Weekly Wrap Up ~ Earth Week

We had a fun week ~ more fun than work!  Emily did the very basics this week.  We spent most of our time doing fun activities in honor of Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, which was April 22nd. 

The kids did an experiment to see if they could undo water pollution.     

The conclusion:  They couldn’t completely undo the harm that oil, dirt and trash did to the water.

We made Shrinky Dinks Earth Day Pendants (I love Shrinky Dinks!). 

We decided to go on a long walk and explore.  Emily made an Earth Day bag to hold any treasures she found.

On our walk we discovered some pretty flowers

lots of dandelion seeds

and some friendly beasts!

Emily made a bookmark out of some of the leaves and a flower petal she found.  I used our hot laminator to cover the bookmark.  I was afraid it might burn the flower petal but it didn’t.   Next time we will let the flowers dry (between a book) before we used them.  They bleed a little.

      

The kids made some Earth cookies for a tea party.   I’m very proud of myself because I helped make the cookies, and watched them eat them but I didn’t eat any! 

We had our tea party outside.  Our center piece was some of the treasures the kids found on our walk.

Sometimes it’s nice to slow down and have a cup of tea!

Hope everyone else had a great week!  Visit Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what other homeschoolers have been doing this week .

~Cindy

Preschool Corner ~ Creation

We slowed things down this week, spending more time playing then doing school activities.  We did learning activities but I let Aiden take the lead.  I put all of the activities I planned for the week on his workbox shelves and let him pick what he wanted to do. 

Our theme this weeks was Creation and Earth Day.

He loves puzzles, so the first think he pulled off the shelf was an Earth puzzle.

We read about the days of Creation and put together a Creation Lapbook. 

He was very proud of his lapbook so I wanted to get a picture of him showing if off.  Not looking very happy is he?

Aiden is not allowed to play on the ladder so when I let him play an alphabet game using the ladder, he was so excited.  I put sticky notes on each rung of the ladder with a letter of the alphabet.  He had to say the letter before he could climb to the next rung.

He did a great job with the Word Bags.  He immediately recognized his name and Dad, and could name all of the letters needed for the names/words.

We did a fun experiment to see if the kids could undo water pollution.

We ended the week by going on a long walk 

and having an Earth Day tea party.   The kids helped  make some Earth sugar cookies.

Aiden asked me if boys were allowed to have tea parties.  When you live in a house with girls I think it is required!

My favorite picture ~ Aiden hiding his face and peeking out at me.  This is something new that he has started doing when he gets in trouble. 

For more Preschool ideas and activities visit Preschool Corner!

~Cindy

Experiment ~ Can You Undo Water Pollution?

In this experiment the kids learned just how hard it is to undo water pollution.

We grabbed a bucket of clean water, some household trash, vegetable oil (to stand for toxic oil spills), tongs, and a strainer.

 

The kids took turns adding trash to the water.

After our water was yucky enough

 

they tried to remove all of the pollution using tongs and a strainer.

Emily even tried to scoop up the little pieces of trash and dirt with her hands.

After 15 minutes of trying to remove all of the pollutants, we were left with a pile of trash and water that was still oily and dirty.

The conclusion ~ It is impossible to remove all of the pollutants from the water.

To go along with our experiment we read Oil Spill! by Melvin Berger

and Where Does the Garbage Go? by Paul Showers. 

Tomorrow we are going to decorate a compost container to keep in the kitchen and some new recycling bins. 

~Cindy

Shrinky Dinks ~ Earth Day Pendant

I have been looking for Earth Day crafts and activities to do with the kids this week.  When I found an idea on DLTK’s Growing Together for making an Earth Day Shrinky Dink I was so excited!   I had some Shrinky Dink Paper just sitting on the shelf (yes, I’m a craft supply junkie!) waiting for such a craft.  

Emily and I used half a sheet of Shrinky Dink paper, to make 3 circles (Earths).  We used a permanent marker to outline them and draw the continents.  We punched a hole at the top, since we were making pendants, and colored them with crayons.

To make it easier for Aiden, I colored the land green and he colored the ocean. 

We put them in the oven, which I preheated to 350°, and the kids watched the magic of Shrinky Dinks!  It took about a minute for them to curl up and then flatten out again. 

Here is what the pendants, Aiden and I made, looked like when they came out of the oven

and Emily’s as a necklace.

I remember playing with Shrinky Dinks when I was about Emily’s age, and mumble, mumble (I’d rather not say) years later, they are still  just as much fun!

~Cindy