Fabulous Science Activity for Preschoolers

I found this on Pinterest and gave it to my very active 3 year old to do while I made Challah today.

It kept him busy for almost an hour, no joke. I had to share this with you as its just so simple and keeps them occupied for a really nice chunk of time...

Take a shallow dish or tray and fill it with baking soda. Get a few droppers (you can also use small spoons) and dye vinegar different colors using food coloring.

Using the droppers (or spoons) put the vinegar into the baking soda. It starts to bubble and fizz and when you use colors it makes all kinds or cool effect. 

My little guy LOVED this. One he used all the vinegar, he played with the baking soda with his hands, making hand prints, squishing it, and although some got on the table and floor, it was fine with me as it was baking soda and vinegar so it took seconds to clean up.

We also did another cool Science project- 

Get 3 clear cups and place them side by side. Put food coloring and water in the 2 outer cups. Leave the middle one empty. Take 2 pieces of thick paper towel and place one end of each piece in the water and the other end in the empty cup. 

It took about 10 minutes for the water to climb up the paper towel and go into the empty cup, but once it did, the colors mixed to form purple. 

Very cool indeed.

Wishing you a wonderful and restful Shabbos,
Always,

  

Parshas Va'eira- first few plagues

Some things we have been up to this week:

Super cute makkos (plague) puppets. I found these printables here, printed them out, laminated them, cut each one out and glued it to a Popsicle stick. One kiddo had the "let my people go" sign, and I had the "no". We acted out the whole scene of Moshe going to Paroah and each kid got a chance to hold up a new makka (plague) and describe what happened:

We then made 2 cups, one of water (for the Jews) and one of blood (for the Egyptians) using foam with a sticky back. I used a knife to carve out 2 cups and using colored sand, the kiddos did the rest. It's really great using this foam since their is no messy glue involved and the sand sticks to it really well:

I made a few printables which you can find here of the first 4 plagues, this is the first one of a Jew drinking and an Egyptian drinking. The kids can use paint, marker, crayons, stickers etc. to color the drinks of the Jews and the Egyptian:

We then went on to Frogs. I found this fabulous lesson plan on Frogs from this website which the kiddos LOVED. I cut out the pictures of the metamorphosis of a frog and made little puppets on Popsicle sticks (what can I do, my kids love puppets:) and this was a great way to learn about it:

Then using the same lesson plan, we made a little tad pole and watched how a tadpole turns into a frog. The kids painted the legs and tail, cut it out and attached it to our frogs body:

Just some frog math- behind each frog is a number and they stuck the correct amount of stickers on each frog. (Just numbers 1-10):

Classic Montessori counting:

This was just a very cool learning moment- the sun was streaming into the room and happened to hit our globe just so--- it was so clear to my little guy how the sun shines on one side of the world (day) while the other side is dark (night time)...

Will work on the rest of the makkos this week- its a 'fun' Parshah in regard to the different science experiments and projects to do. Click here to see what we have done in the past with the 10 plagues.

Wishing all a great week,

Some Pretty Cool Activities

We have a huge tub of crayons in the kitchen that the kids use to color and draw... inside that tub are tons of broken crayons that the kids just don't use and so thanks to the many awesome ideas out there in the blogosphere, this is what we did:

First, place them in a cupcake tin, I divided them into like colors, but you can mix them, either way is fine...

Put them in the oven at 400 for 10 minutes... only after I put them in the oven did I wonder if this would be a problem in the Kosher department- but I found out that since crayons are not food and these are non-toxic, that it is fine. Feel free to ask your own Rabbi if its okay to put wax crayons in your oven.

After 10 minutes, I took them out- they were completely liquid and marbled so I carefully put the tray of crayons in the fridge to harden. After about 15-20 minutes, they were hard and I pushed them out of the molds... and VOILA!

My 4 year old daughter has claimed them as her own, she piles them on top of each other, colors with them, traces around them- yes, it was a hit and I am looking for Alef Bet molds to make our next batch of crayons with. If anyone know where I can get them, let me know!

Okay, now this next little Science project we did was absolutely awesome.

It is all about Density in Liquids.

