Handprint and Footprint Sunflower: We used yellow paint and Emma's hand for the flower petals, green paint and Emma's foot for the stem and leaf, and sunflower seeds for the sunflower seeds! When they dried, I cut them out and Emma glued them together to create a life-size sunflower.
Ordering Numbers: When I found these tiny baking cups in our cabinet and decided I was not likely to make mini muffins, an idea struck me. The yellow ones looked like sunflower petals. I wrote the numbers 1-10 on the inside and mixed them up for Emma to put in order. This was part one of the activity.
Counting Seeds: Next, Emma had to count out the exact number of seeds and add them to the sunflower cup. It was a lengthy activity, but great counting practice.
Ss Do-A-Dot Pattern: Emma wanted to do a yellow and green pattern on this worksheet. I thought her idea and color choices were perfect!
Observing Seeds Grow: We planted sunflower seeds a few weeks ago. Emma loves watching the seed coats sit on top of the sprouts and fall off as the leaves unfold.
Life Cycle of a Plant: Emma cut out the four stages at the bottom of a worksheet I found in a plant workbook, placed the pieces in order, and glued them on the flow chart.
Blow and Measure: Emma came up with this game herself. She started blowing seeds across the kitchen table as I was cleaning up our materials. I suggested we use her ruler to measure the distance.
The neighborhood kids liked coming over for our summer science experiments so much, that we would be asked/harassed daily. "When is the next science experiment? What will it be?" Well, I didn't have a new one ready, so I quickly found some objects for the classic sink or float experiment. They were all placed in a gift bag. The kids took turns randomly selecting a mystery item from the bag before predicting if it would sink or float. When we ran out of items, the kids asked for more. So I scrounged up a few additional trinkets for a second round.
Dancing dots! Static electricity! Try explaining positive and negative charges to a 3-year old.
Scott treated the neighborhood kids to the classic volcano demonstration. After hyping it up for two weeks, he finally constructed it and invited everyone over to watch. Even the adults ventured over to see the explosion!
You'll only need a balloon and a carbonated beverage in a bottle for this experiment. Place the balloon over the neck of the bottle. Gently shake it. Watch the carbonation fizz and create air that fills the balloon.
For this experiment, we used a raw potato and drinking straws. First, the neighborhood kids each tried to jam a straw into the potato and discovered that the straw bent. Then Scott told them to hold their thumbs over the top of a new straw and try it again. This time the straw easily penetrated the potato. Why? When the thumb covered the end of the straw, it trapped in air, which made the straw a stronger structure. The trapped air prevented the straw from bending. Cool science!
