science

Beet Science And Sensory Activities

November 22, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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This fall at a greenhouse a display of golden beets caught my attention. They weren’t on my list to buy, but I couldn’t stop thinking about them after I got home. So on my next visit to the garden center, I purchased golden beets and a red bunch too. The showy vegetable-inspired beet science and sensory activities can be introduced on the fly.

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Beet Washing Station

Set one or both kinds of beets in a tray with water and a vegetable brush. Invite your early learner to scrub the beets to make their color shine.

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Red and golden beets in a beet washing station.

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Size Ordering With Beets

Encourage your little learner to order golden beets from largest to smallest.

Size ordering golden beets from largest to smallest.

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Growing Beet Greens

After removing the greens, set two beets upright in a small, clear bowl of water. In the following days, observe the earthy vegetables with your early learner. You will be amazed to see glossy new beet leaves growing, and a tangle of roots!

Science experiment to see if red beets can grow new greens.

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New greens and roots growing on beets placed in a container of water.

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Beet Recipes

Beets are filled with nutrients such as vitamin C, iron, manganese, folate, and potassium. They are a source of fibre and contain antioxidants that are especially good for the eyes. And… the greens are equally nutritious. After your little one participates in beet science and sensory activities, try the following recipes:

Thanksgiving Beets Recipe

Christmas Beets Recipes

Cooking is science too!

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Fall Scissor Skills Activities

November 12, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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One of the things preschoolers are most excited about when starting school in the fall is using scissors. It’s an activity many early learners have not yet had exposure to, so they are delighted to have permission to cut. Offering beautiful materials with unique textures enhances fall scissor skills activities.

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Fall Scissor Skills Supplies

Collect art supplies in yellow, orange, red, and brown hues, and sort them into a tray with compartments.

Fall scissor skills tray with red, yellow, orange, and brown craft supplies. Invitation to cut materials for collage or a sensory base.

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Gathered for this tray are:

feathers (yellow, orange, red, and brown)
fluffy yarn
yellow and orange foam pieces
brown tissue paper
red straws
fade-resistant construction paper in fall colors
orange crepe paper
red thin ribbon
gold thick ribbon
orange and yellow pom poms

Round up fall-colored craft supplies you have available for your little learners to cut. Leftover scraps from other crafts are perfect for this activity.

After your charges have had a blissful session of cutting craft supplies into bits, store them in a resealable plastic bag or covered container to use as a base in sensory trays.

Snipped craft supplies for a fall sensory tray base.

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Forest Sensory Tray

The cuttings make a rich base for a fall forest-themed sensory tray. Rocks, pine cone trees, and forest animals round out this inviting tray for your little ones to explore.

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Related: Scissor Skill Snow Cutting

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Fall Scissor Skills Party Tray

Change things up by arranging supplies to cut in a party tray. Fall craft leaves and card cut-outs are the highlights of the tray below.

Scissor skills party tray with fall-themed craft supplies. Invitation to cut materials for collage.

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Pumpkin Collage

Energize the offerings with black and green craft scraps. Encourage your early learners to cut shapes and glue them onto a paper pumpkin. The completed collage projects will be striking.

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Craft supplies to cut and glue for a pumpkin collage craft.

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Pumpkin collage craft with textured green, yellow, orange, and black supplies.

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Note: For tips on teaching children to use scissors, view my post “Santa’s Beard Scissor Activity.”

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Flower Theme Activities

November 8, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Flower theme art, sensory, and pretend play activities. Early learners will love the winged creatures (dragons, unicorns, and an angel) featured in the theme.

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Last spring I picked up two voluminous begonia plants that had large wing-shaped leaves. One plant was called “dragon wing begonia,” and the other was a double pink-flowered variety with similar wing-like leaves. The vigorous plants inspired dragon and flower theme activities for early learners, and angel and unicorn play.

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Nonstop Pink Begonia Flower Activities

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Nonstop pink begonia still blooming after Canadian Thanksgiving Day. — Nonstop Pink Begonia

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Begonia “Through The Seasons” Sensory Tray

Around Canadian Thanksgiving Day, the nonstop pink begonia was still blooming profusely. At the same time collecting pine cones was on my list of tasks to do. By the end of the week, snow was in the forecast. Our area didn’t get snow, but many places in our province did. The mingling of elements of summer, fall, and winter in that week was the inspiration for this sensory tray for little learners. Included are flower leaves and blooms, pine cones, and cotton ball snow. Rocks, stone eggs, and a show-stopping dragon round out the tray.