We took 4 liquids:

Honey

Dish Soap

Water with red food coloring

Oil

We poured the honey, then the dish soap, the water then the oil and this is what we got:

Note: we did it very carefully so not to mix the dish soap and the water. After a day the water started seeping into the dish soap. Someone suggested we try rubbing alcohol on top of the oil as it is less dense then oil and would rise above it. If anyone tries it, let me know, we didn't have any in the house.

Have a good one,

Parshas Chayei Sara, Alef Bet and more...

Here's a great book to go along with this weeks Parshah, all about how kind Rivkah was at the well:

Keeping my 2 year old busy while we work... using large beads and pipe cleaners, he made necklaces and bracelets just like Rivkah received from Eliezer:

We made our own well with real water inside and a bucket the kids could use to retrieve water. They used little mentchies and animals to reenact the story or what happened at the well, they played with this for a while:

The more advanced version of Rivkah's jewelry for the bigger kids to make (smaller beads):

Some hands-on Alef Bet activities--

Creating letters using shapes, hammer and nails:

Creating letters with the Geo-board:

We used the Montessori Red Rods to create the letters of the Alef Bet:

Using the Sandpaper Hebrew letters, they traced it with their fingers then traced it in the sand:

This is Avraham's tent from last weeks Parshah, Parshas Vayeira:

A pretty awesome Science experiment we are doing- get 2 stalks of celery and slice the bottoms giving the water direct access to the veins. Place them in 2 different colors of water (using food coloring) and watch how the water goes through the veins in the stalks to the leaves. It took a few days but the kids loved checking on it every day:

And thats what we've been up to~

Wishing all a great week,

Noach Activity Pack and some more activities...

I like incorporating the weekly Parshah/Holiday into our regular secular subjects. Below you will find a few math activities, reading and science activities that we have done. I have also included a Noach Activity Pack which includes some of the papers we used for the activities. Feel free to print some or all of the printables.

Click Here to download My Noach Activity Pack

Counting Doves (in connection to the Dove that brought back the Olive Branch). We made these doves out of white felt glued on to card stock then cut each one out:

Matching the upper case letter to the lower case letter- each letter is the beginning letter of each animal:

Counting animals using clothes pegs:

This was a cute science experiment we did. We discussed the difference between fresh water and salt water. We then made 2 identical cups of water, one with A LOT of salt, the other, just water. We then took 2 eggs (boiled or raw, both work) and dropped them into the cups:

Check out what happened- the egg sunk in the fresh water and floated in the salt water.

Well, that's about it for now on Parshas Noach- have a great week!

Pesach... let the fun begin:)

Here is a cute project we did a while ago but it really fits well into learning about the first of the 10 plagues- Blood. We learn how the Jews would drink from a cup and it would be water, then the Egyptians would drink and it would be blood.

We did this science experiment using HOT water with red food coloring as the Blood and COLD water with blue food coloring as the water. We then carefully put the Hot water on top of the cold, upside down, and due to the difference in densities of the Hot and Cold water, they didn't mix!

Granted, we did this on the second try as you have to do it really quickly and carefully or it mixes...

We've also been making tons of different types of pyramids, out of Lego, Wooden Blocks and magnets.

I decided to get the kids involved in cleaning their rooms for Pesach this year. We made these signs that we will put on their doors once we have cleaned each of their rooms to remind them not to bring ANY chometz in... it will also give them a sense of closure that they have cleaned their room and on to the next thing to clean.

A great week to all and happy Pesach cleaning:)

Science and Purim... gotta love Nancy Larson!

A few months ago, we were fortunate to receive the Nancy Larson Science Homeschool Kit to review, which is just fabulous. I have written about it in the past, and we just can't get enough of it!

The fact that I am a left handed Pisces and am a lot more artistically inclined then Scientifically inclined, makes it very ironic that my little guy is OBSESSED with finding out how EVERYTHING works, and why, and when and what etc.

So when we are learning about Purim, you would think I would be safe from going in the direction of Science- but oh no... check out these tangents that the little guy led us on and thanks to Nancy Larson, he was completely satisfied with his answers!

