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Winter Science
Contact_FullName: Sheri Contact_Email: srw1024@yahoo.com Idea: WHAT DOES COLD FEEL LIKE? Get some ice cubes from the freezer and let the kids play with them and talk about how cold they are. You can also have them dip the ice cubes in a small amount of paint and slide them around on a large piece of paper to make abstract water colors! Contact_FullName: Shannon Contact_Email: sevarts77@yahoo.com Area: Science Idea: This idea was thought up by one of teachers at our center. Alaska Snowshoe Hare's magical transformation!! Use brown paper and cut out an Alaska hare for each child. Use white construction paper or cotton balls and for white spots. When fall begins, the snowshoe hare starts to get white spots. The feet change first, then the rest of the rabbit changes randomly all over. This project should take about a month to compete. On the first week introduced the hare to the children and tell them about the magical change their rabbit will be going through. Add white spots to the feet for the first week, then following weeks add more white to the hare, by the end of the month, you should have a white snowshoe hare ready for an Alaskan winter. This is a fun activity that let children see and learn about Alaskan hare and how they get ready for winter. Contact_FullName: Chris Contact_Email: csmgrig@hotmail.com Area: Science Idea: When studying winter, ice and snow, I froze water in balloons. Fill each balloon with different amounts. Depending on the amount of water in each balloon it can take 1-3 days to freeze the water. When done peel the balloon off (put it under water, it peels off nice) and you have a nice round ice ball. Place the ice balls into a roasting pan or can pan (something with sides) and let the children explore. Never fill a balloon more then 6 inches in diameter, it takes to long to freeze. The children love it. The variety of sizes adds lots of vocabulary as the children compare sizes. Contact_FullName: Debbie Contact_Email: debsduck@yahoo.com Area: Ice Idea: For ice study I took my biggest roasting pan and filled it with water, glitter, marbles, plastic dinosaurs and animals, sea shells, rocks and even hard candies (but those have to be added later so they won't melt so much) and , finally, some ice cubes to help get it freezing. Freeze until edges, bottom and top are really solid but some water remains inside. (I tried completely freezing it but it was too difficult for them to get through) Give the children a chance, one at a time, to don safety glasses and use the rubber mallet and a dull old chisel to excavate the ice. We do this activity outdoors on my big wood cutting board and all my kids, from 2 1/2 to 6 loved it!! This is a high supervision activity but worth it.
1-19-01For our sensory table, we just finished a Winter theme. I froze small toys in ice cube trays, and in various size containers and placed them in the sensory table. The children were given plastic and wood mallets and told to chip away the ice to find out what was inside! They had a wonderful time, and the amateur "archeologists" would rush to me to show me their "prize"! I've already been asked when we'll do it again.
1-11-01My preschool class did an experiment on how to make snow melt. We had children predict if snow would melt faster in their bare hands, or with a mitten on. Then, we tested the prediction. The children enjoyed exploring different ways to make the snow melt.
12-27-00Keeping Warm! Fill a bucket with ice water and have the children stick their hands in it. It will be cold, take a plastic bag and put Crisco in it, put another bag inside this one so the children's hands don't get dirty. Have them put their hand in the bag and stick it back in the ice water. It won't be cold because the Crisco serves as a layer of fat. Talk about how this keeps the animals like penguins and polar bears warm. They like this and enjoy doing it over and over again.
11-18-00Making Snow: When we have winter as our theme topic we make pictures using various items as snow. We use sugar, flour, white sand, salt, laundry soap, egg shells that are broken and dried, anything you can think of. This is excellent fine motor skills and also for science projects. Kids loved it. We posted them around center until snow segment was done.
7-22-00I like to bring the snow indoors for snow painting. You can use your sensory table, but I like to use a large, clear storage box...then you can really see the colors! I have used both food colored water and water color paint to paint my snow. The water colors make vibrant colors. My two year olds work on their small motor skills when they practice using eye droppers to transfer the colored water to the snow. I have also used spray bottles and drip bottles. We like to comment on the beautiful colors, then go back after rest time to see what happened to the colors when the snow melted.
Date: 2-29-00Freeze a Bubble! If the weather outside is below 32 degrees, you can take
your bubble activities outdoors. Blow a bubble and catch it on the wand. Wait
and watch as it freezes. It will turn into a crystal ball and then shatter like
glass! The children will see the ice crystals form. You can also do this with
large bubble wands. Dip the wand into the bubble solution but do not blow a
bubble. The crystals will form across the mouth of the wand. Have fun!
Date: 2-3-00Here's a neat science project for making snowflakes I got off an internet site. Cut a white pipe cleaner into 3 equal sections. Twist together to make a six-sided flake. Tie string from point to point to form the pattern. Tie a piece to the top of one of the pipe cleaners and tie the other end to a pencil (this is to hang from) Fill wide mouth jar with boiling water. Mix in Borax one tablespoon at a time ( 3Tablespoons per cup of water) Stir until dissolved. May be some settling. Its okay. You can add a little blue food coloring at this point to tint the flake. Insert the snowflake in your solution totally submerging the flake. Rest your pencil on the top of the jar letting the flake suspend freely in the solution. Wait overnight and the next day you will have a snowflake covered with tiny crystals. A huge success!
