Wake Up, Bears! It's Spring!

Our bears have been sleeping all winter long, and we have been counting down the weeks to know when to wake them up.

Although we had been noticing signs of spring, we've also had some unpredictable weather around here- as is often the case this time of year in Utah. On the day we planned to wake them up, we had another snowstorm and decided it might be too cold for the bears. So we waited just one more day and decided that the bears were ready, even if our weather was still a bit chilly.

We made a checklist of things that the bears might like to do on their first day of Spring. The list included things like...eat, go to the bathroom, read a story, see signs of spring outside, and exercise.

The kids seemed to love having an extra buddy to play with throughout the day, and it was cute to see how the bears were included.

We decided it would also be good to prepare them for the new season, and so we taught them about spring using some of our informational books.

We also danced with the bears during music time, to help them exercise, and drew a picture of them for our journals.

Melted Crayon Rain Art

We made it rain in our classroom this week.

We watched it fall down in big streaks and little streaks.

Every storm was a little different.

Just add some clouds

and you've got a beautiful rain storm.

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This is probably one of my favorite art processes to date. The end result turns out so beautifully, and the process itself is pretty fast and easy for young kids to engage in. However, it is messy and requires some planning and set-up to try and control that mess. But sometimes messy learning is the best kind, and in my book this one is totally worth it. It's almost mesmerizing to watch, and just really fun to try. So I thought I'd share some more details about how this process worked for me in my small classroom setting.

Materials:
Cardboard (painted white)- you could use a canvas for a fancier look :)
Different shades of blue and gray crayons
Painter's tape
Hair dryer
Easel
Plastic covering for the floor/Paint shirts for the kids

Method and Tips:
--I used painter's tape to attach the crayons to the cardboard because I was using the crayons multiple times. I have also seen artwork using this method that affixes the crayons using hot glue, and then they become part of the finished product. Disclaimer: the crayons did fall out of the tape sometimes, but we weren't too worried about that since the fall sometimes added extra streaks to the art, and we typically had enough color to work with even if some fell. There might be better ways to temporarily secure the crayons, but this worked for us.

--The wax does spray a bit, depending on how much you move the hair dryer. I covered my easel with paper, and placed plastic sacks over the tray to catch splatters of melted wax. Covering the floor, and paying attention to nearby surfaces (such as a cabinet, in my case) would also be recommended. Afterwards I used a magic eraser and some elbow grease to clean off the wax that sprayed places I wasn't expecting, but it would have been faster to just cover things up initially with paint sheets or plastic or something.

--I secured the cardboard to the easel using a clip or painter's tape, and let the kids freely create. I did warn that the crayons became very hot as they melted, and encouraged them not to touch the art until it had dried, which it does very quickly once you stop the heat. I also encouraged others who were watching to stand back to avoid any splattering wax. The kid holding the hair dryer wore a paint shirt just in case, but for the most part the wax didn't spray outward in their direction- it mostly just sprayed down or to the side.

-Some wax did end up on the hair dryer, but did come off. If you are worried about that, you might not want to use your most expensive hair dryer...

--This would probably be a fun activity to try outside if you have an electrical outlet and an extension cord. That way, you wouldn't be quite as worried about the mess inside.

Lucky Day

We had a lucky day on St. Patrick's Day. The kids have loved hiding and finding things in the classroom recently, so a leprechaun was nice enough to hide some gold coins AND a lucky four-leaf clover for the kids to find.

After finding the leprechaun letter, the kids could not rest until all 20 gold pieces and the clover were found.

Later that day, the gold disappeared and was replaced with lucky rocks for each kid to take home.

Other festive activities included shamrock art and a green leprechaun sensory bin.

We also played a lucky letter matching game

and read some lucky books.

Rainbow Play

I think I will always love activities that involve rainbows. So while I try to mix up certain focus topics from year to year, rainbows will probably always make the cut. But there are so many different ways to explore rainbows, that it's not hard to find something new to try.

Rainbow Towers 

This simple fine motor activity was a big hit. 

All you need is fruit loops, spaghetti noodles, and playdough.

It also encouraged some engineering thought and experimentation. 

Will a small base support a large tower? 

Can I build a tower sideways? 

Color Scavenger Hunt + Rainbow Table

Roll the dice and find a colored item in the classroom to add to the rainbow table. 

Walking Rainbow Experiment

I read about this experiment in this awesome book, The Curious Kid's Science Book and was really excited to try it out. First we made all the colors of the rainbow using food coloring (and some improvising with markers since some of my food coloring ran out. Oops.)

Then we put in paper towels. We approached this activity with a couple of questions about color. Which color would absorb the fastest? Which color would be the brightest? 

Since I wasn't able to use food coloring for all the colors, my personal question was, will the marker colored water work as well as the food coloring? :) 

Then we waited...

Within a few minutes we could see some of the color starting to spread.

But then we left it and went on with other activities, checking on it periodically.

I realized that I should have started the activity sooner because the progress was pretty slow after that. By the end of the day, it hadn't changed a whole lot.

But when they came back the next day, it looked beautiful!

And interestingly enough, the blue, red, and purple water had all been colored using markers, but the blue one was the only one that didn't absorb very well. Curious...

Anyway, the bright colors inspired us to do some rainbow art. 

Although they looked enticing, they did not make very bright paint colors. 

So we ended up using crayons instead. 

Kid-drawn rainbows are my favorite!

The Earth

After we explored things in the sky, we thought more about the Earth. We used a map and globes to visualize how the Earth is made up of land and water. Here we are looking for water formations like lakes and rivers.

A globe is perfect for exploring the spherical shape of the Earth, and how it spins as it goes around the sun.

Land and Water Maps

I started doing this activity back when I taught Kindergarten as part of a mapping unit, and it worked really well for our preschool purposes also. We first used salt dough to build these 3-D maps, and then painted them with blue and green paint to show the land and water.

I love how engaged the kids get in this activity, and think the maps turn out so beautifully. I also love the conversations that come up as they are working and describing their maps.

We had rivers, mountains, lakes, oceans, beaches, islands, and swimming pools. :) 

Journal writing is such a great way to see what is sticking with the kids at the end of our week, and what is meaningful to them. This cute journal entry was full of great insights about our amazing planet.