Three seasons sensory tub with pine cones, begonia leaves and flowers, and cotton ball snow. A dragon and stone eggs complete the tub

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Flower Angel

Puffy begonia flowers and leaves arranged in an angel craft are a pretty way to highlight the blooms of the plant. The angel can be a table decoration and conversation piece during snack or lunchtime.

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Flower angel made with nonstop pink begonia blooms.

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Mud Kitchen Sensory Table

A piece of cardboard with stove elements drawn on with a black permanent felt pen and crayon works magnificently for flower-themed “indoor mud kitchen” play. Set it out on a table with flowers, leaves, spoons, and a mortar and pestle. Or offer the blooms and accessories outdoors for kitchen play.

Flower-themed indoor mud kitchen. Nonstop pink begonia leaves and flowers, mortar and pestle, pots and pans, and a cardboard stove top complete the play invitation. — Cardboard Stove Top

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Flower Petals And Playdough

Offer the leaves and flower petals with scented playdough for your little ones to use.

Coconut and strawberry playdough with nonstop pink begonia leaves and flower petals.

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Unicorn Water Play

Float begonia leaves and flowers in turquoise colored water in a tub filled with rubber unicorns and pink and white loose parts. The items in this inviting sensory tub are:

begonia leaves and flowers
ice cube flowers and fish
shells
pearl gems
buttons
rubber unicorns

Unicorn and nonstop pink begonia sensory tub. Gem pearls, fish and flower ice cubes, shells, and buttons are part of the water tub.

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Related: Sunflower Unicorn

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Dragon Wing Begonia Flower Activities

Dragon wing begonia plant. — Dragon Wing Begonia

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When I saw the plant named “dragon wing begonia,” I knew it was destined for early childhood play. Here are two inviting activities this plant can shine in.

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Castle-Themed Sensory Tray

Begonia leaves and flowers, rocks, and stone eggs are included in this flower-inspired tray for little ones. A dragon, king, and princess figurine offer serious play potential in the tray.

Castle-themed sensory bin with a dragon, king, princess, and dragon wing begonia leaves and flowers.

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Cardboard Dragon Craft

Dragon wing begonia leaves are the wings in this painted cardboard dragon craft. Flowers accent the mythical creature.

Cardboard dragon with dragon wing begonia wings and flower accents.

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Note:

Begonia plants are not poisonous to people. But the plants are toxic to dogs and cats and should be kept in pots out of their reach.

Children require supervision while participating in the activities shown in this post. When play is finished, they should wash their hands with soap and water.

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These flower theme activities work well when frost threatens and the growing season is over. They allow early learners to explore the low-maintenance, show-stopping plants with loose parts in art and sensory play.

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Celery Science Experiment

October 14, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky 2 Comments

Celery and food coloring science experiment.

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This classic and colorful celery science experiment is easy to do and has quick results. It works well as a “color-changing celery tree” activity in autumn but is awesome to perform at any time of the year. Your early learner will be thrilled with the speedy and dramatic results of the experiment.

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Supplies To Collect

leafy celery stalks
glasses or jars
food coloring hues
pitcher with water
knife
cutting board

Celery and food coloring experiment supplies.

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Procedure

Cut the bottoms from celery stalks.

Invite your early learner to generously squirt food coloring hues into glasses or jars, and add about 4 centimeters of water to each one.

Have your child place a celery stalk in each container, and use it to stir the liquids.

Set the jars or glasses with celery on a table or windowsill.

Celery xylem are clearly visible in this closeup photo.

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Invite your little learner to look at the celery after a couple of hours. There will be a noticeable change in celery stalk and leaf colors.

Observe the celery with your child the following day. The leaves will be a darker shade of the water hue their stalk was set in than the day before. Colored lines running from the bottom of the stalks to the leaf tips will be clearly visible.

Add a little more water to each container if needed. Study the celery together a day or two later. The leaves and lines on the stalks will be a deeper color still.

Try the experiment with other food coloring hues. The leafy inner stalks below are dipped in turquoise, purple, and green-colored water.

Celery and food coloring experiment using turquoise, fuschia, and green colored water.

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Admire the transformed celery.

Color change in celery as a result of adding food coloring to the water.