Date: 2-2-00Children predict and experiment what will melt ice the fastest. Salt or water or both. Three pie pans of ice. One for the salt. One for the water. And one for both. Make a chart for the children's predictions and for the outcomes of their experiment.
Date: 1-30-00Class room snowman You will need 3 nylon balloons, salt, felt, scraps of cloth, 1 large bowl, 1 medium bowl, and 1 small bowl, and a large pan or plastic container. First fill the balloons with water, the kids love to watch the balloon "grow" then tie the tops of them. Place each balloon in one of the bowls and place the bowls in the freezer. Leave them there for at least 12 hours or until the balloons are solid frozen. Then cut the balloon off and place the ice balls one on top of the other connecting each with salt. The more salt you use the better they will stick together. Then allow the kids to put clothing and body parts on. We gave our class snowman a name and we counted how many days it took before he melted away. This allowed the kids to watch as it melted and they enjoyed seeing all the clothes we had put on our snowman floating on the top of the water in the plastic container.
Date: 1-11-00"Jack Frost" you will need clear glass plate or pie pan petroleum jelly. 1. rub a thick layer of petroleum jelly on the plate. 2. use your fingers to draw a shape in the jelly. 3.put the plate in the freezer for at least 2 hours. 4.when you take it out the plate, it should have frosty designs on it Date: 1-9-00Build a big snowman and watch it melt...without snow!!! Some packing peanuts are terrific for building. They have a cornstarch base. Have all the children build a snowman by moistening the peanuts and sticking them together. Add personality with eyes, nose, etc.. Then place outside on the playground in the rain. It may take a few days, but it will dissolve! Have fun, and use the peanuts to build igloos and all sorts of projects. Date: 1-8-00I work with Special children but this idea may be good for others. We fill rubber gloves with water, tie and freeze. Then the children can experience ice without it melting all over! If you wished, take off the glove. Date: 3-14-99Place an arrangement of flowers and green foliage in a clean, milk carton. Fill carton with water. Make sure water covers the tops of the arrangement. Place in freezer overnight. Take out of freezer and place on a large tray in the science area. Children will be able to watch the arrangement re-appear as ice melts. Date: 2-3-99Children will spend long periods of time at the water table when large pieces of hard snow are in it. I give them an assortment of colored water and eye droppers. The children can see the colors mix when they squeeze the colored water into the ice. In upstate NY we are experiencing a January thaw so large chunks of ice are every where Date: 1-8-99Ice Magic Suspend an ice cube in a glass of water. Have the children take a piece of string, lay it across the ice and try to pick up the ice with the string. They won't be able to do this. Tell them to lay the piece of string on the ice again and have them sprinkle a pinch of salt over the string. Count to 10 and lift the string. Magic...it sticks ! Have fun watching their expressions. Be prepared to do it over and over again. Date: 1-8-99For this activity, you will need magnifying lenses and black construction paper that has been chilled in the freezer. When it snows, bundle the children up and go outside to catch snowflakes on the paper. Then examine the flakes with the magnifying lenses. Date: 1-8-99Ice Magic Suspend an ice cube in a glass of water. Have the children take a piece of string, lay it across the ice and try to pick up the ice with the string. They won't be able to do this. Tell them to lay the piece of string on the ice again and have them sprinkle a pinch of salt over the string. Count to 10 and lift the string. Magic...it sticks ! Have fun watching their expressions. Be prepared to do it over and over again. Date: 1-8-99It's winter,and this month we are enjoying a lot of ice and snow activities. This is quite fun for all of my three-year-olds because we are in sunny So.Ca. This is a great idea to make snow in class. Take a snow cone maker (ice shaver) and let the children drop in some ice cubes and "make snow". This activity lends itself to a lot of sensory exploration and discussion. We had a lot of fun...just go where the children lead. Date: 1-2-99Freeze a block of ice (1/2 gal. milk carton) remove the ice from the carton. You may lay it on its side or stand it on end, put Ice cream salt on the top in several places. Then a little food coloring I like the paste it is more vibrant. I put a different color on each place I put the salt and let it set and watch the colors work their way down into the cake of ice. This shows how the salt melts the ice and how their are cracks un seen in the ice with the eye. The children are fascinated by this. Date: 12-30-98Using ice-cubes and let the children watch the ice melt, then put liquid back in the freezer. After a few hours take out and discuss the form that the ice became and what happen to the liquid. Date: 11-2-98Frozen Treasures.....in plastic milk jugs freeze colored water of your choice, when half frozen drop in several various small toys (animals, legos, etc). After this is frozen add another color of water to fill the jug let freeze half way then add more toys. Children love to chip and melt to find the hidden treasure and the colors blend creating new colors. Date: 10-28-98Bring a bin of snow into your science center and allow the children to play in it as they observe it melting. You can also measure the amount of water that comes from a bucket of snow with older children. 10-21-98 Name: Fran |
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