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Next week, I will be sharing a series on discovery bottles as my part of the Kid Blogging Network series titled “The ABC’s of…”. This series will run all throughout the week of January 7th through January 11th and there are tons of bloggers who will be sharing all kinds of posts from the ABC’s of literacy to the ABC’s of Cooking with Kids. I will posts updates and links to the series throughout the week but in the meantime, as I prepare for my part of the ABC series – and while we have lots of snow on the ground – I want to share a snowman in a bottle and I am hoping the snow will stay around long enough so my students can give this activity a try when we get back to school…
The snowman in a bottle is a simple science exploration of melting snow. Since science in early childhood education is all about building vocabulary as well as exploring new processes, the snowman in a bottle is an inviting process to introduce words such as cold, warm, snow, snowman, melt, solid, liquid, and time…
To prepare for this activity, you will need plastic bottles (or this can also be done in plastic baggies), snow, and a way to add eyes and a nose. I have tried this process in a baggie and in a bottle and it is just as fun either way…
Begin by filling a bottle with snow which is more challenging than it may seem. It takes a little poking and pounding to get the snow into the bottle. Once there seems to be plenty of snow in the bottle, then drop in a nose and add some eyes to the outside of the bottle…
Next, set the bottle in a warm place or by a window with some sunlight so the snow will begin to melt. My snowman took about 1 hour to melt completely…
For older preschoolers, you may want to include some simple documentation of the melting process. One way to document the process is to have the children draw the snow man before it melts then again after it melts. Here is my own documentation to give you the idea…
You will notice that the changes which can be documented include the change from snow to water and the movement of the nose. I didn’t wait to document until all or most of my snow melted but ideally, it would be better to wait…
Once the snow melts all the way, the children can choose to fill the bottle back up again or take home their melted snowman. You might even brainstorm how the children could keep a snowman from melting. I am looking forward to the conversations that will take place in my own classroom. Now if we can keep that snow around just a little longer…
If you would like the pdf document I made for this process, just click here: Snowman in a Bottle PDF and save a copy for yourself!
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome for my class
great idea! but here in ARGENTINA does’n snow! buuuuuuuuu so we can not do the activity. how can I adapt it?
HAPPY NEW YEAR! THE BEST FOR THIS 2013!
MIRIAM
Well, you could fill a bottle with a small amount of water with a small object in the ice then let the ice thaw and as it does, the object will move if it is heavy enough, and the ice will change to water. Perhaps use different colors of water too!
I was about the same question that Miriam here asked. Thank you for the suggestion – this would be a fun activity to introduce water and ice.
My son loves snowman.
Oh and Happy New Year to you too!!
I have used shaved ice from a snow cone maker
That is an excellent idea Stacy!
Thanks for the PDF!
You are quite welcome:)
I LOVE this idea! Thank you for sharing. I am not able to click on the PDF. Any suggestions?
Hmmm, sometimes these downloads can be so fickle!! Let me check it out.
This is a super idea and I can’t wait to try it when we get more snow.
Hi can you tell me what type of bottles you are using, because they are so cute & the appropriate size for small hands.
Hi Belinda,
These are aqua Pods. I find them at most grocery stores in my area right now. We use the mall thhe time:)
What an adorable project! So simple and fun.
Thank you for sharing so many wonderful ideas for teaching children! You are my number one go to resource! I just wanted to tell you about a preschool favorite I have been doing for years. I live in So. Cal. and it is hard to conceptualize snow and really cold weather. I take 3 large balloons and fill them with water to make 3 different sizes. I let them freeze in the freezer for a few days. I peel the laytex off to reveal large frozen balls of ice! With my class we count, touch, identify small smaller smallest and big bigger biggest, then pouring a bit of salt in between to cause them to fuse together we “build” our snowman! We give it a name and set it outside and check it throughout the preschool day to observe its size and the puddle it is making as it melts. A very wintery hands on fun learning activity!
I love it! What a wonderful exploration to share with your students and thank you for sharing this process here so others can read about it too! Although we live where there is snow, I might have to share this idea with my students too!
Looks like you found my post before I got back to comment on yours! Thank you for the terrific printable and fun science idea. My kids and I had a terrific time recreating it. Love your fun ideas!
It was really wonderful to find your post! It made my day!!
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