Push Light Planets

I always try to follow the interests of my son when planning fun activities.  My hopes are to inspire him to delve deeper into learning about things he already loves.  He has been interested in the planets/solar system for months now.  He even requested Saturn (his favorite planet) as one of the paintings on his bedroom wall. 
 

He requests this book at bed time quite often….

This is the book we read a lot - and used for inspiration.

This morning I thought of using push lights to paint and illuminate the planets!  Dollar Tree sells push lights, but in my experience – they stink.  I bought this pack of 4 (small) push lights at Walmart for under $4.00.  The batteries that come with them are horrible, and we had to replace them the next day.

I bought 3 packs of these

I used glass paint (also purchased at Walmart for under $2.oo a jar).  Be aware that slathering on too much paint may cause the push lights to stick after dry.  Ours did not, but I can see how it could happen.  We also discovered that glass paint apparently doesn't adhere well to plastic.  When we pushed the lights to turn them on/off, some of the paint was peeling off.  I sealed it with Mod Podge and it hasn't happened since.

Paint

I initiated this activity by asking my son if he would like to help me put batteries in the new push lights.  He played an active role in setting up the entire activity.  We took the time to flip through each page of the book to see which planet he wanted to paint first – Jupiter.

The invitation.  My son played an active role in setting this up.  We paper clipped opened the book for inspiration.

Painting Jupiter.  I asked him why he was painting the sides and he said "because Mommy, the whole planet has color, not just the top".  I stand corrected.

We talked about the colors in each planet, he chose the corresponding paints, and he counted out the number of brushes needed.  He painted one planet at a time at his own pace.

Mars

Saturn

Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter - completed, dried, and illuminated!  Cool!

Earth

Venus.  The OCD in me wanted to tell him that the black on the left side of the planet in the picture is a shadow....but this is about so much more than "doing it right".   I think he did an amazing job!

Neptune

 Here are the 6 planets we have done so far.  My favorite parts of this activity was the dialogue it inspired, watching my son become so engaged in painting (something he RARELY does), and seeing him glow with pride.

painting Uranus with Daddy

Painting Mercury

Painting Mercury

Painting Pluto (and yes, Im aware that there has been some controversy as to whether Pluto is really a planet.)

The Solar System through the eyes of a 3 year old.  He still wants to get a big push light to paint the sun.

AND FINALLY.....THE SUN....

Its been about a month since we created the planets with push light and today he was finally ready to add the sun.  I asked him if he would like to use his book as reference and he said, "No thank you.  I know what the sun looks like".

Painting the sun

Beautiful sun

"Let's count them."

The sun and planets

This is how my son set them up when we were talking about the sun being the center of the solar system and all of the planets revolving around it.  AWESOME!!

MORE IDEAS:  

·         Buy different sized push lights to really represent the size of each planet.

·         Add glow in the dark stars to the wall with the completed, illuminated planets.

·         Encourage reading by using a label maker to label the back side of each planet with its name.

·         Encourage further reading and knowledge by printing fun facts about each planet onto sticker paper sheets and then adding them to the back of each light.

- AK (MESE, MECD)

DIY Sounds Bingo

The passive nature of hearing is very different from the active nature of listening.  Listening is one of the most important skills we can help children develop.  Listening is important in everything from academic and real world success to friendships and relationships.  Fun games like sounds bingo help children develop their listening skills. My son loves THIS game, and considering he has been really enjoying the light panel lately, I thought I would spice it up a little.  I photocopied a few of the game boards onto TRANSPARENT PAPER for light panel Bingo.  It was a huge hit.   

Then I thought I would create our own.  All you need is a cell phone with some fun ring tones, a program on your computer with clip art, transparent paper, and a printer.  Insert a table into your document, fill it with clip art that corresponds to the sounds on your phone, print it, and play.

**WE DID THIS ON THE LIGHT PANEL, BUT YOU CAN CREATE A DIY VERSION ON REGULAR PAPER AS WELL.  NO LIGHT PANEL NEEDED.**

Initial invitation (and the inspiration behind making my own)

Playing Sounds Bingo on the light panel

Our DIY version of sounds bingo

Playing with the DIY version

- AK (MESE, MECD)

DIY Light Panel Letter Cards

I made these letter cards a few months ago when we were working on our Playing With Light Document.  I just recently offered them as an invitation because my son is typically "anti-letter".  He has been consistently playing with THIS blue alphabet puzzle, so I thought I would pull these DIY letter cards out.  It was two and a half days before he decided he would check it out and he only matched 12 letters before exclaiming "Im done".  True form, my little man, true form.  LOL  Despite it being a partial bust for us, I thought I would go ahead and write a post about it for those of you whose children are interested in learning letters through play.

THINGS YOU NEED:

- laser or ink jet printer

- compatible transparency sheets 

- translucent letters

Photocopy letters, cut out, play!

(**You can also use regular white copy paper, photocopy the letters, laminate, and play.**)

The Invitation

Its important to play with a cow mask on your head.

- AK (MESE, MECD)

Story Time

We've been telling a lot of stories lately.  My girls loved the

STICKER STORY

invitation and revisit it over and over and over again.  I wanted to give them yet another way to put their creative thoughts out there.  It led me to this..

Story invitation

I placed random objects out with a few play people and animals.  

A few empty clear containers, bark, play people/animals, acorn tops, feathers,  and painted corn kernels.  

Play dough, empty jewelry box, blue gems, small skewers, random bottle tops, and bingo chips.  

I had no idea where this was going to take them but it sure was fun watching!  Here is my 26 month old telling her story.

She only used a couple of the objects in her play.  She was very literal with them (LOL).  "The man is jumping off the blue block.... weeeeee."  

Then it was my oldest's turn.  She played with this ALL day today.  :-)  

When she tells stories she often acts/plays out what is going on in her every day life.  

"Zookeeper feeding the animals"

"Balance beam"

"Babysitter taking care of the baby on the feather."  

All of these things represent what has been going on in our lives recently.  

They also ask me to tell stories, which they love listening too.  A wonderful change to sitting down and reading a book!  

RL  

Bingo Play

My posts are probably going to be short and sweet for awhile!  I've been busy chasing after the three little munchkins.  Here is a simple yet fun invitation we set up the other day.  

Bingo Play

Materials needed:

Bingo Dabbers (They have these at Dollar Tree)

Bingo Chips

Translucent Paper (If you want to do it on the light panel) or...

White Paper

Laminator/Laminator sheets

You can dab letters, numbers, patterns, shapes, etc.  or we have templates HERE

After you have your design, laminate for future use.  They wipe off clean with a wet wipe.  I suppose they don't have to be laminated but it does save on paper!  

We did a few letters because my oldest is letter crazy right now.  

Placing bingo chips on the dots.

Letter X

My 26 Month old dabbing away.  

RL  

Balls, Bubbles, and an Indoor Pool

What do you do when the temps go from upper 80s to low 60s in a matter of days and you want to swim?  Bring the pool into the garage, of course.  Add balls, bubbles, and even a rain gutter for some extra fun.  There is not a lot to this activity, but it sure was a fun morning in our indoor pool.

Yes, the pool is full of water.

Swinging into bubbles over the pool in the garage!  FUN!

"Wow, looks at all the bubbles in my pool."

Rolling balls down the rain gutter into the pool

- AK (MESE, MECD)