Spray Bottles

Do have a clean, empty spray bottle in the house? Fill it with water and watch your child have fun!

Inside Spraying.
With a rag and a spray bottle, your child can spray toys, chairs, tables even windows. He'll enjoy play time and as an extra bonus, you'll have help cleaning. Be sure to explain that soft furniture, such as couches, are off limits.

Outside Spraying
It's free range outside. Your child can spray sidewalks, rocks, gardens and toys. Discuss the difference between wet and dry. What do rocks look like before and after spraying>

Caution: Don't use a bottle that had chemicals in it. Find a clean bottle. If you don't have one at home, they're available in the hair section at most grocery stores.

Water Makes Music

Remember how much fun you had as a child tapping a spoon against a glass filled with water? Your preschooler will enjoy it as well.



Items needed:
spoon (try metal and plastic to hear the differences)
glass cups
small pitcher or plastic bottle of water.
cookie sheet to catch any spills. Makes clean up easier.

At a table or on the floor, place a few empty glasses on a cookie sheet. Fill the small pitcher with water. Now let your child pour water into the cups. Any amount will do. Now tap the cups gently with the spoon.

Encourage your child to listen to the difference between an empty and full cup. Try filling one halfway. Tap it. Fill it with more water and tap again. Notice any differences in the sounds? Were some higher pitched? Some lower? Can you tap a familiar tune?

Looking for more science activities? Check out Science Sunday.
A blog of at home science activities for a variety of ages.

Breakfast Outdoors

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This summer, take advantage of warm mornings and eat breakfast outside.

Children will enjoy having cereal while listening to the birds. Front porches, backyards and decks often look different in early morning light. Encourage your child to look for dew on the grass or chairs. How does it look and feel? Notice where the morning shadows are compared to afternoon and evening shadows. What about the morning temperature? Is it cooler in the morning compared to the afternoon?

Being outside in early morning with children can be a calm way to start the day. So sit back, sip your coffee and take a breather before the day begins.

Gardening and Children Can Mix

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Children love to dig and parents often love to garden. The two passions can easily be combined to make an enjoyable morning of planting and watering.

Give your child a few "important" tasks such as digging a hole or watering a specific part of the garden or grass. Give your child a garden shovel, a watering can and hose. With these three basic tools your child just might occupy himself long enough for you to do some basic maintenance to your garden.

Once your done, step back and with your child, admire the work you've both done.

Ants and Crackers

You don't need to be a scientist to help your child learn about nature.
A fun backyard activity is Ant Watching.
Drop a cracker on the grass or a sidewalk. Wait a few minutes. Soon, you'll see ants come marching along to nibble the treat. Eventually more ants will join. Watch the line of ants. Where are they taking the crumbs? Are they coming back for more? Can you find their home?
As adults, we don't often give notice to ants. But children are fascinated by them. Remind your child that we don't step on ants. Instead, we observe and discover.

Zipline for toys

Do you have small toys with holes in the middle? Make a mini toy zipline and learn about movement.

1. Tie one end of string to a chair.
2. Load up the string with toys that have holes in the middle, such as beads, rings or cardboard tubes.
3. Tie the second end of the string to another chair.

Now you have a toy zipline
Your child can move the toys back and forth. What happens when you raise one end of the string? How about the other end? What happens to the string when you push the chairs together? Encourage your child to make predictions and investigate.

Buckets

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Children love buckets. Filled with water, sand, rocks or dirt, buckets can spark imagination and language.

Place a bucket and other bucket-like items in the sandbox or near a pile of pebbles. If it's a warm day, fill the buckets up with water. Measuring cups, clean yogurt or cottage cheese containers, and even empty spice jars are a great addition to the traditional bucket.

Let your child splash, pour and fill while he learns basic science.

Magnets

Do you have magnetic letters? What about trains with magnets on the ends? And what about Magneatos?

If you have a variety of magnets and tend to keep them separate, try mixing them together. Your child will learn how different magnets attract and repel each other. For additional fun, take out a metal cookie sheet. Predict what the magnets will do on the sheet. Or use your refrigerator door for magnetic fun.

Fun With Rocks

Click on the title above to read my article about fun things to do with rocks.

Seed Sleuth

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Planting seeds this spring? Before you dig, give your child a chance to be a seed sleuth.

Items you'll need.
Seed packets, paper, scotch tape, pencil or marker.

1. Shake each packages before opening them. Do they sound the same or different? (Larger seeds, such as peas, will sound different than smaller seeds, such as carrots).

2. Feel the seeds through the packages. Do they feel the same? Some might be bumpier than others.

3. Carefully open one package at a time. Remove one seed.

4. Give your child a chance to feel the seed and discuss the size and texture. When finished, tape the seed to the paper. Write the name of the seed underneath. If your child can write a few letters, this is a great opportunity to share writing.

5. Do step 3 and 4 with the rest of your seed packets.

6. Hang up your seed diagram at child height so he can look at it throughout planting season.

Junk Art

Check your recycling bin for things that would be fun for an art project. Do you have random items in your drawers that would be fun to glue or cut?

For a week, start saving jar lids, paper towel tubes, frozen juice containers, string, and boxes.

With a bottle of glue and some imagination, your child will have fun creating and inventing.

Having a playdate soon? Ask your friend to bring over some goodies to add to the pile. Children can create together and share ideas.

Fun with Food Coloring

Children love to experiment. With a few glasses of water, a cookie sheet, food coloring and a spoon, your preschooler can learn about mixing colors while having fun.

1.Decide where your child can experiment. A table, kitchen floor, or even outside are often the best places for messy experiments.

2.Put a smock or an old t-shirt on your child.

3.Fill clear glasses or baby food jars halfway with water. Place these on a cookie sheet.The cookie sheet is used only to catch any water that spills over the jars. It makes clean up easier.
4. Open the lids to the food coloring.

5. Show your child how to carefully squeeze the bottles so only a few drops come out.

6. Give your child a spoon and let him mix away. He can pour colored water from one jar to another or keep adding colors to one jar.

His hands will have food coloring on them, but it will eventually wash off. In the meantime, he will have lots of fun learning about colors.

Fun things to do with Rocks

Click on the title/link above to read a recent article about things to do with rocks.