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Variation Of The Celery Science Experiment

Cut off the ends of celery stalks, and split the bottom half of the stalks into two parts.

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Invite your child to squirt blue, yellow, and red food coloring into glasses or jars, and mix each hue with a bit of water.

Carefully place a section of one split celery stalk in red water, and the other in yellow. Put the bottom halves of another split celery stalk into yellow and blue water.

Celery stalks placed in two different jars of colored water.

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Observe the celery with your little one after a couple of hours, the next day, and two days later.

You will see colored lines that extend from the bottoms of the celery stalks to the leaves. Each stalk will have lines and leaves in two different colors.

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The Science Behind The Celery Color Change Experiment

Celery stalks lose water through their leaves. More water gets pulled up from their roots to thirsty leaf tips through a network of hollow tubes called xylem.

The normally invisible process of water transport becomes visible when water accessible to celery stalks is colored.

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The little dots on these celery slices are xylem tubes.

The colored dots on these celery slices are xylem tubes that transport water.

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Northern Lights Squish Painting

July 22, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Northern lights inspired squish and string painting. Facts about northern lights included. An all-ages art activity to celebrate nature's dazzling light show.

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Northern lights, or auroras, are nature’s majestic light shows sent from the heavens to earth. They are spectacular to view and stunning in photographs or art. A northern lights squish painting project celebrates the vibrancy and uniqueness of this natural light display.

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Ten Facts About Northern Lights

Northern lights are dazzling neon light shows visible in night skies.
Electrically charged particles from the sun interact with gases in the earth’s atmosphere to produce the auroras.
Charged particle collisions with oxygen in the upper atmosphere cause green dominant auroras; collisions with nitrogen in the slightly lower atmosphere cause blue or purple-red auroras.
Northern lights can also showcase pink, blue, orange, or yellow colors.
The dancing lights are seen over 200 nights a year in northern skies.
There are different kinds of northern lights. They can display as arcs, shooting rays, coronas, or patchy and pulsating lights.
Remote northern places with clear, dark nights are optimum aurora viewing locations.
Yellowknife, NWT, and Fairbanks, Alaska are two prime locations for observing northern lights.
The best time to see auroras is from October to May.
Northern lights can occasionally be seen from airplanes, especially on polar flights.

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A squish and string painting art project. An all-ages art activity that is northern lights inspired.

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Northern Lights Squish Painting Art Activity

This art activity is inspired by the colors and shapes of northern lights.

Materials To Collect:

12 x 12 pieces of black fade-resistant construction paper
bright green and magenta tempera paints
paint containers
disposable plate
spoons
long pieces of string or yarn

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Fold 12-inch by 12-inch pieces of black construction paper in half. Set out bright green and magenta tempera paints.

Invitation to paint northern lights with a squish painting technique.

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Invite your child to spoon both paint colors onto the paper.

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Ask your early learner to fold over the paper and rub a hand over it.

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Encourage your child to open the paper and admire the art. It is always exciting to see the designs created.

A finished squish painting art project ready to let dry. An all-ages art activity that is northern lights inspired.

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Offer string to add interest to the art activity.

Invitation to paint northern lights with a squish and string painting technique.

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Ask your little learner to drop magenta paint onto the paper, and lay a string in green paint. Pressing over the string with a spoon is helpful to make sure the string is paint-soaked.

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Next, ask your child to lay the string on the paper in a serpentine shape.

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With one hand lightly on the folded paper, have your child pull out the string slowly and carefully.

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The art will be stunning.

Northern lights inspired squish painting with bright paints and a string. An all-ages art activity,

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View a Northern Lights Squish Painting video tutorial.

Northern lights inspired squish painting art project with bright green and magenta tempera paints. An all-ages activity to celebrate nature's light show,

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Northern Lights Paint Project Variations

The paint colors can be adjusted. A bit of yellow can be added to green paint to add vibrancy, and a drop of white can be added to magenta paint to brighten it.

Paint colors can be varied by introducing turquoise, red, or pink.

A longer string can be used.

Paint can be dripped and paint-soaked string can be applied more than once on each art project.

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Northern lights add ambiance to long, dark, cold northern winters. They add excitement to camping trips or backyard wiener roasts. They are a spectacular subject for art projects.

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Squish and string painting art projects. This is an all-ages art activity that is northern lights inspired.

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