She just explains things SO clearly and literally has the dictation written out on how to explain each thing to the kids. There is constant repetition and review so by the time we are done with a topic, the kids completely understand it and feel really good about it. I wish she had other subjects, the way she gives over information is just wonderful. She does have a specific order in which to learn the curriculum, but for us, we incorporate it into the other subjects we are learning at that present time.

It all started out when we were baking Hamantashen, (with this recipe!)

when the little guy goes, "mommy, where do the Hamantashen go when we eat them?" so I told him it goes into our tummies. "I know," he says, "but HOW does it get into our tummies?" .... looks like a job for.... NANCY!

So we took out this fabulous book that comes with the set and read about and looked at gorgeous simple illustrations of digestion. We spoke about this for quite a while...

Then he is looking at the windpipe and asks, "what's that for?"... and we move on to the respiratory system! There are workbooks and student pages and it is all so clear and simple, he completely got it. So we were talking about the lungs and I took his hand and put it on his ribs to show him where his lungs are- little did I know that now we had to talk about the BONES! To which I told him we would do the following day (didn't want to cram him with too much info in one day).

So the next day, first thing in the morning, he wants to learn about the bones. Now this was SUCH a huge hit- the Science kit came with a true to life size X-ray copies of the entire body (child's body), so we lay it out on the table and used it with the different books and workbooks and felt our own bones and he was just completely engrossed. I think we may have a future doctor on our hands, and I'm not just saying that cos I'm a Jewish mother:)

Here is one of the books-

and our x-ray man- it comes with all the names of each bone that you can put on it, but we didn't get that far. We did look at the femur bone and he felt his and we spoke about Yakov and his fight with the Malach and how he broke his femur bone- he was fascinated!

Ok, so later on in the day we got back to talking about Purim... and my hubby told the kids how Esthers name was Haddasah which means "myrtle" and a myrtle tree is an evergreen tree. We learn that even in the Palace, Esther kept her Jewish ways, just like an evergreen tree, no matter what weather it is in, it stays the same.

Evergreen trees. "mommy, do we have any evergreen trees outside? what do trees that are NOT evergreens look like?" Oh NANCY! I took out the cards that the Science Kit came with and we put them down on the table which made things VERY clear to the kiddos.

Each card had the 2 trees on each side in each season. You see how the evergreen tree stays exactly the same through each season and how the deciduous tree changes with each season.

and then I really have no idea how we got to talking about mammals, but Nancy to the rescue once again! The kit came with a bunch of different large clear cards for the different subjects, so we took cards of mammals and non mammals and divided them up to get a clear picture on what mammals are and what constitutes one to be a mammal. The little guy got a kick out of the fact that humans and certain animals are BOTH mammals:)

So yes, this is such a fabulous kit, we use it all the time and whether you are using it like you SHOULD (as a curriculum in the order it is written) or like us, to fit in with everything else we are learning about at that time, it just works.

Oh, and to any orthodox Jewish homeschooling moms, I have not found anything in the curriculum that contradicts Torah- it is a very pareve kit.

Wishing all a wonderful week,

Alef Bet Bingo Give-Away! and Botany with Nancy Larson and Shabbat Activity Pack

Yes, its been a while, but life gets busy as we all know and I have finally found a few moments to blog-

So lets start of with the fun stuff!

I am making an Alef Bet Bingo giveaway to one lucky reader!

Aleph Bet Bingo plays like a conventional bingo game, but used the Hebrew aleph bet. Cobines two games in one: Aleph-to-Lamed and "Aleph-to-Tof."

Ages 3+, 2 to 14 players.

Here's how to enter!

You can do one or all of the following, but let me know which ones so I can enter you in the drawing~

1- Subscribe to my blog

2- Tell one other person about this giveaway (tweet, FB, your blog etc.)

3- Tell me one or more fun ways you teach the Hebrew Letters /Hebrew Reading to your kids

Drawing will be held next Sunday, December 26th and will be picked via random.org and I will post the winner that night-

Good Luck!

