Preschool Powol Packets

I am delighted to join the Kid-Made Christmas today with a Christmas STEAM activity and book for you! One of our favorite Christmas books is the Polar Express, and we always make at least one bell-themed ornament each year to go with it. (Image below is an Amazon affiliate link): This year, we have some very young preschoolers/toddlers and I wanted a project that they could make that the older kiddos would still enjoy and appreciate. That's the beauty of STEM and STEAM activities--they meet kids right at their level, and they work for even very young children! They also give the kids lots of room to experiment, try new ideas, and create whatever they like. And a bonus for moms and teachers: they require very little instructions or oversight! Here are the simple supplies for these ornaments: * clear ornament balls * jingle bells that fit into the ornament balls * fuzzy sticks/pipecleaners * any tools the kids want: we used scissors and pencils E

As a LeapFrog Mom Ambassador I get to try new LeapFrog products and share my opinions about them with you. Today I am truly delighted to introduce you to LeapFrog Academy! LeapFrog Academy is a new 3-D learning world that actually covers a well-rounded curriculum in a fun and exciting online platform. Since ABC's and young children are practically synonymous I decided to introduce you to LeapFrog Academy and share my review with my own set of ABC's...and I'll admit my kids totally helped me come up with these! ABC's of LeapFrog Academy: A is for Avatar...and Accessories!  My 4-year old daughter's favorite thing to do is dress up her avatar and change her "accessories." Not even joking! Your avatar travels through the LeapFrog world as you click or touch (on a touch-screen) the path you want to travel. B is for Balloons! The LeapFrog world happens to be a series of really cool islands floating in the air, and you enter the world

Sea animals, beaches, and hydrothermal vents are popular topics around here, so we end up doing an Ocean Theme  with science experiment a couple times each year. Today, I'm sharing an awesome science project which allows your kids (and you) to actually see  sound waves! Fun Fact: Whales don't see color! Sonar is using sound waves to "see" objects under water. It is like echolocation, except that echolocation is in the atmosphere (so bats and some birds use it), and sonar is under water (so whales and dolphins and submarines use it)! Whales have huge eyes, but they often use sonar to find food, especially when they travel deeper in the Twilight Zone where light is scarce. Understanding that sound waves bounce off objects and can be used to figure out where those objects are can be a tricky concept for kids, especially because we don't usually see  sound waves. BUT, there are ways you can see right where those sound waves hit and how hard they a

STEM activities and STEAM projects are the only way we keep learning through the holiday season, so I am super excited to share these paint exposion ornaments with you as part of the Virtual Book Club's Ornament week! Ever since last year when I saw Sarah's Erupting Ornaments here , I have wanted to try it with paint! And let me tell you...it has been one of our favorite Christmas STEAM / STEM activities so far!! The supply list seems a little long, but they are all really basic supplies that you probably already have (with the exception of the ornament balls...I grabbed a bunch of those at Walmart and the Dollar Store!): Simple Supplies: * ornament balls * acrylic paint * baking soda * vinegar * glitter * something to catch the mess in (I used pyrex bowls) * something to pour the vinegar with (I used graduated cylinders) * safety goggles (because everyone loves to work with goggles) * optional: butcher paper (I love to cover our work area