The Winter Water Cycle

We try to come up with fun activities for science with your little ones!  Since we are studying snow and ice this week it presents a wonderful opportunity to introduce the water cycle to your kiddos and then revisit the process when spring rains come.

This puzzle goes through the water cycle stages of Evaporation, Condensation, and Precipitation.  It uses snow as the precipitation of choice, and we will be updating it to rain in the spring.  Until then, enjoy the printable and learning about the science of snow!

In addition to the puzzle here is a fun song you can sing with your little one that will get this process in their heads, and probably yours too!  This was my favorite just because it has this awesome “whoo whoo” part.  You’ll  know what I am talking about!! Visit Have Fun Teaching to listen to it.  Lyrics are provided also.

Candy Cane Observations!

It seems like it has been forever since we did an observation activity!  So, I am excited to let you know that you don’t have to wait anymore! 

The Candy Cane Observation activity is a great way to talk about senses with your kiddo, while introducing them to an important scientific skill.  Plus, learning is always more fun when you get to eat something!

Please do not sell or host these files anywhere else. You MAY link people here. When leading others to these printable(s), please link to THIS page, not to the file page.  Thanks! (See TOU)

Pumpkin Observations

We haven’t purchased any pumpkins yet, but I’m looking forward to doing this with the boy in the next week or so.

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This particular observation sheet is for before carving. 

Have fun exploring pumpkins!

Please do not sell or host these files anywhere else. You MAY link people here. When leading others to these printables, please link to THIS page, not to the file page.  Thanks! (See TOU)

Apple Science

The boy and I did another observation activity.  This time we observed APPLES.  

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Unfortunately, we ran out of printer ink and I was unable to print it!  I was bummed.  So, we had to improvise.  I let him touch my computer screen to point out his answer.

Materials:

• an apple 
• observation sheet
• crayons or markers

Directions:

• Use the worksheet to guide your observations. 

 

• You can decide ahead of time if you want them to listen to the apple as they take a bite out of it or just listen to it as a whole.  We decided to use the “crunch” factor.

 

• If your kiddo doesn’t understand the term sweet, sour or salty.  Pull out the salt by all means and have them taste it. Have them drink a little water to clean their palate. Then ask them to taste the apple. Do they taste the same? 

 

Special Note: When observing the texture I tried to use clip art that your child could relate to and that would be around everyone’s house.  I used a mirror to represent smooth and a cheese grater to represent rough.  So, if you child doesn’t know the term smooth have him/her touch a mirror and say, “This is smooth.”  Do the same with the cheese grater. Then have him/her compare what they are observing to both objects.  You can then ask your child, “Is your ______ smooth like the mirror or rough/bumpy like the cheese grater?”

If you have more than one apple variety you can have a taste test and graph the results.

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And that was it.  As I mentioned before the boy loves observation sheets, but he likes them even better when he actually gets to eat something when he does it!

Please do not sell or host these files anywhere else. You MAY link people here. When leading others to these printables, please link to THIS page, not to the file page.  Thanks! (See TOU)

Observing Seashells

My son is a big fan of doing science activities.  His favorite at the moment is observing different things.
 

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Since this week is all about the ocean, I thought observing seashells would be perfect for him.

Materials:

• shells (You can purchase them at craft stores.)
• observation sheet
• crayons or markers

Directions:

• Before digging into the observation activity I let the boy explore the shells.  He spent a good 10 minutes just looking at them.  While he looked, we talk about how different animals live in shells and that shells help protect their bodies.

• Then we decided to sort them by similarity. I love how he referred to the ones pictured below as tornado shells.  I thought that was pretty clever.

 

• Finally, after he seemed to have his fill, I asked him to pick just one shell that he wanted to observe more closely. We basically just went down the worksheet together. (He had a tough time deciding on the shell color – orange or yellow. So, I told him he could color it both colors.) 

 

Special Note: When observing the shell’s texture I tried to use clip art that your child could relate to and that would be around everyone’s house.  I used a mirror to represent smooth and a cheese grater to represent rough.  So, if you child doesn’t know the term smooth have him/her touch a mirror and say, “This is smooth.”  Do the same with the cheese grater. Then have him/her touch their shell and compare it to both objects.  You can then ask your child, “Is your shell smooth like the mirror or rough/bumpy like the cheese grater?”

And that was it.  The boy really enjoyed himself and I was glad to bring a touch of the beach to him. Especially since the last time he visited the beach he was 6 months old. 

Pictures and printables are nice, but when it’s possible the real thing is so much better!