, and other small animals like frogs and birds! 3-  The umbrella bird's throat pouch, or wattle, makes loud sounds during mating! 4-  The umbrella bird was discovered during the 1800s by Sir Alfred Wallace! 5-  Umbrella birds migrate up mountains to high "cloud forests" during mating season! Amazon Affiliate Links: I may share at any of  these parties ! Never miss another post

Volcano science experiments are everybody's favorite part of preschool, and they went perfectly with our New Zealand Day! The kids loved this colorful science project. Volcanoes are an important part of New Zealand's landscape, so we started out our New Zealand Day talking about plate tectonics, the Ring of Fire, and how volcanoes can make islands.  Then, of course, we had to make our own volcanoes! First we made volcanoes outside, in the dirt, and in pans.  To do this, build your volcano out of rocks and dirt.  The pan is optional.  Place a cup in the middle of the volcano to represent the path lava would travel out of the Earth.  Put a couple tablespoons of baking soda and a squirt of liquid dish soap in the cup. Add about half a cup of vinegar to start the eruption!! It was easy to see how the frothy volcano explosion could cool and harden to make the island bigger!  At this point the kiddos naturally asked about volcanic rocks, so we took a quick &quo

Our Eiffel Tower STEM Challenge is loads of fun and brings together fine motor skills, practical engineering, math, and creativity! We built our Eiffel towers as part of our France-themed geography day.  We talked a little bit about the tower's location, history, and size-- this page has a thorough background that includes in-progress pictures of the tower being built!  Here are a few fun facts: * The Eiffel Tower was the tallest building in the world when it was built! * It took several years to build the Eiffel Tower! * The Eiffel Tower was completed over 100 years ago, in 1889! * Prominent artists at the time protested the Eiffel Tower being built because they thought it would look bad and distract from France's other landmarks! * The Eiffel Tower is now a French icon! I wanted to provide materials that the kids could use to build their own Eiffel Towers, but still personalize and use their own creativity and discretion as they worked.  My favorite aspects o