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During our Summer Enrichments we decided to “shake things up” here at the Grove!  We’ve added a Science & Sensory Enrichment every Wednesday afternoon!  Thus far, judging from the magnitude of “mess” and the level of “what happened to you today” it’s been a hit thus far! 

Children love sensory experiences!  Water used in its simplest form – for pouring, dumping, mixing, splashing, turning a water wheel is often a calming and very relaxing activity for children.  Yes, it can be extremely messy – but that’s the FUN part!  Children often miss out on these “messy” experiences for a number of reasons – however, here at the Grove, the harder we work, the messier we get, and the children love it!!  Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ve been experimenting with during our Science & Sensory Enrichment:

Cornstarch & Water

June 14, 2011

What a combination, right?  I don’t know the “science” behind it all – but what I do know is that it’s fascinating to watch the kids touch, feel, stir, hold, mix, and marvel at how cornstarch and water interact with one another.  Cornstarch is a powdery substance and when mixed with water it’s smooth and creamy.  If you try to scoop it up in your hands it looks as if it’s melting!  It can be a little tricky to scoop off the bottom of a sensory tub but once accomplished it’s like a thick liquid soap mix! Pretty cool!

Shaving Cream & Watercolor

June 29, 2011

YAHOO!! The kids clapped and cheered when they saw cans of shave cream!  We love shave cream!  We added a little “twist” to the shave cream – watercolor!  The children were so excited to find the colored surprise inside their shave cream once they began to mix and mix!  Shave cream is often a very calming activity for children – they’re able to explore, squeeze, mix, smell, drive trucks through, and for the one’s who live on the wild side – cover their arms and faces with it!

Our motto is: “It’s ok, we’re washable!”

Stay tuned …. What Science and Sensory Enrichment will we explore next?

Misti is a Pre-K teacher at The Grove School of Plano. She is an avid Kansas State fan. (We don't hold that against her!)

 

 

In Pre-K we have been focusing on our Earth and the importance of recycling and reusing objects.  To help celebrate Earth Day we created original pieces of artwork using recycled materials brought to school from our homes!  The kids thought it was interesting to see what each other brought – what was same, different, or just something that was “really cool!”

The children worked on their projects all morning and afternoon long during center time!  The children had many opportunities to tear, cut up, poke holes, tie up, make knots, and problem solve on how to get their creations to actually stay together and then hang from the ceiling in our classroom!

At the conclusion of the activity each child was asked to study their artwork and to describe the following:

  • What is the name/title of your original artwork?
  • What items were used to create your Recycled Art Hanging Mobile?
  • How did you make your creation?
  • Why is it important to recycle?

I can tell you that the students thoroughly enjoyed participating in this Earth Day activity. However, please don’t tell them we also accomplished some of our learning objectives shown below:

  • Discussion and understanding of recycling, reusing, and our responsibility for taking care of the Earth
  • Creative thinking – Naming original artwork, creating artwork
  • Problem solving – How to make, how to hold together, teamwork, and sharing
  • Fine motor skills – cutting, poking, tearing, taping, typing, knotting
  • Cognitive – activity recall, identifying objects, and creative thinking
  • Teamwork & social-emotional – sharing/trading objects with friends, helping one another, problem solving with a friend, trial and error

Enjoy the photos below highlighting some of the student work.

Your trash can be a treasure!

Misti is a Pre-K teacher at The Grove School of Plano. She is an avid Kansas State fan. (We don't hold that against her!)

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A student records the latest results from the experiment on a chart.

Children in my class were given the opportunity to exercise their probability skills when deciding if objects would sink or float.

A piece of flannel was placed over the easel and labeled/divided FLOAT and SINK.  Picture cards were placed in the shelf for children to choose from and make a guess based upon their knowledge and experience.  The picture card was then placed under their guess of whether the object would float or sink.  After making their guess – they then tested it in the water filled sensory tub!

The  Lesson Objectives:  Teamwork to fill the sensory tub with water, probability skills, testing guesses, cause and effect, exploring with water, float, sink, buoyancy, properties of water, and the effect water has on objects.

It’s fun to see the students enjoy activities with and involving water – that’s why they seem naturally drawn to water puddles, rain, splashing and mixing, basically anything dealing with water!

A student contemplates whether objects will sink or float.

Children can spend lengthy amounts of time simply pouring, dumping, mixing, and stirring water.  From a parental perspective it can be messy to clean up and time consuming.  From a teacher perspective it can become a nuisance if children are constantly washing or most often playing at the sink!  Capitalize on these instances and use them as learning experiences – provide soapy water, washcloths, and dishes for washing, water babies and sponges for bathing, varying objects to float/sink, cooking materials, or really anything – remember children have imaginations – something we tend to “lose” as we grow older!  If a child spills water – provide towels to clean it up.  If a child gets his/her clothing wet – allow them time to reflect and problem solve (next time roll up sleeves, wear a smock, change into swimsuit, etc).

Water play is often found to be very calming for children and is very tactile experience.  Children need ample time to play in and with water.  Sometimes, we as adults, take the pure simplicity and joy of water for granted!  Remember it’s just water AND it will dry!

Misti is a Pre-K teacher at The Grove School of Plano. She is an avid Kansas State fan. (We don't hold that against her!)

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