******

Now, this is what we have been up to lately:

We are keeping up with the weekly Parshah using My Parshah Reader and The Little Midrash Says. We practice our Herbrew Reading using the Osios book as well as the Siddur. We have done a few Parshah projects which I have not taken photos yet, but will post when I do-

Since TuBishvat is a few weeks away, we have begun learning about plants and trees. We are using the Nancy Larson Science kit that was sent to us for Review which is just so fabulous. I know she prefers the unit to be studied in the order that she has put it in which makes perfect sense, but the type of homeschool that we do, it just works for us to do the different subjects at certain times-

The kit comes with an entire unit on Botany, including a bag with pine cones, a tree cookie with a looking glass and 3 great books on trees: Peterson First Guide to Trees,Trees to Paper and The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree which the kids love. There is also a booklet on Botany as well as review worksheets. It is done in such a simple, well thought out way that it was a pleasure to teach and the kids were so engaged, they just loved it!

Here are a few books and a CD that we will be reading and listening to over the next few weeks:

I know its early, but it works for us right now:) We live in a tropical climate and so we took a walk through the neighborhood the other day looking for a Deciduous tree... boy, if only I had known what a mission that would become! We finally found a peach tree in someones yard and managed to pick up a few colored leaves to make a project with for fall- but the rest of the neighborhood is filled with Evergreens!

This week we will do some bark rubbings and looking at the difference between trees and shrubs. I hope to post some pictures of our adventures~

Oh, and before I forget, here is a fun Shabbat Activity Pack I made for my munchkins- feel free to print it out for yours!

Click Here to Check it Out!

Wishing all a wonderful week,

Nancy Larson Science 1 Homeschool Kit Review

I was given the privilege of reviewing the Nancy Larson Science 1 Homeschool Kit. We received the box in the mail and were so excited to open it up to see all the goodies inside!

This is what we found:
Pine cones, tree cookie, hand lens, x-ray set, Live Butterfly Garden with Butterfly Larvae Coupon, Ladybug Land with Ladybug Larvae Coupon, insect learning cards, plastic insects and spiders set, and the following books: What Do Scientists Do?, Peterson First Guide to Trees,Trees to Paper, Familiar Insects and Spiders, Your Insides, and The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree.

Included was an amazing teachers manual containing the lessons and answer keys. The lessons are presented in dialogue form which I really like, as it presents each lesson so clearly and simply for the little ones to truly grasp and understand it all.

It also has student booklets and assessment sheets, once again, very clear and very simple to use making the material very easy to understand for the kids.

And last but not least, a special CD loaded with photos, glossaries, word cards, science word labels, teacher's masters, and other materials to help you teach.

The curriculum covers the following:

• Developmental Biology—Describing the Life Stages of Human Beings
• Botany—Observing Trees
• Earth and Space—Exploring Sunlight, Water, and Soil
• Zoology—Investigating Animals and Their Habitats
• Anatomy—Discovering What Is Inside Our Bodies
• Entomology—Examining the Characteristics and Life Cycles of Insects

I liked that the subjects it covered are really the subjects that interest the kids. They can really relate to all of them and they are brought down to a level that the kids really get it.

We covered Developmental Biology, which the little ones really enjoyed and fully understood.

We then skipped on to Anatomy which just fascinated them. They loved the true to size X-ray cards which gave them a really clear picture of what their bones look like inside. And the lesson plans were so great and easy to teach. We have read the book "Your Insides" included in the kit, at least a dozen times. It is a fabulous book that gives great info on a very simple level. Ask my 5 year old what happens when you eat food and he will give you a full account. Its really sweet seeing the little guy using words like "esophagus" and "intestines":) And he gets it!

But I have to say, one of the highlights of the kit, of course, is the Butterfly Garden! Unfortunately, where we live, we couldn't get the butterfly Larvae shipped to us, so we opted for the next best thing... silkworms! And there is an entire section on the differences and similarities between butterflies and moths, check out the photo below of us discussing it:

Our silkworm garden:)

I just love the way the information in given over, I wish they had every subject layed out like this. Here is a link to an example of one of the lessons: http://nancylarson.com/sample_lessons/s1sample1.pdf

So all in all, I really like this Homeschool Kit. It is so user friendly, has lots of great information and hands on activities and is just easy and simple to use and understand.

Here is a direct link to their website:

http://www.nancylarson.com/science1.html

Go check it out!