Frogs - Taking Advantage of Real Life, Hands On Learning

"If it's not in the hand, then it's not in the head or the heart!"

~ Bev Bos

Strolling along a nature trail, throwing rocks into a lake, or playing on a playground is where you will find us on most days.  We typically get out to a park or playground every day, and allow our children to take us on all kinds of adventures.  What a gift it is to see the wonder of the world through their eyes.  On one such trip recently, we came upon a lake brimming with tadpoles.

YES – We can bring out our nets and catch some for you all to explore.  

YES – You may walk into the water with your shoes on (or off).

YES – We can catch more than one.  

YES – We can take them home for further exploration and learning.

YES - You may hold them.

This type of hands-on learning is ideal - 

to spark interest

for better retention

and because its fun.

Thus it begins – the life cycle of a frog adventures.

Catching tadpoles

Watching tadpoles

Scoop 'em up!

Got some!

The wonder!!

YES - You may hold them.

Growth of a Tadpole

"Look, this one is the smallest."

"This one has hind limbs!!!  He must be the oldest.  Will he be a frog soon?  Let me pick him up for a better look."

We watched a short video about the Life Cycle of the Frog

An invitation to explore the tadpoles.

He put one in a petri dish for a better look.

Using a magnifying glass.

"I'm drawing the whole tadpole family."

Our hopes are that the tadpoles continue to grow and our children get to watch the metamorphosis   Once they are frogs (fingers crossed), we will take them back to their lake and set them free.

How rewarding!

Tell me and I'll forget;

Show me and I may remember;

Involve me and I'll understand.

- Chinese Proverb

- AK/RL

Dry Ice Play

**There are precautions that need to be taken when playing with dry ice.  Please only do what you are comfortable with.**

You can read about safe handling of dry ice HERE.

My parents sent us some Omaha Steaks for Christmas and inside the box was some dry ice.  I was so excited to try to FREEZE SOME BUBBLES.  Yeah, that didn't work....at all.  We still had a ton of fun "making it steam", watching it "erupt", and watching the bubbles float on top of the carbon dioxide.  

"making it steam"
In a ventilated room

Watching it "erupt"

I thought maybe we didn't have enough dry ice to get the bubbles to freeze, so we picked up a large block of it today from our local grocery store.  Freeze bubbles - take two........

Very cool watching the bubbles hover

A few of them landed on the dry ice, but NONE of them froze.  BUMMER!!

"Mommy, look at that bubble!!"

We took the dry ice outside and put it in the sensory table (sight and sound are senses, too).  There were water beads nearby, so he decided to add them.  They sizzled and squeaked whenever they touched the dry ice....he thought that was pretty cool.

We flipped a piece over to find that the water beads had created craters.  "Its like the moon, Mommy."

DRY ICE IS FUN!!  

- AK (MESE, MECD)

Yellow Invitation

I have to make "To Do" lists or I'll get very little accomplished. Recently my daughter noticed my list on the front seat asked, "can I highlight the words on your paper?" She'd recently witnessed her Dad using a similar highlighter while working, and this was her chance to do some equally important work. "Sure!" I had pictures of her highlighting work, but now I can't find them...or maybe I don't really want to showcase all the things I have to write down in order to remember to do them...surely some of you can relate!

A few days later we had a GIANT yellow squash in our garden - too big to be tasty (and frankly, I was thrilled because we've eaten so much squash this summer I don't care to see another until next summer). Anyway, I wanted to find a way to include the beautiful yellow color into an invitation and remembered Addi's recent interest in highlighting. So I set up the invitation to include words for highlighting and multiple yellow writing utensils. I was curious to know how she might use the different objects.

Simple invitation...forgot to include squash for picture.

"Mom, I'm highlighting these words."

She was initially very interested in highlighting the words. Then she became interested in using the yellow writing mediums on the squash. Finally she compared the different yellows on the squash versus the different yellows on the paper. She concluded that "squash isn't easy to highlight."

Invitations are one way to research a child's interests. Sometimes the invitation is used according to our plan, other times children change it to better meet their interests, and sometimes we may consider an invitation a "flop." But they always give us insight into our child's ever-evolving mind.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Compilation

We posted a picture a few weeks ago with baking soda and vinegar.  We had a few questions on how it worked and what you do.  Here is the science behind it...

"Baking soda is the chemical called sodium bicarbonate. Vinegar's main chemical component is acetic acid. The ions formed when the baking soda is dissolved in water react with the ions from the acetic acid to form carbonic acid, which quickly reacts, or decomposes, to form carbon dioxide and water. The bubbles from the reaction are the visible evidence of the carbon dioxide escaping from the solution as a gas. The remaining solution is sodium carbonate and water."  ~ Sophisticated Edge

This is something extremely simple and can be done with stuff you most likely have on hand... Baking Soda and Vinegar.  

Here are 9 different ways we have played:

Baking Soda in a cup with a little bit of food coloring or liquid water colors.  Squeeze on vinegar.  

The reaction!  

Vinegar in a tall vase.  Test tubes would also work great.  Pour on baking soda.  You could also switch the two around.  

You can do this one in the sensory box to contain the "mess".  

Vinegar in a container... shake on baking soda.  

Baking soda in an egg carton.  Drop on color and vinegar.  

Baking soda and vinegar on the light panel!  See complete post HERE

A CLASSIC WITH A TWIST

Baking soda and vinegar in the dark!!  To see our post on this click HERE.

GLOWING REACTIONS

Layer of baking soda with food coloring/liquid watercolors mixed with vinegar and dropped on.  

Colored vinegar dropper bottles.  

Blow up a balloon!  For the complete post click HERE. 

BALLOON BLOW UP 

Combine baking soda with cornstarch to create fizzing sidewalk paint.  For complete post click HERE

FIZZY SIDEWALK PAINT

Glowing Reactions

Materials:

Baking Soda

Vinegar

Yellow Highlighter

Water

Black light

To make glow water please click HERE

Add glow water to your vinegar (It can be diluted a lot) and pour over baking soda in a black lit room.  

Glowing Vinegar

Pouring Vinegar onto baking soda

Coolest thing ever!  Pictures do not do this justice.  Just be sure to have a lot of baking soda and vinegar on hand.  They will want to do it again and again!  

"Wow!!!!!"

Round 500  LOL  LOL

Close-up

This will also work with glow powder.  However, it's much more expensive and harder to find.  We just happened to have some on hand.  Yes, this is stuff we have on hand at our house.  LOL  

Glowing reaction invitation with orange

I mixed glow powder with baking soda.  

Pouring on vinegar

"This is so cool, Mommy"

"It's all gone???"

We also did this with elephant toothpaste.  For our elephant toothpaste post click HERE

To make the "toothpaste" glow, mix glow water or glow powder with the peroxide.  

I wish I had better pictures of this but I was to busy playing!  I will update when we do it again.  

Glowing elephant toothpaste

Awesome!

RL